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GM: Volt will get 230 miles per gallon

Why don't they just put a scoop in the hood and on both sides of the car, in the doors, that scoops the air as the car is cruising down the road and have that air turn a little "windmill" that creates it's own electricity to recharge the batteries. Two sets of batteries. One in use, one charging.

Sounds too easy. Surely they have already considered that.
 
Captain America said:
Why don't they just put a scoop in the hood and on both sides of the car, in the doors, that scoops the air as the car is cruising down the road and have that air turn a little "windmill" that creates it's own electricity to recharge the batteries. Two sets of batteries. One in use, one charging.

Sounds too easy. Surely they have already considered that.
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My guess would be the drag would decrease the efficiency, not to mention the added weight.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Right on.

And it 's good to find someone who at least understands my somewhat twisted sense of humor. I thought you might have a sense of humor also, given your username.
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Unfortunately internet forums are not the place to look for intelligence and humor (this one possibly being the exception). I do have to say there seems to be an equal amount of intelligent members on this as there are totally batty ones. It's kind of refreshing.
 
Rightwingnutjob said:
My guess would be the drag would decrease the efficiency, not to mention the added weight.
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I don't know 'bout that. You know how hard the wind pushes your hand when you stick it out the window going 60. The drag is already present due to the cars body. Routing the air past a fan, that will turn with the wind, rather than just a bulkhead drag, seems to me might create less drag than the already created drag, by design. I wish I knew how to explain it better. I am certain some drag would be created. But I think the benefits will overcome the drag. Maybe. I dunno. Just a thought.

Hey, it works for windmill farms. Why not cars?
 
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Captain America said:
I don't know 'bout that. You know how hard the wind pushes your hand when you stick it out the window going 60. The drag is already present due to the cars body. Routing the air past a fan, that will turn with the wind seems to me to create less drag than the already created drag by design. I wish I knew how to explain it better. I am certain some drag would be created. But I think the benefits will overcome the drag. Maybe. I dunno. Just a thought.

Hey, it works for windmill farms. Why not cars?
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Wind mill farms don't need to use nergy to move about the farm. In order to create enough energy the turbines would need to have significant resistance. They wouldn't be able to just move freely. While I'm still not sure, I'm thinking the drag is still the reason along with the added weight of such parts.
 
You think a 5 inch fan would create tha much drag? I'm turning my little fan next to my desk and it almost turns freely. Perhaps you're right. I have long been told that perpetual energy is an impossibility. Maybe a fan connected to the rotor in the generator might actually cause too much drag, come to think of it. But if we can put a man on the moon.....

Or, maybe just make the fan a spiral type, turbine fan, rather than a wide blade and gear it properly? I can't imagine that the fan and it's small generator would weigh too much more than a gallon of gas.
 
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Captain America said:
Why don't they just put a scoop in the hood and on both sides of the car, in the doors, that scoops the air as the car is cruising down the road and have that air turn a little "windmill" that creates it's own electricity to recharge the batteries. Two sets of batteries. One in use, one charging.

Sounds too easy. Surely they have already considered that.
Click to expand...

Rightwingnutjob said:
My guess would be the drag would decrease the efficiency, not to mention the added weight.
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Captain America said:
I don't know 'bout that. You know how hard the wind pushes your hand when you stick it out the window going 60. The drag is already present due to the cars body. Routing the air past a fan, that will turn with the wind, rather than just a bulkhead drag, seems to me might create less drag than the already created drag, by design. I wish I knew how to explain it better. I am certain some drag would be created. But I think the benefits will overcome the drag. Maybe. I dunno. Just a thought.

Hey, it works for windmill farms. Why not cars?
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The Nutjob is correct

For a "windmill" on a car to produce any electricity worthwhile would cause so much drag that the car would consume the energy it had stored and the energy it was creating just to move. It would drain the batteries extremely fast.

The same issue is if you are on a sail boat using a huge fan (the fan would be on the boat) to blow on the sails, the two effects would largely cancell each other out
 
Captain America said:
You think a 5 inch fan would create tha much drag? I'm turning my little fan next to my desk and it almost turns freely. Perhaps you're right. I have long been told that perpetual energy is an impossibility. Maybe a fan connected to the rotor in the generator might actually cause too much drag, come to think of it. But if we can put a man on the moon.....

Or, maybe just make the fan a spiral type, turbine fan, rather than a wide blade and gear it properly? I can't imagine that the fan and it's small generator would weigh too much more than a gallon of gas.
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Okay so maybe weight isn't a fact. You can turn your fan easily because they designed it that way. It USES energy to turn the fan rather than the other way a round. To turn the generator though there would be resistance (a lot more than your just turning your fan). Still speculation but grounded in reason and what I know of thermodynamics.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
The Nutjob is correct

For a "windmill" on a car to produce any electricity worthwhile would cause so much drag that the car would consume the energy it had stored and the energy it was creating just to move. It would drain the batteries extremely fast.

The same issue is if you are on a sail boat using a huge fan (the fan would be on the boat) to blow on the sails, the two effects would largely cancell each other out
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RWNJ is right a LOT of the time.
 
Captain America said:
You think a 5 inch fan would create tha much drag? I'm turning my little fan next to my desk and it almost turns freely. Perhaps you're right. I have long been told that perpetual energy is an impossibility. Maybe a fan connected to the rotor in the generator might actually cause too much drag, come to think of it. But if we can put a man on the moon.....

Or, maybe just make the fan a spiral type, turbine fan, rather than a wide blade and gear it properly? I can't imagine that the fan and it's small generator would weigh too much more than a gallon of gas.
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Your fan turns freely because it is not generating electricity. If it had generators on it, each revolution would require energy, that would be the "drag from the motor. Then you have the increased drag, either through increased frontal area, and or creating a more turbulent airflow. Either way a fan on the exterior of car would require more energy then it would produce when the vehicle is moving. If the car was stationary and the wind was blowing, you will get free energy
 
Just power the car by ramjet. :mrgreen:

Of course, it would go far too fast for most roads.

And would likely be less fuel efficent, as compared to regular cars.
 
Captain America said:
You think a 5 inch fan would create tha much drag? I'm turning my little fan next to my desk and it almost turns freely. Perhaps you're right. I have long been told that perpetual energy is an impossibility. Maybe a fan connected to the rotor in the generator might actually cause too much drag, come to think of it. But if we can put a man on the moon.....

Or, maybe just make the fan a spiral type, turbine fan, rather than a wide blade and gear it properly? I can't imagine that the fan and it's small generator would weigh too much more than a gallon of gas.
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The source of the energy that the turbine would produce would be the kinetic energy of the car. Since the cycle of turning that energy back into kinetic energy for the vehicle, you lose energy by doing so. Basically you're describing a regenerative air brake. Normal regenerative brakes work better.
 
The Mark said:
Just power the car by ramjet. :mrgreen:

Of course, it would go far too fast for most roads.

And would likely be less fuel efficent, as compared to regular cars.
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I bet it would be a hit at monster truck shows.:lol:
 
Hmm, I just saw this thread, it's a little bit misleading on the title name. It won't get standard 230 miles per every gallon because it uses up the battery first. On gas, it gets 50 mpg.

Chevy Volt FAQs | GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site
Q: How many miles per gallon will the Chevy Volt get?
A: A bit of a trick question. For the first 40 miles it will get infinite mpg, because no gas will be burned. When the generator starts, the car will get an equivalent of up to 50 mpg thereafter. One can calculate the average mpg per for any length drive starting with a full battery: Total MPG = 50xM/(M-40). GM has announced the car will get 230 MPG for the average city driver over time assuming nightly full recharges.

Q: When will the car be available?
A: GM has committed to begin retail sales in November 2010, as a 2011 model year.

...

Q: What is the cost of operation of the car
A: With current average U.S. electric rates of ~10 cents/kwh it should cost 80 cents to drive for the first 40 miles, and then get 50 mpg thereafter using gasoline (market rate).
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Still a really good car though. Has the advantages of an electric car and the range of a gas car if you need it.
 
Mason66 said:
The word is spelled Hearse and the Ecto was a combination car not a straight hearse but made up to look like an ambulance.
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Wow. How very important. I'm sure no one understood what I was talking about before your spell check.

Opteron said:
Hmm, I just saw this thread, it's a little bit misleading on the title name. It won't get standard 230 miles per every gallon because it uses up the battery first. On gas, it gets 50 mpg.

Chevy Volt FAQs | GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Still a really good car though. Has the advantages of an electric car and the range of a gas car if you need it.
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You have to start somewhere. Some people are ripping it as a fad car for rich folks but electric cars are never going to be perfect from the start.
 
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texmaster said:
You have to start somewhere. Some people are ripping it as a fad car for rich folks but electric cars are never going to be perfect from the start.
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Actually, its a really good car. It's better than a hybrid because it has full electric power initially, and then it turns into a hybrid after it uses gas. I just was thrown by the title initially.
 
texmaster said:
You have to start somewhere. Some people are ripping it as a fad car for rich folks but electric cars are never going to be perfect from the start.
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I agree. We can't get things perfect in one go. But we do need to use less oil. So this is a good start. It's true the headline is misleading but most headlines are, the point is that were finally going in the right direction.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Not much different then the person who buys the full size pickup with lift kit, and large tires only to use it to drive to work and back never taking it off road, or the person who buys the Altima coupe over the sedan. It is image
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eh, I think that is kind of dumb as well. But hey, go waste your money any way you like. Just don't preach to me (and I know you haven't) about how the volt, or leaf makes you a better, more conscience person.

j-mac
 
ScottD said:
That mileage is only if you drive 300 miles a day. If you are like most people who travel well under 40 miles a day, then you will have much much better mileage.
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Yeah, but you have to compare apples to apples. Gas engines running the savings is not worth the price.


j-mac
 
Deuce said:
People, do we really have to keep making comments like this? You conservatives are always the fastest to scream about how you can spend your money how you damn well please. Some people care about the environment more than you do, but "liberals" don't hold the extreme view that you guys keep assigning to us. "We should take significant steps to minimize our emissions of CO2 because the long-term problems are significant" is not the same thing as "STOP ALL FOSSIL FUELS TOMORROW **** THE ECONOMY **** EATING FOOD WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE IF WE DON'T"
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Way to over react. That is not what I was saying. Look, you can waste your money any damned fool way you wish to. Who am I to stop you. I only wish I could come up with something sale specific for you enviroknuckleheads so I could get rich on your gullible nature.


j-mac
 
winston53660 said:
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- General Motors said Tuesday its new Chevy Volt will get 230 miles per gallon in the city, dwarfing the current mileage leader and giving the automaker reason to crow about its strides in fuel efficiency.

GM, fresh out of bankruptcy, is looking to the Volt to highlight a parade of 25 new vehicles by 2011 aimed at stemming market-share declines and bringing the automaker back to profitability. The Volt could also give GM a much-needed makeover in terms of its reputation for lagging behind the push toward "green" technology.

Scheduled for late 2010, the Volt will be able to travel up to 40 miles on electricity from a single charge, based on testing of pre-production prototypes and extend its overall range to 300 miles or more using a flex fuel-powered engine-generator.

GM: Volt will get 230 miles per gallon - MarketWatch



*** I was not sure where to post this if there is a better place than BN please move. TYIA
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230 miles per gallon?

What a joke. It only goes 260 miles on gas alone. How in the world can they say it gets 230 mpg, when it can't go more then 300 miles with electric and gas combined?

Talk about selling a lemon and false advertising.
 
Rightwingnutjob said:
Eventually the majority will be buying 'green' and the minority will be left with few alternatives (as demand for 'ungreen' falls so will supply until it fizzles out completely because profits are too low).
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Definitely not me and others who don't have a way to adapt to solar or wind power. It will take fifteen to twenty thousand to adapt to solar power... DC to AC converters, an array of storage batteries, a sheltered place to put them, and special circuit breaker panel that accommodates both conventional and solar panel power.

ricksfolly
 
ricksfolly said:
Definitely not me and others who don't have a way to adapt to solar or wind power. It will take fifteen to twenty thousand to adapt to solar power... DC to AC converters, an array of storage batteries, a sheltered place to put them, and special circuit breaker panel that accommodates both conventional and solar panel power.

ricksfolly
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I understand the current procedure. You may have missed it but I said "eventually" (not sure how because it's the first word you quoted). I don't mean now, I don't mean in 3 years or even 10. When technology improves, and I believe it will per my previous posts, people will make the transition.
 
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