welcome.... to the future

1/20/2008 9:25:03 PM

man this is awsome,

1/20/2008 9:27:36 PM

what's awesome about it

seriously

1/20/2008 9:28:19 PM

I am seriously looking at buying one when it comes out.

1/20/2008 9:29:00 PM

yeah if ive got the loot, im definately gonna get one

1/20/2008 9:31:14 PM

im not trying to flame/troll

is it just the new, unorthodox body style look at you like or what

1/20/2008 9:35:48 PM

Quote :

"The Volt has a range of about 40 miles on the battery alone which might not seem like much. But, considering that most people drive fewer miles than that per day, it should mean that a lot of drivers will never use a drop of gas on their daily commute. However, when the fuel tank is filled to it's capacity of 12 US gallons of gas, the Volt has a range of 640 miles. In addition, the Volt ICE is fully flex fuel capable and can run on any combination of gasoline or ethanol up to E85. The power-train is sized to achieve 0-60 mph acceleration of about 8.5 seconds."

its a revolutionary electric/hybrid vehicle, plus it looks awsome

1/20/2008 9:37:01 PM

meh, I'd wait until the Honda or Toyota one comes out.

1/20/2008 9:50:19 PM

It looks like someone stepped on it.

1/20/2008 9:55:14 PM

you mean wait till honda or toyota ripps off this technology?

1/20/2008 9:55:18 PM

yay for batteries that don't exist

1/20/2008 10:00:40 PM

the tesla is comming out too, but i'd rather have the volt

1/20/2008 11:09:03 PM

Quote :

"you mean wait till honda or toyota ripps off this technology?"

I meant I'm gonna wait until Toyota or Honda makes it more reliable.

1/20/2008 11:11:33 PM

I'd rather be driving a WVO diesel conversion

it just makes more sense financially to me

1/20/2008 11:11:37 PM

The Tesla is HAWT, however



[Edited on January 20, 2008 at 11:14 PM. Reason : .]

1/20/2008 11:13:24 PM

so what is the power source for this fucking thing anyway?

1/20/2008 11:15:42 PM

yeah yeah, if honda/toyota were so good they'd have a EV out already
if you're gonna wait for them be prepared to wait for a long time

1/20/2008 11:16:33 PM

the tesla
fully electric

1/21/2008 12:08:20 AM

the volt is a plug in hybrid.

1/21/2008 12:56:01 AM

Tesla is indeed sweet, but it's gonna cost like 3x as much as the Volt.

1/21/2008 1:19:36 AM

^^WRONG.

it doesnt ever run on the gas engine, thats there only to charge the batteries when they're low

1/21/2008 1:20:39 AM

wait... so if it's only to charge teh batteries when they're low, what keeps them from getting low to start with besides plugging it in?

1/21/2008 1:23:57 AM

Quote :

"wait... so if it's only to charge teh batteries when they're low, what keeps them from getting low to start with besides plugging it in?"

i have no clue what you're trying to ask

1/21/2008 1:32:07 AM

wouldn't you have to plug it in at some point?

1/21/2008 1:37:58 AM

wait, i thought the point was that it runs without gas OR electricity...

[Edited on January 21, 2008 at 1:41 AM. Reason : i mean off of love]

1/21/2008 1:40:50 AM

^^ You do plug it in, but I don't think it's considered a "hybrid"

Those run on gas and use kinetic energy from braking to charge the batteries. This car, from what I gather, never uses the gas motor to propel the vehicle.

1/21/2008 1:44:41 AM

farts burn, right?
we need to find a way to harness the power of farts

1/21/2008 1:45:09 AM

is having roads smelling like ass really better than global warming?

and when did i get more p0sts than the fredbot??!

1/21/2008 1:48:24 AM

roads already smell like ass

and probably when i came to app

1/21/2008 1:52:58 AM

The Volt IS a plug-in (series) hybrid by definition, though GM likes to call it an EV with range extender. Main difference from other hybrids like Prius is that it can run for 40 miles on just battery power from a wall charge and the electric generator and combustion motor power the batteries and have no mechanical linkage to the drivetrain itself. Therefore it can run at a constant speed to recharge the batteries and can be tuned much more precisely to run at peak efficiency.

1/23/2008 10:30:25 AM

it looks cool but id prefer the camaro

1/23/2008 10:36:45 AM

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/frequently-asked-questions/

1/23/2008 10:43:54 AM

for people that think hybrids are all green... when you plug them in... doesn't that charge come from a fossil fuel being burnt somewhere?

1/23/2008 10:45:16 AM

i've wanted a Volt ever since i saw it in IEEE Spectrum way back when

1/23/2008 10:52:59 AM

^^Well my town is right next to a hydroelectric plant, so probably not. It is also about 4x cleaner and more efficient to get that power from a coal-fired plant that has a lot of emissions equipment on it than your little gasoline engine with a catalytic convertor on the muffler.

As for somebody bitching about that, go bark at the damn environmentalists who will not allow us to build more nuclear plants. Japan and France run a majority of their power off nuclear and have no problems. This is what we should be switching to and getting away from fossil fuels.

Wind/solar is a feel good powersource, but not economically viable to power our entire nations electrical needs. Nuclear is the answer until fusion becomes a reality, or solar becomes cheap and efficient.

[Edited on January 23, 2008 at 10:59 AM. Reason : ]

1/23/2008 10:58:55 AM

I'd be interested, but I think I recall that the Audi A1 will have plug-in capability (though it's a traditional hybrid rather than a system like this), and that'd be more up my alley. And yes, even if you do get your electricity from a coal- or oil-fired power plant, it's still a lot cleaner per unit than your standard auto engine.

Solar may not (currently) be economically viable for large-scale power production, but I think we'll be seeing a LOT more homes with solar panels in the near future, especially if we can stop HOA covenants from banning solar arrays (by law, hopefully). Solar energy at the home level is an excellent supplement to grid power, especially if we can implement the systems that can release excess power back into the grid and credit the homeowner. Also, solar hot water systems are becoming viable from what I've heard.

1/23/2008 11:07:21 AM

i cant wait until home-sized windbelts become commercially available

[Edited on January 23, 2008 at 11:11 AM. Reason : and by home-sized, i mean practical size for a single home]

1/23/2008 11:11:11 AM

there's been developments in solar power that look really promising. Producing thinner photovoltaic films, hell even "paint" that can be applied to your house, shit like that. I could definitely see it being used in housing to basically produce all the power needs of the house.

if that sort of things happens, what happens to the power companies?

1/23/2008 11:13:35 AM

Quote :

"meh, I'd wait until the Honda or Toyota one comes out"

i would pit a new chevy against a new honda any day in terms of reliability.

hondas reputation is based on the past.

their newer cars are terrible..take my moms acura thats had two transmissions. 50k miles total on the car.


not to mention the fact that gm has already built an electric car.

1/23/2008 11:13:44 AM

so wait... the guy who designed the crossfire got a job at chevy?

1/23/2008 12:02:12 PM

^^ i agree. honda quality has gone down the tubes.

Quote :

"Japan and France run a majority of their power off nuclear and have no problems. This is what we should be switching to and getting away from fossil fuels."

it wouldn't be so much of a problem if the U.S. allowed reprocessing of spent fuel, but they don't so it's not a viable alternative since so much of the waste is canned and sent to a temporary storage center.

1/23/2008 12:17:31 PM

I too have had serious problems with my Honda.

I was on my third transmission by 90,000 miles.

Wondering if it's because they started manufacturing them in the US.



^ and what is the US logic for not recycling?



[Edited on January 23, 2008 at 12:36 PM. Reason : curious]

1/23/2008 12:36:01 PM

Quote :

"and what is the US logic for not recycling?"

appearantly that would make too much sense

Quote :

"i would pit a new chevy against a new honda any day in terms of reliability. "

yeah i think in terms of ingenuity any company can make a reliable car,
the only thing that held them back was the cost, now i think the global economy has balanced that out a bit, but im just wildly speculating

1/23/2008 12:52:57 PM

Quote :

"^^WRONG. it doesnt ever run on the gas engine, thats there only to charge the batteries when they're low"

it has an electric moter and a gas powered motor.

therefore it is a hybrid. yes, it's a different type of hybrid than we are used to.

1/23/2008 1:04:40 PM

Quote :

"Wondering if it's because they started manufacturing them in the US."

Nope. They've been making Accords in the US since the mid or late 80's. My dad's 1991 Accord was built at the Marysville, Ohio plant, and is still going strong with about 190,000 miles. The transmission did recently need a rebuild, but for an automatic to last almost 200K miles is pretty damn good. Friend of mine has a '93, built at the same US plant, that has at least 150K on it and has never had any major problems that I know of.

Something else must have changed.

1/23/2008 3:28:24 PM

that thing's hideous

1/23/2008 3:40:36 PM

Quote :

"that thing's hideous"

that thing's hideous what?

1/23/2008 3:41:49 PM

Quote :

"and what is the US logic for not recycling?"

proliferation issues

1/23/2008 3:45:13 PM

contraction

2: a shortening of a word, syllable, or word group by omission of a sound or letter; also : a form produced by such shortening


thing's = thing is

1/23/2008 3:46:19 PM

i'd drive it

1/23/2008 3:59:05 PM