Green Technology: Government Motors' all-electric car isn't all-electric and doesn't get near the touted hundreds of miles per gallon. Like "shovel-ready" jobs, maybe there's no such thing as "plug-ready" cars either.
The Chevy Volt, hailed by the Obama administration as the electric savior of the auto industry and the planet, makes its debut in showrooms next month, but it's already being rolled out for test drives by journalists. It appears we're all being taken for a ride.
When President Obama visited a GM plant in Hamtramck near Detroit a few months ago to drive a Chevy Volt 10 feet off an assembly line, we called the car an "electric Edsel." Now that it's about to hit the road, nothing revealed has changed our mind.
Advertised as an all-electric car that could drive 50 miles on its lithium battery, GM addressed concerns about where you plug the thing in en route to grandma's house by adding a small gasoline engine to help maintain the charge on the battery as it starts to run down. It was still an electric car, we were told, and not a hybrid on steroids.
That's not quite true. The gasoline engine has been found to be more than a range-extender for the battery. Volt engineers are now admitting that when the vehicle's lithium-ion battery pack runs down and at speeds near or above 70 mph, the Volt's gasoline engine will directly drive the front wheels along with the electric motors. That's not charging the battery — that's driving the car.
So it's not an all-electric car, but rather a pricey $41,000 hybrid that requires a taxpayer-funded $7,500 subsidy to get car shoppers to look at it. But gee, even despite the false advertising about the powertrain, isn't a car that gets 230 miles per gallon of gas worth it?
We heard GM's then-CEO Fritz Henderson claim the Volt would get 230 miles per gallon in city conditions. Popular Mechanics found the Volt to get about 37.5 mpg in city driving, and Motor Trend reports: "Without any plugging in, (a weeklong trip to Grandma's house) should return fuel economy in the high 30s to low 40s."
Car and Driver reported that "getting on the nearest highway and commuting with the 80-mph flow of traffic — basically the worst-case scenario — yielded 26 miles; a fairly spirited backroad loop netted 31; and a carefully modulated cruise below 60 mph pushed the figure into the upper 30s."
What I find interesting is that they want the car to run on electricity instead of gasoline. Do they realize the main way that electricity is made? Through burning of coal? And how is that going to save the earth from it's demise? Because we're burning coal instead of gas? Yeah, OK.
Any investors out there looking to buy into GM (Government Motors) during their stock IPO? I owned GM stock when it was a publicly owned and traded corporation. Fortunately, I divested before the government seized control and those who owned stock lost their investments.
Yesterday, in response to the GM stock IPO, I purchased shares of Ford stock. Ford is the only U.S. auto manufacturer who rejected bailout funds.
What I find interesting is that they want the car to run on electricity instead of gasoline. Do they realize the main way that electricity is made? Through burning of coal? And how is that going to save the earth from it's demise? Because we're burning coal instead of gas? Yeah, OK.
It is funny, and its also the FRAUD of the entire alternative fuel Industry. From Ethanol, to biodiesel, etc. The ONLY non-fossil based power generation that does not depend on fossil fuels for part of the process is Nuclear. Even Solar panels have to be constructed using fossil fuels
"Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock out the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it is victorious." - Author Unknown
The only fuel that has the same if not more power than gasoline is hydrogen and it truly does burn clean but I'm sure some other form of energy source must be used to make the hydrogen.
Same issues, same discussion, same government proposed solutions.........................no results!
Nothing new!
But there will be billions of taxpayer's dollars doled out to any company who will 'attempt' a greener form of energy, that will ultimately fail, like it always has!
DRILL BABY DRILL!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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