Volt Birth Watch 76: Debunking the Debunker
Published: August 19th, 2008
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We're all in favor of debunking the myths surrounding Chevrolet's plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volt. Of course, while TTAC's taking on myths like "The Volt will save GM" and "The Volt will be a reliable gas-free daily driver," The General worries that people believe the electric grid can't sustain electric vehicles. "We know that the charging of the Volt will happen at night," Volt-man Frank Weber assures. "When actually the consumption on the grid is lower. No air conditioning, no lights are on." Uh, OK. Myth 2: nobody knows what kind of battery the Volt will use. Huh? Myth 3: I want my GM EV! It's a conspiracy! Nope. It's a cutting edge deal. We couldn't do it before (even though we did). So now you know.
More by Robert Farago
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Why get upset over a few hundred chevy volts charging at night all over the country. Its not like they are going to sell hundreds of thousands of them! cough*prius*cough
KixStart: You miss the point. No, I don't: the car is only guaranteed to run 40 miles in a day on a charge. (Or whatever it will do.) So the rational choice is (ultimately) to charge it at night, when rates are cheapest. If you drive more than 40 miles on a regular basis, then what can I say except that you bought the wrong car. So, why not charge right away, in case I later decide to go out? Because you don't need to? A PHEV falls back to 'normal' gas-electric hybrid mode when the battery is discharged. Recall again the 40 mile/day stuff ...
Both sides are overstating the case here. There will be people wanting immediate recharge. The charger will likely be set to a default time (which can be overridden). Time of use rates would be pushed much harder if PHEV's started selling well. A seperate device can also be used quite cheaply without changing the home's meter that can give a discount on the charger only based on time of recharge. The same folks buying PHEV's are the ones more likely to go solar as well. Lastly, I believe pressure on the grid starts to go down as soon as most folks start to leave the office (5pm). Don't quote me on that one though.
It would be very foolish to rely on the consumer to make the intelligent choice on charging cars. The American consumer will do what is most convenient for them, as they are want to do.