GM Chevy Volt

[dpeilow]

After Record Sales, Chevy Volt Production To Resume A Week Early

 

[JRP3]

Nice, glad to see they can react to the market in a sensible manner.

 

[GSP]

Driving 190 electric miles in a Chevy Volt blows up 35 mile range myth

Good story. I am amazed at what I can do with 35 EPA miles and a 3.3 kW (10 mph) charger. With more charging opportunities, and a 6.6 kW (20 mph) charger, the possibilities would expand significantly.

GSP

 

[dpeilow]

Dingell raps Romney for Chevy Volt remark - UPI.com


Trailer Hitch for 2012 Chevrolet Volt | etrailer.com

 

[GSP]

Tow at your own risk. If I had to, I would keep it light, slow, and infrequent.

Page 9-62 of the 2011 Volt owner's manual:


General Towing Information

The vehicle is neither designed nor intended to tow a trailer or another
vehicle.

GSP

 

[JRP3]

A 1000lb max trailer should be no problem. Mileage will suffer of course.

 

[VolkerP]

Driving 190 electric miles in a Chevy Volt blows up 35 mile range myth

Good story. I am amazed at what I can do with 35 EPA miles and a 3.3 kW (10 mph) charger. With more charging opportunities, and a 6.6 kW (20 mph) charger, the possibilities would expand significantly.
GSP

Yup, very remarkable how hard people try to drive the Volt like a 100% battery EV. Why not toss out the ICE completely? Add a little more usable battery capacity and a 6.6kW charger and you have a vehicle which does nearly all the Volt can do for less than $39k.

 

[rabar10]

Yup, very remarkable how hard people try to drive the Volt like a 100% battery EV. Why not toss out the ICE completely? Add a little more usable battery capacity and a 6.6kW charger and you have a vehicle which does nearly all the Volt can do for less than $39k.

"bridging the gap"

 

[jerry33]

Tow at your own risk. If I had to, I would keep it light, slow, and infrequent.

Page 9-62 of the 2011 Volt owner's manual:

General Towing Information

The vehicle is neither designed nor intended to tow a trailer or another
vehicle.

Toyota says the same about the Prius. However, people have been using the Prius for towing light (and sometimes not so light) trailers since the 2001 model came out and so far there have been no ill effects that anyone can document. There is even a Yahoo forum just about trailers.

The main problems with towing a trailer in this kind of car are that the brakes and suspension are not designed to control the trailer's weight during turns. And, of course, there is no frame reinforcement or handy electrical connectors.

 

[mattjs33]

I saw a Honda Fit with a trailer yesterday!

 

[JRP3]

Probably not rated for towing:

 

[GSP]

^^^^ WOW! That is one fancy rig.

GSP

 

[dpeilow]

The Right Flames the Volt - NYTimes.com

 

[Arnold Panz]

The Right Flames the Volt - NYTimes.com

Lots of good stuff in this op-ed piece and it's all applicable to Tesla. It's helpful to make sure that EVs don't become part of the partisan wars, which means basically half the country is going to reflexively dislike something if they're told it's from one party or the other.

 

[JRP3]

It's a little too late for that, in case you didn't notice. The Republicans have declared EV's and hybrids the enemy, just as they have attacked the Prius for years.

 

[W.Petefish]

It's a little too late for that, in case you didn't notice. The Republicans have declared EV's and hybrids the enemy, just as they have attacked the Prius for years.

I guess that I am the exception to that. (or my political compass rests dead center)

(Mod note -- Political compass comments that followed were split off to: Political compass test)

 

[JRP3]

Real conservatives probably do see the benefit, but the general Republican stance on all things EV has pretty much been negative for a long time. The recent pressure on Fox to stop the nonsense with the Volt is interesting because it's a complete flip flop.

 

[vfx]

... The recent pressure on Fox to stop the nonsense with the Volt is interesting because it's a complete flip flop.

Though of late they have gone to a fair and balanced (normal) reporting showing both plus and minuses of EVs.

 

[jerry33]

The recent pressure on Fox to stop the nonsense with the Volt is interesting because it's a complete flip flop.

News is now just another form of entertainment and has been for several years. No attempt is made to to present facts in an unbiased, rational, or even true manner. It's only about ratings and advertising dollars so it's no surprise that when ratings start to drop the reporting slant changes.

 

[Doug_G]

This is only the second Volt I've spotted "in the wild" around town, but it was parked just around the corner from my house:

Great to see more people driving electric.

(License plate number edited for anonymity).