GM Chevy Volt - Page 8

TEG · 05-26-2009, 04:33 PM

And how will the Fisker Karma do in that regard?

vfx · 05-26-2009, 05:03 PM

An obvious benefit to the sound of the ICE motor kicking in is that it will be a reminder to the driver that they are now running at up to five times the transportation cost and are now polluting, importing foreign oil etc.
Just by buying the Volt it means they care about some combination of these causes. The sound will teach them to head home and not wander, combine trips, make shorter runs, always plug in and generally drive more conservatively.

A nice primer for when they go full EV

TEG · 05-26-2009, 06:51 PM

They should just have open pipes to blast the announcement that they have failed to drive the Volt as an EV and have fallen from grace back into internal combustion land.

TEG · 05-29-2009, 08:07 PM

Wall Street Journal Wants GM to Abandon the Volt : TreeHugger

TEG · 05-29-2009, 08:08 PM

GM Defends the Volt, Attacks Smaller Electric Car Start-Ups (Tesla, Fisker, etc) : TreeHugger

vfx · 05-30-2009, 08:20 AM

GM Hybrid circa '69

DaveD · 06-07-2009, 12:47 AM

Conflicted GM has a lot riding on Volt - Washington Post- msnbc.com

vfx · 06-09-2009, 12:28 PM

Jalopnik - GM's Lutz: Chevy Volt Will Use GPS To Determine Distance From Home, Adjust Engine Accordingly - Chevrolet Volt

TEG · 06-09-2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Will Use GPS To Determine Distance From Home, Adjust Engine Accordingly - Chevrolet Volt

We had the foresight to propose that idea already.

REEV concerns

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEG

If you started on a drive from SF to Tahoe and flipped the "try to keep my battery at least 80% full" switch as you left, then the ICE would come on sooner, and you would start uphill past Sacramento with plenty of charge to 'make the grade' uphill without problem. The possible problem (as I see it) is the weak ICE coupled to a strategy of "drain the pack first" with no option to override.

Another option would be to have it GPS/Nav coupled and it calculates what you need based on the destination you programmed in at the start of your trip.

TEG · 06-09-2009, 03:41 PM

Here is another idea for the future - certain GPS areas would be "ICE free" zones, such as pedestrian heavy city centers. The GPS/Nav would make sure to keep the ICE off in those areas.

Curiously there is an effort to say that electrically driven cars are too quiet around pedestrians, but I had not so long ago seen the counter argument that ICE vehicles cause too much pollution (both noise and soot) in city centers, and so some European cities started banning gas engined cars in certain areas.

Zermatt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:

...To prevent air pollution which could disfigure the town's view of the Matterhorn, the entire town is a combustion-engine car-free zone. Electric vehicles are allowed...