Well, well, well, it seems the more information that is circulated about the Chevy Volt, the worse it gets. Not only does the Volt have issues with distance per charge (25-50 miles), now it seems the electric portion of the vehicle is not meant for the freeway. Over at Forbes Magazine Patrick Michaels has brought to light something that I didn’t know. It seems that the combustion engine, not the electric drive, on the Chevy Volt is used while cruising down the Interstate.
It turns out that the premium-fuel fired engine does drive the wheels—when the battery is very low or when the vehicle is at most freeway speeds. (Emphasis mine—PACNW Righty)
This does shine some additional light on this subject and it touches on a subject that Mr. Michaels is probably not aware of. In my region, the state governments (OR, WA, CA) are going to partner with a few “green” companies to install charging stations at various points along the I-5 corridor from the US –Canadian border to Southern Cali. What comes to mind it government boondoggle. If these vehicles don’t use the electric motor to move the Volt along at freeway speeds, why would these charging stations need to be put up along a freeway? Is that wasting taxpayer money?
At least one charging station project has it right. Fred Meyer is going to partner with ECOtality to install charging stations at some of their stores.
And has anyone checked the price of gas lately? Just in case you were unaware, it has gone up a tad in recent weeks. The price of crude is above $100 a barrel and gas is averaging something like $3.65 a gal in my area, and that is for regular. Premium is generally about $0.25 a gallon higher. In my area, premium is about ready to cross over the $4.00 a gallon threshold.
BTW: H/T to Mike at Confederate Yankee, he has more on the Forbes article here.
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