"The Volt" May BE SCRAPPED!- NEVER BUILT!!

[cfg83]

Jammer -

Originally Posted by Jammer

I had overlooked your idea of listing the KWH of the gasoline generator! Yes, that sure would help us figure up the math if we had all of that information. I don't think I have read anywhere about how much electricity the gasoline engine charges the battery at, not yet anyway.

Also, I would like to know THE SIZE OF THE CAR! Some say it's a full size sedan, some say it will be based on parts from The Cruise in the Lordstown Ohio Plant known now for making The Cobalt and other SUB-COMPACTS in the past.

The Volt drivetrain used to be in a mid-size Saturn Aura, I think. Now the Cruze is the mule, so it will be something at or above the size of a Cobalt :

Billion-Dollar Baby: We Drive the Chevrolet Volt - April 28, 2009

...We were behind the wheel of an engineering prototype – a Chevrolet Cruze gussied up with a Volt drivetrain - but GM says it’s very close to what we’ll see roll off a Michigan assembly line in November 2010.

“This car is 80-plus percent of what you’ll see in the production Volt,” said Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for the Volt, said. “We’re on track.”
...

Here is one EXTREMELY out of date spec sheet :

Chevrolet Volt Concept Car Specs


CarloSW2

[srortega]

Here are some more believable specs...

Electric mode range:
40 miles – full electric vehicle (EV) range

Estimated fuel economy @ constant state of charge:
50 mpg during charge sustaining operation

@ 40 miles or less:
not applicable – no fuel used

@ 60 miles:
150 mpg

@ 80 miles:
100 mpg

0 to 60 mph:
8 to 8.5 seconds

Top speed (mph)
120 (limited duration)

[cfg83]

Hello -

Here is a timely article on the issue of plug-in hybrids :

The Truth About EPA City / Highway MPG Estimates - Feature - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver - August 2009

...
How will the EPA measure the mileage of electric cars and plug-in hybrids? Particularly tricky are upcoming cars such as the Chevy Volt, which can travel a significant distance on electric-only power. If the EPA were to run its fuel-economy tests with a fully charged battery, the Volt would burn no gas at all. So would the miles per gallon on the city cycle read “infinite”? According to the EPA, a likely solution is to test this new breed of hybrid twice—once in electric-only mode and again with the battery drained and the gas engine providing electricity—and then combine the test results. But should the two tests simply be averaged? GM argues that most customers will plug in the car at night and therefore be running on batteries the majority of the time, so the results should reflect a significant portion of efficient, electric-only driving.
Pure electric cars, such as GM’s EV1 of the 1990s and, more currently, the Tesla Roadster, have fuel economy stated in units of kilowatt-hours (kWh) per 100 miles. For example, the Tesla gets 32 kWh per 100 miles city and 33 highway, but these figures are Greek to American car buyers accustomed to miles per gallon. Which is better, 100 mpg or 32 kWh/100 miles? Everyone involved, including the automakers, seems to agree that all cars, including electrics, need to be rated on a mpg-equivalent basis where, for example, the amount of energy used by an electric vehicle could be converted into a volume of gas with the same energy content. All window stickers would then contain mileage figures in mpg. The EPA is currently in long, soul-searching meetings to agree on a standard; a draft proposal should be submitted by year’s end. Whatever the specifics, GM expects the Volt to carry a fuel-economy rating of well over 100 mpg.
...

CarloSW2

[Christ]

Originally Posted by srortega

Here are some more believable specs...

Electric mode range:
40 miles – full electric vehicle (EV) range

Estimated fuel economy @ constant state of charge:
50 mpg during charge sustaining operation

@ 40 miles or less:
not applicable – no fuel used

@ 60 miles:
150 mpg

@ 80 miles:
100 mpg

0 to 60 mph:
8 to 8.5 seconds

Top speed (mph)
120 (limited duration)

Of course, you're not going to get 40 miles to a charge if you're going 0-60 in 8 - 8.5 seconds, either.

[srortega]

Even as Detroit is felled by horrific 28% unemployment levels unseen in this nation since the Dust Bowl era, eight Government Motors’ Volts headed out for their first long distance real world test drive this month.
They drove on real world Government Interstates from Milford in Michigan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to see if they are going to able to make the transition from being just another concept vehicle - to actual reality, now that they’re government funded.

[Jammer]

Another report recently talked about GM testing The Volt cars down in The Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee (not far from here). Also Detroit actually has a lower unemployment rate than a couple other cities such as Flint, all of them in Michigan (' last I read up on it). Michigan is now leading the country is tv and computer advertising for employers to set up their shops in their state.

Recently I have been watching a lot of older TV shows on this computer on HULU.com, many from the 1970's. What strikes me as most interesting is how many of the prime time shows in the 1970's openly talked about the RECESSION in the 70's. By any study I am aware of, things are worse nowadays, yet little seems said about it on popular tv shows- I guess it's got to the point we just do not wish to be reminded of it. Or maybe it's about being politically correct.

I feel The Volt is sign, and/or a great example of where this nation stands today in 2009-2011. GM is now owned by the American, and Canadian Governments along with the UAW workforce. With all of this clout can an American car company ever take on the competition and win? Personally I feel GM has a chance to pull this off, but after so many decades of reading and hearing about all of the quality issues and mismanagement, not to mention all of the bad blood among so many taxpayers, I feel it's honest to say the jury is still out. I have heard for my entire life that GM is dying, and somehow they keep on going. For how long is yet to be seen. Will they keep operations in America? I feel they are trying but they increasingly seem to need to outsource more and more of their cars and trucks. When Henry Ford first started selling the Model T car it was well known that part of the success of the car was that the workers were paid a wage high enough to afford the cars they built. I feel things are heading the opposite direction now, and many car workers will no longer to be able to afford the very final products they are pouring their work into.

Was it Bob Dylan that sang something like "Times, they be a changing..."?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Jammer

...many of the prime time shows in the 1970's openly talked about the RECESSION in the 70's. By any study I am aware of, things are worse nowadays...

Going by my own experience, I have to disagree. The '70s were worse, both for me personally, and because the '70s had inflation and absurdly high interest rates. The other thing is that the '70s recession effectively went on for years, so that it pretty much became the norm.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Going by my own experience, I have to disagree. The '70s were worse, both for me personally, and because the '70s had inflation and absurdly high interest rates. The other thing is that the '70s recession effectively went on for years, so that it pretty much became the norm.

It's all about where you live and politics, which we have little control over. Personally I have been having employment problems since late 2008, right after gas spiked over $4.00 a gallon (usd). I am speaking of my own personal experience trying to find work and finding a room full of people applying for a single job opening on every single decent job lead I have got for a year. I have skills and I have even ran a small business of my own for a year or two. Before things were this bad I would of thought a person had to be lazy to have the problems scoring a job for as long as I have, but I know how many places I have got my resumes at and how seldom it's lead to anything but more horror for me. If it was not for the fact I have family here I would likely be in Texas, or some state further to the south as it seems those are the only places that I hear of that actually has real job openings. This is a contrast as compared to the 1990's for sure- but the 1970's I was too young to be looking for work then. All I know is in Michigan where I was raised it was not a problem for the adults I knew to find work when Carter was in office- but the inflation had prices going up real fast- I well remember that. Also, needless to mention but when I watch the Business news they seem to be in agreement we have seen the worse recession since the great depression, and that is a subject I just have never heard a disagreement over until you posted your case. Perhaps you can point me to a place that is actually hiring instead of firing?? Because it really stinks here, and this used to be a place where you would find a help wanted- application underneath your Bic Mac and Help Wanted Signs up on every street in the 90's.

It's all relative to how things are going for anyone of us. Somebody once said it's a Recession when your friend losses their job, and it's a DEPRESSION when you can not find a job of your own.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Jammer

It's all about where you live and politics, which we have little control over. Personally I have been having employment problems since late 2008...

Which has been a year. The recession and associated economic problems of the '70s went on for about a decade, from the end of the Nixon administration through Ford & Carter, and into the Reagan years.

As for finding a job nowadays, it sort of depends on what you're looking for. Factory or construction work I think you can forget about, but I'd just note that even with the current economic problems, the US is still importing skilled scientists and engineers. I've never seen numbers, but most of those who graduate from the programs I have contact with at the local university seem to find jobs soon after, or even before, graduation.

[cfg83]

jamesqf -

Originally Posted by jamesqf

...

As for finding a job nowadays, it sort of depends on what you're looking for. Factory or construction work I think you can forget about, but I'd just note that even with the current economic problems, the US is still importing skilled scientists and engineers. I've never seen numbers, but most of those who graduate from the programs I have contact with at the local university seem to find jobs soon after, or even before, graduation.

I like to say that our university system is the last educational gem we have left. We always saw "waves" of foreign students in our architecture department. I remember two waves of Thais and one wave of Indians in particular. And yes, a few stayed in the US. But, they were usually in government programs that required them to go back home and do X number of years of government sector jobs. That's how they repaid their scholarships.

In terms of importing white collar labor, I googled "+2009 importing indian programmers to replace US jobs" and found these examples :

Guest Workers Exposed - Chapter 2
(US American Programmers Association perspective)

Skilled Foreign Workers in the Job Market: Readers’ Views - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com - April 14, 2009
(lots of "everybody loses" comments here)

IBM To North American Employees: To Keep Your Job, Move To India (IBM) - February 2009
(I love Naan and Chicken Tikka Masala, but not that much)

CarloSW2