A plug-in Corvette? You bet, St. Louis Park man says

[paddyk]

http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_10279694

He wanted a 100 percent electric car, one he could plug in overnight in his garage for pennies and glide off in the next morning.

He also wanted to challenge the electric car's nerdy image.

As he put it: "I wanted a car you'd want to drive."

[Hurricane]

Somehow...I knew it would be a C4...

[Pedal 2 Metal]

40 MPH? Useless...

Electric motors have fewer parts to break or wear out, he says. The car industry makes money on parts, repairs and maintenance, and that's why it hates the electric car, Shoop insists.

"Basically, we should have had electric cars 40 years ago," he said.

Someone has been watching who killed the electric car. Ever since that movie came out everyone suddenly knows everything about electric cars and have all theses theories as to why they are gone. Usually involving GM doing something evil. There is absolutely no way that it's simply because battery technology isn't very good.

[CJ Thunder]

Originally Posted by Pedal 2 Metal

40 MPH? Useless...

Electric motors have fewer parts to break or wear out, he says. The car industry makes money on parts, repairs and maintenance, and that's why it hates the electric car, Shoop insists.

"Basically, we should have had electric cars 40 years ago," he said.

Someone has been watching who killed the electric car. Ever since that movie came out everyone suddenly knows everything about electric cars and have all theses theories as to why they are gone. Usually involving GM doing something evil. There is absolutely no way that it's simply because battery technology isn't very good.

Bt why didn't it get good? Its true about electric motors brushless oness can last 100 years or more.

A car in RD 40,50,60 years ago would have done that brought the tech up with everything. On the other hand, laptops, video games, cell phone makers have all had the same opputunity to make strides. SO who could say what could have happened.

[Pedal 2 Metal]

Originally Posted by CJ Thunder

Bt why didn't it get good? Its true about electric motors brushless oness can last 100 years or more.

A car in RD 40,50,60 years ago would have done that brought the tech up with everything. On the other hand, laptops, video games, cell phone makers have all had the same opputunity to make strides. SO who could say what could have happened.

Why is it the automotive industry's responsibility to advance the technology? Especially when they are not getting any help from the government.

Plus I think people massively overestimate how quickly batteries can be improved. Laptop and cell phone batteries are getting more and more expensive even though their life has stayed mostly the same. Charge time has improved, and long term durability has improved, but the cost for each unit of energy has gone relatively unchanged.

[PocoToro]

This is real proof of why the EV1 did not work out
This is proof that an all electric car is really not that easy to build
Yes, I admire the guy for trying, but until a electric Vett can 0-60 and top speed as a gasser would with a rang of 400 miles and a 15 minuet charge, it's just a nice package with a golf cart inside..........

[big swede]

Originally Posted by chevydlrmn

carzy Minnesotans!

No kidding. Woops I was born in St.Louis Park Minnesota.

[edsuski]

Originally Posted by PocoToro

This is real proof of why the EV1 did not work out
This is proof that an all electric car is really not that easy to build
Yes, I admire the guy for trying, but until a electric Vett can 0-60 and top speed as a gasser would with a rang of 400 miles and a 15 minuet charge, it's just a nice package with a golf cart inside..........

One should keep in mind that plug-in electric vehicles are not for everyone or every application. However, 78% of Americans drive less than 40 miles per day to commute to and from work. Using a Chevrolet Volt - 78% of us will be able to buy ZERO gasoline to commute to and from work. The flex fuel range extender (ICE) in the Volt will allow someone to travel 300-400 miles before refueling at any gas station across the country. My point is that plug-in electric vehicles will allow us to eliminate our dependency on foreign oil and ultimately help clean up the environment (by controlling the emissions from power plants - eventually moving to solar). The Volt satisfies all of your requirements including the 15 minute refueling on the rare occasion that you are traveling 400+ miles.

As for performance - the highest performance cars will utilize electric motors in the near future. The 100% torque thing and manageability of electric motors is quite compelling. The Tesla is a good first start (0-60 in 4 seconds).

As for "Who killed the electric car" - we need to keep in mind that GM is in business to make money for its share holders - not to save the world. If a prototype was deemed to not be profitable (and you were not getting "free" money from the government to continue development), then the share holders would have expected them to not purse it. It doesn’t matter if it was a replacement parts issue or a warranty issue – businesses are in business to make a profit. If we had any serious energy policy in Washington – we would have mandated and funded it – but we don’t and didn’t. With hindsight being 20/20 it is hard to imagine the EV1 not being the savior of GM today with gas at $4+ per gallon. What would we be on by now - the third generation of what was a pretty good start. Of course, no one has a crystal ball so we can't judge them on what we know today.

As for the government funding that another member mentioned - the problem with Government funding is that it is politically motivated. Also - people are generally more than happy to take large amounts of money to work on problems - even if they do not make complete sense from a technology sense. A prime example of this is hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The DOT estimates that it will not be until 2025 that the needed infrastructure will be in place to make hydrogen a viable alternative, and that it will cost literally billions of dollars to build out the needed infrastructure. All this investment in a process that fundamentally requires more energy input to drive a mile on hydrogen that it would take to simply charge a battery. One has to wonder if this solution isn't being so vigorously pursued, at least in part, because it is 15 years away and until then (if others had not demonstrated that Li Ion batteries were actually ready for the job) we would continue to import something like $700 Billion (?) dollars worth of oil from very big energy companies and the Middle East. There is a huge profit motive to keep us buying and burning oil.

Hopefully all of this will continue to come together and with a lot of luck - we will figure out how to increase the capacity of batteries and reduce the time needed to recharge them. Until then - only 78% of us could be buying little or no oil using a plug-in electric vehicle such as the Volt with ZERO additional investment in infrastructure for local and even long distance travel.

[chevydlrmn]

Originally Posted by big swede

No kidding. Woops I was born in St.Louis Park Minnesota.

haha, i live 15 minutes from there. We have a GMI member who is from there as well. His mother purchased her 2008 Malibu from me.

[flashisflamable]

Minnesota represent, we should have a local meetup!

[big swede]

Originally Posted by flashisflamable

Minnesota represent, we should have a local meetup!

You bet! That would be fun except I no longer live in Minnesota. My dad got transfered when I was 4 so I haven't lived there for a very long time. Besides my immediate family, just about my entire family still lives there. I still go there for a family get together on Green Lake in Spicer for a week every summer. Love that state.

Originally Posted by chevydlrmn

haha, i live 15 minutes from there. We have a GMI member who is from there as well. His mother purchased her 2008 Malibu from me.

The last time I was up there I checked out the house I lived in as a toddler. Little bitty house right across the street from a golf course. My dad said he used to jump the fence after work and play the 3 holes in front of our house only to jump back over the fence in time for dinner. He's now 65 and still plays two times a week. Nothing but good memories from Minnesota.

[ZHDesign57]

I think a Plug-In Corvette would be absloutely Awesome. But lets wait and see how the Volt does.

[vncj96]

Hey, how bout a meet on a frozen lake in the middle of January eh! That gives me one more thing to look at the State Fair.

[minnfang]

Nice "convertible".

Sounds like he has a gearing problem - twisting driveshafts, but only topping out at 40MPH. Looks like more time and money than expertise.