Has GM Let You Down Again? Volt Target Electric Range Now 25-50 Miles

Has GM Let You Down Again? Volt Target Electric Range Now 25-50 Miles
What is going on, now? It almost sounds like a bad joke but General Motors is now backing away from yet another claim on the car that has been undergoing testing for what feels like an eternity.

Since January 2007, GM has been touting the Volt as the car that would ensure buyers wouldn't have to go to the gas station to fill up nearly as much as they were used to. After all, it would get 40 miles on its electric charge, right?

Wrong.

According to a filing with the SEC for its IPO, GM is now saying that its acclaimed Volt will likely be able to maintain an electric charge between 25 and 50 miles. Does this make the past several years of claims about 40 miles bogus?

A Volt spokesperson, Rob Peterson, has gone on the record and said that GM is looking to "level-set expectations." Uh, expectations the company spoke about for years?

Jeez, what's next? Is GM going to go hold a huge press conference and announce the Volt can also get 230 miles per gallon?

Oh...wait...

While most in the industry understand that electric cars and their respective mileage is dependent variables like temperature, driving style and terrain, why would GM announce a figure they cannot entirely stand by? What's up with the word games, GM?


Forty miles of electric range has been the magic number for a very long time, in fact it was part of the Chevrolet Volt concept initial press release back in January 2007.

The idea is that about 75% of drivers drive less than 40 miles per day and will therefore not use any gas while driving the Volt.

GM has said all along that the Volt would achieve that objective but has made it clear that driving behavior and environment could change that number in real world situations; the generator will go on when the battery reaches about 32% state of charge no matter how it gets there...
 

[Source: GM Volt]








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LexusKindaGuy12LexusKindaGuy12 - 9/24/2010 10:31:35 PM
+13 Boost
well 40 is right between 25 and 40 so its probably safe to believe that it averages to 40 miles on electricity. No need to be so irrational with the article.

Its hard to estimate how many miles each person will get. Someone like me in San Francisco would probably be on the lower end of that spectrum


FanboyOfTheTruthFanboyOfTheTruth - 9/24/2010 10:50:41 PM
+14 Boost
I feel dumber reading 00R


BrownStigBrownStig - 9/24/2010 11:38:21 PM
-2 Boost
Who actually cares about this lump anymore? The bigger disappointment is we let this go on for two years while GM execs took their turn at jumping out of Golden Parachute Flight Services regularly scheduled flight. Hey 00R if you REALLY need something to write about look into the number of team leaders and chiefs from this program have retired and joined "the private sector"


91z4me91z4me - 9/25/2010 8:08:57 AM
+4 Boost
It took a few years to do the engineering. Of course you don't care about facts and just want to bash GM for any reason so go ahead and be a douche.


uaw_laxuaw_lax - 9/25/2010 10:18:23 AM
+6 Boost
Autospies is getting more more tabloid style news by the second. Autospies is letting ME down.


MercBasherMercBasher - 9/25/2010 12:18:37 AM
-1 Boost
Why didn't they just have a joint venture with Nissan/Renault and rebadge the Leaf - would have saved a billion or two !


91z4me91z4me - 9/25/2010 8:10:04 AM
+4 Boost
Because a leaf has a specific range and doesn't have scalable technology like the Volt does.

The Volt is a bigger engineering accomplishment than the Leaf.


veyron1001veyron1001 - 9/25/2010 9:43:02 AM
-2 Boost
A generator wrapped around a car is not better technology. Wasn't the engine just a back up just in case you cant find a charging station? The Leaf has up to 100miles and costs less.


uaw_laxuaw_lax - 9/25/2010 10:20:19 AM
+3 Boost
Veyron the leaf needs to come with a free tow truck for when the battery dies. How many charging stations have you passed today on your way to work? 0


JRobUSCJRobUSC - 9/25/2010 1:05:08 PM
+7 Boost
yeah, the Leaf has a range of 100 miles... and then it has to sit on a charger overnight. The Volt meanwhile can drive three times farther before it needs gas or a recharge. There's no way I would buy a vehicle that can't be used like a regular car. If I want to drive to Detroit or Chicago from Cincinnati, that's a one day trip in my car, and I can do that in a Volt in one day. That same trip in a Leaf would take THREE DAYS, then ANOTHER three days to get back. Sorry, but no sale. The Leaf only makes sense for people who don't actually have to drive anywhere.


Joe_LimonJoe_Limon - 9/25/2010 12:21:47 AM
+7 Boost
I feel better knowing 25-50 that way if you drive aggressively it'll only be 25, and if you are conscious of your driving habits, it can get as high as 50.


Agent001Agent001 - 9/25/2010 1:25:04 AM
-1 Boost
The Prius gets 50mpg with NO tradeoff and you can buy one with a discount for around 20k. And 0% financing.

I applaud GM for trying by my sense tells me that ALL of these electric whatchamacalit's are gonna go bust.

Now I'll make like a 'Leaf'and leave this discussion.

001


91z4me91z4me - 9/25/2010 8:10:56 AM
-1 Boost
Why did the Prius get like 13 mpg during Top Gear testing a few years ago?


PatronusPatronus - 9/25/2010 2:46:20 AM
+11 Boost
The last time I checked, 40 is between 25 and 50. Are these articles being written by retards? Do they not understand that absolutely every spec in the universe has tolerances and is affected by various conditions?


WorldofLuxuryWorldofLuxury - 9/25/2010 4:08:21 AM
+3 Boost
They better have shed off a lot of weight while decreasing gas tank capacity... or was it battery capacity?


CaaqxlmseCaaqxlmse - 9/25/2010 4:10:01 AM
+1 Boost
Why didn't they just have a joint venture with Nissan/Renault and rebadge the Leaf - would have saved a billion or two !


91z4me91z4me - 9/25/2010 8:12:13 AM
+6 Boost
You already said that while logged in as MercBasher. See the logical response I made after that post.


uaw_laxuaw_lax - 9/25/2010 10:22:07 AM
-1 Boost
Caaqxlmse you have to make up imaginary friends to bash GM? so low


_43LE_43LE - 9/25/2010 12:31:13 PM
+3 Boost
UAW, where were you two days ago when we wanted you opinion on the UAW workers? Imagine if this was Toyota how bitchy you would be?


sold2earlysold2early - 9/25/2010 6:48:14 AM
+2 Boost
GM never lets me down. They never get my hopes up in the first place.


kuvakas1kuvakas1 - 9/25/2010 7:43:26 AM
+11 Boost
Editor, "We need something inflammatory that will generate a lot of comments so our sponsors can see we have a lot of readers."

Agent 00R, "I'll see what I can come up with. Maybe I'll write a headline that is really negative and condemning then support it with nonsense and irrational thought, a total piece of fluff that insults the intelligence of our readers."

Editor, "That should do it! I'm so glad we snagged you from The Enquirer!"


91z4me91z4me - 9/25/2010 8:12:52 AM
+9 Boost
00R, What part of UP TO 40 mpg do you not understand?


LACMANLACMAN - 9/25/2010 9:01:07 AM
+7 Boost
*logs in and reads article*


*logs back out*


BrownStigBrownStig - 9/25/2010 9:08:37 AM
+4 Boost
I am guessing 91z4me is the negative voter on my post and his statement is aimed at me. If you recall GM had a viable electric program with the EV1/ES10 program. People forget the electric S10 was a sister program with the EV1 and everyone who used both vehicle loved them. With new battery, regen and controller technology you could have doubled their effective efficiency. I live in a GM town, I need GM to succeed. Selling 20,000 $45,000 cars is not going to help them do that. Selling 100,000 50mpg $25,000 cars certainly would help. GM jumped the E85 gun and now the Electric gun wasting opportunities to get it RIGHT with their core business group. The SUV profit model is dead, you can no longer sell a $9,000 truck for $54,000 because it has a Cadillac logo on it. You need to sell to the masses instead. GM needs a Jetta TDI not the Volt.


91z4me91z4me - 9/26/2010 2:52:16 PM
+1 Boost
You're right I did deboost you, but only because I thought your logic was flawed. Why not reply to me directly instead of making another post at the end? Why not reply with a counter argument instead of talking about past projects? BTW the EV1 and E-S10 were completely separate programs. The E-S10 had hub motors at each wheel and was much more complex than the EV1.

The Volt is a no-compromise vehicle unlike the EV1 and E-S10 it can drive across the nation without overnight charging (or longer). Many thousands of hours of testing and validation was required after the base charging and power management systems were designed to be sure it operated correctly. That is basic R&D (and logic dictates it takes time to perform this).

Perhaps you should put a little more thought into a post instead of flaming away like a 12 year old Justin Bieber fan.


THESCOOTERTHESCOOTER - 9/25/2010 1:28:46 PM
0 Boost
The Volt remains GM's version of Vaporware...there is still no product with real world testing. Like the Nissan LEAF. However, Volt has promised a no compromise vehicle solution that will alleviate all range anxiety that comes with the full battery LEAF. Both vehicles show promise and benefits that are well clear and different to one another. 25-50 mile range is great with the extended range still being well above 300 miles. That is the real story. As for 001, the Prius is a gas car only. It does not run on anything other than the same petrol that has always been used in cars. Sadly, if Prius is the best example of effort to move away from fossil fuels than manufacturers are not very creative at all (hello Toyota). VOLT & LEAF are trying to change the game and I hope for the better. Once demand reaches critical capacity then we will begin to see what electric vehicles can really look like and accomplish (Porsche 914, Tesla, etc.) Until then let' s hope VOLT & LEAF are huge successes...then Toyota will have to play catch up.


chris760chris760 - 9/25/2010 1:56:29 PM
+1 Boost
I generally agree with you about the vaporware comment since the volt has been in "testing" for so long. But I do want to point out that I think they actually have been testing it since I saw a working prototype Volt two days ago. It was black and look production-ready, parked in front of the Michigan League at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor


tangotango - 9/25/2010 1:58:43 PM
+9 Boost
My hat goes off to Agent00R. He's the only poster who can put up a totally daft topic and sit back and watch the commentators flame away at him and each other, yet not say another word.


joepahjoepah - 9/25/2010 8:23:38 PM
+3 Boost
Why do geeks hyperventilate over legal prose in an IPO? That range is strictly descriptive to minimize future shareholder lawsuits.

The BWM mini E initiatlly advertised a 140 mile range, but reality is more like 90- 100 miles.

So if the Volt has a real life battery range of 30 miles so what?


upwardsupwards - 9/26/2010 5:23:45 AM
0 Boost
Sigh.... to bad autospies is trying to get popular from negative news and bashing GM for making something innovative like the Volt.


markanthony0419markanthony0419 - 9/26/2010 6:09:59 AM
+1 Boost
I for one will never ever buy a GM product ever with all the shinnanagans thats been going on. The bs that they paid back all their bailout loans and now gm giving 100k to democrats. Where did they get the money from if they are broke. So they take the peoples bailout money to give to the dems so they can keep their union buddies in office on the peoples dime, give me a break. i guess its easy to spend other peoples money.(yes i was highly considering the cts-v coupe but if i ever buy american now it will be ford). Not to mention the government losing on the new gm ipo how do these guys not get locked up for fraud let alone keep their jobs. Anyway Back to the volt. This car will never ever turn a profit. All the money wasted and a price tag of about 40k come on now lets get serious whos going to buy this thing. Even if your a environmentalist your not getting this there are way better options for that money.


tortugabobtortugabob - 9/27/2010 3:06:32 PM
+1 Boost


Reading this Volt article today reminded me that last night I was watching a TV show on HDNet about the new cars coming out in 2011. One of the cars, I think it was a Lincoln hybrid, has a LCD screen that show little green ivy vines growing when you drive it in an ecologically sound manner! After seeing that I thought to myself, "What in the ph*ck is Planet Edsel smoking?" Now I know that whatever it is, Government Motors is inhaling it too.


thstonethstone - 9/27/2010 4:39:31 PM
+1 Boost
I think that GM is simply setting real-world expectations. You can be sure that some "journalist" will drive around with the pedal on the floor and then be pissed that the Volt only got 25 miles to the charge.


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