It is about time!

Correction to this:
The Volt is a Plug-In Hybrid (not a full electric). This probably means the two vehicles in these stories are in fact the same.

Also, I don’t think that 2007 is the correct date for this. It will probably be later than that.

This is great because: a) obviously this is an important step towards decreasing emissions and also b) this will hopefully bring a bit more vitality to the American auto industry. This could have a positive impact in an environmental sense, but if the car does well and takes off, it could be very positive for lots of the “rust belt” cities.

I saw the Volt on display at the Auto Show in Detroit, and not only is it clean and efficient, it’s stylish. That’s important to attracting the sort-of-environmentally-concerned-customer, in addition to the die hard who will drive any ugly vehicle. GM seems to be moving in the right direction.

Here is a question… since most electricity is produced by burning coal, is it actually less harmful to the environment to use electricity from the grid than it is to run a small gasoline engine, as is used in a Prius?

Regardless, I hope that every vehicle produced in the future has the capability to regenerate energy while braking. Every time a vehicle without this technology brakes, energy is wasted as its brake pads clamp down on its discs.

Hi Ryan,

That’s an interesting question, and I don’t have a quick answer. I strongly suspect the all-electric vehicle is cleaner, but to verify that I’d have to find some numbers and then do some actual math. And even then, the answer might be, “it depends.”

Most electricity does come from coal, but the giant generators used by utilities are, unsurprisingly, much more efficient than tiny car engines. There’s also the issue that the carbon intensity of electricity varies dramatically across the U.S. There’s a greater than factor of 10 difference between relative clean states such as New York and dirty states such as Wyoming.

So the interesting question is, what is the carbon/mile figure for electric vehicles? To know that, you’d have to have some data on how long they take to fully charge, their wattage, and their range on a single charge (I think – I’m sort of ad-libbing here). Once you had those figures, you could determine a rough miles per “gallon” in different NERC regions.

- Adam www.terrapass.com

The problem I have with electric cars to date is carbon cost of the electricity itself. When you plug your car in at night there’s a very good chance it’ll be powered by coal-fired electricity. The coal doesn’t burn in your car so you’re once-removed from the damage being caused, but it’s still there. THat car is still running, practically, on coal.

We need to get off the flow of oil which means we need to wean our country off the grid of GAS STATIONS not off the power grid. Many people in the nation (including me) are getting power from the grid which is fueled by nuclear or hydroelectric power. Also solar and wind power can suppliment the grid and more can be done to make the coal burning cleaner. It is much easier to control emmission if we limit the problem to the nations major electricity plants on the grid, but first we have get GET RID OF THE DAMN GAS STATIONS. That means getting us all to use fully electric cars. THEY DO HAVE THE TECHONOLOGY! The EV1 batteries were perfectly acceptable. 100-200 miles a day is MORE THAN ENOUGH for 90% of us. Everyone else can use alternate transportation to go more than 200 miles. Buses, planes, mass transportation will work for that until eventually that can be produced.

Hybrids are a cute idea but they still keep us hooked on freakin oil! Car companies don’t want you to have a full electric because they make most of thier profits from repairing those horrible engines. If you get a hybrid you have twice the problems (All the problems of those bad engines plus what problems we still have to overcome with plugging in)

http://danutz.blogspot.com

I don’t have a reference handy, but I have read that generating power on a large scale is many times more efficient than on a small scale. Therefore, the neighborhood natural-gas plant, or coal plant, or nuclear reactor, or (especially) wind farm or methane tank or PV array will create orders of magnitude less pollution than the gasoline engine in a hybrid automobile. There are some interesting efficiency calculations in this PR piece from Tesla motors (not unbiased, but still): http://www.teslamotors.com/display_da…

Regarding the comment “Most electricity does come from coal,” that’s not true in northern California; in PG&E territory, coal accounted for 1% of 2005 production, whereas natural gas accounted for 42%: http://www.pge.com/customer_service/b…

This is great. As more auto companies invest in alternative fuel technologies, the more choices it provides for the consumers. That to me is also social responsibility. Not to mention the obvious benefits to the environment.