MrEnergyCzar

I sure would like to see the breakdown of costs from Chevy. Any new technology is going to cost in the beginning…The 1st Blue rays that cost over $300..now you can get them for a third that. Cell phone minute charges were out the roof in the beginning…now you can get unlimited data plans for a fraction of what my mid 90′s bills used to be. I can name a thousand more examples.

Once the EV/hybrid/alt fuel technologies become more standard than fringe, you will have more factories overseas vying for a piece of the pie, producing cheaper parts, much like what happened with solar panels…thus driving down costs.

The Longevity is the one I question. With a conventional car, 50% of the energy a car will use in its life is used in the production of the car. (Refining raw materials etc.) With a super efficient car, one might expect that percentage to be even higher. So, to get real bang for the buck, the car has to last a long time. Otherwise, you are simply using the energy in a different place. (The factory.)

To gain efficiency, parts are made thinner, weigh less, and lighter materials are used. With a 300% or more increase in efficiency, one would expect some real compromises were made.

McAnimal, There are plenty of options out there, you are not held to gasoline. Nat Gas, electric, hydrogen, fuel cell, biofuels are all available, you probably don’t want to spend the money for them.

So I am saying we can have both, market appeal through performance and burn less gas or diesel. Right now we have lots of hybrids with needlessly large ICE and needlessly small electric motors. The Volt’s design is far better with the large motor, but they blew it in my opinion by not coupling it with a small light and efficient ICE.

I think they will have their reasons, or they designed the car for the US marked that do not accept as well the diesel as the European market.

As that for GM would be pretty easy to use a diesel engine, as they have the Opel (European brand) engines. Opel sells in Europe cars with 1.3l diesel engines with 95hp.

I think they would need to explain the mileage say 235 with wheel covers in place and something less with the wheels exposed to sell that design feature.

Since it is a plug in with over 20 miles of range, perhaps a comparison with the Ford Fusion Energi would be appropriate. Interior volume, trunk volume, weight, mileage, etc.

BTW, this design comcept reinforces the need for very efficient engines coupled with significant electic motor horsepower. Imagine this diesel in the Volt. It would have the volt’s performance, but get at least twice the range extended mileage (i.e. perhaps near 60 MPG) and over 500 miles of range.

So why didn’t GM figure this out??