Chevy Volt.....Another LIE!

[Glenn Black]

Cost of GHG Reduction, $/tonne of CO2

If we are supposed to buy plug-in electric vehicles because of the Green House Gas reductions, is not the price of those GHG savings an issue?

Is an all-electric vehicle the right way to go if we want to save the environment. Data is from a study by the London School of Economics, Thomas Wire, August 2009.
GHG-Methods-Cost.gif

[don]

Re: Cost of GHG Reduction, $/tonne of CO2

[charliebrown]

Re: Chevy Volt.....Another LIE!

I envy your life, but with the Job market the way it is you can move close to work and be layed off in a year. I live and work in the burbs of chicago, and I did make a choice to change jobs to one that is 13 miles away instead of 25. However, I am very nervous about my jobs longevity. Even in the same metro area my commute could go to 25 - 30 miles.

If I do get a job 30 miles away, when do I decide to move by residence? 1 year, two.

[GRG55]

Re: Cost of GHG Reduction, $/tonne of CO2

And the worst part is...the 'Vette still looks better...

[I think the Corvette was created by aliens...there's no way the noodleheads at GM came up with that car...]

[Starving Steve]

Re: Cost of GHG Reduction, $/tonne of CO2

But the fact remains that unless electric cars are powered by atomic energy or hydro-electric energy from a power plant, they have a carbon foot-print just like any other vehicle. To calculate a reduction in a carbon foot-print is to invent figures, because there is no way to know if there is any reduction at all. (Most likely, there would be no reduction.)

Most likely, after a move toward electric vehicles, the idiots in Washington in the Obama Administration would run-out of energy. There would be black-out for part of the day when cooking and air-conditioning demand get added to electric car re-charging demand. Then the public would demand a quick fix, and under Dr. Chu in the Energy Department, a quick fix would be another coal-fired power plant because coal is a voter-getter in the coal-producing states like West Virginia and Pennsylvania, also in Alabama and in Wyoming and North Dakota. Coal-fired power plants are also easy to build and cheap.

One has to understand the depth of the stupidity in the Obama Administration--- an administration where West Coast eco-frauds have joined with special interests in other states, i.e, the coal bunch in the Coal Belt and the ethanol bunch in the Corn Belt and the United Auto Workers in the Rust Belt to get Obama elected and get him re-elected in 2012. Sadly, this is what the Demos call, "change" or to use their words, "the change we need".

[GRG55]

Re: Cost of GHG Reduction, $/tonne of CO2

There is no doubt in my mind that as the world "electrifies" in response to Peak Cheap Oil we will see coal consumption increase significantly.

Although the end users may feel better because they are not using a refined petroleum product, the point source emissions are going to go up. A LOT.

[don]

Re: Cost of GHG Reduction, $/tonne of CO2

But the fact remains that unless electric cars are powered by atomic energy or hydro-electric energy from a power plant, they have a carbon foot-print just like any other vehicle. To calculate a reduction in a carbon foot-print is to invent figures, because there is no way to know if there is any reduction at all. (Most likely, there would be no reduction.)

Most likely, after a move toward electric vehicles, the idiots in Washington in the Obama Administration would run-out of energy. There would be black-out for part of the day when cooking and air-conditioning demand get added to electric car re-charging demand. Then the public would demand a quick fix, and under Dr. Chu in the Energy Department, a quick fix would be another coal-fired power plant because coal is a voter-getter in the coal-producing states like West Virginia and Pennsylvania, also in Alabama and in Wyoming and North Dakota. Coal-fired power plants are also easy to build and cheap.

One has to understand the depth of the stupidity in the Obama Administration--- an administration where West Coast eco-frauds have joined with special interests in other states, i.e, the coal bunch in the Coal Belt and the ethanol bunch in the Corn Belt and the United Auto Workers in the Rust Belt to get Obama elected and get him re-elected in 2012. Sadly, this is what the Demos call, "change" or to use their words, "the change we need".

And 7 gallons of oil per tire.

[we_are_toast]

Re: Cost of GHG Reduction, $/tonne of CO2

Resistance is futile;

The car, powered by an electric battery, has an unusual control mechanism. The XPrize Foundation explains, "Rather than the traditional steering wheel, it features pistol grips on either side of the driver."

Stats:
• Maximum speed > 80 miles/h
• Acceleration: 0 – 60 miles/h < 12 sec
• Range > 100 miles
• Energy Consumption < 16 kWh / 100 miles

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0...3.html#s120919

[GRG55]

Re: Chevy Volt.....Another LIE!

I only read the excerpts - not the whole article - so they may have covered some of this...

At highway speeds the Volt simply won't go 40 miles on its batteries only.

As any high school physics student can tell us, the parasitic drag increases as the square of velocity...and the work required to overcome drag increases as the cube of velocity. There is a huge difference between running around at 30 mph vs 70 mph.

I would be astonished if, at constant highway speeds, the "small" gasoline engine can do anything more than charge the batteries at about the same rate as they are being depleted. That means that the Volt will have to be plugged in at just about every available opportunity.

Well, well...

GM: Volt Can Go 25-50 Miles on Batteries

By AP Thursday, Sep. 23, 2010

(DETROIT) — General Motors on Thursday altered the expected range that its Chevrolet Volt electric car can travel on battery power alone.
The automaker now says the Volt can go 25 to 50 miles on battery power, compared with the 40 miles it had previously said it would travel.
The distance will depend on temperature, terrain, driving technique and the age of the lithium-ion batteries...

...GM engineers have said that the distance electric cars can travel is affected by hilly terrain or whether the driver tries to heat or cool the passenger compartment...

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...#ixzz10ZvfTY4g

[GRG55]

Re: Chevy Volt.....Another LIE!

I only read the excerpts - not the whole article - so they may have covered some of this...

At highway speeds the Volt simply won't go 40 miles on its batteries only.

As any high school physics student can tell us, the parasitic drag increases as the square of velocity...and the work required to overcome drag increases as the cube of velocity. There is a huge difference between running around at 30 mph vs 70 mph.

I would be astonished if, at constant highway speeds, the "small" gasoline engine can do anything more than charge the batteries at about the same rate as they are being depleted. That means that the Volt will have to be plugged in at just about every available opportunity.

Well, it would appear GM's attempt to defy the laws of physics, at least in their early press releases about the Volt, has come to an ignominious end.

Apparently at highway speeds the gasoline engine/generator cannot keep up with the discharge rate on the batteries, and the engine has to be direct-coupled to provide continuous propulsion.

And the moral of the story? Don't mess with Mother Nature [or Sir Isaac Newton]...

GM Lied: Chevy Volt Is Not a True EV

Published Oct 11, 2010



Just the Facts:

• Despite promises that the Chevy Volt will operate as an electric car at all times, it will in fact at times be directly driven in part by its internal combustion engine.
• The mechanical link between Ecotec internal combustion engine and drive wheels will be at high speed.

DETROIT — It's the big headline currently on GM's media news site:

"2011 Chevrolet Volt Reinvents Automotive Transportation In A Complete No Compromises Electric Package"

Um, well, no. Even conceding that all engineering projects involve compromise and chalking that phrase up to marketing hyperbole, the Chevy Volt isn't as electric as GM pretends it is. And it isn't as electric as GM has been saying for the past three years.

You know, GM statements like this one:
"The Chevrolet Volt is not a hybrid. It is a one-of-a-kind, all-electrically driven vehicle designed and engineered to operate in all climates."

In fact the Chevy Volt is a plug-in hybrid and it has more in common with conventional "series-parallel" hybrids like the Toyota Prius than the marketing hype led us to believe. There are circumstances in which the Volt operates with the internal combustion engine directly driving the front wheels. That's right, like a Prius.

At the heart of the Volt is the "Voltec" propulsion system and the heart of Voltec is the "4ET50" electric drive unit that contains a pair of electric motors and a "multi-mode transaxle with continuously variable capacity."

This is how GM describes it:
"Unlike a conventional powertrain, there are no step gears within the unit, and no direct mechanical linkage from the engine, through the drive unit to the wheels."

The 4ET50 is, however, in fact directly bolted to the 1.4-liter, four-cylinder Ecotec internal combustion engine. When the Volt's lithium-ion battery pack runs down, clutches in the 4ET50 engage and the Ecotec engine is lashed to the generator to produce the electric power necessary to drive the car. However, under certain circumstances — speeds near or above 70 mph — the engine will directly drive the front wheels in conjunction with the electric motors...