Chelsea Sexton tries out the Chevy Volt, smiles
When we drove the Chevy Volt test car about a month ago, we found everything progressing as planned and didn't see anything that looks like it will push back the planned November 2010 Job 1 date. Our friend Chelsea Sexton, one of the most prominent plug-in vehicle supporters around, recently got a chance to step into the driver's seat, curious to see if the Volt "would be nickel-and-dimed to a shadow of its potential." What did she find? That the car creates lots and lots of smiles. She wrote about the experience over on her new blog:It is more refined than many production cars I've driven, a fact that ironically breeds impatience- it's hard not to drive it and think, "oh, this is fine, let's just get on with production already". It's also the quietest full-performance plug-in I've seen so far- they must've beaten every bit of motor whine out of that car, because it sounds more docile than it is.Not everything is perfect. The Volt (while not yet the finished version) doesn't have the pep that the EV1 had, she says, and she wasn't able to drive long enough to drain the battery and get the range-extender to kick in. GM reps kept telling her, and everyone else who's driven the car, that this part of the drivetrain just isn't ready yet (apparently, the fact that you can hear it is a problem). The next milestone in the Volt's journey to production is the "real" Volts that will begin to be made very soon. She's already planning that drive.
[Source: Chelsea Sexton]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
why not the LS2LS7? 10:03PM (5/26/2009)
I really wish they'd get on with demoing the range extender.
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PeterG 9:25AM (5/27/2009)
Yep, that seems to be where all the questions lie in designing a car like this. How annoying is the Range Extender when it kicks in? How dog like is the car when in RE mode? What is RE MPG?
There is a lot of screwup opportunity on the RE side. If the MPG is much less than the new Prius, you start losing overall fuel savings if you drive any significant distance. How do you make it unobtrusive in operation. Long grade climbing with a flat battery?
Tohe 1:04AM (5/27/2009)
Hehe it is a wolf in sheep's clothing. However Chelsea is such a good sport, and it is nice to see them make amends.
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Nick P. 2:29AM (5/27/2009)
GM. should re-hire her. She did such a great job educating the public about electric cars. Beside the engineers who designed the Volt, she could be their biggest asset.
In fact they should give her an executive position or at least a spoke-person role. There's a lot of F.U.D about E.Vs out there and she has proven that she can stand her ground to any EV crittic or so-called auto experts such as Jeremy Clarkson or Arnold.
She would have done a way better job than Bob Lutz on Letterman.
- Nick -
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Dave 8:18AM (5/27/2009)
She's been spreading lies and disinformation and getting paid for it.
The only reason she is still around is that no one will put her in her place because they will look like a bully.
Lutz, among others, is forced to answer hard questions while she gets softballs or no questions at all.
All of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt about EVs is completely justified - they are overpriced, their range is limited, especially when HVAC is required, and they will have less impact on foreign oil dependence and CO2 production than spreading the battery supply over a larger number of hybrids.
Tohe 11:38AM (5/27/2009)
@Dave:
Yeah we could split cars in half and have an ever bigger impact on CO2. Pollution has a way of multiplying itself, a zero emission alternative is the answer for long term sustainable mobility. Besides, I don't get your claim about Ms. Sexton, if anything she is a passionate advocate for plug-ins, where are the lies in that?
Yanquetino 11:40AM (5/27/2009)
Sorry, Dave, but sockpuppet attacks fall on deaf ears around here. Unless you can back up your inflammatory accusations with verifiable evidence, you ARE a bully.
Dave 8:03PM (5/27/2009)
Yanquetino -
If you believe the nonsense in "Who Killed the Electric Car" you are hopeless.
But pay attention to what I said -
She is SPREADING lies and disinformation. I have given her the benefit of the doubt that she did not actually FABRICATE the lies and disinformation. She is, after all, not an engineer, nor is she a lawyer.
She is a salesperson.
And she was a salesperson for GM. And GM was the source of much of the disinformation which she spread. When GM introduced the EV1, GM wanted to use the EV1 to show that they could produce advanced technology. And, as was nearly alwasy the case with GM in the 80s, that technology was half-baked and overhyped. Ms. Sexton, it appears, drank more than her share of the EV1 cool-aid which GM was serving.
The EV1 was, at best, a weak prototype. And the program was scrapped for good reason. Good riddance to old rubbish.
Mark 8:41AM (5/27/2009)
So instead of spewing Dave what is your alternative? Let me guess.................Hydrogen!
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Dave 9:23AM (5/27/2009)
You're obviously begging for a straw man with your hydrogen comment - hydrogen fuel cells are currently no better than battery EVs.
Until there is a breakthrough in energy storage, hybrids and natural gas are our only viable options.
EVs are a waste of batteries. We save more fuel by producing 40 hybrids than by producing one EV and 39 gas powered vehicles. The new CAFE standards are a step in the right direction.
Jason 1:48PM (5/27/2009)
The reason, I think, that GM doesn't want her around is because of how she's approached the EV1 story. She loved that car, and did a great job selling it, but refused to see how much money it lost GM and how it was completely unfeasible for market digestion.
The biggest untruth I hear her say, over and over and over again is that there aren't any running EV1s. THAT IS NOT TRUE. Seen it. Sat in it. Been under the hood.
The EV1 is a lot like a motorcycle (to be clear, I LOVE my motorcycle). It's a lot of fun, it'll get you, a minimal amount of stuff, and 1 passenger around town easily, but it really isn't useful outside of short range work. I've ridden a bike 600 miles straight, and you could drive an EV that distance, it just isn't ideal, and there are better ways to do it. She believes everyone would've been willing to deal with the ills of the EV1, but as you can see, there aren't that many people riding small displacement bikes to and from work every day. That blindness makes her an asset as an outsider, but a liability as an insider.
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evchels 11:00AM (5/29/2009)
Hey Jason,
I can't recall ever saying there aren't any running EV1s. I know there are- for one thing, GM still has a small fleet of them, and has over the years been testing them with Li-ion batteries and such. Also, about 40 were gutted and donated to museums and universities, and at least 3 of them have been restored to running condition (not stock EV1s, but running): Univ. of Wisconsin/Madison, BYU, and Western WA University.
I *have* said that there aren't any legal ones in private hands that I know of- which also doesn't mean that they aren't still out there, only that I'm not about to out the people that may have them. ;o)
chelsea
Ronin 8:13PM (5/27/2009)
Okay, I am not sure what your point is, producing 40 cars that get 50 mpg saves more fuel then 39 cars that get 27mpg and one that gets 500 mpg (my guess for an EV). Okay, do the math, the 40 Hybrids get an average of 50 Mpg, but the gas cars plus an EV get 39 mpg, so you are right.
If you change the ratio to 20 gas and 20 EV then it would blow the 40 hybrids away.
I agree with the lack of energy storage in hydrogen and electric cars, which is the barrier to them being openly accepted by Americans. But EVs are not a waste of batteries, they would be perfect in my situation. I have a wife with one child, and we have 2 cars, we want to trade my gas cars in for an EV because I never use it for anything other then going to and from work with an occasional errand every now and then. The most I drove my car in one day was 55 miles and that was because I dropped my work keys when visiting moms and had to drive over there twice. During the weekend or when we go out of town we drive her SUV, so the limited range is not an issue for me, and I think 80% of Americans are in similar situation I am in. As a second commuter car an EV would be ideal.
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Dave 8:22PM (5/27/2009)
"Pollution has a way of multiplying itself, a zero emission alternative is the answer for long term sustainable mobility." -Tohe
The EV1 was not a zero emmission vehicle. Nor will the Volt be.
Their cradle to grave environmental impact must be considered.
The EV1 and Volt take far more energy to produce. No, their cradle-to-grave energy consumption is not equal to that of a Hummer. But it is likely to be little or no better than a Prius. And the amount of copper, lithium, aluminum, and other expensive materials they use cannot be justified - it is a waste of valuable, finite resources!! All of these materials take energy to mine, refine, and process - this is not a free lunch!!
Someday, we may have EEStor units powering our cars. Or hydrogen fuel cells. Or even decaying isotopes. But currently, we don't have a silver bullet. Just a bunch of hype.
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Tohe 2:09AM (5/28/2009)
Dave, believe what you will.
Paul 9:02AM (5/28/2009)
Well-stated cradle-to-grave rational. Could use more numbers, perhaps this is not the place.
But... the overall know-everything approach is fundamentally flawed. Some of the assumptions are certainly not accurate. The overall 1) stop, 2) rethink, 3) start over approach will never happen - no matter how appealing to a certain rigid mindset.
And mostly: when you inflexibly dig in your heels and demand too many variables (which not you nor I nor any one entity control) be perfectly optimized, you obtain no solution at all.
Given the vastness of the transportation morass of options, any decision or any solution will certainly be imperfect. The best you can do is to somewhat optimize a limited subset of controllable variables and choose an available (or pipeline) product that offends the least. Such is life.
ronin 4:51PM (5/28/2009)
Dave wrote “The EV1 and Volt take far more energy to produce. No, their cradle-to-grave energy consumption is not equal to that of a Hummer. But it is likely to be little or no better than a Prius. And the amount of copper, lithium, aluminum, and other expensive materials they use cannot be justified - it is a waste of valuable, finite resources!! All of these materials take energy to mine, refine, and process - this is not a free lunch!!”
An EV1 and Volt take far more energy to produce? Compared to what? A Prius or a Hummer? An EV1 is basically a Prius without the Internal Combustion Engine, sure there is the additional energy needed for the increases in batteries. I would guess it is a slight need for more energy in production, but not “far more” as you say, and you are right it is not a free lunch, but nether are the gas power cars we drive now. I am not trying to knock the Prius, I think Hybrids are essential to our future and I think we should strive for a future where all new cars are plug-in Hybrids with the exception of all electric cars. And gasoline only engines would fade into a rarity bettering our environment and our independence for foreign oil. If Hydrogen gets to a point where it is a viable and reliable fuel then we can start to phase out gasoline, but I think electric powered cars are the best for both the near and distant future.
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