GM Talks Electric Costs of Volt Hybrid

By now you should be aware of GM’s forthcoming Volt plug-in hybrid that’s planned to go on sale in 2010. That may sound like a long time off, but GM has begun partnering with more than 30 utility companies to plan for the car’s launch. 

The impact of 20,000 Volts — a realistic estimate for the first year of production — on the electric grid probably won’t be brownouts, but if plugging a car in at night becomes the norm for the millions of new cars sold every year, expect there to be issues with your local electric company. That’s why GM is reaching out to so many utility companies to work out potential glitches.

GM engineer Brita Gross said it will take eight kilowatt hours to fully charge the Volt. The current national average cost for a kilowatt hour is 10 cents. So to go the car’s projected 40 miles on a full charge will cost owners 80 cents. Because almost every car on the market gets less than 40 mpg, let’s just say the cost of travel is more than $3 less than traveling on just gas. That average electricity cost, however, is sure to go up as demand for electricity increases.

GM is also looking to get a new round of tax cuts for the Volt because it will cost significantly more than a conventional gasoline-electric hybrid. GM has said it could cost up to $40,000 depending on development costs.   

GM eyes electric car future, joins with power companies (USA Today)
More Volt News (KickingTires)

Comments

[Racedriven]

I don't know all of the specs on the Chevy Volt yet, but if it only takes eight kilowatt hours to fully charge the Volt to drive 40 miles, then one way to offset the cost would be to install solar panels or a small wind turbine if you own a home.

That same technology could be used to produce hydrogen too, but that's for another day.

[Dave T.]

Yes, having a vehicle that can be plugged in might spur the sales of personal solar panels (not sure if wind is as popular for home use) even though the technology would have always saved folks money on energy to put towards gas or what not.

Here in Cal. they don't have to pay you for excess energy from solar panels. The plan here is to have everyone plug in so they can suck the power from your car at will then make you pay again to get power to charge it back over night. At public locations for free or reduced parking they want suck the power from your car so that you have to use gas on the way home. Until this law changes I'm not too wild about this new economy. They should pay you or let me use it at my own house to pay them less.

[Dave T.]

Anonymous,
From what Ford and GM have explained to us, once you are fully charged in one of their vehicles it can then go back into the home's electric grid, BUT I'm not sure if that's automatic. I don't think an electric company can control how power flows through a device like that. And you could simply unplug it once it is charged if they could, although that seems unlikely.

[Andrew]

I am part of a campaign aimed at General Motors to become Green Motors and become a hybrid/electric car manufacturer. Check it out here: http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/save-general-motors-and-the-planet-at-the-same-time

General Motors is falling apart, losing billions, and in jeopardy of going out of business. If we can convince them that there is a viable market for them taking drastic action to convert their cars and trucks to being the most environmentally efficient in the world, they have nothing to lose by unconditionally embracing the green movement.

[B]

Are they stupid? Our eletric bills are going to skyrocket. Do you remember what happened when they made ethanol from corn? Food prices went up.
The electric concept is a great idea. However all they are doing is moving the emissions from the tailpipe to the coal factory. Coal produces our eletricity. Now coal prices are going to go up. This is not the answer.
Does anyone have any better ideas?

[Dave T]

Andrew,
I think the consumer has already told them they want greener (or at least more fuel efficient) vehicles. They're losing billions not because they didn't build what people wanted, they're losing billions because of a dismal economy teamed to $4 gas which all happened under a year in an industry not bred to move quickly. Even Toyota is losing money because of these two trends.

However,
I and many other online pundits always advocated GM turning a brand like Saturn into a "green" brand. It would have made a lot of sense even two years ago.

[Juan Carlos]

"b" at least they are taking steps ahead of time unlike with ethanol. and is probably more cabon neutral than ethanol. and do you rtahe rpay more in electricity or be a slave to foreign oil?

[GR]

We need to increase our capabilities of producing nuclear, solar, wind, and hydro electricity now, not when demand exceeds supply. It's kind of putting the cart before the horse if we have all these electric vehicles without enough affordable energy to propel them.

[Dave T]

Totally agree GR.

[Sam Goldberg]

I've worked in the Utilities industry my whole life and can tell you first hand that; 1. Electricity rates will rise not due to demand but rather due to lack of infrastructure invest over the past four decades. We are now going to pay the piper. Anticipate electricity rates increasing from 18% to 67% depending on your region. 2. Even if 15 million Volts were put into use it wouldn't have much of an effect on the Grid unless the majority of the cars were in California. The Grid can handle 10-15 million plug-in's for an average of 12 hours each. We have demand side technology in place that can route and re-route as necessary.

As a life-long Democrat I'm seriously considering voting for McCain as I'm deeply disappointed that Obama does not support nuclear technology. I was fortunate enough to hear him speak on renewable energies last year at a Utilities Executive Forum and can tell you first hand his lack of understanding outside of the basics (wind & solar) was disturbing. I hope he'll get educated before it's too late.
France runs 75% nuclear largely because of GE and Bectel technology. There's no reason we cannot do the same here.