Where Do I Sign Up for a "Chevy Volt"

Who pays $1.16/kWh for electricity?

That writing sounds like it was done by a worried or very misinformed oil company executive.

A friend of mine has a Volt (2012) and he goes around 40 miles on a charge and gets about 35 MPG when running on gasoline. His commute is a bit over 40 miles round trip, so he makes it to and from work without burning much, if any gas.

I like the concept of the Volt and electric cars in general. I decided to go with a Cruze for a daily driver that costs half of what the Volt does and still gets 40+ MPG.

 

The national average is about $0.12 / kWh. Some places may be double that or so, I don't know for sure. Either way, that is a far cry from $1.16.

I pay about $0.08, I would take a Nissan Leaf as a 2nd car or a Chevt Volt as a first car in a heartbeat.

 

Tidal generation has always intrigued me. Located correctly, I always thought that would have a lot of promise. Storage was always the issue.

 

True, you can say that about alot of "red blooded American professions" too though.
I'm all for green energy, but cramming it down people throats like Backwwoodssavge pointed out, is not only wrong but coercive force.

If it's so great you don't need to make it law or force it or give special tax breaks or incentives, if it's great the free market or people wanting it (demand) will buy it and drive it.
I think there is a point where tech will catch up but we are years away from that point.

 

Not really relevant, but just before the Volts were available, I was passed by a slew of them up Vail Pass one afternoon. Yes, I was in a heavy welding truck so no great feat to pass me . I passed them however, at the summit. They were all pulled over at the pull-off, lead car was smoking. Don't know what happened, didn't care at the time.
Even with all the publicity about the car at that time, I knew it wasn't a mountain car. Curious about the effects of cold temps. on battery life/ charge?

I see new models almost weekly running around up here. Altitude testing. The camo. is a dead give-a-way, pretty funny when you think about it.

 

I am by no means a "greenie". However, I am a "conservationist" and I do like to see the technology progress to use the sun, wind and the tides to produce electricity. I believe that battery technology is progressing and having the ability to store the generated energy that is produced by the sun, wind and the tides will increase the use of those sources of power. The technology needs to advance, and it will, so that the multi-fuel vehicles will come down in price and become more widespread.
There probably needs to be a new term to describe me, not sure what that is?
Great thread.

 

Im not Mr. Green either, but I do think it makes sense to at least be aware and sensitive. To me it's just common sense that fossil fuels are a limited supply. I know company's are finding more all the time, but there really can only be so much of it out there.

Here is a link to the Tesla battery, power wall
Powerwall | The Tesla Home Battery

I've been watching this, and following the solar developments. We are trying to relocate, and would like to be way out of the way. Running power lines is not cheap, and this could be a viable alternative depending on how the $'s shake out. The problem is financing for building, the banks look at you like you have three heads if you say you want to build "off the grid". There is also the wishing to be independent aspect...kinda like firewood.

 

I'm with you on needing a larger fuel tank.

 

Curious .
What conditions are put on subsidies if any?
There's gotta be a limit.
I'm for them if it fast tracks a reliable proven product to market. But they shouldn't be long term . The products success or failure should be the limit. As with anything real world useage has a tendency to bring out the bugs.

 

Sadly, the numbers we hear when people talk about the advantages of wind power are over inflated.

Only 4% of the power used in the US is generated by wind. We often hear how much power a mill can make instead of how much power is made... On average, wind mills produce about 40% of their maximum capacity.
Mostly due to lack of wind and the wind blowing while the power load is down.

 

A lot like the Polaris Slingshot.
My neighbor bought the Slingshot last year. It's really just like riding in a convertible car.

 

I have been watching that one, for sure!

 

Been a long time coming!

 

I see what you did there!

 

My employer put 2 of those up in our parking garage. From what I can tell there's no charge to use them, it's almost tempting to look into an electric car if it really is free to use. After a year I've only noticed one of the stations being used on a regular basis out of the 1,200 or so employees that are in the building.

 

Google electric car charging subsidies.
Probably cost next to nothing or they made money putting them in.