I'd LOVE to have a Chevy Volt. Unlike Mr. Murray, my drive to and from work each day is within the electric drive range of the Volt. I currently own two cars and a pickup truck. I would LOVE to thumb my nose at big oil.
Would I BUY a Chevy Volt? No way, not at that price! Not included in the purchase price is the price of a new battery every year or so ($3000?). OUCH! Would I save that much in fuel costs every year? Not quite.
Also, I know the hassles one must go through to be an "early adopter." Been there, done that. When all the bugs are wrung out of the first year's model, and when the price of ownership drops below $30K, THEN I will look seriously into buying one.
But in the meantime, if someone wants to send me one to test for a year or so, I'll gladly drive it around!
I still see this car as a second vehicle as opposed to a primary vehicle even for someone like me who doesn't have a commute to work (I work at of the house). That said, my family does regular road trips of between two or four hours each way and the battery range issue would be a concern. As Chuck and Robinr note, however, the price point is far too high at this stage of the game to make this a viable second vehicle option (or a first car choice for many in this economy).
I certainly would NOT buy a Chevy VOLT, BUT I might buy a Ford "JOULE" or a Plymouth "AMPERE" or a Toyota "WATT". However, this vehicle would have to be able to travel on the U.S. highways & byways at least 600 miles in all weather conditions, whether 95º heat or 15º cold, with rain, snow, etc. Charging would have to be as simple AND quick as getting fuel is now, AND, when the batteries are permanently depleted, I should be able to go to SEARS, ROEBUCK for a drop-in replacement DIE HARD!
If the volt were not as expensive as a luxury car, I would be thinking about it, and if a Volt sold for $17K to $20K, I would consider it very seriously. There are quite a few things besides price that are probably show-stoppers, however, which include serviceability and the availability to charge the vehicle.
I would purchase a given vehicle if it met my needs, rather than because it was "green" or "cool", since I feel no urge at all to simply impress people.
One of my biggest concerns would be how it would survive the huge amounts of road salt that are applied to all roads in this part of Michigan every winter. The conditions are far worse than the US Navy salt spray test, and the amount of vehicular destruction that results is large. Any vehicle that could last more than 5 years under these conditions would be a good candidate. BUt, would you spend some $8000 for a new battery pack for a vehicle that might fail after another 2 or 3 years?
No - I want the electric part enhanced for additional range and reduced complexity. A single engine, battery powered vehicle should be simple and reliable for 90% of the the trips I make. So for total miles this electric vehicle will become the primary car for driving. With range extending charging infrastructure, the anxiety over where can I drive to will reduce as the ability to recharge is increased. I see a number of comments on cold anxiety - when the vehicle is plugged in it can be warmed with AC electricity for both the cabin and the battery. And when you reach your destination, a hitching post would provide the same function.
At that price? No. Also, in much of the USA, the more "plug in" your car, the more of a coal/NG/nuclear car you are driving. ~64% of your electric mix. Think of an EV as a coal powered car with a magic NIMBY exhaust system.
My daily commute to work is 7 miles one way, so I could easily drive a Chevy Volt for 2 to 3 days before recharging, but I will not buy one at any price. In fact, I will not buy any GM car again. Two years after I bought my Chevy Corsica, it was discontinued. 4 years after I bought my Saturn, it was ..... discontinued. Wonder how long they will manufacture the Volt before they discontinue that.
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
On April 21, NASA launched a novel project, putting into orbit three satellites that employ an off-the-shelf commercial smartphone as the control system.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
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.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
