Posted on Thursday 14 February 2008
Everybody knows that hybrid cars are better for the environment than convention petrol and diesel models, in stop-start traffic at least, but with a new wave of plug-in hybrids set to hit the market in a couple of years GM is out and about promoting the benefits of its new technology. Speaking at the recent Hybrid Vehicle Technologies 2008 Symposium, the director of GM Hybrid Powertrain Engineering Pete Savagian touted many of the benefits of the upcoming plug-in hybrid.
Some of the highlights of his speech included tidbits like the fact that anyone driving a Volt less than 75 miles a day would use one-fifth the fuel compared to drivers using a conventionally powered vehicle, or the fact that most Volt owners would never need to use a single drop of fuel on their daily travels. Another area where the Volt would significantly help the environment is during engine starts. “Initial engine starts are a large factor in the total emissions produced by a vehicle,” Savagian explained, adding that the Volt would have 70% fewer starts than a convention vehicle.
Savagian’s claims are based on the real-world driving habits of more than 600 motorists in Los Angeles, information which was collected from a Regional Travel Survey conducted by the Southern California Association of Governments. “What we learned was pretty telling,” Savagian said. “The potential of the E-Flex technology to improve everyday driving is real.” One thing the GM exec didn’t discuss is when the Volt will eventually be released and how many shortcuts engineers are making to get it to production before Toyota releases its rival plug-in hybrid.
i wish some one would calculate how much pollution each state’s power grid makes, for every kWh of electricity… and then give electric cars an equivalent g of CO2 per mile rating.
this car will do a lot for pollution cause power plants are MUCH cleaner than the cleanest cars.. but the question is.. HOW clean. electric cars aren’t magic. power plants pollute too, and the public needs to know this. i can just see it now.. people even more smug than the current flock of prius owners.. smug about the fact that their volt is perfectly clean and they they live an existence that is at one with the planet.
….excuse me while i go throw up.
Excuse me Chris. Perhaps you meant to say, ‘excuse me while I grow up’
Your post is simply stupid, are you just as stupid? Or perhaps you are just one of those people who shot off at the mouth (keyboard) without thinking.
People HAVE calculated the pollution caused from generating electricity. Also, NO ONE claims the Volt is perfectly clean. Learn to read bozo (or am I expecting too much from you).
Only two words. Nuclear power.
If we want to use electric cars in the future (and it looks like we will), we need nuclear power plants. Many and soon.
david; clearly you haven’t read any of my other posts on this matter. I’m being sarcastic and imitating the current average american psyche. people want hybrid cars cause “hybrid” makes it sound like it is fundamentally better. people want electric cars because electricity is magic and it comes from the wall.
i’m an electrical engineer who has worked in several power plants and PERSONALLY i know exactly what the environmental particle emission limits are for coal, gas, nuclear, etc. but the average public will look at this car and say “it runs on electricity… its perfect”… its only as perfect as the power plant you’re buying your power from. yes,.. you can call up your utility and buy green power for a substantial markup.. but how many people will ACTUALLY do that? theyll just plug into the wall and say “i care about the planet”. this is why i say… excuse me while i go throw up. the point here is that no one has yet said “ok.,. on average, the american power plant puts out this much pollution for this much electricity.. now how far will this car go on that much electricity.. so how much pollution does it put out.. for how far it travels? this is how eco ratings are done in europe. MPG means fack all. the prius does 114 g/km… so how many g/km does the volt do? apparently people have calculated this… so please.. tell me.
maybe you should think before you shoot off your mouth.
look back and you’ll find that I have nothing but praise for this car. I always thought the prius was a scam because it isnt much different from any other small car. its got a fairly large 4 cylinder engine, something that could easily power that car on its own.. but this.. this is truly noteworthy.
raptor, thank you. we need nuclear. its simple really… they put out nothing but water vapour, and a small amount of radioactive material.. but that material is completely contained. disposal is relatively simple. find some place to hide it for 10,000 years. nuclear is the only kind of power that is massively available and nearly clean.. and the part that is dirty is containable.
People that can’t disagree with another’s post without resorting to insults and bad manners should be banned from this forum.