That looks way better than the durability mule we had at our facility a few weeks ago!
Sidenote: Oil surged to $83/barrel today.
The Volt requires premium fuel as it will stay “fresh” longer. for this reason the fuel tank is completely pressureized. the car can just use electric power if it is drivin within the 40miles and recharged every night. To prevent the fuel from going bad and to keep the engine running properly, the system will run in maintenance mode which will run the generator to prevent seizure of parts and to keep everything lubricated. it does this every couple of months if the generator hasnt been used.
@ Gl@res comment, motivate does mean propel, however it is not driven by a gas engine /driveline like traditional vehicles. tehcnically it is powered by a gas generator but DRIVEN by electric motors … thats the way i see it if you want to get fancy.
The vehicle is marketed towards those who want the best of both worlds (traditional car, and electric car) the range extender gives the user the ABILITY to say drive non stop from say toronto to ottawa (400kms) for the handful of times required in a year. without haveding to rent a car or have an aditional vehicle. while the leaf would be perfect for commuting around the area, one would have to wait to recharge on longer journeys.
when the volt is on extended range mode and used on long treks ( ie out of charge) it still gets the same, if not better mpg as a prius. i really dont know why people are hating so hard on it. to me you get the best of both worlds, completely emission free driving for daily commuting, but you have the ability to drive wherever (longer treks) with similar gas consumption as a prius. really its like having 2 cars in one.
but hates gonna hate i guess
I don’t “hate” it, it is just that 100miles and NO tailpipe and LESS money are much more attractive to me. Why pay all that extra money to get a psuedo electric car? Personally I drive more than 40 miles per day often but not more thAn 100.
Simple, because the Volt is a real car and can function as a primary vehicle. The Leaf, while impressive, simply could not function as someone’s only means of transport unless that person was willing to give up the freedom to travel more than the battery range.
Well then just buy a Fiesta and save huuuuuuge money. Simple.
Then you’re still using gas. The Volt can function for the majority of commuters entirely on electric power.
Its as simple as this, the volt’s 40 mile range isn’t enough for me to go to school, work, then back home. Thats closer to 50 miles. And I hear the ‘40’ mile range is closer to 30 in real use with heat/AC/radio… And the fact that you’re lugging around a small gas engine and fuel is silly if you ask me. Make a straight EV with big batteries taking up that space and weight. THAT would be a whole lot more ‘revolutionary’ or whatever they’re calling the Volt.
The Leaf is significantly cheaper, and PURE electric. If I have a electric car, all cares to efficiency goes out the window. No clunky transmission, no loud pipes to get attention, and its slow, so its going to be WOT off every red light. I doubt it would go 100 miles with lots of abuse, the heat cranked, wipers, headlights, defroster, cranked radio… But it should go 50 with ease, so it has my vote.
I really do like that Chevy is trying to get in the Electric car game. Its just going to be several years at least before they make anything id consider competitive…
So in return for using 1/3 gallon of gas a day, you gain the ability to travel > 75-100 miles at a time if needed. I’d say that’s a pretty good tradeoff.
^It is not just the gas it is the PRICE too. I can buy a lot of towing for the difference.
The volt just seems to be a failure that now has a crutch so they can salvage the project. Only time will tell .
Failure is relative for these. Both of them are probably going to be loss leaders, at least for awhile, regardless of sales.
I meant engineering not financial.
The additional cost of the VOLT just does not make it worth it to me…
Maybe if it was about the same price as the Leaf, it would be something worth looking at.
I dont really have a issue with my DD only going 80-100 miles. Its rare for me to do that.
Im not sure how well the Leaf would tow a 1000lb trailer, so id probably need a second car for that. I could use it for extended drives.
So if it works for you, then get a Leaf. But FWIW, the 1G Prius didn’t make economic sense either. I’m sure later generations of the Volt’s technology will make much more cost-efficient sense in the future, as the basic engineering will be done.
Personally, I’d like to see how a Voltec-powered Orlando would work, say for NYC cab duty. You could have a plug-in spot at JFK/LaGuardia/Penn Station for them to sit, so they could concieveably NEVER use gas in the city, yet be able to drop someone off in Jersey/CT/LI when needed…
But realistically, I doubt anyone on this board would ever go out to buy either the Leaf or the Volt, given the environment and lack of distributed charging available in Upstate NY.
most families have 2 cars, so I REALLY disagree with this statement.
My fiance drives MAYBE 10-20 miles a day. If we ever went on a roadtrip or she needed a car for the whole day by herself, she could just take my car.
I agree that the leaf cannot be the only car for an entire household, but you could DEFINITELY make it work as 1 out of 2 cars for a family.
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full charge in under 30 minutes.
Sucks to have to detour a road trip for that long. But, if I’m gonna save a whole bunch of money on a 10-12 hour trip it might be worth it. The range would need to be longer though. stopping for 30 minutes every 100 miles would SUCK. My current range for a full tank is around 250 miles. 11 gallons x 23mpg = 253 miles. If I am doing a 4 hour road trip that’s 3 full charges. At 30 minutes/charge, that’s an extra 2.5 hours tacked on. Double the range, and I’ll consider it. I’m not stopping every 100 miles for 30 minutes though.
You guys also realize that the leaf won’t get the full 100 miles just like the volt doesn’t get the full 50 right?
I need to add a little manliness to this thread before it grows a vagina and starts bleeding all over the place.
Minor point - the Leaf still won’t charge at that 30-minute rate from the get-go - and that 30-minute charge is only to 80% (not 100%). IIRC, Nissan put a restriction in place to keep the batteries from overheating.
Plus, the charger needed for that isn’t ubiqitous yet - and even at 220V, the charge still takes ~4-6 hours. And I’m wondering when that charger will become more populous, as one quote has a “level 3” (fast-)charger in Japan at $17,000…
Thought of the moment…
Hilary and other tree huggers wanted to lower the speed limit to save gas and pollution so I guess if I get a leaf I can drive as fast as the little bugger will go. 
lol, see the first 5 seconds of this clip:
apparently this is not 100% true.
There’s no need to rehash the details of the revelation GM made that the Volt occasionally will use its gas-powered engine to drive the wheels on occasion, at speeds as low as 30 mph. The problem wasn’t the details, but the way GM handled them. It had told the car’s tech enthusiasts that electricity would be the only force driving the wheels, emphasizing the difference between the Volt and all other hybrids, especially the Prius.
It’s pretty clear that the engine does mechanically drive the wheels at some points according to them.
lol @ the video above people are so stupid about not calling people gay…