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You can't trust Government Motors: the GM Volt is a hybrid, not a true EV
- CWuestefeld 16y agotl;dr: key paragraph: The automaker says there is no direct mechanical link from the gas engine to the drive train. We're not gearheads, but the folks at Edmunds are, and they claim "GM lied." If the existence of a direct linkage is what's going to drive your decision to buy this or not, then I think you've got some messed up priorities. Are you making a symbolic statement about what you think should be driving 21st century transportation, or are you looking for what is, in fact, the best transportation? (I don't mean to imply that the Volt is or is not the best, just that this is a stupid criterion for deciding it.)
- maxharris 16y agoBut there is a direct mechanical link! In some conditions, this mechanical link is activated - that engine is turning a shaft with some gears on it, which turns another gear and shaft, which turns an axle and two CV joints, which turns two wheels. What people thought they were getting was a car with an engine + giant generator without a transmission geared to or hooked up to the wheels directly. Then people (or GM, in a future model) could rip the engine, gas tank, etc. out and put a bigger battery in there! Instead, what we're getting is just another Prius, only more expensive and with a crappier more plastic-y interior.