Volt EV Range: Is 40 enough?
Would 80 be better?Ever wonder why GM picked 40 miles of electric range for the Chevy Volt? Do you think 40 is enough? Too much?
GM thinks its just right. Not just for the first generation, but for all generations. Know why?
Here's my answer: Why
40 is the Chevy Volt's magic number
Labels: chevy volt
posted by Dahcredyns at
12:10 PM
9 Comments:
I think 40 miles is enough if you live in the city where everything is close together. But not ok if you do a lot of highway commuting.
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I guess I do wonder where the number comes from. Many plug ins say they'll do the same number. Is it room for batteries vs. cost for more batteries or weight? Why 40? Why not 80 or 100? Or if it's weight and cost...why not 24 or whatever the average commute for an american is? I agree, what's with 40? It would be great for me, I'm about 20 round trip each day, but 100 would let me go all week withought charging or gas...
I believe 40 is enough. I also believe that the size of the pack could have been reduced considerably by using NiMH batteries (8 kWh's worth).
I think they chose 40 miles in order to keep the battery cost low AND to cover the majority of people's daily commute.
Jabroni - I don't follow you. Lithium Ion batteries have a greater storage density than NiMH. Why are you saying the pack "could have been reduced considerably by using NiMH batteries"?
Li ion use in EV's is ill documented, at best. In other words, no one knows for sure that a pack will last for 10 years without severe degradation. The Panasonic EV-95 NiMH batteries used in the Toyota RAV 4 EV has already proven its hardiness and lasted the test of time and number of cycles.
Because the Chevy Volt has to baby its battery pack, it is necessary to use twice as much battery as needed to get the 40 mile range, thus negating the li ion advantage. The negation includes the savings in cost, weight and space.
I would have rather had Chevy use NiMH batteries at inception and then switched to Li ion once the chemistry was proven. IF they had chosen this route, we would not have to wait until 2010.
Or, istead of the Satelite engine as a generator, they could just tow a Mule behind the vehicle so it can pull you when that Lithium batter runs out.
I say think, move ahead. Lithium. I'll wait a bit longer for better technology in that realm. It's being highly tested by everyone right now, because they know it's the next step for batteries.
So, why is GM setting 40 as the number for the Volt? It's all about diminishing returns.
Read my full response at Why
40 is the Chevy Volt's magic number
the EV1 got 90 miles before it pooped out and GM claimed that the battery life was to short so they killed it. wtf makes them think that people want less than half that with triple the price. for more info on the GM conspericy watch "who killed the electric car".
because after 40 miles, you can still go several hundred miles on gas achieving 50 mpg without having to spend the night at a charging station. And, you can take 3 people along with you, unlike the EV1, which only sat 2.
plus, that's 90 miles of perfect world conditions. lots of acceleration, heavy AC use, etc. could push that fuel economy much lower. that car had range anxiety written all over for most consumers.
more important, they could have never sold the EV1 at 1/3 the cost of the Volt. the EV1 was never a production car and it cost a considerable amount of money to make each one. today, had GM continued the EV1, they would still be losing money on it.
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