Comments on: Daily Podcast: Meta-Mucil

By: Davekaybsc

Davekaybsc — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:29:49 +0000

The whining about the GT-Rs lap time is getting tiring. Can anyone show me a track test where the Turbo beat the GT-R? These cars have gone head to head plenty of times, and every single one that I’ve seen, the GT-R has beaten the Turbo. Sorry Porsche, your car is slower around a track. Stop whining and get back to work.

By: joeaverage

joeaverage — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:14:51 +0000

EPA ratings? We often exceed those ratings in both of our cars…

By: stacymacklin

stacymacklin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:29:45 +0000

this is great. I love the volt its great. It will be great for city people, but i think its impratical for people in the prairies.

By: Phil Ressler

Phil Ressler — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:36:49 +0000

Volt is an electric car with an internal combustion generator on board to extend range. The car is an iteration of a platform architecture and nothing about it irrevocably ties the on board generator to gasoline power. Volt is a start, not a finish. It is the right next step in the evolution of private transportation, given available technologies.

How many people will elect to subsidize its market introduction through early purchase remains to be seen, but once the market comes to understand what Volt is, and the obfuscating press and blog chatter diminishes to be replaced by genuine comprehension, enough early adopters will emerge, price be damned. How rapidly the price benefits from expanding production and adoption is an open question now. Let’s just give it a chance in the market — how about that?

Phil

By: ZCline

ZCline — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:19:50 +0000

I think going 40 miles is pie in the sky. Sort of like the old EPA ratings for miles-per-gallon. Most people will never see them. Or, they’ll want to run their heater or AC. Or they’ll have to pass someone on the highway. I just don’t see it happening.

My feeling is most people will get 20-25 miles. Might still be enough for some, won’t be 40.

By: 1981.911.SC

1981.911.SC — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:32:51 +0000

The Volt is NOT that hard to understand.
For most driving, ~40 miles, you use the batteries. That saves $$ and oil. The engine is there as a back up and to extend the range. So you won’t get stuck with dead batteries if you exceed their range.
The engine does not recharge the batteries because it would cost way more than just plugging it in when you get home.
So for 90% of the time MOST people will not have to visit the gas station. AND many, if not most, people have another car more suitable to long trips.
I think the engineering is absolutely correct, time will tell if the Volt can be a commercial success. To me the $40,000 is the real draw back.