A Volt for every dysfuntional American?
The cure for America's range anxietyOK. Let's get this out of the way. In a perfect world, the Chevy Volt doesn't make sense.
Elon Musk of Tesla has said it. Studies like the recent CMU study suggest it.
Battery powered vehicles are simply most efficient on short trips - about 20 miles or less between charges. Fortunately, that would accommodate the real world driving patterns of most Americans.
Of course, it's not as simple as that. Finish: A Volt for every dysfunctional American
posted by Dahcredyns at
4:52 AM
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OK. Let's get this out of the way. In a perfect world, the Chevy Volt doesn't make sense.
Elon Musk of Tesla has said it. Studies like the recent CMU study suggest it.
Battery powered vehicles are simply most efficient on short trips - about 20 miles or less between charges. Fortunately, that would accommodate the real world driving patterns of most Americans.
Of course, it's not as simple as that. We Americans are never that easy to please. For instance, where do you charge every 20 miles? What if you forget to charge? What if you want to make a spur of the moment 300 mile trip to your favorite getaway? What if our decrepit electric grid blacks out for a few days?
Americans expect a lot from their cars, and we certainly expect to achieve a few 100 miles per fueling. Anything else causes, well, range anxiety.
Thus, GM developed the Chevy Volt to be a range extended electric vehicle that attempts to give consumers the best of both worlds - the future and the past. The Volt addresses the future in a package in which most Americans can find comfort.
Will the Volt always make more economic and environmental sense than a plug-in Prius or a Honda Insight? No.
Of course, when have American automobile choices ever made sense?
Ultimately, the Volt is a step in the right direction - a pretty big step, and it will make sense for some consumers.
Inevitably, however, the Volt is as much about psychology as it is about technology. And while the Volt might not be the perfect technology for America's automotive future, it's a pretty fantastic psychological tool for curing America's EV anxiety.
And, changing the psychology of the American consumer might be the biggest obstacle to ending America's dependence upon oil.
I read Compact Power is the company making the battery packs for the Volt. I'm concerned about elevated temperature performances of these batteries. Does anyone know the cycle count for these cells at 55-60C or rates of 1C/1C and 100% DoD? I have seen some published info for Enerdel, but no one seems to be talking about anything above 60C.....
I don't have the information you seek right off hand, but I do know that GM has spent a good chunk of time on its BMS and has been modeling that data for over a year new in its labs.
Still, GM appears reconciled to the fact that there are going to battery integrity issues, particularly in the first gen. Volt.
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