CNN.com Money writes, as most news agency is spreading the propaganda, that the Gov. Motors (GM) Chevy Volt will be EPA Rated at 230 MPG. They go so far as to boast that the rating was formulated in a way to help consumers compare standard combustion engine vehicles to the new GM Volt.
This is absolute lunacy. It makes just as much sense to give the Volt an EPA rating of a Million Kajillion MPG...
The simple fact is that the volt, and other fully electric vehicles, CANNOT be measured in a MPG rating.
For instance, suppose the Volt has an optional Solar Roof, with a Triple Junction Gallium Arsenide Solar Array over the area of the roof, capable of providing a full battery recharge during the work day... well... same vehicle, but now you never need to run your gas generator... so it has unlimited mileage with NO FUEL USE...
The reports are nothing but propaganda aimed at perking up the ears of the uneducated masses. We would be better served by a more intelligent discussion about what revolutionary changes something like the Volt can bring... simply relating to We The People in kindergarten terms is insulting!
Do I think we need to embrace technologies put forth by the Volt? Absolutely.
Do I think we need trickery and idiocracy to sell new technologies? No.
Alas, remember that we are the children and the gu'mint is our daddy... tell me what to do!
Showing posts with label Electric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Electric. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Electricity Killed the Petroleum Car
There was a time when an electric car had it's rightful place - On The Moon.
But here on earth, dwindling fuel reserves and increased fuel prices have driven the need for alternative energy sources for daily travel.
Toyota started the trend with the oddly shaped and eventually trademark "electric car", the Prius. Toyota set the standard before the fuel crisis began... but it hardly has the market cornered.
Tesla motors is creating a vehicle that makes the Prius look like a hippy-mobile, and will likely leave the Prius to the same fate that befell the VW Vanagon... A funny looking vehicle that sparks nostalgia in our Woodstock Friends. Tesla's Roadster is 100% electric, high performance (0-60 in 3.6), and gets over 200 miles to the charge. Unfortunately the cost makes the Roadster a playtoy for Playboys.
Meanwhile, the American Automaker, General Motors, has made an announcement that could signal the death of the Internal Combustion vehicle as we know it... at least for SUV's.
General Motors has announced that it will begin suspending production of their SUV's, selling off the Hummer division, and making the staple "American Made American Car" the Chevrolet Volt. The volt is an E85 / electric hybrid, with the potential for fuel cell upgrades as technologies advance. The primary power source is an electric motor, which can travel 40 miles before a charge is required. The internal combustion engine will run as a generator only, powering the charge of the batteries... it will not be used for propelling the vehicle directly.
GM is betting the bank on this move, and I think it will work!
I recently posted a blog about electric cars, and how solar cells on rooftops could be used to provide for the core of our national energy supply, if implemented properly. Electric cars need to also mean that we are getting off of oil and coal burning power sources. Unless we do this, we are still at the mercy of "Big Power".
The Internal combustion vehicle may be a thing of the past... But the future never looked so sweet!
But here on earth, dwindling fuel reserves and increased fuel prices have driven the need for alternative energy sources for daily travel.
Toyota started the trend with the oddly shaped and eventually trademark "electric car", the Prius. Toyota set the standard before the fuel crisis began... but it hardly has the market cornered.
Tesla motors is creating a vehicle that makes the Prius look like a hippy-mobile, and will likely leave the Prius to the same fate that befell the VW Vanagon... A funny looking vehicle that sparks nostalgia in our Woodstock Friends. Tesla's Roadster is 100% electric, high performance (0-60 in 3.6), and gets over 200 miles to the charge. Unfortunately the cost makes the Roadster a playtoy for Playboys.
Meanwhile, the American Automaker, General Motors, has made an announcement that could signal the death of the Internal Combustion vehicle as we know it... at least for SUV's.
General Motors has announced that it will begin suspending production of their SUV's, selling off the Hummer division, and making the staple "American Made American Car" the Chevrolet Volt. The volt is an E85 / electric hybrid, with the potential for fuel cell upgrades as technologies advance. The primary power source is an electric motor, which can travel 40 miles before a charge is required. The internal combustion engine will run as a generator only, powering the charge of the batteries... it will not be used for propelling the vehicle directly.
GM is betting the bank on this move, and I think it will work!
I recently posted a blog about electric cars, and how solar cells on rooftops could be used to provide for the core of our national energy supply, if implemented properly. Electric cars need to also mean that we are getting off of oil and coal burning power sources. Unless we do this, we are still at the mercy of "Big Power".
The Internal combustion vehicle may be a thing of the past... But the future never looked so sweet!
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