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rohvemula
rohvemula
Driving Impressions: Chevy Volt
Rick DeMeis
8/2/2011 3:39 PM EDT
On the road at last
On a full charge I started out on a day in the low 100s F, from Boston to the mountains in New York State. Electric range was given as 40 miles with 315 miles of gasoline-augmented range. During stop-and-go and under highway limit speeds on the Mass Pike (with the air conditioner on), my EV-only range ran out at just under 36 miles. At the end of my trip (with a net elevation change from around 160 ft to 1,875 ft) I had gone 203.4 miles with an indicated 4.5 gallons used, which the onboard computer calculated as 44.6 miles per gallon.
After a full charge overnight, the indicted EV range was back up to 40 miles. But to show how potential and kinetic energy come to play in the Volt, a 1.7 mile drive down a steep hill starting out my trip next day boosted the EV range to 47 miles thanks to regenerative braking. Returning to my start at the end of the day after a hike in the Catskills produced totals of 263.6 miles, 5 gallons used, for a computer number of 52.1 mpg.
The third day, after another full charge to 40 EV miles to go, again demonstrated energy interplay. A morning trip to a nearby town included two long descents and two long ascents, and then the trip was reversed. The 16.5-mile trip was made entirely on battery capacity and at the end the computer said 19 miles of EV range was used. Because no gasoline was consumed, total mileage went up to 55.9 mpg.
The return to Boston the next day (starting on a full charge to 40 miles EV range) had some interesting results. With most of the "descent" to Boston at the start of the trip, I was able to go 48.1 miles in the electric only mode. The trip was made with the air conditioner on for most of the time, and the result was a grand total of 485.1 miles, 9 gallons used, for a computed mileage of 53.3 mpg. (The return trip was 202.4 miles, 4 gallons used, 50.1 mpg computed.)
After a week in the Volt, having put 5½ full charges into the battery, over a total of 621.3 miles, I used 11 gallons of gasoline, for a computed mileage of 56.4 mpg.
Some other touches I notice during my time in the Volt are the attention to cutting aerodynamic drag. For example, there's a low, but flexible, air dam under the nose of the car to direct airflow over the top of the vehicle. The side mirrors are set back and well away from the body to cut interference from the airflow off the windshield and reduce noise.
The car also has Sport and Mountain modes for "quicker" motor response (with a penalty of some economy), but even on my trip to the mountains I didn't feel the need to use them because the normal mode was more than adequate in climbing grades.
My one complaint with the car concerns the pedestrian warning system. Because the Volt is so quiet below 40 mph, a pedestrian warning has been incorporated to work at those speeds. This consists of pulling on the turn signal/high beam switch to flash the lights and emit an abbreviated burst from the horn—which seemed highly annoying to those inside as well as outside the car. (The system also embarrasses the driver when it goes off when simply lowering the high beams below 40 mph!) Better to have used a warning like the Nissan Leaf's with a high pitched sound constantly on that is hard to discern inside the cabin.
Conclusions
The Chevy Volt is no doubt a high tech vehicle. Even the touch switches with aural feedback on the center console (these are "spots" rather than distinct buttons) add to that impression. As to whether it is a practical car would depend on one's driving style and situation to take advantage of the excellent range on battery power alone—thus amortizing any battery cost penalty over a reasonable time.
On a full charge I started out on a day in the low 100s F, from Boston to the mountains in New York State. Electric range was given as 40 miles with 315 miles of gasoline-augmented range. During stop-and-go and under highway limit speeds on the Mass Pike (with the air conditioner on), my EV-only range ran out at just under 36 miles. At the end of my trip (with a net elevation change from around 160 ft to 1,875 ft) I had gone 203.4 miles with an indicated 4.5 gallons used, which the onboard computer calculated as 44.6 miles per gallon.
After a full charge overnight, the indicted EV range was back up to 40 miles. But to show how potential and kinetic energy come to play in the Volt, a 1.7 mile drive down a steep hill starting out my trip next day boosted the EV range to 47 miles thanks to regenerative braking. Returning to my start at the end of the day after a hike in the Catskills produced totals of 263.6 miles, 5 gallons used, for a computer number of 52.1 mpg.
The third day, after another full charge to 40 EV miles to go, again demonstrated energy interplay. A morning trip to a nearby town included two long descents and two long ascents, and then the trip was reversed. The 16.5-mile trip was made entirely on battery capacity and at the end the computer said 19 miles of EV range was used. Because no gasoline was consumed, total mileage went up to 55.9 mpg.
The return to Boston the next day (starting on a full charge to 40 miles EV range) had some interesting results. With most of the "descent" to Boston at the start of the trip, I was able to go 48.1 miles in the electric only mode. The trip was made with the air conditioner on for most of the time, and the result was a grand total of 485.1 miles, 9 gallons used, for a computed mileage of 53.3 mpg. (The return trip was 202.4 miles, 4 gallons used, 50.1 mpg computed.)
After a week in the Volt, having put 5½ full charges into the battery, over a total of 621.3 miles, I used 11 gallons of gasoline, for a computed mileage of 56.4 mpg.
Some other touches I notice during my time in the Volt are the attention to cutting aerodynamic drag. For example, there's a low, but flexible, air dam under the nose of the car to direct airflow over the top of the vehicle. The side mirrors are set back and well away from the body to cut interference from the airflow off the windshield and reduce noise.
The car also has Sport and Mountain modes for "quicker" motor response (with a penalty of some economy), but even on my trip to the mountains I didn't feel the need to use them because the normal mode was more than adequate in climbing grades.
My one complaint with the car concerns the pedestrian warning system. Because the Volt is so quiet below 40 mph, a pedestrian warning has been incorporated to work at those speeds. This consists of pulling on the turn signal/high beam switch to flash the lights and emit an abbreviated burst from the horn—which seemed highly annoying to those inside as well as outside the car. (The system also embarrasses the driver when it goes off when simply lowering the high beams below 40 mph!) Better to have used a warning like the Nissan Leaf's with a high pitched sound constantly on that is hard to discern inside the cabin.
Conclusions
The Chevy Volt is no doubt a high tech vehicle. Even the touch switches with aural feedback on the center console (these are "spots" rather than distinct buttons) add to that impression. As to whether it is a practical car would depend on one's driving style and situation to take advantage of the excellent range on battery power alone—thus amortizing any battery cost penalty over a reasonable time.
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Bob Lacovara
8/2/2011 4:59 PM EDT
It would be useful to get a meter on the charging demands, so that you could find out just how much energy you are putting into the car to do your charging. After all, you pay for the electricity, and Chevy's estimate of "equivalent of $1.50 gasoline" sounds a bit low, but maybe not... I'd like to know what's going into both ports, the gasoline and the electrical ports.
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Rick DeMeis
8/2/2011 5:31 PM EDT
So would I, Bob, but not with my "dumb" grid electric meter!
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Bob Lacovara
8/3/2011 10:18 AM EDT
Certainly, it's fair to ask what the cost to operate the vehicle is. These discussions often generate more heat than light, but if you play engineer, and draw a circle around your "system", you can ask sensible questions. My first circle would cut through the gas filler, and the electrical connection. Forget for a moment all the hoo-rah about generating the power, or getting the petroleum refined... those arguments become less and less easy to verify. However: you can easily know the cost and amount of gasoline going in the tank, and the cost and amount of electricity going into the battery. The result is a cost per mile for a particular Volt in a particular service. Not much to argue about there. For those of us for whom a Volt won't work (I drive an FJ Cruiser, and for a reason) we can at least enjoy the benefit of the noble, environmentally sound sacrifices made by Volt drivers (small car, limited capacity, no towing) so that we can drive our big, heavy SUVs. ;-)
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Peit3278
8/4/2011 1:25 PM EDT
The capacity of the Volt's battery is 16 kWh, but to increase the number of charge cycles, Chevy has limted the useable capacity to 10.4 kWh. Due to charger losses, requires about 12.5 kWh to fully charge. At 12 cents per kWh (national average is slightly lower than this) the cost to charge is $1.50.
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rohvemula
8/25/2011 11:08 AM EDT
Bob:
I own Chevy Volt. I took delivery of this vehicle on May 19th, 2011. Also I got installed 220 Volts charges under DOE program. To charge fully deplated battery it takes about 12 to 13 KW. Now you can compute how much it costs to drive about 35 to 40 miles per charge.
Chevy is one of the technologically advanced automoble in recent history of US Auto. It will take time to make this kind to maix perfection.
Many people commented about the price. It is expensive, no doubt about it. If one can offered it and need it should buy.
Everyone remembers that when Personal computer was introduced by IBM the cost was several thousands per PC. Now it is hardly couple of hundreds. When many cars of this kind produced and there is competetion to sell the price will come down. Send me your commets to my email vemula884@aol.com
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Lee Harrison
8/3/2011 9:37 AM EDT
One way or another the next few decades will see the end of private low-efficiency IC engines running on fossil carbon ... as the transportation of the masses. That will be unaffordable, which is how most people will increasingly experience it, rather than "unsustainable," which of course will be driving the unaffordability.
At the moment these electric vehicles and hybrids aren't economic, because they are "bleeding edge" new technology, and because the fossil fuels and pollution they produce are underpriced.
Large technology shifts are always painful, and often it is not clear what the winning technology will be. In this case it may not be batteries, there's a possibility it may not even be "automobiles" in the sense that they remain affordable to everyman. GM and the automakers investing in these battery cars are making a bet that they can improve the technology and costs enough to permit the automobile as an "everyone has one" product to continue into the future.
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Bob Lacovara
8/3/2011 10:24 AM EDT
My fear is that the "one way or another" in which we may see the reduction or demise of "low-efficiency" IC engines is that the Environmental Persecution Agency continues to levy unrealistic demands on the oil industry, and increasingly screwball requirements for fleet efficiency. (50 mpg? 75 mpg? 250 mpg?). And as far as the efficiency of an IC engine goes, what is it inefficient in comparison with? If we want to compare efficiency, let's do it from well known start and end points. My suspicion is that when electrical supply chain efficiencies are taken into account that gasoline won't look so bad. At the rate people demand "sustainable" this, that, and the other thing, we won't have any freighters on the ocean that are not powered by sail...
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rohvemula
8/25/2011 1:05 PM EDT
Mr. Harrison:
You are correct. I won this car Chevy Volt. I bought this car in May 2011. In one word it technically advanced auto.Thanks to GM to bring this car to market. This is not a cheap car. One can by Benz for this price. Now they bring the price down to affordable level by improving the battery range to minimum of 100 miles from 40 miles. Hope to see great future of this kind of technology and no one will venture to kill it. Unitl unless the cured oil come down to $10 per barrel level.
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dmcbrayer
8/3/2011 3:02 PM EDT
There is a device for determining how much household electricity is used to charge the battery in an EV. It's called "Kill A Watt", from P3 International (www.p3international.com). It is not overly expensive (I paid US$25 several years ago) and plug into a household 120V/60Hz oulet (NEMA 5-15). Several versions of the Kill A Watt are now available on-line and at the major hardware and big box renovation stores. I use mine for measuring the consumption of new appliances to get a baseline. It has a set of buttons to select the display parameter (Volts, Amps, Volt-Amps, Watts, Power Factor, Frequency of the incoming AC power and Kilowatt Hours).
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SoapyJohnson
8/4/2011 8:04 AM EDT
"Virtually sold out" because they've built 5% of the 100,000 planned, due to low demand since February's Chevrolet Volt 400 disaster ... http://placeitonluckydan.com/2011/05/nascar-pulls-plug-on-chevrolet-volt-400/
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DrQuine
8/5/2011 10:23 PM EDT
The miles per gallon rating achieved in the electric mode should also be modified (improved) to reflect that the short distance commuting miles covered in electric mode are the very miles for which the gasoline engine would have achieved the worst mpg. Doing errands around town typically achieves very poor mpg and these are the very uses for which a PHEV vehicle has the potential to work entirely with the battery.
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Bob Lacovara
8/8/2011 11:09 AM EDT
Dr. Quine, I'm not sure what you mean by "modified" when you mention the mpg in electric mode. Obviously, if you are running only electric, there is a direct cost to you to recharge the battery. Similarly, there is a cost of fuel if you are running a longer distance. Both of these can be observed. What's to be modified? Comparing these numbers to any of various alternatives is useful, but modifying the numbers to reflect the inefficiency of IC engines in short trips (which is certainly true) would merely complicate the comparisons, no?
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cdhmanning
8/7/2011 3:51 PM EDT
So how is this better than the Mini Cooper SD which achieves around 60mpg using just fuel without any battery charging?
People often forget a huge hidden cost in EVs: the amortised cost of replacing the battery. Depending on various factors, you might be looking at $5-$10k per 100k miles - about the same cost as diesel.
EVs might be fine as novelty vehicles, but the reality is that in most countries the grid is already maxed out. Even a 20% market penetration by EVs can't be achieved without a huge build-out of generation and distribution. When that rolling blackout comes, you won't get a charge.
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Bob Lacovara
8/8/2011 11:17 AM EDT
cdhmanning, it may not be any better at all. In fact, having a single motive source in a vehicle strikes me as almost always a better idea, overall, than having both an electric and an IC motor with the attendant complexity and maintenance. At 60 mpg, the Mini Cooper SD sounds like it could give any hybrid of similar size a run for its money. And you are correct: a cost often overlooked is the cost over time of the battery. But here's a difficulty: when you leave a relatively simple analysis of "what goes in the car, and what does it cost per mile" and begin to ask a more sophisticated "what is the overall cost of ownership?" then the analysis must be done with great care, so that apples are compared to apples, and skunks are compared to skunks... ;-) As to electric power distribution, your point is taken, but since we don't have the problem yet, and it's not really on the horizon yet, it's hard to worry about. Stations that change out batteries; stations that remove spent electrolyte and replace it with new electrolyte: all of these possible future infrastructures will come at a cost borne by the consumer. Here's something that's certain: if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. We aren't seeing any paths being beaten for hybrids or EVs because they are not sufficiently better than Corollas, Mini Coopers, etc. for enough people in diverse needs.
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rohvemula
8/25/2011 5:33 PM EDT
Bob:
I am curious to know taht do you own any EV? If so whcih one you own or driven any?
In USA either EV or some other vehicle is required for personal transportation. The present Chevy Volt should/will cahnge how we use the car. Now it is expensive. The technology of all kind of batteries are not optimized. Need to do alot of researh. Do you agree? If there is not demand there is not necessity to make and invent.
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rohvemula
8/25/2011 5:27 PM EDT
Mr. Manning:
One can not compare to MINI Cooper or any other autos to Chevay Volt. This is entirely different kind of car, no car exists as of now to compare.
Battery is guranteed for 100K or eight years which ever comes first. But GM did not recomends or suggests to replace the battery. If I am wrong please correct me.
It is said that USA have enough capacity to support even if all autos are converted to EV. Or New industry will be creasted. And the OIL will be used for other purpose rather than just use it in IC autos.
Tks
Roh
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DJH832
8/17/2011 3:22 PM EDT
I am curious about the performance after the battery has been depleted & the small gas engine
now has to power both the car & recharge the battery -- it must be very underpowered & sluggish under those conditions.
Don H.
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rohvemula
8/24/2011 8:38 PM EDT
I own Chevy Volt. There is not change in performance. It is fund to drive. This is technologically advance vehcile in many folds
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selinz
8/24/2011 2:01 PM EDT
once the MiniSD is reported on Fueleconomy.gov, you can make a reasonable comparison. European papers also reported the Volkswagon TDI's getting in the high 50's but when it showed up, an apples to apples comparison resulted in showed 31/43 city and highway. This is nearly the same as the 35/40 reported for the VOLT in GAS only mode. The value is 95/93 in electric mode.
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rohvemula
8/24/2011 8:40 PM EDT
Chevy Volt is completely different vehicle, can not be compared with any others. It is functional. Nissan Leaf may be advanced and pure electric. But after the battery is depleted in highway what do you do?
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