Comments on: GM brings back the electric car

By: Richard H.

Richard H. — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 21:45:28 +0000

First:

Volt is not a hybrid. If you carried a generator in your trunk to charge your EV1, would that be a hybrid as well? The Volt is essentially this, but with the added ability to run the generator while driving.

Second:
I am going to join the group of people that will purchase the Volt only if GM can grace us with its presence prior to Tesla’s affordable sedan (or another company).

GM’s attitude of only doing what is necessary must die here!

By: Tony Belding

Tony Belding — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 01:34:37 +0000

What Tesla have done is very impressive and I have high hopes for their success, but comparing them with GM is not a fair apples-to-apples comparison.

GM leased about 800 EV1s during its product life. Electric car advocates insist GM could have leased (or better, sold) many more if they had sincerely tried. I’m sure that’s true. Maybe they could have sold 5,000, maybe even 8,000. The problem is, they couldn’t have sold 100,000 EV1s — especially at a time when gasoline was cheap and plentiful, and global warming was still a fringe issue. GM is not in the niche or boutique car-making business, the EV1 didn’t fit into their business plan.

Tesla are planning to make 800 Roadsters in the first year, and only about 1,000 per year after that. I’m sure they’ll have no problem finding buyers for all they can make, but from GM’s standpoint the numbers are ridiculous. When Tesla roll out the “White Star” sedan, then they’ll be aiming for 10,000 per year, which is a big step up, but it’s still penny ante stuff from GM’s viewpoint.

The Tesla Roadster is technically impressive and should be highly competitive in the niche market of exotic sports cars, but it’s not ready to meet the needs of the masses. It’s too expensive, too small, and the batteries are only good for five years. Tesla expect replacement costs to run about $12,000 per battery pack. Ferrari owners aren’t fazed by that sort of thing, but it just won’t work for Joe Sixpack. Joe needs a battery good for the life of his car.

GM feel that the general pubic — in mass numbers — won’t accept a car with limited range and the other limitations of an EV1 or a Tesla Roadster. The PHEV strategy of the Chevy Volt is their way to remove those limitations from the equation, and it’s not a bad plan. The stumbling block is that a PHEV actually flogs the battery much harder. Because the battery is smaller and the electric driving range is smaller, the battery gets cycled a lot more frequently, and therefore it tends to wear out faster. The Tesla battery is good for 100,000 miles. If you put the same technology into a Chevy Volt then it would be wearing out after only 20,000 miles. GM are looking for a 200,000 mile battery for the Volt, and they are quite correct in saying it’s not ready.

Batteries have been invented which will probably work (re: A123Systems and AltairNano), but they haven’t been fully tested for automotive applications and put into full mass production yet. I’m optimistic that they’ll be ready by 2010 for the Volt. Of course Tesla will also benefit as batteries are improved.

By: Realistic

Realistic — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 06:19:13 +0000

Again with the bashing.. You love 100% electric cars.. We Get It!! Stop ranting and bashing alternative methods like hybrids, and biofuels (like ethanol, biodiesel, and hydrogen), as well as compressed air (MDI). Just because you are head honcho around here does Not make what you say accurate. As I tried to say in the post you made about the Hydrogen BMW, you need to get the Facts straight before you speak. Granted everyone is entitled to their own opinion.. However if you’re trying to promote technology and getting away from gasoline and moving forward, you are contradicting yourself by bashing the alternatives and touting the electric as the ONLY answer.. Which it is NOT. It will take a combination of all the green/alternative energies and fuels to move us forward until the better of them rise over the rest and so on in stages as the generations progress until we can find one superior energy source for everything.. But touting one over all others when you pick and choose to see and/or hear only what you want to and then rant.. it puts you on the same page as these idiots who drive around in 2 mpg cars, trucks, and suvs… Grow up and start doing your homework on this stuff before you ramble and rant. Judging by the photos, most of you are too young to know what most of this stuff really is.. I get my info from scientists and people who know what they’re talking about.. not newspapers and third parties trying to make a buck.

By: Wanting an EV

Wanting an EV — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:37:50 +0000

Even if GM releases the Volt I will give my money to a car company like Tesla first – I’m hoping they have a mid-size by then. I won’t buy any American car unless it’s all electric, and I won’t buy a GM because they had an obvious hand in killing electric cars in the 90s. The only way I’d buy a GM is if they release the Volt (for sale, not lease so they can take it back again) before anyone else has a similar offering. GM lost me and anyone I can influence as a future customer during my viewing of “Who Killed the electric car” – great movie.

By: EV Rider

EV Rider — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:37:08 +0000

The absolute best way to delay a technology, (say plug-in hybrid technology), is for some huge auto company to announce they are going to do it (and then sit on it) – then venture capital for companies like Tesla dries up – then you forget about it…Call me cynical, but GM will need to do a lot more than talk about their technology to get my attention. After all, they are the same company that crushed the EV-1 and campaigned so hard to eliminate electric plug-in stations in Los Angeles and elsewhere, cretins.