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So one of the major perks of electric cars are fewer moving parts. Once you add a gas engine to the car, you increase the weight, remove space for batteries, ad

So one of the major perks of electric cars are fewer moving parts. Once you add a gas engine to the car, you increase the weight, remove space for batteries, add cost, and finally add a lot more complexity and moving parts. Now the gas engine added convenience but personally it doesn't add enough to compensate for the downsides. But I would not rule out plug in hybrids, from what I have read GM stopped making it since it was a sedan which are not selling great for them. But also because the newer bolt platform is a better base for an EV or PHEV, since it was designed from the ground up to run on electric motors.

petre 8y ago
So add a small gas turbine range extender. Like the BMW i3’s range extender but use a small gas turbine instead of a scooter engine. Also make that optional. No need for a conventional ICE drivetrain.
WorldMaker 8y ago
Yeah, GM killing the Volt seems more a weird side effect of GM's manufacturing plant shell game than an intentional strategy. The Volt was original intended to be the "savior" of the venerable Hamtramck plant, as it was the future of what was to be built there. The original goal was to make more of the cars over time at Hamtramck resemble the Volt, which was closer to a cross-over in G1. The short-sighted decision for cost cutting in the G2 Volt was to push it more proper sedan-like to make it more like everything else that Hamtramck was producing. So the Volt shutting down was further short-sighted side effect of GM killing all sedans/Hamtramck. Obvious rumors are that GM is already in the works on a new cross-over PHEV. It's dumb that the sedan-ification of the Volt brand between G1 and G2 probably means that it will be yet another new brand instead of just the obvious Volt G3. (It's also a dumb shame that GM didn't actually save Hamtramck in what could have been a smart move of electrifying more of it and moving it all more cross-over-esque according to the original Volt plan.)
- ams6110 8y ago
  The Volt is dead? Hm. There are still some sitting at the lot at my local Chevy dealer. Didn't know that it had been killed.
  - WorldMaker 8y ago
    GM shut down all sedan manufacturing including the Volt (and Cruze and others), which described before the Volt was probably more of an accidental bystander than an intentional part of GM's electric strategy. The whole thing was a short term financial move that some Shareholders just about demanded after Ford did similar and eliminated all their sedans. Americans "don't buy" American sedans right now and so all American automotive manufacturing is focusing solely on SUVs, Trucks, and Cross-Overs as of 2018, again. Everything about this cycle is cynical and short-sighted, as Americans are still buying European and Japanese sedans at basically the same rates as always, and the SUV/Truck market (and maybe the Cross-Over market too) and its gleefully (to Shareholder earnings) high margins rises and falls directly in proportion to gasoline costs.
    - dragonwriter 8y ago
      > Americans "don't buy" American sedans right now and so all American automotive manufacturing is focusing solely on SUVs, Trucks, and Cross-Overs as of 2018, again. GM is keeping the electric Bolt, which is not an SUV, Truck, or Crossover. The Volt, as a hybrid, doesn't fit their long term strategy, so wasn't spared the axe coming down due to the short-term situation with the sedan market.
      - WorldMaker 8y ago
        The Bolt is closer to a cross-over than a true sedan (which mostly just goes to show the categories are dumb and another reason "no one buys sedans" is a stupid statement because the distinctions are more gray than black-and-white), but more importantly has never been manufactured in the sedan-mostly Hamtramck plant. GM turned around and admitted that PHEV hybrids are still in their current long term strategy, to expect at least a "true" cross-over version in the near future, if not also SUV and Truck plans. Like I said before, the problem with the Volt seemed to be that G2 was nothing but a sedan made in the sedan plant that GM wanted to drop, not that it was a hybrid or electric. I still think that Volt G1's form factor would have been spared because it would have been easier to retool it next to the Bolt or in another cross-over facility.
marcosdumay 8y ago
Maybe people can rent those just when they need.

petre 8y ago

So add a small gas turbine range extender. Like the BMW i3’s range extender but use a small gas turbine instead of a scooter engine. Also make that optional. No need for a conventional ICE drivetrain.

WorldMaker 8y ago

Yeah, GM killing the Volt seems more a weird side effect of GM's manufacturing plant shell game than an intentional strategy. The Volt was original intended to be the "savior" of the venerable Hamtramck plant, as it was the future of what was to be built there. The original goal was to make more of the cars over time at Hamtramck resemble the Volt, which was closer to a cross-over in G1. The short-sighted decision for cost cutting in the G2 Volt was to push it more proper sedan-like to make it more like everything else that Hamtramck was producing. So the Volt shutting down was further short-sighted side effect of GM killing all sedans/Hamtramck. Obvious rumors are that GM is already in the works on a new cross-over PHEV. It's dumb that the sedan-ification of the Volt brand between G1 and G2 probably means that it will be yet another new brand instead of just the obvious Volt G3. (It's also a dumb shame that GM didn't actually save Hamtramck in what could have been a smart move of electrifying more of it and moving it all more cross-over-esque according to the original Volt plan.)

ams6110 8y ago
The Volt is dead? Hm. There are still some sitting at the lot at my local Chevy dealer. Didn't know that it had been killed.
- WorldMaker 8y ago
  GM shut down all sedan manufacturing including the Volt (and Cruze and others), which described before the Volt was probably more of an accidental bystander than an intentional part of GM's electric strategy. The whole thing was a short term financial move that some Shareholders just about demanded after Ford did similar and eliminated all their sedans. Americans "don't buy" American sedans right now and so all American automotive manufacturing is focusing solely on SUVs, Trucks, and Cross-Overs as of 2018, again. Everything about this cycle is cynical and short-sighted, as Americans are still buying European and Japanese sedans at basically the same rates as always, and the SUV/Truck market (and maybe the Cross-Over market too) and its gleefully (to Shareholder earnings) high margins rises and falls directly in proportion to gasoline costs.
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    > Americans "don't buy" American sedans right now and so all American automotive manufacturing is focusing solely on SUVs, Trucks, and Cross-Overs as of 2018, again. GM is keeping the electric Bolt, which is not an SUV, Truck, or Crossover. The Volt, as a hybrid, doesn't fit their long term strategy, so wasn't spared the axe coming down due to the short-term situation with the sedan market.
    - WorldMaker 8y ago
      The Bolt is closer to a cross-over than a true sedan (which mostly just goes to show the categories are dumb and another reason "no one buys sedans" is a stupid statement because the distinctions are more gray than black-and-white), but more importantly has never been manufactured in the sedan-mostly Hamtramck plant. GM turned around and admitted that PHEV hybrids are still in their current long term strategy, to expect at least a "true" cross-over version in the near future, if not also SUV and Truck plans. Like I said before, the problem with the Volt seemed to be that G2 was nothing but a sedan made in the sedan plant that GM wanted to drop, not that it was a hybrid or electric. I still think that Volt G1's form factor would have been spared because it would have been easier to retool it next to the Bolt or in another cross-over facility.

marcosdumay 8y ago

Maybe people can rent those just when they need.