Green / Eco-Friendly

What happened with 100% electric vehicles?

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  • Aug 29th, 2012 3:15 pm
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Deal Expert
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May 22, 2005
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So a little update on my Volt. I've passed 20,000 km last week, and my average mileage has gone up in the past few months. Mainly due to my commute to Mississauga from Markham, about 120-140 km round trip, so my gas consumption has gone up significantly, average of 3.5 L/100km.

Currently I'm commuting 70-80 km to Ajax from Markham, and its around 1.5 - 2.1 L/100km.


Fingers crossed for the car not setting itself on fire... ;)
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Aug 9, 2004
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Newmarket
The technology just seems so far off from being a practical option for most ppl.
As it is now, I couldn't take it more seriously thana glorified e-bike.

Range must be dramatically extended, as I dont ever see the infrastructure ever being developed that will support this vehicle for places with urban sprawl.
One could say that the current range is acceptable for city ppl, but even that is dubious ....as so many city ppl live in condos, without charging facilities, or older homes with older wiring that makes installing 240v charging circuits unfavorable, and besides, city ppl really have better options like public transit and zip cars.
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Sep 27, 2006
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Not so easy there Ma…
stealth wrote: The technology just seems so far off from being a practical option for most ppl.
As it is now, I couldn't take it more seriously thana glorified e-bike.

Range must be dramatically extended, as I dont ever see the infrastructure ever being developed that will support this vehicle for places with urban sprawl.
One could say that the current range is acceptable for city ppl, but even that is dubious ....as so many city ppl live in condos, without charging facilities, or older homes with older wiring that makes installing 240v charging circuits unfavorable, and besides, city ppl really have better options like public transit and zip cars.
If the price is right they could be a viable option as a second car as a grocery getter and mall rat, etc. The Chevy Volt is far more practical as an electric/gas hybrid.
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Dec 9, 2007
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fergy wrote: If the price is right they could be a viable option as a second car as a grocery getter and mall rat, etc. The Chevy Volt is far more practical as an electric/gas hybrid.
If you need a second car then as Stealth already said - range is a joke. If you do not and only buy it as "grocery getter and mall rat" - how low the price should be to save any money compared to using a primary car even if primary car is gas-guzzling truck?
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Oct 26, 2003
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so what kind charging station is it? is it a special propitiatory one or standard 120V plug or 240V plug? for $40k car, I expect it to be plug and play.
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May 22, 2005
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The included charger looks like this:

[IMG]http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.c ... harger.jpg[/IMG]


One side is a 3 prong plug, the other end is probably a proprietary connector. It can charge either 120v or 240v. It's portable (I guess, still pretty hefty) in case you need to travel with it.


There is also an option of a home charging station, but thats $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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Jan 18, 2004
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Markham
coriolis wrote: The included charger looks like this:

[IMG]http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.c ... harger.jpg[/IMG]


One side is a 3 prong plug, the other end is probably a proprietary connector. It can charge either 120v or 240v. It's portable (I guess, still pretty hefty) in case you need to travel with it.


There is also an option of a home charging station, but thats $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Can't see the pic at work, but what's the difference between using the supplied cable and getting a home charging station?

Also, have you metered how much electricity it takes to charge, since this adds to the cost of "fuel"? You can't just take into account gas MPG and ignore electricity costs.
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May 22, 2005
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Mr Nobody wrote: Can't see the pic at work, but what's the difference between using the supplied cable and getting a home charging station?

Also, have you metered how much electricity it takes to charge, since this adds to the cost of "fuel"? You can't just take into account gas MPG and ignore electricity costs.

I have no idea what the difference is to be honest. I tried looking into it but there wasn't much info.


As for metered electricity, the Volt takes 15 kWh for a full charge. So depending on where you live and the cost of electricity. For me, I charge off-peak, so its about 8 cents per kWh, do the math and thats a bit over a dollar a day to drive 50-70 km.
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Jan 18, 2004
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Wow only 15kWh? That's good Is that based on Chevy's info, or did you actually measure the draw?

(I didn't realize the electric range was so small)
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Mr Nobody wrote: Wow only 15kWh? That's good Is that based on Chevy's info, or did you actually measure the draw?

(I didn't realize the electric range was so small)
I use a Kill-A-Watt device to measure power consumption (The Volt is a work car and gas/electricity is expensed), and a charge averages 14-16 kWh for a full charge, so to keep tracking and expensing it easy, I rounded it to 15 kWh.
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Apr 21, 2004
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Pickering
Thanks for the update and for answering my PM's.

I took a 2012 Volt for a test drive at my local dealer and it did surprise me (maybe my expectations were too low).

We'll see what kind of deal I can get on a new one.

The 2013 has a slightly larger capacity battery and a "EV Hold" mode which forces the gas engine to activate. This would allow the Volt to use the gas engine at startup when the heater is working the hardest in the cold.
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During the winter, when the temperature dips below the negatives, the Volt tends to force the engine on.

You can also force the engine to charge the battery but it only works when the car has less than half a battery charger, and will only charge to 45%.

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