Comments on: Best Answers to the Riddle of 230 MPG

By: Ramiro

Ramiro — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:51:23 +0000

I agree, “the power company would make more money”… but our efforts are bringing a new and exciting technology to fruition – and to the detriment or betterment of same. Who would of thought, a self generating Pure EV. Thanks for your comment. rc

By: Daniel F

Daniel F — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:35:31 +0000

This is a great idea, I would love the idea of pluging my car at home to get the maxium mialage possible, all i do is ten to Twelve miles a day. This will be great if gas rationing happens again. Baby boomers will never forget the gas shortage in the 1970s also with gas and electric combined with 50+ a gallon how can you go wrong, its a no-brainer. All I’m waiting for is for the Prius from Toyota to add a plug feature to their hybrid so i can get an extra 10 to 15 miles more per day that is the extra i am waiting for! It would be my dream if they added solar cells to the roof of the car that trickle charged the batteries for an extra 10 or 15 miles a day who cares if the sun does not shine every day every other day is fine with me, i know they have solar cells now but they use it for a fan to keep the car cool when parked, I would rather keep my windows cracked open and reap extra mileage. Adding mileage to the car is key. That is what baby boomers want!

By: Victor

Victor — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:15:23 +0000

GM got the missleading 230mpg as follows:

Off peak cost of electricity: 5.0 c/kWh
Average cost of Gasoline: 2.55 $/Gal

So $2.50 buys 1 gallon of gasoline or 51 kWh of electricity.

if 8.8 kWh of electricity gives 40 miles of city driving
Then 51 kWh gives about 230 miles.

For the cost of 1 gallon of gas you get 230 miles of electrical driving. This is missleading and depends a lot on the cost of gas and of electricity.

A better calculation is:

1 Gallon of gas: 130 MJ of energy
1 kWh of Electricity: 3.6 MJ of energy

So 1 Gallon of Gas = 130/3.6 = 36 kWh of electricity EQUIVALENT

if 8.8 kWh of electricity gives 40 miles of city driving
Then 36 kWh gives about 163 miles.

The Volt will have a REAL electrical mode ENERGY efficiency of: 4.54 Miles/kWh or 163MPG EQUIVALENT.

Although the energy comparisson is correct and realistic, the economic one from GM may be more meaningful for the actual user.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:37:36 +0000

Where I live it costs almost two cents a day to run a 1600 watt hair dryer for five minutes. Sounds like some EV users are as prone to exaggeration as some car owners/manufacturers.

By: MarkW

MarkW — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 08:19:19 +0000

See SAE J1711 as the most likely candidate for the EPA’s PHEV testing rule and in particular Argonne National Laboratory’s work on this standard.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:06:40 +0000

As noted, the Prius plugin and Volt are plugins. That’s why I compared them. The battery comment was intended to imply that I trust Toyoto’s current battery technology while due to Chevy’s past performance, I’m less sure of safety issues until they actually have a marketed performance rather than their usual marketing nonsense. Show me don’t sell me.

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:18:23 +0000

"the risk of [batteries] catching fire, especially in an accident"

ROTFLMAO!

Question: Which is more likely to be a "problem" if your vehicle is wrecked and catches fire?

A) 15 gallons of gasoline

B) a few hundred lbs of batteries

As for replacement and disposal costs ... well, the batteries may be expensive to replace (but cheap to charge), but it seems the gas tank takes a lot to "recharge" even if it does have a longer lifespan.

Disposal issues after use? Well, you breathe the fumes from your ICE, you tell me which you'd rather deal with.

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:13:15 +0000

Repeat after me:

THE CHEVY VOLT IS A PLUG-IN HYBRID.
THE CHEVY VOLT IS A PLUG-IN HYBRID.
THE CHEVY VOLT IS A PLUG-IN HYBRID.
THE CHEVY VOLT IS A PLUG-IN HYBRID.
THE CHEVY VOLT IS A PLUG-IN HYBRID.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:36:47 +0000

Well, Harry you seem to have have axe to grind. For me caring an axe like a Neanderthal gets in the way of bottom line honesty. Both the Volt and the Plugin Prius are next year cars and most valid for comparison.
What you left out was the cost of hauling all those heavy batteries, the risk of them catching fire, especially in an accident, the replacement and disposal cost, and more important the battery charging and discharging efficiency(based upon my estimates to be improved as facts warrant) of 90%charger x70%Batteryinx70%batteryout
x98%converter x 90%motor = 39%Overall
Wow, Electrical systems have a lot of losses also.
The most valid way of comparing is by using fixed mileage cost plus variable mileage cost for both electric and fuel operations using honest figures for fuel, electricity cost, interest, depreciation, and repairs(wbattery). Refinements can include taxes and projected mileage for individual local conditions.
These calculations can easily be done on a spreadsheet or a website.
By the time the Volt is out, given Chevy's bad marketing development and cost control records, other companies will be in there like "biting sows". Nowadays, the future contest is not as fully decided by illusions from dishonest marketing groups but more so by honest engineering and facts. (The Neanderthals may still buy the high margin illusion, but the tech savvy will not.)

By: harry stone

harry stone — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:02:52 +0000

lol all the Pompus people are upset now because they realized their hybrid is now last years technology.

They will wine and moan for years stating how the prius is so much better than anything to justify the hefty price they paid for a toyota. The problem is prius people have to pay an extra 5k at the dealer to get one.

hybrid=temporary technology

Now the Volt that is pure electric is so much more efficient

well basic electrical engineering tells you

electric motor = 98% efficient ( volt is pure electric)

Internal combustion engine = 30% ( pries is a combo)

So the volt will basically leap way over the pompus people

and then they will wonder why they paid 35k for a car that only gets 50 mpg.

The volt is the technology for the next 10 years