Volt sales figures are out

[davester]

sekker wrote:
davester, the enter railroad and conventional submarine fleets are diesel electrics.

You can run the gas/diesel engines at max efficiency 100% of the time.

Those are actually quite different applications. Note that those vehicles generally do not charge batteries with the diesel. It can be quite efficient to run an electric motor using a diesel generator, but it is quite another matter to charge a battery using a diesel generator.

Diesel electric submarines charge their batteries with the diesel not for efficiency, but because they have no other choice since they can't run the diesel below periscope depth. Diesel electric trains generate electricity for direct use in powering the motors. They don't charge batteries (which results in substantial losses) except for peripheral use and they use electric motors because the sufficiently lightweight gearbox needed to distribute the power needed to move such a large vehicle hasn't been invented yet.

[jesse]

billb wrote:
[quote=Rick-o]
Hey! Saw my first Volt today while out and about. The dealership in the next county had one out front. It had a HUGE "VOLT" decal on the sides. If I ever bought one, I think I would skip the decal. (td)

Huge blue letters on the door of a white car ?
That's what's out front of the little GM/Chevy dealership here.
The dealership where my husband works received one of the Volts with the large lettering on it, they're required to keep it on the lot for test drives for a certain amount of time before they're allowed to sell it (not sure if the lettering comes off).

[sekker]

davester wrote:
[quote=sekker]
davester, the enter railroad and conventional submarine fleets are diesel electrics.

You can run the gas/diesel engines at max efficiency 100% of the time.

Those are actually quite different applications. Note that those vehicles generally do not charge batteries with the diesel. It can be quite efficient to run an electric motor using a diesel generator, but it is quite another matter to charge a battery using a diesel generator.

Diesel electric submarines charge their batteries with the diesel not for efficiency, but because they have no other choice since they can't run the diesel below periscope depth. Diesel electric trains generate electricity for direct use in powering the motors. They don't charge batteries (which results in substantial losses) except for peripheral use and they use electric motors because the sufficiently lightweight gearbox needed to distribute the power needed to move such a large vehicle hasn't been invented yet.
Prototype true diesel electric station wagons have been demo'd at the Detroit auto show - they get 72 MPG.

Even the best conventional transmission is a poor substitute for electric drive, as you note. I see no reason the same approach would not work well in a car.

[Rick-o]

jesse wrote:
[quote=billb]
[quote=Rick-o]
Hey! Saw my first Volt today while out and about. The dealership in the next county had one out front. It had a HUGE "VOLT" decal on the sides. If I ever bought one, I think I would skip the decal. (td)

Huge blue letters on the door of a white car ?
That's what's out front of the little GM/Chevy dealership here.
The dealership where my husband works received one of the Volts with the large lettering on it, they're required to keep it on the lot for test drives for a certain amount of time before they're allowed to sell it (not sure if the lettering comes off).
That makes sense. I wouldn't want that (IMO) ugly decal on my new ride.

BTW, I went by another dealership today and saw the white with blue decal version. They are definitely getting them out there if I can see two of them in two days in my remote neck of the woods.