[MrEnergyCzar]

Here's my review of the 2012 Chevy Volt Plug-in. I've driven 1,300 miles my first month on 1 gallon so far....no range anxiety either.

http://youtu.be/jbjtKbWZ67w

MrEnergyCzar

[Bruce_S]

Here's my review of the 2012 Chevy Volt Plug-in. I've driven 1,300 miles my first month on 1 gallon so far....no range anxiety either.

http://youtu.be/jbjtKbWZ67w

MrEnergyCzar

WHOO DOGGY!!!! A man after my own heart, I just did my own test drive. These types of cars will really change the entire post peak world, won't they?

A gallon of gas for 1300 miles? That even beats the scooter solution for peak oil. Keep us posted!

[Keith_McClary]

For the same money you could buy a 4 passenger ICE and 250K miles worth of gas. That's your break-even point if you can run your volt entirely on free electricity.

The battery is warranted to retain 70% of it's original capacity for 100K miles. 70% capacity would mean a corresponding decrease in electric range. Optimists estimate they might be usable up to 150K.

But the Volt has much higher gagetosity and green cred, so enjoy!

[The Practician]

For the same money you could buy a 4 passenger ICE and 250K miles worth of gas. That's your break-even point if you can run your volt entirely on free electricity.

The battery is warranted to retain 70% of it's original capacity for 100K miles. 70% capacity would mean a corresponding decrease in electric range. Optimists estimate they might be usable up to 150K.

But the Volt has much higher gagetosity and green cred, so enjoy!

I watched a little documentary a while ago about planned obsolescence. The most surprising thing I learned was that the idea of planned obsolescence was not always viewed in the somewhat sinister light that it is today. Companies were more open about it, about how it was part of the engine of modern capitalism. These days, they have to be sneaky about it. Under the modern paradigm, PHEV's aren't expensive, resource intensive, disposable extravagances, they are "Green" "transportation alternatives for the environmentally responsible!

[Bruce_S]

For the same money you could buy a 4 passenger ICE and 250K miles worth of gas. That's your break-even point if you can run your volt entirely on free electricity.

Obviously you have assigned no value to being prepared for peak oil and the shortages, rationing and outright lack of fuel problems this presents. Note the title to the thread....peak oil rolls in, fuel deliveries are prioritized for heavy trucks and agriculture leaving the average commuter to walk, bicycle or ride the bus and the Volt owners will rule the roads! At which point your BAU ICE calculations go right out the window and Volt (and Leaf) owners will rule the roads.

[Keith_McClary]

Obviously you have assigned no value to being prepared for peak oil and the shortages, rationing and outright lack of fuel problems this presents. Note the title to the thread....peak oil rolls in, fuel deliveries are prioritized for heavy trucks and agriculture leaving the average commuter to walk, bicycle or ride the bus and the Volt owners will rule the roads! At which point your BAU ICE calculations go right out the window and Volt (and Leaf) owners will rule the roads.

These might also be hard to get:

but I guess a good prepper like you keeps a couple of spare batteries in the trunk. Or back seat.

[Bruce_S]

[quote="Keith_McClary"]These might also be hard to get:


Unlike the JIT delivery system for gasoline, I won't require one of those but perhaps every 100k miles? Call it 5-8 years? Beats needing to fill up every week with something everyone knows we don't have enough of already.

[Keith_McClary]

Unlike the JIT delivery system for gasoline, I won't require one of those but perhaps every 100k miles? Call it 5-8 years?

If you drive low enough daily mileage so the gas engine doesn't kick in, it will be more like 15 years.

I seem to remember GM saying the Volt is the most complex car ever built. Good luck with GM JIT parts delivery or finding a shadetree mechanic to fix it.

[Bruce_S]

Unlike the JIT delivery system for gasoline, I won't require one of those but perhaps every 100k miles? Call it 5-8 years?

If you drive low enough daily mileage so the gas engine doesn't kick in, it will be more like 15 years.

I seem to remember GM saying the Volt is the most complex car ever built. Good luck with GM JIT parts delivery or finding a shadetree mechanic to fix it.

Still better than a car with no fuel at all.

Have you driven one? The only GM product I've ever considered, not a natural fan of them. But this one was pretty tight, drove like a car rather than the bulked up golf cart I expected, and with fuel rationing and shortages coming, would seem to make perfect sense in a peak oil world. I am honestly surprised that everyone on peak oil boards, with jobs, and need of personal transport on public highways, isn't out at least test driving to see how this post peak car fits their needs.

[vtsnowedin]

If the price of fuel goes to $10/gallon electricity will also jump in cost soon after so having a car that runs on coal fired electricity will be of little if any advantage.
If you look to Europe where fuel is already very high due to tax policy you can see that the winning strategy is smaller very fuel efficient ICE cars,some getting better then 60mpg coupled with improved mass transit systems.

[Unconventional Ideas]

I was wondering if car-free living in the post peak oil world was also a viable option.

[MD]

I was wondering if car-free living in the post peak oil world was also a viable option.

It will be for many, perhaps most; at least when you are talking about current performance expectations (80 mph with 400 mile range and nearly instantaneous refueling).

If we can manage to transition to a future where local travel is dominated by light/ultralight vehicles (40 mph, under 1000 lbs, 200 mile range) then perhaps most can retain mobility.

Unfortunately it appears we won't be able to make that transition until after the current system breaks down.

[Bruce_S]

8) If the price of fuel goes to $10/gallon electricity will also jump in cost soon after so having a car that runs on coal fired electricity will be of little if any advantage.

Maybe. Certainly coal purchasing by power plants is run on a much longer cycle than buying crude, so in many cases just because crude goes up is no guarentee that coal will. Crude is now what, some 2X more than it was 5 years ago and I actually pay less for electricity now than I did then?

And in either case, any push into electrical generation nowadays in the developed world is doing its best to do it in some way other than coal.

Driven through Kansas recently?

If you look to Europe where fuel is already very high due to tax policy you can see that the winning strategy is smaller very fuel efficient ICE cars,some getting better then 60mpg coupled with improved mass transit systems.

Considering Volts are out there, what good does a 60mpg car do? Without fuel, a 60mpg car is still a lump of steel sitting in the driveway which won't move.

[Bruce_S]

I was wondering if car-free living in the post peak oil world was also a viable option.

It is a viable option NOW. Just like it was 20 years ago. Car free options re great! I've got 5 bicycles in the garage myself.

[DomusAlbion]

I was wondering if car-free living in the post peak oil world was also a viable option.

Here's a viable option for the future:

[Bruce_S]

I was wondering if car-free living in the post peak oil world was also a viable option.

Here's a viable option for the future:

That was the old elctric car. The future has already arrived. Now the question is convincing the SO that tearing into the wiring in the garage plus spending more money than I normally would for this electric future has some benefit to her.

[Bruce_S]

Driven through Kansas recently?

Dude. That 15MW array would barely push a Volt out of the garage, much less the driveway. There's barely enough electricity in those turbines to power one of the cars in the picture. Wind and solar account for <.0001% of electric gen.

Exponential growth cures all slow starts. And obviously you haven't driven through Kansas recently either, the array is big enough that it falls off the horizon, and is 250MW. Not only will it power the Volt, but it will power a couple of houses as well! Or even a small city! So if you charge your Volt from the wind near Salinas Kansas, you are about as green a means of transport as you can get.

[The Practician]

I was wondering if car-free living in the post peak oil world was also a viable option.

Here's a viable option for the future:

That was the old elctric car. The future has already arrived. Now the question is convincing the SO that tearing into the wiring in the garage plus spending more money than I normally would for this electric future has some benefit to her.

You can't even tell the difference between a Horse drawn Carriage and an electric car?

[dolanbaker]

That was the first electric car!

Oh that William Morrison! Hybrid car enthusiasts should remember the name William Morrison. A native of Scotland, William Morrison built America’s first electric automobile in his secret basement lab in Des Moines in 1892. His 4 horsepower front-wheel-drive vehicle required 24 battery cells, had a top speed of 20 mph and needed recharging every 50 miles. It was the talk of 1893’s Chicago World’s Fair. Just four years later, another inventing Morrison – William J. Morrison – a Tennessee dentist and civic leader, patented an electric candy machine. The machine spun sugar into what was first called Fairy Floss. Today we know it as cotton candy. Remember those names this summer when you cruise over to the county fair in your hybrid.

Source: Juicedhybrid.com Blog (http://s.tt/12JKX)