GM Swears The Electric Car Isn't Dead - What Do You Think?

The all-electric Chevy Spark EV will be available this Fall in the CA market. Why would one choose it over a Honda Fit EV is beyond me.

The Volt is not an electric vehicle.
GM EV is the 2014 Spark EV available in California late Summer 2013.
http://www.chevrolet.com/spark-ev-electric-vehicle.html

You know, repeating it over and over again will not make it so. The Volt is an electric vehicle with a 25-50 mile all-electric range. When the battery is depleted the on-board engine starts to generate electricity, and in certain higher speed, low torque scenarios help lower the main electric motor RPM for an improved (~7%) efficiency.

Dude, I drive one, had it for a year, it is nothing like the Prius and others.

Others = big ICE + big tank and small battery.
Your Volt = small IEC + small tank and big battery.
EV = big battery no tank

When and how is the Volt ICE used? What is the propulsion motor in all drive modes? How is the car different from an EV during the first 25-50 miles or different at all if this is how long one drives it between charging?

The volt is a hybrid. The gasoline engine does NOT exclusively power a generator (alternator) to recharge the batteries. It is also used for propulsion, thereby making this car a hybrid and NOT an electric car equipped with a gasoline-powered generator to extend range.

The gasoline engine does not run when the Volt is using the battery. It just sits there and goes for the ride. Since the Volt is used like that over 80% of the time it is an EV.

When the engine does run it does two things. The main function is to spin a generator, which produces the electricity to power the main electric motor. When the car moves at high speed and there is low torque demand (i.e. highway driving) the engine connects to the ring planetary gear and reduces the rotational speed of the main electric motor to improve its efficiency. There is no scenario in which the engine propels the Volt directly or exclusively. The main electric motor does that.

vdiv: According to the information I've seen, you're mistaken. Even GM doesn't agree with your statement "There is no scenario in which the [gasoline powered] engine propels the Volt directly or exclusively" -- They boast that even when the battery is exhausted after the 40 mile drive (if you're lucky), the gas engine gets you on your way. See Wiki for one of the many sources that explain why the Volt is a hybrid. One that *can* be used in an electric-exclusive mode, but a hybrid, none the less.

Steve's advice to GM: Start with the user experience (i.e., what users want) and work back to a solution, rather than starting with a technology and then trying to figure out how to market it.

If you would have done this, you would never have attempted the Volt, thereby saving many hundreds of millions in research, design, manufacturing, support infrastructure, and marketing costs.

There are a number of hurdles to overcome: many people are simply not well enough versed in the technology; GM presents too many faces -- at one extreme the highly efficient volt and at the other too many mid-twentieth century inefficient land barges/pickups; there is inherent complexity and risk introducing new technology and too few companies with cajones take the risk in US e.g. VW is braving it with high performance diesel; too many people are pansies when it comes to taking the risk; cost of buy-in is still high; and when the inevitable motor vehicle accident occurs what about the extrication of people from a vehicle, such as the Prius, where you are "sitting on a 600v battery" stigma. Finally, there is the range issue with high-cost electric cars that is problematic although I think the Zero motorcycles may be on the right track, once they get cost down, for urban transit.

just curious (seriously, I'm not trying to throw stones) - is there a robust secondary market for any hybrids / EVs? Or do the batteries get to the point where they can't hold a charge (e.g. my 3 year old laptop), making a used hybrid market unfeasible?

You can replace the batteries. They're expensive as hell, though, often about 1/4 or 1/3 the price of a new car. Consumers don't factor that into the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) when buying the car new. I don't know how the used Hybrid or EV market is.

You can get a refurbished hybrid NiMH battery for less than $2000. Many first gen Prius are still roaming around. The Li-ION batteries in the LEAF and Volt are under a warranty (5, 8, or even 10 years depending on model/location), are expected to last over 10 years, and can be fixed one cell at a time if needed. Consumers do factor that.

I'm reminded of the Monty Python "dead parrot" skit..