| GM Volt will retail ~$40,000
Thanks for the link:-
Manahem Anderman, president of Advanced Automotive Batteries and an electric-car consultant, is also unconvinced. “Without three or four years to test battery life in both the laboratory and in the field, prudent engineering steps have to be bypassed,” he said. “Lacking long-term data, G.M. might have to include the cost of a battery replacement in the Volt’s price.”
Which is why they are playing safe and only operating the battery between 30% and 80% of maximum charge.
I know that the Tesla Roadster has an optional "Storage" setting where the car is left connected to the grid and maintains electrical charge (and presumably system cooling) at a level which is conducive to better battery calendar life.
I wonder if the same idea has also been arrived at independently by GM and is the reason behind the 30% minimum charge figure in the Volt, which is then maintained by the on-board generator.
Presumably this holding-charge will still be required to fluctuate around this value, otherwise the Volt's lift-off regen behaviour would change dramatically.
Last edited by doug; 09-14-2008 at 10:05 AM..
Reason: split post
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