GM's green power trip
Even in these dog days of summer, we still remember the poor folks who paid $700 a month for their electric heat last winter. Only homeowners who signed heating-
oil contracts at $4.75 a gallon can begin to feel their pain.
Now it's not breaking news that electric heat is expensive. Fossil-fuel-fired power plants consume more than twice as much energy as they produce, then 6.4 percent of the electricity they generate — by some estimates, it's 9.5 percent — is lost in transmission and distribution. All those costs must be accounted for, but until that very distant day when wind, solar and biomass are competitive with
oil, coal and natural gas (nuclear already beats fossil fuels hands down), then civilization will have to live with the expense and inefficiencies of electricity production.
With that in mind, Government Motors says its $40,000 Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid with its electric motor and backup flex-fuel engine will have a combined 100-plus mpg rating (230 mpg city) and a range of 300 miles. Few in the automotive field are buying that pitch. Edmunds, for one, says GM's calculations assume 1) optimum driving conditions on good roads; 2) no passengers; 3) short driving distances; 4) no power-draining accessories (air conditioning, radio, etc.); and 5) a fully drained lithium-ion battery when the car enters the garage. Yeah, your mileage may vary. A lot.
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http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2009/...ion/430792.txt
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The Volt battery, meanwhile, will cost as much as $10,000, and under the best-case scenario will last five years, automotive experts say.
I wonder if GM would have gone this route without being practically owned by our Government. If it's true - $40K price tag with a $10,000 battery that will last only 5 years - it's doubtful that anyone will buy one.
What a bunch of BS and a waste of tax dollars.
GM's green power trip
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