GM: Electric Volt car will get 230 miles per gallon

It all boils down to economics, if the Volt is going to sell for $40,000 or more, other cars like the Prius make more sense, in the long run. Electric cars make sense, but they have to be produced at the right price.

NO NEED for Cap and Trade Now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

230 mpg but what will the electricity cost us once demand spikes as our country moves from gasoline to electricity

To boot, I'm National Grid.

I'll wait for the Tesla Model S due in 2011. $50K for a much nicer car, a range up to 300 miles, a 45-minute QuickCharge and 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds.

I dunno about the volt but i'm really interested in Nissan's LEAF(coming next year ) i found it in my spam folder and frankly i was blown away with the design and features. Biggest sticking point is 100miles to the charge here is the link for anyone interested to learn more

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/?=tqd.ev.MCR.aug09evrevealem.HNR

230 miles and the electrical extension cord is 230 miles.

You guys keep fighting this, trying to find negatives at every turn and holding on to your beloved full time gas/diesel. .The truth of the matter is that this is the future and you better get used to it. It will only improve over time and full time gasoline/diesel fuel vehicles will die a slow death. The car you own now will only be worth scrap metal in 5 years.

BubbaBill had a question about Lithium so I thought I would send a copy for everybody else for your enlightenment. Lithium is one of the common elements found in the ground and has lots of interesting uses and applications.

First elements in the periodic table and their isotopes:

H, Hydrogen-------1 proton, 0 neutrons
H^2, Deuterium---1 proton, 1 neutrons (hydrogen isotope)
H^3, Tritium--------1 proton, 2 neutrons (hydrogen isotope)
He, Helium----------2 protons, 2 neutrons
Li, Lithium----------3 protons, 3 neutrons
.
.
Li^6, Lithium6-------3 protons, 6 neutrons (lithium isotope)

You use an Isotope of lithium (Li^6) and Hydrogen(H^2, Deuterium (from sea water, also known as heavy water)) in a compound known as Lithium-Deuteride and the Lithium isotope (Li^6) breaks down when the plutonium "trigger" goes critical giving Helium (He), Tritium (H^3), Deuterium (H^2) and Hydrogen (H) in various proportions (plus all those extra neutrons). Tritium, which is a common daughter product of nuclear reactions in power reactors is used in watches, night sights for firearms etc., is also the booster in a common garden variety "boosted" nuclear explosive by providing lots of extra neutrons to increase the "alpha" or number of reactions that take place before the explosive components move far enough apart to stop reacting, thus increasing the "yield" or efficiency of the reaction and reducing the amount of "active" components such as Uranium(U^235) or Plutonium (Pu^239).

Tritium (H^3), when combined with hydrogen (H) gives Helium (He) and is the lowest energy method of producing a thermo-nuclear reaction. That being said however, Deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen, H^2) will combine with more Deuterium and also produces Helium (He). Because of this neat little nuclear magic show using Li^6, you don't need liquid fuels at cryogenic temperatures to get into the thermonuclear club. Keeping the fuels dry allowed the development of weapons that could be delivered and stored for reasonable periods of time without cryogenic refrigeration plants.

Sorry about the superscripts, the editor doesn't have any other means to annotate them.

In my next life, I'm going to study finance so I can produce financial derivatives and crash the Stock Market. I just love it when folks like 60 Minutes say that you have to be a "Rocket Scientist" to understand something like "Derivatives". I guess in journalism school they just teach you how to be an empty suit with a pretty face and a good speaking voice. Don't ask about ANFO, that's a secret (just kidding).

Does that help a bit? ;-)

40K ha ha that buys a lot of gasoline einsteins!!

maybe Al Gore and global warming scare crew can afford one ha.

Next stop for Barry will be to nationalize energy companies and destroy competetion and charge what ever the govt fancies to charge these ugly government motors shitboxes.

doesnt anyone see, GM sucks and should have went backrupt like every small company that makes overpriced unwanted junk. i hope not 1 dollar of cash for clunker scam goes to GM

We need a 20k car that does the same - Most Americans can't even afford a 20k car. How can an economy sustain when the majority of the workers cannot even afford day to day expenses

It's a GM product...breaks after the last payment; poor service; poor product; no residual value; bailout dependent.

I figured that with gas at $2.65 a gallon and the car being $15,000 more than a $25,000 car (like my Forester) it would take the purchase of 5,660+ gallons of gas to break even on this car. Not counting battery replacement and added cost to your electric bill.

My Subaru Forester is getting 26 MPH. So if I bought one of these I'd have to drive over 147,000 miles to break even on gas savings, not counting of course my electric bill and possible battery replacement.

This thing might make sense as a company car for someone who puts 25K or more miles a year traveling around, but it makes no sense for an individual to own. But these kinds of cars don't have the range to be practical as a long range company car. Back to the drawing board Detroit...............

...Toyota's Prius, the current mileage leader at about 51 mpg with a $22,000 starting price tag. The Volt is expected to retail for about $40,000

You can buy 2 toyota for one Volt. Make your choice ?

I do not believe this hokum for a minute. This from a company that over time has given us the Corvair, Vega, Cadillac Cimmaron, V8 gasoline engines retrofitted (...that self destructed.) to diesel in the 70s and decades of different division cars that were all identical under the skin and the final assault on our environment and sensibilities and conscience, the "suv". Only the Lemmings will believe 230 mpg. The same ones that bought Detroit's marketing push that told us that suvs were safe and good for soccer moms and virile dads. How'd that work out for you mom and dad? See, this is what happens when you buy into advertising and don't think for yourselves. Thanks for reading this.

The message I'm getting from this article is that if you want a "green" vehicle, the auto manufacturers view you as willing to over-pay for a vehicle. My 11 year old Dodge Stratus is still getting 29-30 mpg, and I didn't have to pay the "green fee" associated with a hybrid or electric vehicle. Widespread adoption may start to occur when manufacturers quit trying to squeeze people for wanting a fuel efficient vehicle, and start selling reliable vehicles in a more affordable price range.