Quote:
Originally Posted by TimMullen
But if you use only electricity, you are going to be limited to how far you can travel.
That's what makes the concept of the Volt so interesting. A plug-in electric for every day, around town usage. A built-in gas engine to use for long trips when necessary.
Currently, using electricity overnight to charge the plug-in cars will just be using excess, unused capacity - the demand for electricity goes down significantly at night when businesses are shut down. There is plenty of extra for charging cars without building new power plants. Now, adding a few million plug-in electric car to the grid, and things may change down the road...
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For my needs it's fine. They say EPA is 227, but with the new drivetrain that has gone up to 244. Apparently an engineer was able to get 270 miles on a single charge. It really depends on how you drive because of the regenerative 'engine' braking. The goal is to have a longer range and quicker charge time. All of that will take time, but hopefully others will join in the quest to bring technology up to speed and to our liking.
Think about the first computers, cell phones, plasmas, or most electronics for that matter. The first are usually the bulkiest, slowest, and most expensive. As other companies join the market it brings the cost down and the quality up.
PG&E will give you a time of use meter and it is cheaper to charge at night. I believe about $.02/mile.