? GM baling on their version gen 3 car

[Chickenlittle]

Ackerman today in Washington said gas and natural gas are the future not electric. Claims driving by the dots not feasible. Gm will install natural gas refilling stations (what will these be called on map...dots or exes?). So I guess gm bowing out or maybe just need wind to change direction again?

 

[MikeC]

Whatever team GM assigned to study Tesla probably needs to study a little harder.

 

[skdave]

If GM says look up, wise folks look down.

 

[sleepyhead]

This Ackerman guy is so clueless that he should get fired. I am referring to the dots of course.

The dots are only the beginning, once the whole US is covered Tesla will continue building new supercharger stations so that you can take whatever route you want.

The dots are only the beginning and they cost only a few hundred million dollars. Once Tesla is raking in $20b in revenue they can easily double the number of dots.

See where the puck is going. The dots are only the beginning, before you know it there will be supercharger stations every 50 miles.

 

[Denarius]

So clueless, every house in America is a dot. Electricity is already everywhere.

 

[richkae]

Ackerman today in Washington said gas and natural gas are the future not electric. Claims driving by the dots not feasible. Gm will install natural gas refilling stations (what will these be called on map...dots or exes?). So I guess gm bowing out or maybe just need wind to change direction again?

Did he actually claim GM would install the natural gas filling stations?

 

[StapleGun]

How do I get a natural gas fueling station in my garage? While I wait on that answer, I'll start planning my next road trip using this map of free gas/natural gas stations in the US.

 

[yobigd20]

So clueless, every house in America is a dot. Electricity is already everywhere.

so is trash. trash is already everywhere.

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How do I get a natural gas fueling station in my garage?

eat beans. lots of beans.

 

[Discoducky]

He's taking the easy/cheaper way to fulfill his mileage, emissions and customer requirements (in his mind).

If he was actually speaking his mind he say "Batteries are hard, we can't figure out how to make them work like Tesla has and we have all this other stuff just laying around (ICE stuff) that is depreciating soooooo..."

 

[vgrinshpun]

This is actually very good news for Tesla shareholders, as it means that time window which GM would need to develop their own electric car platform is shutting up on them faster than Mr. Ackerman could count dots on the map. At certain point of time in not to distant future there will come realization that the only way they could avoid fate of Kodak and try to stay relevant is by licensing the proper electric drive train technology from Tesla. I would be very interested to see what such a prospect will do to Tesla's valuation models.

 

[Cinematechs]

I just think GM has it's roots implanted too deeply in OPEC. It's probably being spoon fed and doesn't want to cut off it's primary food supply.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

So I presume you meant Akerson.

They'll start going for NG. Seems like the same route as the HCNG. Sell to government because they have people carriers and don't care about the loss of trunk space.

The great irony is that GM's marketing insisted on selling the Volt as a gas-station avoider.

NG is a reasonable hedge but any success is entirely price-dependent.

 

[aronth5]

I posted this yesterday in a different thread but the point is pertinent here too. What if GM did the following. Use half of their annual 4.2 billion dollar advertising budget and install Superchargers in every American city/town. They could do it in less than 4 years @$250k per. Then build EV's with just 200 mile range and they could turn the car industry on its head. Of course you would need an real EV first:smile:

 

[mknox]

CNG was very big here in Ontario 10 or 15 years ago, but died down for some reason. Our Ministry of Transportation was pushing it big time. It is still cheaper and cleaner than gasoline and could be part of an energy future. I heard that a dual fuel (gasoline/CNG) Chev Impala is in the works.

 

[sub]

How do I get a natural gas fueling station in my garage? While I wait on that answer, I'll start planning my next road trip using this map of free gas/natural gas stations in the US.

Nice, thanks for the laugh.

 

[mknox]

How do I get a natural gas fueling station in my garage?

With one of these (assuming you have gas at your home for hot water, furnace, stove etc.)

 

[StapleGun]

With one of these (assuming you have gas at your home for hot water, furnace, stove etc.)

Wow, didn't know that existed. It says the home model has a flow rate of "1.2sm³/h". Any idea what the volume of a CNG tank is?

 

[Larry Chanin]

Dan Akerson’s Remarks to Energy Security Summit

Despite our success with advanced technology vehicles, however, the fuel of choice across our near-term planning horizon is still going to be gasoline.
That’s because we’re making so much progress in aerodynamics, thermodynamics, powertrain control strategies and weight reduction.
These “efficient fundamentals” are being complemented by advanced transmissions, turbocharging, “stop-start” technology and other features.
Together, they will help consumers go farther on a gallon of fuel and save money at the pump. They will save GM money too.
Without them, we would be spending up to $3 billion more on high-cost or unprofitable technologies to meet ever-more stringent state and federal environmental regulations.
Natural gas powertrains are one of the areas where we have increased investment because we believe the technology can satisfy the “green” needs of both the environment and stockholders.
I think T. Boone Pickens is spot on when he says that using more natural gas can transform our economy and raise our standard of living.

Larry

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CNG was very big here in Ontario 10 or 15 years ago, but died down for some reason. Our Ministry of Transportation was pushing it big time. It is still cheaper and cleaner than gasoline and could be part of an energy future. I heard that a dual fuel (gasoline/CNG) Chev Impala is in the works.

Per Dan Ackerson yesterday:

Now we are going to open up a new front.
I am proud to announce today that Chevrolet is going to launch America’s best car... powered by America’s fuel.
Next summer, we will offer the groundbreaking Chevrolet Impala with an engine that can switch seamlessly from CNG to gasoline.
There will be nothing like it on the road – literally.
Consumer Reports called the Impala the best sedan you can buy... and none of our competitors offers a bi-fuel passenger car.
In addition, the Impala will carry a factory warranty on the entire powertrain and fuel system... just like our other CNG vehicles.
That can’t be said about the vast majority of natural gas vehicles.
As compelling as the Impala story is, let me be clear about one thing up front: our volumes will be small, at least initially.
Most of our customers are going to be commercial and government fleets, and selling 750 to 1,000 units in the first model year would be a home run.
Why?
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars of private-sector investment, CNG stations are far from ubiquitous.
Today, there are about 1,200 nationwide and only about half are open to the public. This compares with more than 168,000 retail gasoline stations.
Companies like Waste Management are doing something about this issue.
Still, more needs to be done.
To give the CNG infrastructure time to play catch up, we got creative and engineered two energy reservoirs for the Impala, just as we did for the Volt.
This approach takes range anxiety completely off the table by offering 150 miles of range using CNG and an additional 350 miles on gasoline.

Larry

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More of Dan's words of "wisdom".

And it’s possible to drive 1,000 miles or more between fill-ups in a Chevrolet Volt or the all-new Cadillac ELR, if you do most of your driving in pure electric mode.
I bought one of the first Volts for my family, and our gas bills have been de minimus.
Over 10,000 miles, we have only spent about $75 on gasoline.
We take mostly short trips. But I like knowing that I can drive a Volt from Detroit to Palo Alto without having to play the EV-version of connect the dots.

Larry

 

[evmile]

Honda already offers a CNG Civic.

They won't let you have a home natural gas compressor due to water in the gas.

Also it takes quite a lot of electricity to pressurize the gas up to the level a car needs compared to how it enters your home.

 

[Discoducky]

I've got a buddy in SoCal who bought a CNG Civic to get into the carpool lane (time savings).

He explained that he fills up down the street at a station that supplies CNG at 3600psi!!!

I haven't done the math to figure out how much energy it takes to get CNG to that pressure but it can't be trivial