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Myself, because it's got a whole ICE powertrain it lugs around on top of a whole electric powertrain. So you've got two expensive and complicated drivetrains to

Myself, because it's got a whole ICE powertrain it lugs around on top of a whole electric powertrain. So you've got two expensive and complicated drivetrains to maintain, all apparently to avoid simply replacing the weight and cost of the ICE powertrain with an equally heavy and costly, but much simpler and more elegant, larger battery.

arcticfox 10y ago
Sure, but it achieves something no other car can (full electric for short range, and infinite range in any location on petro infrastructure). I prefer the Tesla approach, but it's also unproven at Volt's price point and also infeasible for long travel in rural areas (like mine) until the Supercharger network is more developed.
- vvanders 10y ago
  Tesla works fine in rural areas as long as your path is along the interstate.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > Sure, but it achieves something no other car can (full electric for short range, and infinite range in any location on petro infrastructure). Except the Prius PHV and Prius Prime, among others, actually exist, so the "no other car" part is wrong. (Sure, the exact parameters of the "short range" differ, but the general description does not.)
  - arcticfox 10y ago
    Ah, fair enough - I should have said "achieved".
  - sremani 10y ago
    Prius Prime is barely in showrooms and Prius PHV has puny AER.
maxerickson 10y ago
The powertrains are integrated. Handwaving, the electric motors are part of the transmission. It's also not supposed to be elegant. It's supposed to be easy to power with gasoline.
- cryptoz 10y ago
  > It's supposed to be easy to power with gasoline. Right - that's why the car may not get a lot of respect, and why I personally also don't care for the car no matter how good the engineering. We should be innovating for full-on electric cars. We should be ditching all cars that run on ICE equipment or support the ICE industry. Commit fully to electric cars.
  - ams6110 10y ago
    Fully electric cars are not (yet) realistic for many people. Most people at least occasionally drive beyond the range of even a Tesla and don't want to stop for a lengthy recharge (lengthy compared to refueling with gasoline, especially if they aren't near a supercharger). A plug-in hybrid is a more realistic option for more people. Edit: not to mention far more affordable.
  - femto113 10y ago
    This is like saying eating less meat is worthless because the only valid choice is to go vegan. The Volt has comparably practical electric-only range to popular "full-on" electric cars like the Leaf (~50 miles, so plenty for daily commuting). That is has much greater overall range with the ability to refuel in 5 minutes at any of the over 100,000 gas stations in the US also means that it can be practical today for millions of households for which pure-electrics won't be practical for many years to come.
  - hx87 10y ago
    But it is better than a pure gasoline car, yes? For many people a full electric car neither practical nor affordable, whereas a hybrid is both. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

arcticfox 10y ago

Sure, but it achieves something no other car can (full electric for short range, and infinite range in any location on petro infrastructure). I prefer the Tesla approach, but it's also unproven at Volt's price point and also infeasible for long travel in rural areas (like mine) until the Supercharger network is more developed.

vvanders 10y ago
Tesla works fine in rural areas as long as your path is along the interstate.
dragonwriter 10y ago
> Sure, but it achieves something no other car can (full electric for short range, and infinite range in any location on petro infrastructure). Except the Prius PHV and Prius Prime, among others, actually exist, so the "no other car" part is wrong. (Sure, the exact parameters of the "short range" differ, but the general description does not.)
- arcticfox 10y ago
  Ah, fair enough - I should have said "achieved".
- sremani 10y ago
  Prius Prime is barely in showrooms and Prius PHV has puny AER.

maxerickson 10y ago

The powertrains are integrated. Handwaving, the electric motors are part of the transmission. It's also not supposed to be elegant. It's supposed to be easy to power with gasoline.

cryptoz 10y ago
> It's supposed to be easy to power with gasoline. Right - that's why the car may not get a lot of respect, and why I personally also don't care for the car no matter how good the engineering. We should be innovating for full-on electric cars. We should be ditching all cars that run on ICE equipment or support the ICE industry. Commit fully to electric cars.
- ams6110 10y ago
  Fully electric cars are not (yet) realistic for many people. Most people at least occasionally drive beyond the range of even a Tesla and don't want to stop for a lengthy recharge (lengthy compared to refueling with gasoline, especially if they aren't near a supercharger). A plug-in hybrid is a more realistic option for more people. Edit: not to mention far more affordable.
- femto113 10y ago
  This is like saying eating less meat is worthless because the only valid choice is to go vegan. The Volt has comparably practical electric-only range to popular "full-on" electric cars like the Leaf (~50 miles, so plenty for daily commuting). That is has much greater overall range with the ability to refuel in 5 minutes at any of the over 100,000 gas stations in the US also means that it can be practical today for millions of households for which pure-electrics won't be practical for many years to come.
- hx87 10y ago
  But it is better than a pure gasoline car, yes? For many people a full electric car neither practical nor affordable, whereas a hybrid is both. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.