| GOT BOOST |
An interesting read....
I wonder how GM will use this data.
I suspect they will spin it one way so they can squash the electric car idea again.
http://www.reportonbusiness.com/ser...y/Business/home
TOM KRISHER
Associated Press
July 22, 2008 at 1:52 PM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif. — General Motors Corp. has joined with more than 30 utility companies across the U.S. to help work out electricity issues that will crop up when it rolls out new electric vehicles in a little more than two years.
The Detroit auto maker said the partnership, which includes the Electric Power Research Institute and large utilities such as Southern California Edison and Duke Energy Corp., will deal with issues from tax incentives for the vehicles to where and when they can be plugged in for recharging.
GM is working to bring the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable car to showrooms in late 2010. It's being designed to run on an electric motor powered by lithium-ion batteries. When fully charged, it will be able to go 64 km on battery power. For longer trips, a small internal combustion engine will recharge the batteries to keep the Volt moving.
“This vehicle is real. It's coming into production,” said Britta Gross, a GM engineer who is helping to build the infrastructure for cars of the future. “We know that when the vehicle is in the showroom and ready for sale, it's got to work seamlessly with the infrastructure. It's the whole picture. We've got to make sure the infrastructure is ready.”
General Motors
GM and the utilities planned to announcement the partnership Tuesday at a conference on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in San Jose.
The consortium will work on everything from policy issues including tax incentives for purchasing what is likely to be an expensive car to whether the electric generation system can handle the increased power demand.
The cars will have to be designed so recharging them can be timed to low-demand periods for electricity, Ms. Gross said. The speed of the recharging, voltage, amperage and other issues all have to be worked out, she said. The group also will address issues such as how apartment dwellers can charge their cars and where the vehicles will be charged at work or on trips – and who pays for the electricity, Ms. Gross said.
“We want this to sell in just huge volumes, so we want to get it right,” she said.
A team of GM engineers and designers is working on the Volt, hoping to be the leader in plug-in electric vehicles. Other auto makers, including Toyota Motor Corp., are working on similar vehicles.
GM already is showing Volt prototypes to focus groups and is testing a new generation of batteries that can carry enough juice to run the vehicles for 64 km. It is being designed so it can be recharged from a conventional household electrical outlet.
But the car will be priced anywhere from $30,000 (U.S.) to $40,000, far more expensive than most conventional cars.
The group, Ms. Gross said, likely will seek government tax incentives for buyers because of the benefits the car brings to society, such as lowered greenhouse gas emissions and reduced dependence on foreign oil.
“The price to the consumer has got to be affordable,” she said.
Utilities, she said, can benefit from the cars because they will sell more electricity during off-peak hours when they have idle generating capacity.
But auto makers and utilities will have to work out ways to decide how to stagger recharging so local substations do not become overloaded, Ms. Gross said.
The Volt likely will need about 8 kilowatt-hours of energy to recharge, Ms. Gross said. The average U.S. utility charges about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, so it would cost the consumer about 80 cents to go the 64 km, she said. |
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| Ayeso |
| Isnt there other electric vehicles that are way older and use much outdated batteries that get 60 miles+ on a charge? Why so little with new better batteries... |
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| not-boosted |
thats cool but If any one in alberta considers on getting one, better get a fixed rate plan for electricity .
quote:
The Volt likely will need about 8 kilowatt-hours of energy to recharge, Ms. Gross said. The average U.S. utility charges about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, so it would cost the consumer about 80 cents to go the 64 km, she said.
here the current open market rates that we are seeing at 60% of the open market and we will see 100% in 2010.
ELECTRICITY
Rates are effective July 1 to 31, 2008
City of Edmonton Administration Fees / Cost of Energy
Residential $6.25 / 11.919˘/kWh
Small Commercial $6.56 /11.919˘/kWh
Outside Edmonton Administration Fees /Cost of Energy
Residential $6.16 /11.942˘/kWh
Farm $6.15 /12.150˘/kWh
Small Commercial $6.66 11.932˘/kWh
Town of Ponoka Administration Fees /Cost of Energy
Residential $6.85 / 12.114˘/kWh
Small Commercial $6.85 / 12.114˘/kWh
so it seems like a good idea pending that the car uses a standard cord so you can plug in any wear and your energy rates dont go up .
for the average consumer that uses around 400-550 kwh's a month 1cent increase a kilowatt-hour
equates to about $6.50 extra a month so if goes from 10 cents - 15cents mean you pay 32.5 more just because of the rate .
just a lil more info to think about with plug and charge cars
I still like the IDEA of the car tho :) |
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| qtrmile |
| Good news to all of us! damn Fuel prices it never stops to rise. Just wish its already 2010, there are lot of efficient cars to be out on that year. |
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| aarrgghh |
| I don't know why they are worried, 8 KW hrs is about the same as running a clothes dryer for 1.5 hours. Grid demand peaks in the afternoon (AC, dinner rush) and falls dramatically at night. All they should need is a clock to start the charging at night. If they want to get fancy they could have you set the time you need the car charged and it could either wait a random time (leaving enough time to charge) or simply charge at a slower rate targeted to be done in time. |
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| Tech2 |
| Dunno how well this would work up here, but with a solar array on your garage roof you could be driving for a buck a day. |
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| BLOCKER |
Mike, do you do anything at work that is actually work related?
:stickpoke
Interesting read
:thumbup: |
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