Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Consumer Reports gives GM's Volt a thumbs down


This is the problem with tax dollars being used to prop up big business. Despite the rhetoric, it's not about "saving jobs" or looking out for the best interests of shareholders.

One of the reported problems with the Volt and other electric cars is extremely short battery life in cold weather. Where I live, it's not uncommon to get stranded for hours while waiting for a tow truck in inclement weather. I would not subject my family to that risk.

In addition, the existing power grid would not be capable of handling the increased demand for electricity if these vehicles were to become mainstream. Furthermore, coal and natural gas are used to generate electricity in most areas of the country. Not surprisingly, we never hear about the environmental ramifications of that.

By the way, if I were to commute to the office in a Volt, where would I plug it in? And, if I were to locate an outlet, who would pay for the electricity?
..."When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn't particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy," said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto testing center at a meeting with reporters here. "This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer."...

..."If you drive about 70 miles, a Prius will actually get you more miles per gallon than the Volt does," Champion said...

...Champion noted the Volt is about twice as expensive as a Prius.

He was said the five hour time to recharge the Volt was "annoying" and was also critical of the power of the Volt heating system.

"You have seat heaters, which keep your body warm, but your feet get cold and your hands get cold," Champion said....
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that sales of this boondoggle drag GM down.

Anonymous said...

Having the government involved in GM is a horrible, horrible mistake! My husband and I are convinced that the government going after Toyota was a shameless bid to make Toyota less formidable as competition. Now we know that there is not anything electrical that caused all of those recalls, but the gov't insisted Toyota recall all those cars, anyway. The press happily assisted in the destruction of Toyota's good name. I am very angry about that, and the naivete of many Americans in giving the administration a pass on that one.

When we are all forced into using electric cars, we Arizonans will cut the lines running to California from our nuclear power plant so we can charge our cars. Californians can learn to live without their cars, and we will sit in the lap of luxury; i.e., power! (Ha, ha, ha!) If I have power left over, any of you want some for a price?

AZ

You do realize I'm joking, don't you?