The Chevrolet Volt Doesn't Make Any Sense. Who Really Wants This Car Besides Bob Lutz And Rick Wagoner?

Implications: The GM EV1 battery powered car, which used lead-acid batteries, went 90 miles at 60 miles an hour on an overnight charge. It was discontinued nearly 20 years ago for lack of customer interest, said GM, at the time. What advantage does the 2010 or 2011 Chevrolet Volt have over this 20 year old technology?

Analysis: In the late 1990s GM engineered and built the EV1, a battery powered car, which was the successor to a battery powered car the company had designed and built prototypes of in the late 1970s. The EV1 used lead acid storage batteries to achieved a range of 90 miles on an overnight charge, and it had a top speed of 60 miles per hour.

The EV1 was discontinued in 1999, after 1000 had been built and leased in California as a 'beta test' to  a very satisfied group of enthusiasts who recognized it for exactly what it was, a zero emission, city car. The EV1 was discontinued because California rescinded its law requiring that 2% of a manufacturer's vehicles must be zero emission by 1999.

Why is the Chevrolet Volt an improvement over the EV1? Surely a small car using the latest lead acid batteries with a fast charging feature could be built today with a range of 125-150 miles on a full charge and a range of more than 40 miles on a quick charge. if such a car had an on board gasoline or diesel engine to recharge the batteries and drive the electric motors when the batteries were low then it would be superior to the Chevrolet Volt design and could have a range of hundreds of miles on just a few gallons of gasoline just like the Toyota Prius already does.
 
Lead acid batteries are heavier, but they are very cheap and reliable in comparison to lithium or nickel metal hydride batteries. Such lead acid battery packs could also be easily replaced and recycled when worn out.

It's true that a lithium battery powered vehicle can theoretically allow a vehicle to run faster than 60 miles an hour for a longer time than a lead acid or nickel metal hydride system could, but there is no pint to this feature for a mass produced city or commuter car. in any case the reliability of lithium batteries and their purported extended lives are only hype at this point. There is no data on their lifetimes or reliability or safety to establish any warranty periods even remotely resembling the known reliability and lifetimes, not to mention the safety, of lead acid and nickel metal hydride batteries.

Americans, like the rest of the world, must learn to stop spreading themselves out to live far from their places of work. We were only able to do this due to cheap gasoline in any case.

The countdown is on. Someone, perhaps, a Chinese manufacturer, is soon going to offer a lead acid battery- gasoline engine (for battery charging) hybrid electric car with a range of 100 miles, using only the battery,  on a full charge and a top speed of 70 miles per hour and a price of less than $20,000.00 and it going to sell millions of them to customers who are tired of waiting for a General Motors to do the same thing.