I'm Confused - OT

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ddl

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Chevy new Volt will go a range of 300 miles which i guess would be per combined gas/electric and they are boasting it to be the winner in fuel economy come 2010. But the prius gets 50 mpg combined. SO if they both had 10 gal tanks would not the prius win at 500 miles? Read this and see what you think of the smoke trick.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_volt_mileage

 

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bjb in TX from Ne

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

The difference comes from the ability of the Volt to plug into the wall every night. Since most trips are short, and if you plug it in every time you get home, then theoretically you would use no gasoline. The gas motor only kicks in on longer trips, in which it behaves like the Prius. You would have to see what the highway mpg is for both to compare apples to apples, not just the combined MPG. It would be dependent on how long of the trip would be without plugging the volt back into an outlet. The longer the trip the lower the average MPG highway for the volt would become.

On other questions someone might bring up is that with plugging in electric cars, the electricity has to come from somewhere, I am not sure if that is considered when making the calculation. One benefit of using a large power plant to produce the electricity is the thermal efficiency is much higher than a gasoline engine. Most power plants run above 90% efficient (less than 10% lost as waste heat), where internal combustion engines are only around 30% efficient (70% lost as heat).

 

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PeterE

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

bjb has it right. It isn't a single trip, they are estimating over a longer time period and assuming most of those miles are on the battery.

The real problem is there isn't a good apples-to-apples comparison between plug-in vehicles and those with internal combustion engines.
More detailed rating info

 

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Dick L

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

It is easy to get great gas milage with that designed car when you can plug into a FREE receptical at home.

 

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noncompos

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Hey, c"mon, this"s ADVERTISING, and I believe there"s a Supreme Court decision to the effect that "commercial speech" is allowed a certain deviation from the actual truth...
High mileage is no problem on the drawing board and in an advertising company office--the hard part is getting it on the road (remember those EPA mileages??)...

 

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Nancy Howell

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Yes, years ago got burned because of an epa estimated mileage sticker. Vehicle didn't get anywhere near what the epa rating said it would.

 

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PeterE

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

The problem is that the EPA testing method is bad (it provides unrealistically high mileage) and everybody knows it.

But it can't be changed, because of the manufacturers' CAFE requirements (the average mileage for all cars sold). If the testing suddenly became accurate then the CAFE numbers would drop and all the manufacturers would be out of compliance.

 

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Howard H.

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

My two main concerns are:

1) Who will be able to work on them?? It's hard enough to find a decent, trustworthy mechanic for the "old-fashioned" type of autos that have been on the road for years...

and

2) I fight crummy laptop, cell phone, and digital camera batteries daily...

It's very frustrating in how quickly a battery's potency fails... It seems rare that a 2 year old laptop battery will have half of its original capacity...

I know lead/acid automotive batteries aren't quite as bad, but even they are dicey...


Howard

 

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Don c

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Haven't heard a thing on this part of it... How much to replace batteries and how long do they last, how long must you charge them each time and how much does it cost you each night for electric to charge this, also what about power outages. Just wondering

Don c

 

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Ray

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

That volt is 40 grand.

 

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dlplost

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

For $40k, I can drive my 20 mpg Diesel more than another quarter million miles. Nope, dont think I'll be buying a Volt...

 

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redtom

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Yup, or you can get a diesel VW Jetta for 25,000 with a normal engine and get something like 55 mpg.

 

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buickanddeere

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Just wait until winter's effect on batteries.Plus the damage done to cells by only receiving half a charge then being run flat on a regular basis.
Does anybody think plugging an automotive battery pack into a charger powered from a household 15A 120V receptacle. Is going to charge the battery pack in 8 hrs?

 

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730 virgil

Well-known Member

Location

IL Wis state line near Monroe Wi

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

what nancy said about epa rating has caused more than one discussion here.
mrs 730 says well the gas mileage is supposed to be this much and we are only getting this? why?
epa lies like rug on the floor that's why.

 

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Stockdale Dave

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Agree about the VW diesel...I had one but the best I got was around 48 MPG.

 

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Dblair

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Prius in 21K and it's milage is 58 on the average according to people I know

 

guido

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Hello ,
Old EPA mileage testing was done a believe
@49 MPH. All in a dyno and no variations, no stop and go, and i'm not sure about acc. like a/c as such. Most engines will run a vehicle at 49 MPH at a lower speed then fast idle aroud 1400 RPM'S. No wander the EPA ratings are never equaled. I thing the revised EPA mileage ratings, now incorporate different speeds and incorporate grades. They should be a hair more realistic, if they do that.
GUIDO.

 

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HENRY E NC

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Most people today arent aware that there are batteries on the market that will last ten years or more if properly set up. I had a 6 battery bank bank of grp 30 gel cells in my sailboat (on which we lived for a while)for 12 years and replaced them with glass mat batteries.These were house batteries used for lights, radios radar, GPS etc. They were charged at the recommended voltage of 13.9 volts at the dock and by alternator when at sea. Glass mat batteries have no memory and can be fully discharged for a year or more and still be recharged to full capacity. I now have glass mats in my cars. They also charge faster than lead acid, Also cost a lot more $140 and up Henry

 

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noncompos

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Y'know, that's enough to make a conspiracy theorist think the EPA and the various Administrations were receiving goodies from the old auto m'f'r's...(I say "old", because we all know the "new" auto m'f'r's have seen their errors and will be 100% truthful in the future)...LOL

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

You don't think that the EPA doctored the tests to make a product from Government Motors look good?

Trust NO ONE, and NOTHING that has anything to do with this administration.

 

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WantACaseLASomeday

Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

Major problem with the Volt is that as a product of Ghetto Motors (GM) no good patriotic American will buy one, regrdless of milage or cost.

 

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Howard H.

Well-known Member

• Aug 11, 2009

• #1

That's interesting, Henry.

I've never heard of those before...

Where do you get yours?? I'd like to try one (or two) on the old JD 6030... That's a hard
cranking old cuss!

Any brand you'd recommend for general farm use??

Howard

 

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Mike (WA)

Well-known Member

• Aug 12, 2009

• #1

For your 40 grand, you can buy a diesel Jetta for 25, spend 15 on 6,000 gallons of diesel @ $2.50 per gallon, and drive 300,000 miles at 50 MPG. And that's assuming you NEVER buy a drop of gas (or replace the batteries) for the Volt.

Or you could do as I actually do- buy a 10 year old car every 4 or 5 years, for 3 or 4 grand, and invest your savings in something that will MAKE you some money instead of depreciating to nothing.