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Detroit, 3:30 PM
Mon Nov 30
21 posts in the last 24 hours
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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.
05/19/09
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.
05/19/09
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.
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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.
05/19/09
[en.wikipedia.org]
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@robai: So, we're talking about the aesthetics of a Volt/Cruze mule versus a mid-90s science project?
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More 'Merkin
Less Smug
This means I'm allowed to like it.
05/19/09
"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...
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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.
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Very cool then.
05/19/09
I just glanced right over the "volt-in-a-chevy-cruze" line.
05/19/09
GM gets (somewhat legitimate) green cred and props from the Feds their beholden to.
All those people out there driving appliance cars that get ~30mpg can start driving these (or their competition) and get the equivalent of 50mpg or more.
Less fuel consumption and emissions from the masses opens things up for the enthusiasts. Fuel prices will go down as demand decreases.
As the air gets cleaner, people will be less stressed about whatever emissions are coming from assorted classics, sports cars or 4x4s driven the 5-10% of the population 10-20% of the time.
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You mean the bottom of the canyon.... after they go over the cliff? They will never make a dime on this POS. Diesel is the way.
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If it is raining, I wouldn't want to be near it as there is a chance of a boom....
05/19/09
General wetness is too resistive to be a problem.
@Flathead Smith: I dunno, but they managed to work out that whole 10-30 gallons of highly volatile and flammable liquid gasoline issue.
05/19/09
So the Volt was pretty much what it's supposed to be. No surprise there. It's still a really rad system, something that could sensibly see common use not far in the future. Not that many people drive more than forty miles in a day, after all, and this car gives them the choice to do either.
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"There's something wickedly cool about surging acceleration with no roar to back it up."
Or wickedly cool like sneaking up on kids and running them over.
05/19/09
I would think the acceleration would be better. It is fairly torquey, no?
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$35,000 POS.
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There are no more large elephants in the room, only hundreds of small ones
I love seeing cynical Germans tweak English idioms.
05/19/09