Lithium driving...sweet!

[Obin Olson]

Best money ever spent, outside my RED

350 miles and zero gas so far. Nothing like silent 260ft/lb of torque and NO vibration, exhaust, shifting or many of the other things in a gas car that tell you "it's about to need repairs".

Car 2.0

 

[Kwan Khan]

Sweet;
If you drive a pure battery 12,000 miles a year at current electricity rates (assuming $.12 per kilowatt hour though), you'll pay about $389 per year. You'll save about $1200 in gas (assuming $3 per gallon, a 30 miles per gallon vehicle, and 12,000 miles driven).

Charging an EV on solar power is a futuristic dream (The technology to power your EV with solar power is already available).

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

35 mile range on electric- you've got to be kidding... You don't get out much do you...:wink5:

 

[George Butterfield]

Best money ever spent, outside my RED

You are a trailblazer, no doubt about it. But this is definitely "money down the drain". You can however provide valuable data for the car developers. Is that your electricity, or is someone else paying for it?

 

[Peter Strietmann]

The average American drives under 30 miles per day.

 

[James Sielaff]

Does it have d-tap?

 

[Obin Olson]

D tap, let me wire that in.

So far in 4 days I have driven about twice my "average" distance daily and still not used ANY gas at all.

This is deff the way, it makes gas cars feel a lot like vhs.

 

[Obin Olson]

300 miles since last weekend. gas free.

BTW the car is pretty much a "luxury" car. fully loaded, leather all the bells and whistles. Price reflects this plus the massive undertaking to design the car and the electrical stuff.

Watch "deep dive volt" on youtube....pretty cool stuff going on under the hood

 

[Anthony Gratl]

But this is definitely "money down the drain". You can however provide valuable data for the car developers. Is that your electricity, or is someone else paying for it?

I pride myself on being civil, but you sir, are an idiot.


In unrelated news, thats a really nice car Obin !!!! Amazing. Good for you. If I had the money, I'd buy one for sure.
The closest I've felt to no fuel cost is when I ran my truck on waste vegetable oil. Not paying for fuel is addictive.

 

[Sid Idris]

What's up with that VOLT decal???? Seems a bit too obvious don't you think?

 

[Jeremy Neish]

Best money ever spent, outside my RED

350 miles and zero gas so far. Nothing like silent 260ft/lb of torque and NO vibration, exhaust, shifting or many of the other things in a gas car that tell you "it's about to need repairs".

Car 2.0

Stop it!! I've been following the Volt and plug-in electric concepts for longer than I have RED, and I want one SO badly, but I just can't justify the cost... yet.

To those that are saying this is a bad investment... wait until peak oil hits (actually it already hit in 2007). Or more specifically, wait until worldwide demand for oil outstrips supply (this will probably happen in 2013 give or take 12 months), and suddenly oil imports to the U.S. plummet to near zero and we must survive on domestically produced oil only. We will need to get by on 1/3 of the oil we are currently using. Needless to say, if you think the the military industrial complex is going to allow you to take your kids to soccer practice in the minivan while their tanks, factories and farm vehicles idle on empty tanks, you are going to be in for a surprise.

At that point a car that can run on electricity isn't going to seem so expensive.

Currently my bridge solution until I can afford a Volt is this:

It runs on used motor oil which I have been stockpiling and I paid 1/10 the price of a Volt. But I still want my Volt. I'm so jealous.

More on Peak Oil here: http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse/chapter-17a-peak-oil

 

[Curran Giddens]

My first car will be 100% electric. Without any gas engine you can save a lot of weight. But I'm actually not looking for a compact car. Double or triple the battery capacity even if it ends up being the size of a minivan or SUV to fit all the batteries.

 

[Justin Kirchhoff]

Obin, how long does it take to for a full-charge?

 

[Michael Panfeld]

D tap, let me wire that in.

Actually, what I am waiting/hoping for is an electric suv/van/truck, which could be used as a grip truck, and where the small gas engine can double as a genny (with comparable output equal to the Honda 6500eu inverter genny).

 

[Dustin Sims]

Actually, what I am waiting/hoping for is an electric suv/van/truck, which could be used as a grip truck, and where the small gas engine can double as a genny (with comparable output equal to the Honda 6500eu inverter genny).

Something like this? http://www.azuredynamics.com/products/transit-connect-electric.htm

That's full EV though. There should be a lot of plug-in hybrid options in the next few years. I'm still waiting these out. Battery-powered vehicles are just a stop-gap until the hydrogen fuel cells take over. Several manufacturers already have fuel cell vehicles planned for later this decade. That being said, the Volt is still pretty cool, and being able to recharge at your house is certainly cheaper than hydrogen will be

 

[Vinit Borrison]

I'm saving up for Tesla Model S, and then a Model X

www.teslamotors.com

 

[Obin Olson]

It was a factory demo car, I did not apply the stickers. I will take them off at some point. It's like having your own mag lev train. That is what a friend says after riding around in it. LOL. Such a different feel then a traditional gas engine/transmission.

 

[Obin Olson]

Stop it!! I've been following the Volt and plug-in electric concepts for longer than I have RED, and I want one SO badly, but I just can't justify the cost... yet.

To those that are saying this is a bad investment... wait until peak oil hits (actually it already hit in 2007). Or more specifically, wait until worldwide demand for oil outstrips supply (this will probably happen in 2013 give or take 12 months), and suddenly oil imports to the U.S. plummet to near zero and we must survive on domestically produced oil only. We will need to get by on 1/3 of the oil we are currently using. Needless to say, if you think the the military industrial complex is going to allow you to take your kids to soccer practice in the minivan while their tanks, factories and farm vehicles idle on empty tanks, you are going to be in for a surprise.

At that point a car that can run on electricity isn't going to seem so expensive.

Currently my bridge solution until I can afford a Volt is this:

It runs on used motor oil which I have been stockpiling and I paid 1/10 the price of a Volt. But I still want my Volt. I'm so jealous.

More on Peak Oil here: http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse/chapter-17a-peak-oil

I have been following the VOLT development about as much as reduser over at gm-volt.com and other places. Swore I would never buy a new car but this just HAD to be owned, factory fresh.

MAN I love it! Like a kid at christmas, every day I wake up and go and and admire my ELECTRIC car. it's sooo sick.

 

[Obin Olson]

I'm saving up for Tesla Model S, and then a Model X

www.teslamotors.com

TESLA is siiicckkk!!!

 

[Obin Olson]

Obin, how long does it take to for a full-charge?

about 3 hours on 240v, overnight on 110.

40 miles a charge, I am doing about 50 or so miles a day by keeping it on the charger ALL the time when not driving, Local Utilities are installing a $2000 240v charger at no cost so they can monitor usage for 24 months then I get the equipment for free after. No upcharge on electric costs.

Looking at going all solar with a 10kw system for the car, I never run more then about 10kw a day of juice. That would be about 12 175w panels I think to cover it.