The electric car

[Carl Bill]

Originally posted by RonSS:
Watch for the GM Volt.

Great looking car.

I'm a GM fan. An american car fan! The US car companies have come a long way, they make great cars now.

Too bad the US citizens are still stuck with the need to buy a Toyota.
**** ....Toyota is dominating NASCAR...huge mistake on NASCAR'S part....just adds fuel to the freak'n fire.

I can see it now....."And the Prius of Kyle Busch is leading Daytona at an astonishing 58 mph...but his batteries are charged!"

Gads zooks.

BTW...I drive a Chev Coblat SS supercharged. 25mpg city, 34+ on the highway, and it has poop! Will run low 14's in the 1/4 mile.
The standard Cobalt does better...GM has forgotten to advertise this.

Also, notice less Excersions, Suburbans, Durangos, and less huge Diesel or gas pickups on the road? I bet you can buy one cheap. The 6 figure income folks don't care. Although my guess is the 6 figure income folks also lead in the credit card debt area. I know more than a few.

Ron

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ron! My daily driver is a Cobalt SS! Mine is the cheaper sedan with the non-supercharged 2.4 w/171 Hp, but it is fun to drive and not too bad on gas if I keep my foot out of it.

Actually, my 2004 Corvette can get as good or better mileage than the Cobalt! In last years Eureka Springs Corvette Weekend Economy Run, I placed! I recorded over 28 mpg in the contest (too many big hills), and I recorded an actual of 34.5 on the way back to Tulsa - not even trying very hard!

The Silverado K2500, however, is only used to tow the boat, tow the tractors and haul suff when necessary. I don't even care to figure out how bad it is on gas. :|

How often do you have to swap the batteries in an electic car? I assume that is not cheap. They will need to work on that to make the idea even a consideration for me...

[RonSSS]

Carl, good for you. They are nice cars. I added the stage 2 kit, added 40 hp and it gets even better mileage.
The vettes and Camaros are awesome on the highway. Way ahead of Dodge and Fud.

But GM doesn't advertise this. Instead, they advertise trucks, SUV' Cadillacs etc. They still are! Drives me nuts. The new Malibu rates as good or better than a Camry, or Accord. I've never seen an ad. They have great products, but are plain STUPID in the advertising.

Our gov't...thanks Bush...hasn't demanded increases in fuel economy. My tweaked 90 Olds Quad 442 Calais did better than my Cobalt.,And it was as fast.

I dunno....I think it's a political mess.

Can't wait to buy heating oil for my house this year....

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ August 07, 2008 01:24 AM: Message edited by: RonSSS ]</font>

[Carl Bill]

My wife drives an 08' Malibu with the same 2.4 as my SS Cobalt. It does well on gas and is a very nice car for the $$$.

I hear ya on the heating oil. We have a propane tank now at the new house. It cost $400.00 to fill it 80% (all they will allow) in April. I expect it will be higher next time around. Good thing we only use it for cooking and backup/emergency heat on the heat pumps!

[Old Guy]

Her's an example of the kind of writing I dislike:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/08/air.car/index.html

Although they at least have comments from an unbiased engineer.

I read the business plan. They are going to franchise small factories.

Wanna bet the darn thing doesn't work after lots of people buy franchises?

I'll put up a fifty that says these are NOT in production by 2010.

I just don't htink there is any "quantum leap" out there. Vehicles will improve in hundreds of small increments, not a few big ones.

I'm not against any new technology. Just against deluding people.

The public wants a savior. they ain't one. We'll have to save ourselves.

Sorry I just can't feel sorry for people who bought SUV's. Maybe the first time gas prices blew up, but not after several times. It's just like signing a mortgage without realizing your payments are gonna triple- just plain dumb.

[bfish]

Originally posted by Carl Bill:
... In last years Eureka Springs Corvette Weekend Economy Run, I placed! I recorded over 28 mpg in the contest (too many big hills), ...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Was that 412 to 23, or the REAL hills on 62? Either way, killer MPG for that stretch!

Lots of good live music in Eureka's watering holes. You were just a few miles from my fishin' hole too...

Originally posted by RonSSS:
...Our gov't...thanks Bush...hasn't demanded increases in fuel economy...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Why would he? After all, his primary (legal) income is from oil...

[selmerdave]

Originally posted by O G:
Sorry I just can't feel sorry for people who bought SUV's. Maybe the first time gas prices blew up, but not after several times. It's just like signing a mortgage without realizing your payments are gonna triple- just plain dumb.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm with you there. As a society we (the North American public) have bought into the idea of big cars/SUV's, as well as much more powerful cars in the last 15 years and as a result we use much more gas and supply is shorter and guess what happens to the price? Not the only issue but it's hard to know how big an issue it is without the data.

I find it hilarious the degree to which the consumption rate data are ignored. By that I mean that I have never, through all these price hikes over the last many years, found an article in any publication or heard any journalist discuss the issue *with data* about gasoline consumption. Can anyone point me to data about consumption in the last few years and relative figures a decade ago? I have looked before and been unsuccessful. Another one I would be curious about is the average EPA highway rating for cars sold in the US (ie. average rating of the combined total of all units sold) and again compared to some years ago.

Dave

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ August 11, 2008 02:09 AM: Message edited by: selmerdave ]</font>

[selmerdave]

Originally posted by RonSSS:
But GM doesn't advertise this. Instead, they advertise trucks, SUV' Cadillacs etc. They still are! Drives me nuts. The new Malibu rates as good or better than a Camry, or Accord. I've never seen an ad. They have great products, but are plain STUPID in the advertising.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't think the advertising is necessarily out of step with the direction of the company. After all, they stopped development and production of their electric cars way back when, and have been going for the short-term buck with the big SUV's for some time. This despite the absolutely inevitable long-term result. It's not the american car image to be sensible and economical, and they are not visionary enough to redefine that. That's what bugs me, they could have been brave and gone for the future and been the forerunners of new technology but instead they gave that up to Toyota and Honda and went with what was selling that month.

BTW, expect to see *nothing* but SUV ads now that they are dead weight on dealers lots, they are just desperate to get rid of them to offset the size of the losses.

Dave

[LICORNE]

Pierre Couture Physics Engineer at Hydro Quebec
has the solution for the electric car, His Rotor Wheel which delivers 95 HP each is the most powerful electric motor so far. It would cost 100K
for a car equipped with such wheels. But with the sheer volume the price could come down substantially.

So what is 60 minutes on CBS waiting for to get an interview . CBC has all the tapes.

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[Old Guy]

95 horsepower is hardly the most powerful electric motor.

Anyway, I'll believe it when I see it as I said. Repeatng isn't going to change anything- cars on the road will.

[LICORNE]

95 HP FOR EACH WHEEL. There are 4 wheels on a car for a total of 380 HP.

...........................