Just as the winner of a 2012 Chevy Volt in our Drive for Innovation contest was announced, the automaker revealed changes for the 2013 version of the car that goes on sale in August. (But I don't think winner Ted Yan will be feeling all that left out!)
On the technology side, the major upgrade is increasing battery capacity from 16kW to 16.5kW, along with as yet undisclosed changes to the battery chemistry. These revisions result in the EPA electric-only range of the car going from 35 miles to 38 miles. Consequently, full recharge time on 120V goes from 10 hours to 10.5 hours.
GM says, based on Volt owners' experience and data, that battery life is not as sensitive as it first supposed -- which could mean future versions will use more of the battery capacity with deeper discharging to improve range along with charging closer to full battery capacity.
The list price (including destination charges) stays at $39,995, not including a US government rebate of $7,500.
For a close-up look at GM's Chevy Volt, go to the Drive for Innovation site and follow the cross-country journey of EE Life editorial director, Brian Fuller.
China holds only a small portion of U.S. debt. The majority of the debt is money 'borrowed' from the Social Security Trust Fund. If you would rather have factual information than hype, turn off FOX 'News' and listen to a variety of accurate news sources. Part of the reason Republicans want to 'fix' Social Security is to avoid paying back what they spent to replace revenues lost due to tax cuts.
Your estimate of 85 years may be a bit optimistic, robatnorcross. Here's a simple calculation: If we pay back at a rate of $100 million per day, assuming no time value of money, it would take 440 years to reach $16 trillion. I know the real calculation is far more complex than that, but it's still a stunning number.
Forgive me but "US government rebate of $7,500" is actually a tax bill for every man, woman and child in the U.S. My god son Kory (5yo) will be paying China back for the loan until he retires at age 85.
I wonder how sales of Volts would decline if all of us didn't have to help the $170,000 guys with their down payment. And NO i'm not against people making 170K.
P.S. I still haven't gotten over the govt (and union) take over of the company.
I still have some GM stock certificates I'll sell cheap if anyone needs to wall paper their bathroom.
Funny Kevin. We are so accustomed to the rapid advances in electronics that the development of these EVs is very frustrating. If there isn't some breakthrough in energy storage in the next few years, I don't see how EVs can survive as a viable consumer product.
I couldn't re-find the article about the 3 hour recharge at 220 volts. But I did find this clarification about the chargers: Apparently the Volt comes with a 120 volt charger, standard equipment. And an optional, extra cost, 'special', 220 volt charger is available.
Sure, the sticker price for the 240V Voltec home charging unit designed to quickly and efficiently recharge the Chevrolet Volt is a wallet-friendly $490, but this is a case where reading the fine print is important. That's because the cost to install this charger in your garage is slightly more. General Motors estimates that installation of the Voltec unit will cost you around $1,475, so we're talking about a near $2,000 premium to have your Volt suck down electrons faster than it would if just plugged into a wall.
The Volt can charge just fine from a standard outlet and comes with a 120V-to-J1772 charger. Using that method will take around ten hours to reach a full charge from empty, while using 240V charger Voltec charger will cut that down to around four hours. For people who have short commutes or plan to leave the Volt plugged in every night, a 240V system might be overkill since the Volt has a gasoline-powered generator on board to extend its range should the electrons dry up.
I think you've misinterpreted what OCKHAM meant. He was suggesting that having a 240/20 receptacle is NOT an uncommon circuit, even in a residential environment. For instance, many window/wall Air Conditioning units use just such a plug/receptacle configuration. It's designated as a NEMA 6-20(P/R). Regarding the Dryer receptacle, I believe he was suggesting that a receptacle of this rating COULD also be used in a garage environment for charging EV batteries. The NEMA designations for these devices are 10-30 or 14-30. No doubt the NEC addresses this specific requirement, and so a licensed electrical contractor would have the necessary guidance to install such a circuit.
And, maybe, just maybe, it's one helluva GREAT advertising con job that some smarta__ on Madison Ave. conjured up, so as to make you think that!!!!!
Sorry! But's that why I call myself OLD_CURMUDGEON. I doubt about 99.9% of everything that impacts my senses. I've been "across the street" too many times in my life to feel differently.
Wow...this is a stunning acheivement for Chevy! This enhancement in battery capacity and range isn't just the "rounding error" it appears to be - it will CHANGE EVERYTHING!!! The marketing people have carefully calculated the TIPPING POINT and adding this grain of sand will make the entire population want to buy VOLTs. (written with tongue in cheek, of course).
I would guess this is a second or third car that is more or less a toy. Or perhaps an attempt at being green. I wonder, though, how green it is to buy a whole new car you don't need.
IF I was in any way attached to the VOLT project,whether the janitor sweeping the floor or the head engineer, I'd be at my attorney's office now, signing the orders to change my name so that no one could associate me w/ this press release.
WHAT an abomination to waste the excitation of good electrons to light up the PC screen to print this! IF the press release from Chevrolet announced that the mileage rating of the VOLT was being raised from the paltry 35 to a significant figure like 100, then I'd say, BRAVO!, but in the meantime, they should hide their tales between their legs and slink off into the corners where they belong.
There's an article related to future vehicle design which is currently circulating. It describes Germany's dedication to installing hydrogen-refuleing stations throughout the country, 50 at present. This seems to me to be a far more intelligent use of forward thinking engineering. Design a vehicle with a small hydrogen-fueled engine which drives a high capacity alternator. Output that into either smaller batteries, OR super capacitors, and extract that power into high torque electric motors designed into EACH wheel. With modern control systems & intelligent firmware design, each wheel would receive the correct amt. of source to control it's vector depending on friction coeeficient to the driving surface. Thus, whether one is motoring in sand, snow, or paved super highway, the control of the vehicle would be guaranteed.
It seems to me that equipping EXISTING petroleum-based fueling stations with additional capability would be far less expensive than attempting to equip EVERY corner of EVERY street in EVERY town across America w/ a "charging station" for an electric vehicle fleet.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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