Drew Dowdell

The Volt's range varies so widely depending on the terrain you are driving over. It's expected range is 350 miles EV + gas, but for instance if I were to drive from Pittsburgh to Philly, most of the trip after Blue Mountain (the 1/3rd point) is down hill, so that 350 mile range can extend up to 500 miles.

did you buy the warranty yet?

Very interesting development.....

Your next vehicle should be a VW diesel then.... not many cars have much more than a 350 mile range these days.

You'd need to totally redesign the rear suspension to work on Delta

So a Volt with a 350 mile range isn't long enough?

The Volt in sport mode is already nearly as fast as most mid-range V6es..... and that it electric vehicle version 1.0. Electric motors can be capable of torque that would make a Duramax feel wimpy, yet they can also be fast enough to power the fastest land vehicles ever made. You don't get much more versatile than an electric motor. The problem with electric motors for the past 100 years has been the transportation of the energy to power them. It's wasn't an issue of their power output. As battery technology continues to improve, that primary issue with electric motivation will fade away. Never say never.

In the Volt, because of the "game" of trying to get the most EV miles, you tend to drive slower, accelerate slower, etc. The Volt can move when you need it to, but there is a shift in mentality.... at least at first.

What car are you driving that has more than a 350 mile range?

exactly. It's clear enough it just doesn't have a super strong base.

How much longer are some of you going to embarrass yourselves?

You can either agree with me or you can be wrong.

I see kelp and algae farms being developed off shore and in a couple of small lakes nearly Illinois and Michigan. I see compostable waste being separated like we do with recycling and taken to fuel centers. I see yard waste being dropped off at fuel centers. I see saw mill saw dust being trucked to fuel centers. I see waste tires being broken down into diesel. I see our own sugar beet industry stepping up to the plate.

I find this video useful <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nYlZiWK2Iy8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

wrong wrong wrong wrong. Implementing the idea badly doesn't mean the idea is bad. It's the implementation that is bad. Corn is one of the worst sources of E85. Thank your Corn lobbyist.

Ok just suck it CSpec. E85 can be made from many things OTHER than food. The implementation of E85 production is bad.

It doesn't matter which plug. It heats up at the same rate regardless. It's ready to go in about 5 minutes.

You have to show proof of ownership and sign some papers

Oh come on now. It sounds fine, it just doesn't have the power to run a dance club. I don't think the set buying this car will be using the sound system that way.

It looks like it's just a flick of the thumb to nudge the speed up or down 1 mph

The switchblade keys are now all serial numbered. The "cut" for your key is stored in a database on the GM mothership somewhere. Any dealership should be able to replace your key from just the VIN.

Trying to heat the car from freezing will drain your battery pretty quick. The Volt user manual even says to use the heated seats because it takes less energy than fully heating the whole cabin. However, because you can pre-heat the car while still plugged in, you can get the cabin to a comfortable temperature while still on the grid and then the car can maintain that temperature much more efficiently when on the road.

Day 4 with the Volt: 22 miles driven 21 EV miles So little gas used that it didn't register on the meter. Trip computer says 212mpg for the day. 77.5 mpg since the Volt was dropped off. The regenerator kicked on when I first left because it was only 19 degrees outside. Awesome thing about the Volt is that you can Remote Start it while it's in your garage and plugged in to warm up the seats and interior without draining your EV miles.

Even crossovers. Jeep can play in the Lexus class now with the GC. We can all find nit picks over a lot of vehicles, even in the cars we really like there are things to annoy us. To be fair to Chrysler, a LOT of manufacturers do the dash in just one color with some other color insert. That includes Honda.. includes Lexus... but that's another thread. Those cruise control switches are the best I've used in years.

That's the speaker