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Detroit, 11:42 AM
Fri Dec 11
28 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Ninety-9 Ninety-9
    12/10/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt: There's An App For That
    +1 for Chevy using the blackberry instead of trying to appeal to the iphone crowd.
     Reply
    Ninety-9 was starred Ninety-9 was unstarred
    Image of SundaySunday SundaySunday
    12/10/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt: There's An App For That
    That's pretty cool. I could see setting up the recharge reminder app on my Blackberry and assigning a ringtone. Say, "Feed Me, Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors.
     Reply
    SundaySunday was starred SundaySunday was unstarred
    Image of Lite: hates Illinois Nazis Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
    12/10/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt: There's An App For That
    This being a GM vehicle and all. I'd like an emergency iPhone panic button that releases the trunk monkey.
     Reply
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was starred Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was unstarred
    Image of Mayor McRib Mayor McRib
    12/10/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt: There's An App For That
    Garage door opener...
     Reply
    Mayor McRib was starred Mayor McRib was unstarred
    Image of Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est
    12/10/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt: There's An App For That
    Stealing someone's phone just got so much more rewarding.
     Reply
    Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est was starred Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est was unstarred
    Image of Jeb_Hoge Jeb_Hoge
    12/10/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt: There's An App For That
    I'd think that remote locking and starting from a smartphone would be a neat thing to have. Since we're seeing keyless fobs so much now, just build the tech into an app. When RFID-capable phones arrive, it'd be badass to be able to code your phone to your car and have keyless entry, trunk release, remote start, and alarm monitoring built in, plus the car could connect to your phone for communication and entertainment.
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge was starred Jeb_Hoge was unstarred
    Image of Deamion Deamion
    12/10/09

    @Jeb_Hoge: I don't mean to be rude, but, why would you need remote starting? The motor only kicks in if the battery is very low. (Although remote climate control would be nice. Heat or cool the cab before you get in)
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge promoted this comment Deamion was starred Deamion was unstarred
    Image of Jeb_Hoge Jeb_Hoge
    12/10/09

    @Deamion: Well, I'm thinking about more than just the Volt, really. But yes, it's really just about the climate control.
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge was starred Jeb_Hoge was unstarred
    Image of Fractal the Meek Fractal the Meek
    12/10/09

    [Reading comprehension fail removed.]
     Reply
    Edited by Fractal the Meek at 12/10/09 7:24 PM Fractal the Meek was starred Fractal the Meek was unstarred
    Image of Steve_in_NC Steve_in_NC
    12/10/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt: There's An App For That
    I thought 'Q' had died.
     Reply
    Steve_in_NC was starred Steve_in_NC was unstarred
    Image of sos10 sos10
    05/19/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
    It sounds all very promising, the only problem will be the price, especially if some foreign brand van introduce the same kind of car for half the price.
     Reply
    sos10 was starred sos10 was unstarred
    Image of Chuckie_A Chuckie_A
    05/19/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
    Why do you need an engine of even 1.4l just to power a generator? Is it a parts bin item?
     Reply
    Chuckie_A was starred Chuckie_A was unstarred
    Image of Ben Wojdyla Ben Wojdyla
    05/19/09

    @Chuckie_A: It is a parts bin item, it'll be largely common with the chevy cruze, though the cruze will be a turbo version.
     Reply
    Ben Wojdyla was starred Ben Wojdyla was unstarred
    Image of felis_concolor felis_concolor
    05/19/09

    @Chuckie_A: For a series hybrid, the ideal power plant would precisely provide the mean power required over the entire trip - including periods where the vehicle was not being driven at all - and be set to run at WOT (its most efficient operating mode) to charge up the battery bank with programming that would recognize a basic start-stop "top-off" mode for in-city driving versus an "oh $#!+, we need to pour power back into the system now; we're going to be at freeway speeds for some time" highway mode. If the system were perfectly prescient you might well get away with a smaller capacity engine for the electrical generator, and for a commuter car which spends more time parking than moving around under its own power, the generator can recharge the system even while parked, which would reduce average power requirements even more. Compared to many compact car engines of the 70s and 80s, 1.4L is not especially tiny, but today's cars are bloated porkers in comparison, with a "compact" car often carrying as much weight as a late-70s G or Fox body. In this market, a 1.4L engine is a small fry; even Toyota's tiny Yaris and Honda's Fit sport larger ICEs under their hoods. I'll assume the engine is of higher displacement than might be absolutely, perfectly necessary in order to provide a comfortable margin over mean power requirements for extended highway cruising.


    Ben, that has me wondering if the engine was cycling at all during your test drive - and what were your impressions of it? I've felt the parallel hybrid systems were created specifically to be familiar to drivers who want to hear an engine spin up when they push the go-pedal, versus the "out of my hands" cycling of an independently controlled recharging system for the linear hybrid layout.

     Reply
    felis_concolor was starred felis_concolor was unstarred
    Image of Ben Wojdyla Ben Wojdyla
    05/19/09

    @felis_concolor: The system was well within it's 40 mile range, there was no engine cycling for this drive.


    And you aren't exactly correct on your assumptions on the way the generator works. It does not run at steady state and charge the batteries. In fact, once the batteries are depleted the engine doesn't charge them at all, it powers the motor and nothing more, responding to energy demands by revving up or down to meet the required load. The idea is to arrive home with an empty battery to take advantage of the cheapest possible energy source. Since electricity is so cheap compared to gas, using the generator to charge the batteries is a waste.

     Reply
    Ben Wojdyla was starred Ben Wojdyla was unstarred
    Image of Mike Delozier Mike Delozier
    05/19/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
    Kinda sounds like the review that Jeremy Clarkson just did for the Honda Insight, but he ripped that car to shreds.. even more so than the Chrysler Sebring.

    I don't think the auto companies are doing too much R&D on these cars, just put a basic concept together and rush it to market.
     Reply
    Mike Delozier was starred Mike Delozier was unstarred
    Image of Ben Wojdyla Ben Wojdyla
    05/19/09

    @Mike Delozier: On the contrary, that it is unremarkable is a testament to the amount of engineering they've put into it. Drive a Prius or an Insight around and it's a terrible, terrible car. The Volt mule here is just a normal, every day car with a very extraordinary drive train.
     Reply
    Ben Wojdyla was starred Ben Wojdyla was unstarred
    Image of GV_Goat GV_Goat
    05/19/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
    So... how many miles can you travel on a gallon of fuel?AND... wouldn't it be cool if the generator was a diesel???
     Reply
    GV_Goat was starred GV_Goat was unstarred
    Image of Mad_Science Mad_Science
    05/19/09

    @GV_Goat: Re: Diesel, yes. One of the advantages of this platform is that over time they can swap in different generator powerplants (or just more batteries) as needed.


    I'd say they probably didn't go diesel as it's still not as widely accepted in the US. They want to minimize the wierdness of this car to the general consumer.


    I believe it gets ~45mpg when running on generator power.

     Reply
    Mad_Science was starred Mad_Science was unstarred
    Image of robai robai
    05/19/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
    Hey, this is a nice big leap backwards from the EV-1's that GM destroyed a few years ago.


    [en.wikipedia.org]

     Reply
    robai was starred robai was unstarred
    Image of Mad_Science Mad_Science
    05/19/09

    @robai: In terms of range, utility, price and acceptability you are wrong.
     Reply
    Mad_Science was starred Mad_Science was unstarred
    Image of ssurfer321 ssurfer321
    05/19/09

    @robai: Do yourself a favor and watch this.
     Reply
    ssurfer321 was starred ssurfer321 was unstarred
    Image of Mad_Science Mad_Science
    05/19/09

    @ssurfer321: You did notice he linked to it already, right?


    @robai: So, we're talking about the aesthetics of a Volt/Cruze mule versus a mid-90s science project?

     Reply
    Mad_Science was starred Mad_Science was unstarred
    Image of Ben Wojdyla Ben Wojdyla
    05/19/09

    @robai: Arg, nobody "killed" the EV1, see my comment above. And this is a much, much, much more advanced vehicle than the EV1.
     Reply
    Ben Wojdyla was starred Ben Wojdyla was unstarred
    Image of Ben Wojdyla Ben Wojdyla
    05/19/09

    @ssurfer321: Even the subtitle is idiotic on that picture.
     Reply
    Ben Wojdyla was starred Ben Wojdyla was unstarred
    Image of PowerTryp is holding a Fiesta party. PowerTryp is holding a Fiesta party.
    05/19/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
    But the real question is, will they recall all of them and crush them? cause if so then shame. If only people had listened in the mid 90's to the EV-1 and Ford's electric Ranger.
     Reply
    PowerTryp is holding a Fiesta party. was starred PowerTryp is holding a Fiesta party. was unstarred
    Image of Ben Wojdyla Ben Wojdyla
    05/19/09

    @PowerTryp: sigh. the EV1 was not recalled. It was a leased vehicle with a limited field life. that was always the plan. GM did it to collect usage data for the next generation of the car... the Volt. They were crushed because leaving them in the field would have put GM at a tremendous liability risk.
     Reply
    Ben Wojdyla was starred Ben Wojdyla was unstarred
    Image of Karsten Von Urea for All Sales Event Karsten Von Urea for All Sales Event
    05/19/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
    Chevy Volt


    More 'Merkin
    Less Smug


    This means I'm allowed to like it.

     Reply
    Karsten Von Urea for All Sales Event was starred Karsten Von Urea for All Sales Event was unstarred
    Image of bygeorge bygeorge
    05/19/09

    @Karsten Von Tide of Man-stein:


    "mer·kin (mûrkn) n.: (first use, according to the OED, 1617) a pubic wig, originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia to eliminate lice or disguise the marks of syphilis. "


    Yup, that sounds about right...

     Reply
    bygeorge was starred bygeorge was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    05/19/09

    @bygeorge: I thought that too. Hearted.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of leavethegun-takethecannoli leavethegun-takethecannoli
    05/19/09

    In reply to Chevy Volt Mule: First Drive
    What happened to the edgy look?


    It gets more blah everytime I see it.


    That being said, I hope this works, because if they put a Cadddy body on this chassis, I would buy one.

     Reply
    leavethegun-takethecannoli was starred leavethegun-takethecannoli was unstarred
    Image of robot-shmobot robot-shmobot
    05/19/09

    @leavethegun-takethecannoli: That's because the put the Volt drive train in a 'mule'. A test car, per say. It's the body of a Chevy Cruze.
     Reply
    robot-shmobot was starred robot-shmobot was unstarred
    Image of Mad_Science Mad_Science
    05/19/09

    @leavethegun-takethecannoli: Reading comprehension fail.
     Reply
    Mad_Science was starred Mad_Science was unstarred
    Image of leavethegun-takethecannoli leavethegun-takethecannoli
    05/19/09

    @robot-shmobot: So they're going to go back to the "Volt" body style?


    Very cool then.

     Reply
    leavethegun-takethecannoli was starred leavethegun-takethecannoli was unstarred
    Image of leavethegun-takethecannoli leavethegun-takethecannoli
    05/19/09

    @Mad_Science: Totally.


    I just glanced right over the "volt-in-a-chevy-cruze" line.

     Reply
    leavethegun-takethecannoli was starred leavethegun-takethecannoli was unstarred
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