Snicker - How's that EV Working for You Now

[Art]

https://www.wgntv.com/news/chicago-n...winter-freeze/

Yep, if you want to get anywhere much at all don't turn on that heater and good luck with those charging stations. There can be a price to "virtue signalling."

But seriously, can you imagine trying to get out of town in an emergency with one of these things?

[Allen]

This is where the Chey Volt (no longer made) had the advantage of a small engine that would auto-start and charge the batteries. The engine was too small to power the car but big enough to charge the batteries.

I wonder if the same couldn't be done with a very small generator? One of those you see advertised for "tailgate parties". Small as in: small enough to travel with and small as in: not using much gas.

A EV would work for me. I travel very little and make short trips. There are NO re-charging stations nearby that I know of. It would only pay off if the car was free. Meanwhile, I'll continue to top my tank off once a month.

[Art]

This is where the Chey Volt (no longer made) had the advantage of a small engine that would auto-start and charge the batteries. The engine was too small to power the car but big enough to charge the batteries.

I wonder if the same couldn't be done with a very small generator? One of those you see advertised for "tailgate parties". Small as in: small enough to travel with and small as in: not using much gas.

A EV would work for me. I travel very little and make short trips. There are NO re-charging stations nearby that I know of. It would only pay off if the car was free. Meanwhile, I'll continue to top my tank off once a month.

Technically the Volt was called a "plug in hybrid." There are several companies that have a plug in hybrid in their inventories. I think those, and the more conventional hybrids are a much better option than the pure EVs but the Utopians want to phase them out too. I can see myself owning a plug in hybrid but not an EV. My brother had a friend who owned a Volt and liked it a lot. He drove it purely as a commuter car, used almost no gas and his electric bill increase from charging at home was about $15.00 a month.

The heater problem in EVs is real. In a gasoline powered car the heater uses waste heat from the engine. The EV has to use an electric heater which is why the range is so degraded when it has to be used. If it's 10 degrees and you don't want to dress like an Eskimo while you're driving to work you absolutely don't want to be far from a charging station. What goods a heater is you can't use it practically when you really need it?

[dogtag]

People who drive EVs are saving the rest of us
from baking to death from global warming.
Those idiots deserve our thanks.

[PWC]

I'm on my 3rd Prius now. 1st lasted 8 yrs before the $4K battery went bad. Traded in on new 2016; bent it in Dec, 2022. Insurance allowed $22K for trade in on new 2023. Every time I get in the new one, I feel like I'm going to Le Mans. Roof is 2" lower than others, harder to get in. Filled up last week, got 55+ mpg.

Because of Biden's war on energy, and forcing the EVs, I wanted another Prius as the best of both worlds, and mileage. Guess I should say, 1st one was only in the shop for one recall on the water pump that could affect the Hybrid cooling, and scheduled maint. 2nd one only for scheduled maint. 3rd, so far only scheduled maint (once)

[Allen]

Technically the Volt was called a "plug in hybrid." There are several companies that have a plug in hybrid in their inventories.

The Volt was a plug in like all the others with batteries. The difference was you didn't have to plug it in. You could let the small gas powered generator charge while you drove. In fact the batt range was only about 40 miles before the gas gen took over. It operated much like a diesel locomotive. Elec power = no conventional trans or clutch. All the gas engine did was charge the batt that the Volt ran from. It did not power the car like the hybrids.

[Art]

The Volt was a plug in like all the others with batteries. The difference was you didn't have to plug it in. You could let the small gas powered generator charge while you drove. In fact the batt range was only about 40 miles before the gas gen took over. It operated much like a diesel locomotive. Elec power = no conventional trans or clutch. All the gas engine did was charge the batt that the Volt ran from. It did not power the car like the hybrids.

All true. It is called a "plug in hybrid" because it uses gasoline to power the generator that runs the wheels as in a locomotive. Any vehicle that burns gasoline/diesel or anything else to supplement the battery power whether the gasoline engine actually transmits power directly to the wheels or not is technically a hybrid.

The fellow I mentioned who owned a Volt had about a 20 mile commute to work and plugged the car in every night so in his case the little gasoline powered generator did very little work. It would be great if one of these cars could be built with even a 100 mile range...I'm sure it could be done with a little ingenuity and work.

[Allen]

All true. It is called a "plug in hybrid" because it uses gasoline to power the generator that runs the wheels as in a locomotive. Any vehicle that burns gasoline/diesel or anything else to supplement the battery power whether the gasoline engine actually transmits power directly to the wheels or not is technically a hybrid.

The fellow I mentioned who owned a Volt had about a 20 mile commute to work and plugged the car in every night so in his case the little gasoline powered generator did very little work. It would be great if one of these cars could be built with even a 100 mile range...I'm sure it could be done with a little ingenuity and work.

If the Volt was still around it would probably be there. Batt tech has improved since then and I feel the batt capacity on the Volt was minimal to reduce weight/increase mpg. It seems more thoughts were put into this end of it instead of a total batt powered car.

The main thing that killed the Volt was the price. They were over $70K when introduced. Over time the price with the gov't (tax payers) incentives drove the price to near half of that but still too much vs the return on savings.

With a setup like the Volt though if you were traveling and needed a re-charge you wouldn't be forced to wait in long lines--just drive till you found a suitable charging station or fill the gen with gasoline.

[PWC]

There was a Volt in front of me yesterday at a stoplight. I didn't know about the Volt, until here. It is smaller than my Prius, so it wouldn't be a travel car for a family.

I've used my Prius' to travel back and forth to OK easily. As an aside, once while traveling in Texas at 75-80 mph, a little red Smart car passed us not going slowly. My wife and I laughed as it pulled out of sight. Didn't know something that looked like it belonged on the sidewalk could go that fast.

[Johnny P]

The people pushing them sure didn't look happy.

[dogtag]

Smart Cars are great for nipping around town and parking,
but they don't look very survivable should you get hit
by something bigger.

[Allen]

Smart Cars are great for nipping around town and parking,
but they don't look very survivable should you get hit
by something bigger.

Which would be most anything else.

- - - Updated - - -

As an aside, once while traveling in Texas at 75-80 mph, a little red Smart car passed us not going slowly. My wife and I laughed as it pulled out of sight. Didn't know something that looked like it belonged on the sidewalk could go that fast.

It may have been on "rinse" cycle.

[Art]

If the Volt was still around it would probably be there. Batt tech has improved since then and I feel the batt capacity on the Volt was minimal to reduce weight/increase mpg. It seems more thoughts were put into this end of it instead of a total batt powered car.

The main thing that killed the Volt was the price. They were over $70K when introduced. Over time the price with the gov't (tax payers) incentives drove the price to near half of that but still too much vs the return on savings.

With a setup like the Volt though if you were traveling and needed a re-charge you wouldn't be forced to wait in long lines--just drive till you found a suitable charging station or fill the gen with gasoline.

The technology is still around and most if not all car companies now make "plug in hybrids." There is, of course, a premium. Toyota makes a plug in hybrid variant of their RAV 4 crossover small SUV. Its electric range is 42 miles which is on the high end for current cars with this technology. It will cost about $39,000.00 compared to about $33,000.00 for a conventional RAV 4 powered by the traditional internal combustion engine technology. Toyota also makes a plug in hybrid model of the Prius with the same electric range as the RAV 4 but it comes in as the surprisingly high price of $42,000.00 compared to about $29,000 for the standard hybrid model .

[PWC]

The people pushing them sure didn't look happy.

I assume you don't mean the ones in the dealership trying to get you to buy, but rather the ones behind the discharged battery car...