Go read this longish Atlantic article on what could very well turn out to be the first real game-changer in the automotive world — produced, improbably enough, by General Motors. The GM people my age know is a company made of Fail; few folks in the Heathen orbit and generation have ever even considered a GM product outside of the odd Corvette or Camarao (hi, Edgar) — especially if you eliminate the early, independent years of Saturn as an aberration — GM eventually absorbed the division and destroyed its independence and with it, its value.
Well, that may change. The Volt is a new kind of hybrid that GM is in very-nearly-bet-the-farm mode over. It’s electric-first — there’s an on-board gas engine, but its job is to run a generator, not drive the wheels. The wheels turn with electricity, never gas. Set to go 40 miles on a charge (i.e., more than the average commute), the Volt will mean that most owners buy gas only once in a blue moon. And GM wants it in showrooms for 2010.
They might just make it. And if they deliver on these promises and manage to escape their seemingly inevitable Fail gene, Heathen might just buy one.
greetings from London. Make sure and check out protests in Belgium tomorrow about oil. They were putting up tank baracades and barbed wire this morning on the way to Toal HQ. Was just lamenting my big push rod motor. Electric cars are interesting but I wonder if that really helps environment as most electricity uses GASP! Petroleum to produce it, and nasty shit too, No 6 Fuel oil. Dirtier than the diesel in my 92 dodge truck.
I think the point — which is in the story, IIRC — is that an electric-priority hybrid vehicle like the Volt might or might not be dependent on a dirty fuel for its main drive. It gives you an option that doesn’t exist with current hybrids or traditional internal combustion/combustion ignition vehicles. I think that’s smart.
barack obama of automobiles? so does it drive in all 57 states? Bwahahahahaha
true it could be run on Nuclear power plants. The other side to the equation is how much energy/resources does it take to build a new car versus and old. In other words, driving and maintaining that sweet porsche until you die likely would use less energy than the benefit of driving an ultra efficient new car. My biggest problem would be that there isno sound from the motor, I guess they could just sync a soundtrack from say a chevy small block…