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Chevy Volt: Is This Our Future?

nytimes.com

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Re: Chevy Volt: Is This Our Future?

#5
I'm actually most concerned about the lifetime of the batteries. From what I've read, the batteries top out at 8 years, and presumably degrade before that. As the $20k Chevy Cruze is the same chassis as the Volt, I guess the batteries come out at ~$15k. That's a huge amount of money to renew use of your $40k car after 8 years (unless you see that $15k as some sort of investment in the environment).

The Volt design could/should succeed. But not with battery tech where it is. Those batteries need to do 10--12 years.

Re: Chevy Volt: Is This Our Future?

#6

Coal-Burning cars (er.. electric) are the future!

I've never understood this argument. I mean, yes, I get that all you're doing is moving the energy production somewhere else; but isn't that a GOOD thing?

My response to the "you're just moving" argument is that you're doing more than moving it, you're CENTRALIZING it. It's much easier to replace one coal plant with a nuclear plant or a wind farm (or 10) than it is to replace the thousands of cars that plant powers.

Am I totally wrong here?

Re: Chevy Volt: Is This Our Future?

#8
post #6

Coal-Burning cars (er.. electric) are the future!

I've never understood this argument. I mean, yes, I get that all you're doing is moving the energy production somewhere else; but isn't that a GOOD thing? My response to the "you're just moving" argument is that you're doing more than moving it, you're CENTRALIZING it. It's much easier to replace one coal plant with a nuclear plant or a wind farm (or 10) than it is to replace the thousands of cars that plant powers.…

No.

Re: Chevy Volt: Is This Our Future?

#9
post #5

I'm actually most concerned about the lifetime of the batteries. From what I've read, the batteries top out at 8 years, and presumably degrade before that. As the $20k Chevy Cruze is the same chassis as the Volt, I guess the batteries come out at ~$15k. That's a huge amount of money to renew use of your $40k car after 8 years (unless you see that $15k as some sort of investment in the environment). The Volt design co…

I wonder how the battery degrading will affect the depreciation of the vehicle which is usually the biggest financial drain of buying a new car.

Re: Chevy Volt: Is This Our Future?

#10
post #9
post #5

I'm actually most concerned about the lifetime of the batteries. From what I've read, the batteries top out at 8 years, and presumably degrade before that. As the $20k Chevy Cruze is the same chassis as the Volt, I guess the batteries come out at ~$15k. That's a huge amount of money to renew use of your $40k car after 8 years (unless you see that $15k as some sort of investment in the environment). The Volt design co…

I wonder how the battery degrading will affect the depreciation of the vehicle which is usually the biggest financial drain of buying a new car.

Once the batteries die, you've basically got a Chevy Cruze + a bunch of weight dragging down MPG, as well as buyers saying "this doesn't work," so I'm expecting it will deprecate through the floor.
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