Chevy Volt

[Darkstar]

@dyingwish

I disagree somewhat. Hydrogen recovery from natural gas is relatively easy, and places no additional stress on the available gas. The technology to displace it directly from water exists as well, using only electricity. As soon as packaging and cost for small home-installed hydrogen recovery units, it would be THE most viable solution for long-term energy dependance. Far more abundant than any other option, will eventually be cheap to produce…negating the need for “infrastructure” as we now know it. 60 years ago no one knew what the fuck a gas station was, so it’s seems plausible that 50 years from now there won’t be a station of any sort for vehicle refill on every corner…other than your then-bionic mother’s yogurt-catcher, that is :hsugh:.

Why would you want to extract hydrogen from natural gas when you can just run the car on natural gas?

@wtfpgh

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that what they’ve done isn’t commendable - they’re (supposedly; remember, we’ve seen GM do this once before in the past) bringing a practical EV to traditional consumers. I’m using Tesla to question how they’ve managed to produce it with a 40-mile range when a relatively new company without the buying leverage and R&D facilities of GM managed to accomplish much greater.

It’s a step forward in the sense that we’re reducing our need for fossil fuel, but a step backwards in the sense that it’s going to cause us to settle for using X gallons of fossil fuel instead of using 0 gallons of fossil fuel.

Tesla: 2700lbs/$120K
Volt: 3,500lbs/$40K

Thats why. It’s like saying “why can Bugatti make an 1,100hp car when Chevy, a bigger company, can only muster 630 out of the ZR-1?”

Different demographics. Different price range. Different level of performance. And you say that we’re going a step backwards? If your commute is less than 40 miles, you’re not going to burn a drop of fuel. This car isn’t built for long distance hauling.