Official Volt photos

[cjolley]

...(park in front of train)...

Having been in a train when it hit a semi I can tell you that at that point the battery would be the least of the car's occupants problems.

[RedRed]

It purdy.

Intresting the move to a chassis style, reminiscent of 60's cars. That would allow for lighter superstructure, I guess. Is the doors, roof, wings etc made of plastic?

as for the coal fired power stations. I rekon that this should not be too much of a problem. The Kw generated (at a plug), compared to the Kw generated on an conventional engine should be in the powerstations favour. Add to that Mr Pickens ideas about 3rd generation wind power, and you have a direct replacement for the coal, eventually.

[Dr Mordrid]

Not to mention the recent advances in thin-film printable solar panel production (they hit the market a few months ago with just 1 machine running at 20% tripling the US PV production capacity) and MIT's advance in glass or polycarbonate multi-wavelength solar concentrator panels (PV only required at the edges). Each of several dyes absorb then re-emit to a color the PV's are most efficient at.

Either alone take prices down to ~$1 watt - combined...who knows? One thin film PV manufacturer (and getting a LOT of investment capital from all over the place) is already talking that their tech could be used to print PV panels on a home computer using special 'ink' cartridges and a plastic substrate. Others estimate prices as low as $0.35/watt w/mass production.

If even part of this pans out electrical power for homes or charging cars will be the least of our problems.

Another big advantage is of course that the US has huge areas that can be used for large solar generation plants - wind too but IMO the current crop of wind turbines needs re-thinking. I think props aren't the way to go...maybe some kind of squirrel cage affair or something else, but open props? Neh. Maybe a huge wind tower with a ducted fan etc.

[rylan]

I can see a lot of people opting for a solar panel on the roof area if it is offered. Would extend the range while being driven somewhat and allow for partial recharging while the car is left outside at the office.
Currently my commute is about 22mi each way, so I'm a bit over the 40mi range for roundtrip. Having some solar cells to add a little more charge while it is sitting in the parking lot would be great.

[Fat Tone]

Sadly those roof-panels aren't going to be adding many (if any) miles to the range. I think they are more for accessories/ancillaries.

[rylan]

Yeah I haven't heard any news if they'll even offer roof panels, or what the output power would be.

Are there official details on the KWh rating of the battery pack? I read something about 16kWh.

After thinking about it more however, I don't think a roof panel would do much... if you get a relatively inexpensive panel that outputs at 150W/sq-m and have a 1 sq.m panel on the roof, you're going to maybe get 1kWh of charge after sitting for 8 hours assuming a clear day.

[Dr Mordrid]

The roof panel would be an option that would power accessories, and GM's doing a lot of work on low-power accessories.

Remember that E-Flex vehicles are very modular, meaning the ranger extender can be a flex-fuel ICE, biodiesel,, fuel cell etc. using LiION batteries or whatever comes down the pike in terms of new tech. If EESTOR's ESU works out then GM can update to it. If some other form of electrical generation comes to the fore it too can be subbed in. The whole idea is future proofing the design.

Range extender: 1.4L 4 cyl normally aspirated driving a 65 kW generator

Electric motor: 3 phase - 150 hp (111 kW) @ 273 lb-ft (370Nm) torque (available instantly, of course)

Recharge cost: $0.80 @ $0.10/kWh (presuming a full charge is necessary)

Electric cost/mile: $0.02 @ $0.10/kWh

Battery: 16 kWh nano-electrode LiION

Charge voltage: 120 or 220 VAC (220 offering faster recharges)

Wheels: 17 inch forged aluminum with low rolling resistance tires

Chassis: GM Delta II International (also to be used by Saturn, Opel, Saab etc.)

Suspension: independent McPherson strut front; compound crank twist axle rear; 4 wheel disc brakes; full regenerative braking; electric assist power steering

[rylan]

So running the electric motor to do a full recharge only takes 15 min if not being driven?

[Dr Mordrid]

How'd you get 15 minutes?

Also: it's the range extender + generator that runs the car and charges. That can be a flex-fuel IC, diesel IC or fuel cell (so far)

~8 hours at 120 ($0.10 per kWh x 8 hours = $0.80)
<4 hours at 220v

The LiION's are not allowed to go lower than a 30% charge.

[rylan]

65kW * 15 min = 16kWh

Of course I don't know if you can actually charge them that fast without damaging something.

[cjolley]

65kW

Isn't that nearly 600 amps at 110 volts?
What could you plug it into to supply that?

PS and 300 amps at 220 volts.
That might melt the wires off the side of my house.

[Nowhere]

OTOH it isn't that big of problem to have "industrial grade" socket in garage...I think it has 400V, not sure though (and I have no idea how many amps can pass through it, but surely something more respectable than typical home socket).

[cjolley]

OTOH it isn't that big of problem to have "industrial grade" socket in garage...I think it has 400V...

400v would be a big problem in most American homes.
Problems ranging from lack of code compliance to no reasonable way to get a 400v supply line to the house.

[Dr Mordrid]

Given the following:

120 volts
15 or 20 amps (typical US home wiring)

Available kWh on these circuits;

15 amp circuit: 1.8 kWh
20 amp circuit: 2.4 kWh

8 hour charges;

8 x 1.8 kWh: 14.4 kWh
8 x 2.4 kWh: 19.4 kWh

but only ~11 kWh is needed to charge Volts battery from its lower limit of 30% charge to full charge.

CJ: our new house's garage has 120, 220 and 480, a 36,000 BTU gas garage heater (rafter mounted) and garage doors on both ends (drive-through)

[rylan]

I was just going by the output capacity of the generator. I assume that only a small fraction of it would actually go to the charging circuit and most to the electric motor.