Comments on: Toyota laughs while Chevy Volt battery power is ripped in half

By: Hybridgirl

Hybridgirl — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:11:22 +0000

Do does anyone one know what the cycle life is of these Volt batteries at 100% DoD? How about elevated temps, like 55C-60C? Lithium ion really degrades at those higher temps….

HybridGirl

By: Daniel R. Short

Daniel R. Short — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:14:18 +0000

The reduction in range affects two things only one of which has been mentioned. When the Volt goes from a 40 mile range to a 20 mile range and people who drive 20 miles begin to celebrate thinking they’ve only lost range, they should consider the significant impact to Depth of Discharge (DoD) and lithium cell life. Lithium batteries do not have the adverse memory affects of NiCad however they are significantly affected by high DoDs. Lithium will last longest if you maintain it at a standard temperature and when the DoD is limited. Ideally 10% DoD will result in batteries that last many years (7-10) while 50% DoDs will result in about a 20 or so percent drop in battery life and finally approaching 100% DoD will reduce battery life SIGNIFICANTLY as much as about 80%. Think about your cell phone. We routinely charge it only when the battery indicator turns red and flashes meaning we’re approaching 100% DoD and how many of us have had batteries in cell phones last much over two years… you don’t.

By: scott adamson

scott adamson — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:50:47 +0000

many people have watched Chris Paine’s Who Killed the Electric Car and they know that it was GM’s own ineptness at battery making that cast doubt on the range achievable. GM killed the electric car because there wasn’t enough money in it for them. Once again, GM and the other conglomerates are missing the chance to corner a very large commuter market. The ovionic battery put in their EV1’s two years after the EV1 hit the road did an admirable job and met the needs and exceeded the expectations of most commuting Californians. Car makers are not interested in producing an affordable electric vehicle-WHY! TATA motors wants to sell a brand new vehicle for $2500.00 in North America. Perhaps converting these to electric could be done for less than an additional $3000.00 Can you see the market for this $5500.00 all electric vehicle. Which automaker will take the HIGH ROAD and finally deliver what the customer really wants. Recent collapse of the SUV and Truck market should help with these decisions.For the ordinary person- check out companies that offer conversion to electric; many say that they can do it quite inexpensively and very well.

By: BOB LESTER

BOB LESTER — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:57:12 +0000

Guys all I care is that we need a car that works without oil…we have to ween off these g-d dam arabs. These g-d dam arabs are pushing us to the wall,,gotta do something to replace the oil

By: Emil

Emil — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:20:25 +0000

I agree with NSJ, I have a 9 mile commute and hardly drive more than 20 miles at a time. GM should offer a 20 mile range option with a smaller battery at less price. As far as Toyota is concerned, I realized they are not the so called Green company. They built the Prius just to woo the environmentally concerned people and make some quick buck.

By: Emil

Emil — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:19:11 +0000

I agree with NSJ, I have a 9 mile commute and hardly drive more than 20 miles at a time. GM should offer a 20 mile range option with a smaller battery at less price.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:11:12 +0000

I have no commute, but drive about 300 miles per week – all in one day. I’m hoping that the battery recharge capability of the Volt will also include the ability to generate AC (to run the computer I need in the car and possibly tools when on a job site).

In any case, the idea of having smaller and larger capacity offerings makes perfect sense. Aside from the additional cost of higher range batteries, that also includes additional weight, which I would assume would affect overall mileage/range per KVA (battery capacity).

So for the majority of drivers out there that don’t need the range I do, a lighter, less expensive configuration would only make sense. Even in my own situation, I would take into consideration the cost of the range versus the payout of using the gas recharge less often. I’m looking forward to running those numbers!

By: NSJ

NSJ — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:35:50 +0000

Offering a lower cost Volt with 20 mile electric-only range is a fantastic idea!! I (and many other I know) have commutes of 10 miles or less. Why should we have to pay for battery capacity we will never need?

By: David

David — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:49:10 +0000

What a dumb headline. Reading this was just a waste of time.

By: jerry Cherry

jerry Cherry — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:48:39 +0000

Offering a battery pack size option makes a lot more sense than not offering one. And who says that the range is permanent, as implied by this article. The article also is wrong in the number who can commute using 40 miles – it is close to 80%, not the 2/3rds claimed (66% for Jansen, the math challenged journalist). It looks like the Volt will sport a mid 40’s driving range and enable over 80% to commute using no gas, even without any workplace recharging. There WILL be plenty of recharging at the workplace,that’s for certain. And many other public venues – two towns in California are already installing outlets with free electricity for those paking in their center marketplace. The offering of a half sized pack is not just a reflection of high battery costs – it means that there are plenty of drivers out there who commute less than 20 miles – to be exact, the DOT stats demonstrate that 51% of commuters have round trip commutes of less than 20 miles. There are also those others who can recharge at their workplace. So why on Earth would either of these 2 groups want to spend an extra $8,000 for batteries they don’t really need? Especially when you realize that battery prices are going to come down and more can be added on later, should the driver’s situation change. Jansen has consistently missed the point about plug-ins – they are effective because they take advantage
of what should be an obvious fact of life – well over 90% of the time you are in your car on the road, you are within 20 miles of home. Optioning the battery pack size takes advantage of the fact that there are 51% of the commuters out there that DON’T NEED 40 miles of electric driving range in order to knock the stuffing out of their gas consumption, in the same way that 100% of the drivers DON’T NEED a 200 mile electric driving range to reduce their gas expenditures to pocket change.