General Motors (NYSE: GM) is setting itself up for what could be the largest unveiling of an electric vehicle ever with its Volt line of electrically-powered vehicles. As gasoline reaches and surpasses the $3/gallon mark nationwide, customers have to wonder why no car manufacturer has fulfilled the need for an electric car; and one that does not have limitations rendering it non-competitive to a standard gas-powered passenger car, like these Zapcars pictured here.GM executives have recently said that the Volt is on track for sale for late 2010, and it will be a rechargeable vehicle that is 100% electric, not a hybrid. It's not only nice looking, it would eliminate gas as a variable in that daily commute. To some, that means a savings of a few hundred dollars (or more) per month. GM, however, is not going at this effort alone. Toyota is in the race as well, and there will soon be a "showdown" with GM, according to a senior GM executive last week.
The Chevy Volt should be launched in November 2010, according to GM CEO Richard Wagoner and head of global product development Robert Lutz. That's three years from now, and it's still considered an "aggressive" posture by GM's global design and manufacturing teams. Will Toyota be able to beat that deadline and deliver a solid, 100% electric offering within the next three years and once again show up its main global rival? Lutz said that by next April, one company will be able to show a prototype on the street, and the other will take a credibility hit (stating that batteries won't be able to push cars, even in three years). We'll see who is correct in about five months or so.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-19-2007 @ 8:56PM
taina2 said...
Who cares who is first? Only that it is affordable and reliable.
11-20-2007 @ 7:54AM
Sam said...
Electric vehicles are very good FOR SOME PEOPLE, but not so good for other people.
We see motorist run out of gasoline on our highways every day. What happens when the same careless people run out juice in their batteries? Their vehicles will have to be towed and any gasoline cost savings will be very quickly overridden by towing charges.
Pollution savings from electric vehicles will be somewhat offset by pollution increase in the manufacturing of tens of millions of lead based batteries and in the higher required output from electric generating power plants. We already have blackouts in many parts of our nation every summer because of a limited electric power supply...people recharging electric vehicles will just make that problem worse. These batteries can also be very dangerous and explosive when in the hands of morons and careless people. Thus electric vehicles will be good for some people...but not so good for many others who are careless when it comes to maintenance of their batteries just as they are careless now and run out of gasoline and fail to check the air in their tires.
11-20-2007 @ 5:02PM
Hugh E Webber said...
Sam: Motor vehicles are not good for everyone. For 90% of drivers, electric vehicles (EVs) will do fine. I've driven the GM EV1, Toyota RAV4 EV and the converted Scion EBox and am a member of the Electric Auto Association.
An EV that runs out of juice can recover enough battery charge to get off the highway by simply shutting it off for ten minutes.
New EVs use nickel metal hydride or lithium batteries, not lead-acid.
According to the Energy Department, hundreds of millions of EVs can recharge at home overnight without the need for more power plants.
As you say, Sam, EVs will not cure idiocy. I'd just like to cure some of the ignorance about EVs that is endlessly repeated by people like you.
11-21-2007 @ 5:05PM
Jason M. Hendler said...
The Chevy Volt is NOT 100% electric - it is a series hybrid, meaning that plug-in rechargeable batteries drive the motor, and when the batteries run low, an on-board generator (gas, diesel, fuel cell) then drives the motor and recharges the batteries.
The Chevy Volt is different from conventional hybrids, in that it does not have parallel or motor assist drive systems, in which a gasoline / diesel engine is still able to drive the wheels directly.
These are important distinctions that one needs to keep clear when evaluating range, performance and carbon footprint.
11-20-2007 @ 8:50AM
Tony Belding said...
The article is inaccurate and misleading. GM says the Chevy Volt will be "a rechargeable vehicle that is 100% electric, not a hybrid". What they mean is that only the electric motor drives the wheels, NOT that it's powered 100% from a wall socket.
In fact, the Chevy Volt will have a gasoline engine and generator which is used to power the car after the battery has been depleted. No matter what GM choose to call their product, most ordinary people will regard it as a hybrid.
The cars Toyota are working on don't even go that far, since their gasoline engine will, in fact, have a mechanical linkage to the wheels, much like today's Prius.
11-20-2007 @ 11:51AM
jpdr1100 said...
Let the confusion begin!
11-28-2007 @ 2:10PM
Byron Spain said...
Anyone remenber the Corvair? When GM announced that they had done away with antifreeze and related problems, many were sucked into the sorriest car ever built. I was nearly killed by one when the steering column separated from the actuator while cruising at 70. Only a genuine fool would believe GM could field a safe reliable car based on new technology. Nuf said?