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GM plans electric car for 2010, eleven years after it killed the EV1
The 2006 film Who Killed the Electric Car? was about a GM conspiracy that led to the removal of the first mass-marketed electric car, the EV1, from the market. GM even went so far as to take cars from customers' homes and have them turned into scrap metal. For that reason, news that the company is finally planning to make another electric car, the Volt, has been met with extreme skepticism.
But it looks like the company that sells the Hummer really is trying to change its image (while selling as many Hummers as possible). The company's R&D chief Larry Burns told Newsweek that he believes killing the EV1 was a mistake: "If we could turn back the hands of time, we could have had the Chevy Volt 10 years earlier." And GM vice chairman Bob Lutz told Daily Tech "[GM's] iconic brand is, unfortunately, the Hummer. That perception needs to change."
Whatever GM's motives, prototypes for the Volt are pretty cool looking. Though the Volt is not technically a hybrid car because it will run on battery power, it will have a gas engine that will recharge the batteries. That may sound suspiciously hybrid, but as long as the Volt gets awesome mileage from the gas it does use and is sold on the mass market at a reasonable price, we won't care.
Daily Tech, via Switched
By murc at 8:07 PM ON 11/29/07
What’s so controversial about the Hummer? Is it that is gets poor gas mileage....if so. big deal. Do YOU pay to fill up someone else’s ride? I don’t care if you like to drive around in a big school bus you bought....it’s your money.
as for the Volt, it will sell VERY well. With the gas engine running, the vehicle will get the equivalent of over 50 mpg. You will be able to plug it in as well, which will give you 40 miles worth of pure electric power.
I'll be surprised if this sells for under 50 grand.
By Erik at 10:49 AM ON 01/25/08
They should wait until they perfect the new lithium-ion batteries that use nano sized hairs of silicon to keep the charge.. if applied to an electric car you could get up to 400 miles to a full charge.
By Prospectus at 9:41 PM ON 01/31/08
Well, if you don't want to wait: Brazil has the cool little Obvio. http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/obvio-828e That's what I'll be getting! Good luck GM, you and the rest of the fat-cat dinosaur industry had better divorce the oil companies QUICK!
By George at 11:33 AM ON 06/03/08
The Concept is OK, But a Diesel Electric Locomotive is Already Getting 400 Miles on one Gallon of Fuel.
By dominion911 at 1:37 PM ON 06/03/08
Re: Murc
Yes, you do pay for someone else's ride.
First, externalities. Pollution, road damage, cost of oil security from excessive gas consumption (military, aid, etc).
Second, demand/supply. Other people driving gas guzzlers increases the cost of filling up your own tank. There's a relatively set supply in the market. More demand means a higher price. There's a reason the supply of oil has increased and yet the price has also skyrocketed.
By @lien at 11:47 PM ON 06/03/08
well sounds great, so long as the US government and oil companies dont kill it like they did the EV1 in 2002
By chelsea at 8:08 PM ON 11/14/08
there's nothing new, almost all car manufacturers are creating electric cars for the competitive market.
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