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Good to know. My 2011 Honda has 61k on it, battery life has been a concern in an EV as I picture my next car sitting around on-and-off for a decade or two again
by harlanji 6y ago
Good to know. My 2011 Honda has 61k on it, battery life has been a concern in an EV as I picture my next car sitting around on-and-off for a decade or two again. This one smelt new until a few years ago. My iPhone SE has around 15% degradation, for comparison. I like The Volt’s onboard generator approach, feels robust. Hopefully another while to think about it, as cost of maintaining a 9 year old/61k mi car is pretty good still.
- JonathonW 6y agoIf only Chevy had been able to deliver on the Volt’s original concept (with the electric motor connected only to a generator)— it turned out that that arrangement was actually pretty inefficient, and the production car ended up being more of a traditional series hybrid approach similar to the Prius (with the ICE and electric motors connected through a planetary gearset so both can drive the wheels). BMW does something similar to the Volt’s original concept with the Range Extender in the i3– that actually is a gasoline engine coupled to a generator; it never directly drives the wheels, and it can’t be used as the car’s only power source (once the battery’s dead, you’re done, even with a full tank of gas).
- turtlebits 6y agoThe i3 range extender kicks automatically once your battery range gets low, and uses gas to maintain that range (while reducing power). So theoretically, your battery should never die while you have gas.