We're a 2 Volt family now

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

"Can a Volt (or Tesla Model S) REALLY last an hour or two in hellish stop-go commuter traffic in the middle of winter when it's 10 degrees outside and you absolutely need to run heat, defrost and lights / wipers to avoid getting killed? Can it be counted on to be reliable enough to get you through blizzard conditions during an emergency without risk of literally freezing to death in your car when the heat goes out? These are real issues for some people and some of them live not that far away from here. I'm just wondering if they're "real" or if they need to be only kept around and used as a supplement to a conventional internal combustion type vehicle."

I can't speak for a Tesla, but a Volt would be better under those conditions than an IC car. An IC is sitting there using it's fuel reserves to keep a useless engine running. A Volt only uses as much energy as is required to run the heat, AC, or wipers. The AC when running constantly uses 2 kw. There are 10 kwh available from a full battery. So the AC would run continuously for 5 hours, or more reasonably it would cycle on and off for many more hours. Then the ICE would fire up and the same system would be gas-powered, as in a conventional car. Same with the heater.

Thanks - I wasn't aware there was a standby source of power / hybrid type solution (thought these were 100% battery only so thanks for dispelling my ignorance and shedding some light on things).

Enjoy!

My sales guy recommended we get the package with seat heaters so in some temps, it's not necessary to run the engine for heat.

[RF5BPilot]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

The point is, federal, state, and local governments use financial incentives to encourage a desired behavior....

Exactly. Which includes:
- deductions for children
- interest on your mortgage,
- etc.
which the moaners have used.

Whether we like it or not, we'll see more electric vehicles long term....esp. as more sources of electric power come on line and it's consistent with a desire to become less dependent on foreign oil. Makes sense to help a fledgling industry become reasonably sophisticated in advance.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

My sales guy recommended we get the package with seat heaters so in some temps, it's not necessary to run the engine for heat.

Exactly.
I found a lot of good deals on Volts without seat heaters and passed. I like to keep my wife's behind warm and happy.
If you want to pre-heat the seats before you get in your car there is a iPhone app that lets you turn the heater, defroster, and seat heater on from your phone. If your car is plugged in it uses charger power instead of battery power.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Sort of like Janitrol units in some twin-engine airplanes I've flown (it's a pain and a lot of extra weight to run ducted hot air from wing mounted engines to the cabin so they install what effectively is a small jet engine that only exists to create cabin air heat and in a few cases, emergency reserve electricity).

What? Are you talking about an APU which among other things provides ground power and air for engine start.

787 everything is done with electrical power

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by RedBaron

I'm sure in the duration of his life he has paid 10k in taxes... you guys aren't covering him. He is just gaming the system a little bit; i'm sure wealthy businessmen do the same. How many of you have kids that go to school and have Pell Grants?

Nice car, glad you're enjoying it.

...

How many of my kids have pell grants? NONE.
We pay our OWN way in life.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by rick-l

What? Are you talking about an APU which among other things provides ground power and air for engine start.

787 everything is done with electrical power

Nope, this is on some piston twins I've flown in (Seminole, Archer, Chieftain, Navajo, 310...). It's a tiny unit, nothing nearly as big as what you'd see on a turbine aircraft.

Does the 787 use an APU at all? That must be a heck of an electrical current draw to turn turbofans with just an electric motor if not!

[Tobra]

I don't recall getting a multi million dollar bailout, screwing my stockholders over and then getting a huge subsidy to sell a product that has already been massively subsidized by the aforementioned bailout, so this is a little bit of a unique situation.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Congratulations Patrick, well done! There are a few Volts around here, handsome cars. One would be perfect for all of my runaround driving but I'd want a wagon of some sort. That would be the perfect Boston car.

Side note, a ton of Teslas around, in Camry quantities. Not sure what that's all about.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Does the 787 use an APU at all? That must be a heck of an electrical current draw to turn turbofans with just an electric motor if not!

Yes

And to keep it related to the original thread the 787 has lots of new electrical power distribution, battery, generator and motor technologies which unfortunately come with a high development cost,

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/articles/qtr_4_07/AERO_Q407_article2.pdf

see page 2 of the no bleed air article

[Jay Auskin]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Exactly.
I found a lot of good deals on Volts without seat heaters and passed. I like to keep my wife's behind warm and happy.
If you want to pre-heat the seats before you get in your car there is a iPhone app that lets you turn the heater, defroster, and seat heater on from your phone. If your car is plugged in it uses charger power instead of battery power.

^This^

There are hundreds of Volts here where I work. Everyone loves them, and while they work great in the winter, doing the above "pre-heat" of course helps in sub-zero temps. It's amazing how many people at the office still don't fully understand fully how the car works...and we designed and manufacture it. :-)

The Volt is in consideration for my next car.

[wdfifteen]

^^
I'd like to talk to the guys who designed them. It is an amazing car, but there are a couple of annoying - even dangerous - things about it.

They put the power button right below the mode button and twice I've turned the dammed thing off while trying to change modes. Seems like every Volt owner does this sooner or later. Strangely, (and fortunately) while the motive power dies, the power steering and power brakes still work. They should put the power button in some remote place, since you only use it twice per drive.

The whole dashboard follows the recent trend of making it necessary to take your eyes off the road to change anything, which i don't like. It's not as bad as BMW's iDrive, but it's never the less dangerous and annoying. It's hard to find a car without it anymore. Someday someone is going to design a safety "drive by feel" dashboard that lets you control basic functions by the feel of the control and lets you keep your eyes on the road.

I also wish they would have an automatically closing charge door. I forget and leave mine open most of the time. Have to stop the car and get out and close it.

[1990C4S]

This is the Texas grid load over 6 months.

Lots of room to use their capacity more efficiently. Eventually the chargers will only use excess capacity.

[foxpaws]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

^^
I'd like to talk to the guys who designed them. It is an amazing car, but there are a couple of annoying - even dangerous - things about it.

They put the power button right below the mode button and twice I've turned the dammed thing off while trying to change modes. Seems like every Volt owner does this sooner or later. Strangely, (and fortunately) while the motive power dies, the power steering and power brakes still work. They should put the power button in some remote place, since you only use it twice per drive.

The whole dashboard follows the recent trend of making it necessary to take your eyes off the road to change anything, which i don't like. It's not as bad as BMW's iDrive, but it's never the less dangerous and annoying. It's hard to find a car without it anymore. Someday someone is going to design a safety "drive by feel" dashboard that lets you control basic functions by the feel of the control and lets you keep your eyes on the road.

I also wish they would have an automatically closing charge door. I forget and leave mine open most of the time. Have to stop the car and get out and close it.

Wow - 2 Volts - 2x cool!!!!

I am in the land of cold and snow - I love mine - heated seats... decent traction control, and I think all the battery weight running down where the tunnel is on 'other' cars really helps in the snow as well. Yes, for everyone who wondered if you lose power in the winter, you do. In fact, when it gets below about 30°F the IC kicks on for short periods of time to help heat the cabin, if nothing else internal combustion engines are great at making heat, while heat via battery - no so efficient. So, the car figures out that rather than heating the cabin inefficiently with battery power, it will start the IC for a couple of minutes, saving battery power to be used more efficiently powering the drive train.

My car tells me when the recharge door is open - there is a red warning that comes on in the bottom of the dash read-out. Plus, your gas door on your regular car doesn't have 'power close', I think you just have to get use to it, I shut mine as soon as I pull the plug.

Also - I think you have to push the power button twice to get it to shut down while in drive - there is a warning that also comes up when you do it the first time - says shift to park to shut down, if you hit it the 2nd time - it will shut down while in drive.

And while haters gotta hate - I bet every single one of them takes every single credit they can on their taxes (or we have some mighty foolish people on this forum). Do all the childless people on this board ***** when those of us with kids took off everything from the child credit to dependent child care to college tuition credit? How about all of those of you with mortgages - should those of us without mortgages ***** about your tax credit? Medical, church donations, heck, there are lots and lots of credits out there.... I bet everyone casting tax credit stones has a 1040 house built of glass. Oh, for all you haters, between the fed and the state credits - my Volt cost me $15,000.... and that is before the weasel pee credit

[David]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

This is the Texas grid load over 6 months.

Lots of room to use their capacity more efficiently. Eventually the chargers will only use excess capacity.

Yup, there is so much excess capacity at night that there would have to be millions of electric cars before it becomes a problem. Besides that, by the time there are that many electric cars, the cars will communicate with the grid and provide power back to the grid in times of peak power need.

[foxpaws]

Originally Posted by David

Yup, there is so much excess capacity at night that there would have to be millions of electric cars before it becomes a problem. Besides that, by the time there are that many electric cars, the cars will communicate with the grid and provide power back to the grid in times of peak power need.

There is a setting on the volt so when you plug it in, you can tell it to wait to charge until a certain time - so it can be charged during 'off hours' when some power companies charge less. So, if your power company charges 40% less for electricity between midnight and 5 am you can tell your volt to only charge during those hours....

[wdfifteen]

Fox,
Yes, the light that comes on telling you you left the door open - that's how I know I have to get out and close it. My IC cars I just have to bump the door and a spring closes it. The Volt you have to push it closed very deliberately. Maybe just owner training, but would it be so hard to make it act like other fuel cover doors?

We don't get a weasel pee credit in Ohio. I'll bet there is a big industry for it in CO if you do. Lot's of jobs for weasel squeezers...
Unfortunately my electric utility doesn't have off-peak rates, but our town (the one where my company is) has it's own electric utility and power there is half what it is in the country where I live. I put a charging station at the office to take advantage of 2 cents/mile power.

[Chocaholic]

Haven't read entire thread, so apologize if already asked. What are prospects for selling/trading this car once warranty period is up, or say, 5 years down the road?

[sammyg2]

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Fox,
Yes, the light that comes on telling you you left the door open - that's how I know I have to get out and close it. My IC cars I just have to bump the door and a spring closes it. The Volt you have to push it closed very deliberately. Maybe just owner training, but would it be so hard to make it act like other fuel cover doors?

We don't get a weasel pee credit in Ohio. I'll bet there is a big industry for it in CO if you do. Lot's of jobs for weasel squeezers...
Unfortunately my electric utility doesn't have off-peak rates, but our town (the one where my company is) has it's own electric utility and power there is half what it is in the country where I live. I put a charging station at the office to take advantage of 2 cents/mile power.

I understand the 2016 model will have a remote charge port door closing feature. That plus a small bump in battery range (I get 42-43 typically). The new styling doesn't appeal to me, however.