I'm so excited about the Chevy Volt!

[TeyshaBlue]

Better Lithium Ion Battery Aims to Re-Energize Electric Cars

A new lithium ion battery technology may finally make the devices cheap enough and durable enough to turn electric cars from a niche product into a mass-market mode of transport. Waltham, Mass.–manufacturer A123 Systems has produced a cell that delivers 20 percent more power, works at temperatures as low as –30 degrees Celsius and as high as 60 degrees C, and should be just as easy as current batteries to manufacture.

"There's no 'unobtainium' in this battery," says company co-founder, Massachusetts Ins ute of Technology materials scientist Yet-Ming Chiang. "It's not based on a very expensive new chemistry."

Independent scientists have been scrutinizing the company's claims and say they are impressed.

"The ions and electrons have to move faster," explains chemist Jeffrey Chamberlain, who leads the Energy Storage Initiative at Argonne National Laboratory and was not involved in this research. That, in turn, suggests an improvement in one of three places: the electrolyte (the ion-carrying guts of the battery); the interface between the electrolyte and the electrodes (the charge-collecting plates); the electrodes themselves; or all of the above. Manufacturing innovations may also contribute. Although the specifics of the Nanophosphate EXT improvements remain unclear, A123 does hold patents relating to work on novel electrode and electrolyte materials as well as battery structures. "If this is real, it's a major breakthrough,"

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...m-a123-systems

Hope A123 is around long enough to develop the technology.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/bu...pagewanted=all

[coyotes_geek]

My first car: 1970 Mach I.

nice ride.....here is my first car...



What were my parents thinking?

You two can GFY! Try spending your teenage years trying to pick up chicks in a used, baby blue version of one of these.



And no, the ownership experience wasn't nearly as elegant as this picture conveys. It's just the only picture of this four-wheeled, god forsaken, babe repellent POS that I could find on the internet.

BTW, did I mention you two can GFY?

[Drachen]

I had a 1987 Dodge ramcharger (that I started driving in 1996), I love(ed) that truck. If it didn't get 8 miles to the gallon (highway) I would totally go find one for 500 bucks and drive it (at least to the lake/river, etc).




C_G, I owned a 1986 Cadillac Cimarron that I bought in 2005. Try picking up girls in one a car labled among the "50 greatest mistakes of the car industry". At least I got it for only 350 dollars..

Edit: , sorry about that picture

Mine was maroon.

[TeyshaBlue]

I bought that car with my own money when I was 14. My Dad and I spent two years restoring it to factory...it was perfect. 9 months and 4 speeding tickets later, he made me sell it. Wanna see what my second car was?

[TeyshaBlue]

I had a 1987 Dodge ramcharger (that I started driving in 1996), I love(ed) that truck. If it didn't get 8 miles to the gallon (highway) I would totally go find one for 500 bucks and drive it (at least to the lake/river, etc).




C_G, I owned a 1986 Cadillac Cimarron that I bought in 2005. Try picking up girls in one a car labled among the "50 greatest mistakes of the car industry". At least I got it for only 350 dollars..

Edit: , sorry about that picture

Mine was maroon.

Bwaaahahahaha.... I bought my wife (now ex-wife) one of those POS Cimarron's. Good God...what a horrible car.

[Wild Cobra]

My first car was a '66 Comet.



But...

Mine was the Caliente.

[coyotes_geek]

C_G, I owned a 1986 Cadillac Cimarron that I bought in 2005. Try picking up girls in one a car labled among the "50 greatest mistakes of the car industry". At least I got it for only 350 dollars..

If the 1980 Ford LTD didn't make that list, it couldn't have missed it by much.

[TeyshaBlue]

You two can GFY! Try spending your teenage years trying to pick up chicks in a used, baby blue version of one of these.



And no, the ownership experience wasn't nearly as elegant as this picture conveys. It's just the only picture of this four-wheeled, god forsaken, babe repellent POS that I could find on the internet.

BTW, did I mention you two can GFY?

You look pretty dapper in that pic, CG.

[TeyshaBlue]

My first car was a '66 Comet.

Remember the "Grabber"?




Pretty cool cars. The Comet from the 70's with the 302 was a bit of a sleeper.

[Wild Cobra]

Remember the "Grabber"?




Pretty cool cars. The Comet from the 70's with the 302 was a bit of a sleeper.

Yes, I liked those. Never had one. My best earlier fast car was a 1977 Firebird with the Olds 350, and Trans-Am Body parts added.

[coyotes_geek]

You look pretty dapper in that pic, CG.

Pretty close. All you have to do is swap out the tux for the finest wardrobe Target could supply and dub in me saying "Oh, this is just my mom's car. My corvette is in the shop."

[TeyshaBlue]

Love those old 70's F-bodies. I never actually owned one...always wanted to tho.

[TeyshaBlue]

Pretty close. All you have to do is swap out the tux for the finest wardrobe Target could supply and dub in me saying "Oh, this is just my mom's car. My corvette is in the shop."

[Nbadan]

Chevrolet Volt Outselling Corvette in 2012

Chevrolet’s plug-in hybrid sedan is in its first year of full production, and after six months of sales, the Volt has toppled the Chevy Corvette in the retail race.

So far in 2012, Chevy has offloaded 7,057 Volts, compared to the the Corvette’s 5,547 sales. It deserves noting that the figures General Motors — Chevrolet’s parent company — has released are for deliveries to dealers, and not vehicles parked in customer garages.

Still, the duality of the two vehicles sold under the same marque couldn’t be more clear. Both the Corvette and Volt could be considered niche products — one a sports car, one a plug-in hybrid with a 40-mile range and absolutely no sporting pretenses.

There’s also the price discrepancy — not that anyone is cross-shopping the two models. The Volt comes in at $39,995 before any state or federal incentives, while the Corvette starts at just over 50 large. And of course, the fuel economy of both models stands in stark contrast: The Volt gets a combined rating of 94 MPGe, while the ‘Vette and its 6.2-liter V8 manages to eek out 16 MPG in the city and 26 MPG on the highway.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/06/volt-v-vette/

[Wild Cobra]

Chevrolet Volt Outselling Corvette in 2012



http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/06/volt-v-vette/

Who cares?

[TeyshaBlue]

Who cares?

I do....STFU.

[Wild Cobra]

I do....STFU.

Well then. Since you can only assume the tone of my voice, assume it was a simple question.

[Wild Cobra]

About the Corvette...

With a price range of just under $50k to just over $110k, it's not surprising at all. Must be the CAFE standards or something, but the prices of muscle cars have really increased compared to others. It's also possible to meet fleet CAFE standards, Chevrolet can only produce so many, making supply and demand pricing even higher than normal.

I wouldn't in any way take this to suggest people prefer the Volt over the Corvette.

I think the correct question to ask is what percentage of Corvettes built sold vs. the percentage of Volts built and sold. I'll bet very close to 100% of the Corvettes built were sold without any special deals, or waiting on the lot very long.

[tempest186]

My first car was also a baby blue Ford Ltd though it was a '77. Fortunately it was a sporty 2 door. Each door just happened to be as big as a honda civic.

[Wild Cobra]

My first car was also a baby blue Ford Ltd though it was a '77. Fortunately it was a sporty 2 door. Each door just happened to be as big as a honda civic.

LOL...

probably easier to move a Civic by hand than the door...

LOL...

To add about the Corvette...

Dealers are able to sell the new Camaro's at $5k over MSRP due to supply vs. demand. I didn't check on the Corvette, but it's probably a similar story. I was looking to buy a new Camaro, but I'm not going to pay that much.

[Sportcamper]

Dealers are able to sell the new Camaro's at $5k over MSRP due to supply vs. demand. I didn't check on the Corvette, but it's probably a similar story. I was looking to buy a new Camaro, but I'm not going to pay that much.

Why don’t you shop outside your area? You can get internet prices all over the country…Community Chevrolet in Burbank CA had a bunch of Camaros at discount….

[boutons_deux]

Paradigm Shift: The MIT CityCar And The Future Of Urban Mobility




Next month, Senator Jeff Merkely (D-Oregon) will drive an all electric vehicle from Portland to Ashland — a distance of about 285 miles — to show off the viability EVs and Oregon’s new electric highway program.

While Senator Merkley’s trek is great PR for EVs and his support in congress is vital to the continued development of the next generation of vehicles, the future of the electric car isn’t just on the nation’s highways, but in the cities.

For the last few years, scientists and researchers at MIT have been working on a project called the CityCar. The CityCar represents a radical rethinking of the urban mobility paradigm — a shift from conventional vehicles operating in a cramped, polluted, dangerous environment to vehicles specifically optimized for urban centers.

What is the City Car?

As MIT describes, the CityCar is unlike any vehicle in production today. “It does not have a central engine and traditional power train, but is powered by four in-wheel electric motors. Each wheel unit contains drive motor (which also enables regenerative braking), steering, and suspension, and is independently digitally controlled.”

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/201...rban-mobility/

[TeyshaBlue]

If I've got to drive one of those on 183 or 635 to get to the urban areas, I'm out.

[Blake]

I had me a Chrysler that seated about 20 for my first car.

Babe repellent extraordinaire

[TeyshaBlue]

You had no chance...I mean how can you resist Hal Linden as a spokesperson?