Chevy Volt driven by ABG (and good video on Jay Leno's Garage)

[euromodder]

Well, they've driven the finalized versoion, and the result is far removed from the initially claimed 230 mpg.

Review: 2011 Chevrolet Volt — Autoblog Green

We drove the Volt over the course of four days and put around 165 miles on the clock in mixed driving. During that time, we purposefully drained the battery a few times in order to give the 1.4-liter engine a workout, but also kept the vehicle on the charger and in a climate-controlled garage when not in use. At the end of our stint, we burnt a whopping 2.064 gallons of premium fuel for a final average of 79.94 mpg.

While the numerical value may look good, it means that despite doing only 165 miles in 4 days - average 41 miles, very close to the Volt's electric range - they still burned 2 gallons of fuel in addition to using the battery power.

Doing any longer trips is only going to make things worse.
Given the elevated price tag if you can't get all the rebates, this is one for the eco-yuppies.

[Old Tele man]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Hello -

Accidently found this image :



This means the Volt is designed to ride about 2" lower than the Cruze.

CarloSW2

...duh, that 2-inch "drop" in CG is directly due to the "low" postioning of the batteries.

...talk about Detroit "double-speak"! -- hey, let's turn a deficit into an advantage...you know all that low-slung battery "weight"? Well, let's advertise it as "lowered-CG for bettery handling" and see if they (we?) buy it?"

[Hubert Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Yes, you're right. It's just that I've been hoping that the "ideal" would be viable in the real world, aka an engine designed to run at a single RPM. They also ditched the 1.0 V3 Turbo in favor of the 1.4 V4.

CarloSW2

1.0L Inline 3 (I3) vs 1.4L inline 4 (I4) there were only ever a few automotive V4 engines, mostly from Lancia, Ford of Germany, and SAAB.

[cfg83]

Old Tele man -

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...duh, that 2-inch "drop" in CG is directly due to the "low" postioning of the batteries.

...talk about Detroit "double-speak"! -- hey, let's turn a deficit into an advantage...you know all that low-slung battery "weight"? Well, let's advertise it as "lowered-CG for bettery handling" and see if they (we?) buy it?"

Actually that's not really a Detroit thing. EVs advertise this all the time :

Electric Vehicle (EV) Safety

With more and more EVs on the road the safety of EVs is being closely studied. To date, findings are positive and have shown that several EV features maximize safety. For example, EVs tend to have a lower center of gravity that makes them less likely to roll over. EVs have less potential for major fires or explosions. And the body construction and durability of EVs enhance vehicle safety in a collision.

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

Hubert -

Originally Posted by Hubert Farnsworth

1.0L Inline 3 (I3) vs 1.4L inline 4 (I4) there were only ever a few automotive V4 engines, mostly from Lancia, Ford of Germany, and SAAB.

You're absolutely right. My mistake. I am not nuanced when it comes to car-speak. I will sometimes call my four-banger a V4 because I am borrowing the V8 term.

CarloSW2

[Old Tele man]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Old Tele man -

Actually that's not really a Detroit thing. EVs advertise this all the time :

Electric Vehicle (EV) SafetyCarloSW2

...in Politics, it's called "Spin."

...in Marketing, it's called "Hype."

...in reality, it's called "B.S." (wink,wink)

[MetroMPG]

That was funny, Old Tele Man!