Posts Tagged ‘electric car’
One year of owning the Chevy Volt + work, commuting = 237mpg
Chevy Volt belonging to Lyle Stuart, founder of GM-Volt.com
My Chevrolet Volt was delivered on December 17th 2010, and as of today I have owned and operated the vehicle for a full year.
It is nearly five years in fact since I first founded this website in an effort to gain and sustain national attention on electric cars and this vehicle in particular, and to push GM to develop it…
To this day I still get a thrill when I jump in and power it up. I drive often with a smile on my face. I thoroughly love not using gas almost of of the time, and having the safety and freedom to kick in the gas generator when needed.
I have found the car of impeccably high quality and 100% reliable performance in all kinds of driving situations and environments. The car is worthy of all the awards it has received.
Thus far I have put on 8,635 miles and used a paltry 36.6 gallons of gas with a lifetime fuel efficiency of 237 miles per gallon…
My oil life still says 56% and I haven’t changed it. I rotated the tires at 7,500 miles and had a software upgrade performed…
Though perhaps not important, I am a bit surprised GM won’t meet its first year target of 10,000 cars. Considering all the attention and robust discussion I observed while running this site, and the calls by many for great volumes, I was sure demand would be higher. Eventually I still think it will. A lot of it is economic. In these tough financial times with gas prices stable, the $41,000 without tax break price tag remains out of reach for many. It is great though that the car is on the road so that in the future, through economies of scale the price will drop and more will be sold. As well, surely some are waiting for the first generation to work out its kinks and are watching on the sidelines eventually planning to buy a next generation model.
There were naysayers ever since the Volt concept was announced in January 2007, and many are still here today and will be ad infinitum. They may never be silenced, but the reality is GM has made the dream come true of a mass production electric car with range extender and it is an awesome thing indeed. I also think its fair to say the company ushered in a new era of accessible electric transportation as essentially every automaker has followed suit with electric cars of their own.
Lyle is right about the price. Certainly in my family. I’d love to have a Volt be our next car; but, the cost/benefit ratio just ain’t worth it – yet. We’d need an extra 10 years beyond the 10 year minimum we look at when purchasing a vehicle. Even though – we buy good enough designs and practice sufficient maintenance – we have gone well beyond that 10 year number with our existing passenger car and pickup truck. The Volvo has almost 30 years and 280,000 miles on it. The Dodge pickup is a 1994 and has gone over 220,000 miles.
Right now, the leading contenders to replace the Volvo are the Prius Aqua – landing next year, the VW Golf diesel and the electric Mitsubishi i-Miev. After federal tax credits – we get squat from the state of New Mexico – they would cost $9-14K less than the Volt.
Brits say electric car nanny warning system too noisy
Late last year, Nissan unveiled its “Approaching Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians” (VSP), a technical name for the noise-adding system found on the automaker’s Leaf electric vehicle. Introduction of a pedestrian warning system on near-silent vehicles like the Leaf has been the subject of much debate, but with the U.S. House and Senate passing a measure that requires hybrids and plug-in vehicles to emit an audible sound to warn pedestrians, these noise-making setups will soon become standard on all electric-drive autos sold in the U.S.
However, over in the UK, the Nissan Leaf’s pedestrian warning system has reportedly been deemed illegal, forcing the automaker to either remove or disable it.
A Nissan spokeswoman told The Northern Echo that…an intermittent beeping noise is fitted as standard to commercial vehicles such as buses and lorries, but UK law states that the sound must be capable of being disabled between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am. The audible system on the Leaf did not allow for that to be done, so the beeping sound is being removed entirely before the cars can be driven on roads in the UK.
How many things are wrong with this silly-ass situation?
Only the congenitally stupid – which means Congress – think electric cars are too quiet and need “warning” systems to keep from flattening pedestrians. Cars have horns to use when you see some cretin stepping out into the street in front of your vehicle.
And there are beaucoup cars already as quiet as anything electric, anyway. Will they be retrofitted or required to do the same? Anyone demanding that every Rolls be fitted with a cowbell?
Then, there’s the UK law requiring beepers. I imagine this is like the everpresent backup beeper on damned near everything used on construction sites or government transportation. Drives every construction worker nuts. Assumes no one is capable of looking where they’re walking or driving. A device invented to please lawyers.
And consider our friends at Nissan who can’t figure out how to put in an inline switch which turns the stupid noisemaker on or off at the driver’s whim. I suppose that is yet another rule from Congress. To stop us independent drivers from exercising our own minds and choosing between horns and beepers.
Best-looking Xmas tree display & how to get it home
Donated by the Forestry Commission, the £400 tree was taken 15 miles from the New Forest to skate park designer Mr Howe’s six-bedroom home in Bournemouth, Dorset
There, it was cut into three carefully measured sections to create a Christmas illusion that has passersby in the street doing double takes.
With a little help from Mr Howe’s friends, the lower parts of the tree were passed through doors and windows. Finally a borrowed crane was used to place the top tier on to a little roof turret.
With careful alignment, the Howe Christmas tree appears to be bursting through the roof.
The whole operation, including decorating the branches with 200 baubles and 2,000 LED lights, took five days.
New Electric Car range record set with Tokyo to Osaka run
It’s been less than a month since Simon Hackett set something of a electric vehicle distance record in his Tesla Roadster, driving 501 km across the hot and flat Australian outback with the windows up and the air-con off. Now comes news that the dedicated enthusiasts of the Japan EV Club have decidedly bested that mark and are seeking Guinness Book of Records status for their own 555.6 km run. Club founder Tadashi Tateuchi battled terrible traffic and hilly Japanese terrain as he drove a super-sweet electrified Daihatsu Mira Van from Tokyo to Osaka.
The nicest part, of course, is that records like this will be surpassed on a regular basis as we continue to move towards a range of sensible personal transportation.
Nissan to build electric cars, Li-on batteries in the United States
Nissan Micro Electric commuter car – the NuVu prototype
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
Nissan Motor Co plans to launch production of electric vehicles and their batteries in the United States to tap low-interest loans for green vehicles, the Nikkei business daily said.
The overall investment is estimated at 50 billion yen ($516.4 million) and may rise to 100 billion yen, it said.
Under the plan, the new electric-car assembly lines are to be built at a plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, where Nissan North America is based, the paper said.
The facility, capable of making 50,000 to 100,000 eco-friendly vehicles a year by 2012, is expected to first produce a small passenger car, it said.
Nissan also intends to construct a production facility for high-capacity lithium ion batteries at the Smyrna site with NEC Corp.
The company has applied for funding from the U.S. government under a low-interest-loan program to support the automobile industry.
Too bad we haven’t enough brains within the Big 3 to figure out how to do any of this. Is there something in the water in Detroit that inhibits business competence?
