Robert Bruninga wrote: > Sorry for your bother... But there is a huge difference and the name > differentiation is good. Since the Chevy Volt has the longest EV range of > every one of the 15 plug-in hybrids now on the market it diserves a very > definite distinctive nomenclature.
The distinction between whether a vehicle is electric or a plug-in hybrid has nothing to do with how much more or less pure electric range it has than other vehicles of the same configuration. The Volt, just as any of the other plug-in hybrids, has two fuel/energy sources: an electrical outlet and a gas pump. The name differentiation is *bad* as it confuses buyers into thinking that the Volt is something other than a plug-in hybrid when many people are already confused between the difference between a hybrid and an electric car. The only purpose it serves is to allow Chevy to pretend that the Volt is in a class of its own. The 2017 Prius Prime offers 25mi all-electric range vs the first generation Volt's 35mi, yet one is described as a plug-in hybrid while the other is an "extended range electric vehicle"? Many of us have (or have had) pure electric conversions with less than 25mi range, but they were (are!) still unquestionably EVs; is it helpful to anyone to invent a new vehicle class to differentiate shorter-range EVs from all other EVs? I certainly don't think so. > The Volt on the other hand is a 60 mile daily commuter EV to-and-from > which is as much as triple all the other ones and carries along a gas > engine if needed to extend the range on a day when a long trip comes up > that is unscheduled. > > Big difference. Big difference between a Volt and an electric car, indeed! My sister was quite disappointed to find that her first generation Volt would *not* allow her to make her short commute on battery power alone in winter, despite the car being garaged each night. Very unlike an EV, this vehicle insists upon running the ICE for much or all of her commute in cold weather despite the battery being fully charged and having more than enough range the trip in pure electric mode. IT is NOT an electric vehicle with an on-board range-extender (that one can choose to use or not), which is what one might reasonably expect based on the 'extended range electric vehicle' classification; it is a plug-in hybrid that happens to have the greatest all-electric range of the present offerings. I like the Volt, but don't see its greater range justifying invention of a new vehicle classification (with it as the sole member) any more than it would make sense to invent new vehicle classes for the EV with the longest range or the ICE vehicle with the longest range to allow their manufacturers to pretend that their vehicle is in a different class from all others. Cheers, Roger. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
