The next small block Chevy
Dec 17, 2018, 01:00 PM
#1
Evolved Member
Thread Starter
The next small block Chevy
Both Ford and General Motors announcing at about the same time the cancellation of many of their internal combustion powered cars makes me wonder what is going on. There's the SUV's for everyone explanation. But no other maker is doing this. Ford and Chevy got together to develop a 10 speed transmission for use in high powered cars and in trucks. Maybe they've got another project going on we don't know about.
One of the engineers who worked on the development of the electric motor for the Bolt said it was designed to be "the next small block Chevy". What does that mean? The small block Chevy was the most common engine on the planet for a number of years.
The Bolt is a nice car if you live in and never leave the city. Out here on the prairie a 250 mile electric car range is close to useless. You need a vehicle with an internal combustion engine that can keep the battery charged. GM is discontinuing that car, the Volt.
So, I'm thinking they have invented a breakthrough battery. I wrote years ago that if a battery was invented where you could drive all day and charge at night at a motel, the internal combustion engine would be dead. Is that about to happen? What do you think?
One of the engineers who worked on the development of the electric motor for the Bolt said it was designed to be "the next small block Chevy". What does that mean? The small block Chevy was the most common engine on the planet for a number of years.
The Bolt is a nice car if you live in and never leave the city. Out here on the prairie a 250 mile electric car range is close to useless. You need a vehicle with an internal combustion engine that can keep the battery charged. GM is discontinuing that car, the Volt.
So, I'm thinking they have invented a breakthrough battery. I wrote years ago that if a battery was invented where you could drive all day and charge at night at a motel, the internal combustion engine would be dead. Is that about to happen? What do you think?
Last edited by barneyb; Dec 17, 2018 at 01:35 PM.
Dec 17, 2018, 06:54 PM
#2
Youre right! Look how many fully E-cars are on the road today, especially where im from.
The owners of the company i work for, now all drive Teslas
Ive even done some officiating for the Formula E-series (what was i thinking?)
Back, hidden away from public view were all the high powered diesel generators needed to recharge (green thinking for sure haha)
The owners of the company i work for, now all drive Teslas
Ive even done some officiating for the Formula E-series (what was i thinking?)
Back, hidden away from public view were all the high powered diesel generators needed to recharge (green thinking for sure haha)
Dec 18, 2018, 12:52 AM
#3
Evolved Member
Thread Starter
On the interstate South of town, there's a large truck stop with a row of Tesla fast chargers. The truck stop even has a movie theater for the truckers. A friends wife, a godly woman, upon hearing of the movie theater suggested to her husband it might be fun to take in a movie there sometime. He didn't act on her suggestion.
Say Chevrolet has in the works a 600 mile battery and they want to put it in the Impala. In the past you'd continue producing the IC powered cars for the customers who want them. And some people would maybe want a hybrid and the hybrid could be plug in or not. And finally make a full electric car. That's designing three, maybe four cars. Meanwhile, if Tesla were to come out with an updated S model, they engineer one car. If you have this range advantage, its better to just bring out an all electric Impala. To make that acceptable and to make a place in your model lineup, the current Impala needs to go away.
Last edited by barneyb; Dec 18, 2018 at 11:15 AM.
Dec 18, 2018, 11:47 AM
#4
I think electric cars now are at the point where they can make sense for a lot of consumers as an only car and almost all consumers as one of the cars in a 2+ car household. A lot of people don't do road trips anymore, if they travel they just fly... and if you absolutely must take a road trip, there are enough charging stations now that you can make pretty much any major city to major city trip. It'll take longer cause charging takes longer than filling up a gas tank, but the point is its doable.
While "out on the prairie" 250 miles might be a joke, but for most people that don't live out in the boonies, 250 miles a day is more than enough. Its definitely still not a solution for everyone, and I'll always love gas powered engines for fun and/or track cars, but electric cars make a lot of sense as daily's and commuters for a lot of people. For me personally, they're still too expensive... but that will come down eventually.
While "out on the prairie" 250 miles might be a joke, but for most people that don't live out in the boonies, 250 miles a day is more than enough. Its definitely still not a solution for everyone, and I'll always love gas powered engines for fun and/or track cars, but electric cars make a lot of sense as daily's and commuters for a lot of people. For me personally, they're still too expensive... but that will come down eventually.
Dec 18, 2018, 12:47 PM
#5
When GM developed the Volt in response to government pressure they set a 60m electric range based on OnStar data. They looked at the data to find potential customers who had the income and possible desire to purchase a $40+ electric vehicle. They then factored in their typical daily driving distance and available recharge time and came up with the Volt, an electric car most of the time for most interested people and a hybrid when their needs where outside the norm. They just can't continue to lose money o unit sales after the heavy R&D expenditures.
On batteries, Toyota has done extensive testing on battery technology and will not use LiOn batteries while others rely on them. At least a few have had battery issues, it will be interesting to see if LiFePo4 batteries get moved into hybrid applications soon.
On batteries, Toyota has done extensive testing on battery technology and will not use LiOn batteries while others rely on them. At least a few have had battery issues, it will be interesting to see if LiFePo4 batteries get moved into hybrid applications soon.
Dec 18, 2018, 03:34 PM
#6
Still a ways out before/if ever it gets actually big. There have been rumors of Chinese tech that's in testing with 5 minute charge times for EVs, China is investing more in EVs that almost the rest of the world combined. It's been almost a year since I've had to really talk on EV stuff so I'm a bit cloudy on some of it but we're not exactly the cutting edge with it here in the US.
Electric vehicles are still too gimmicky for me. All it does is mean that yet even more coal is being burned and regulations on coal power plant emissions isn't nearly on par with the standards that tailpipe emissions on cars are held at. And lots of people still believe their lives are in imminent danger from nuclear power which is just absurd. The average consumer nowadays is exceptionally stupid and is willing to listen to all the swayed, bull**** news that comes from the media so when people on social networking say "Electric cars are the way of the future, WOW LOOK HOW GREEN THEY ARE!" all of the sheeple watch and agree without actually doing any research.
Electric cars are like communism, sounds perfect on paper, works well in a controlled environment, absolutely dismal on the large scale in the real world. I spent a year in college studying alternative forms of power production for vehicles and just the infrastructure challenge for EVs to get over alone is laughable, never mind all the other issues like super hazardous lithium mines (pretty much none of which are in the US which is why you never hear about them) or recycling batteries after they've been cycled out, they don't degrade whatsoever, aren't cheap to replace (usually in the $2-5k range) and have plenty of other issues that make them unhappy campers. They use extremely high voltage, if you don't know the proper procedure to disconnect the batteries, and discharge the capacitors, you're posing a risk to your life.
Electric vehicles are still too gimmicky for me. All it does is mean that yet even more coal is being burned and regulations on coal power plant emissions isn't nearly on par with the standards that tailpipe emissions on cars are held at. And lots of people still believe their lives are in imminent danger from nuclear power which is just absurd. The average consumer nowadays is exceptionally stupid and is willing to listen to all the swayed, bull**** news that comes from the media so when people on social networking say "Electric cars are the way of the future, WOW LOOK HOW GREEN THEY ARE!" all of the sheeple watch and agree without actually doing any research.
Electric cars are like communism, sounds perfect on paper, works well in a controlled environment, absolutely dismal on the large scale in the real world. I spent a year in college studying alternative forms of power production for vehicles and just the infrastructure challenge for EVs to get over alone is laughable, never mind all the other issues like super hazardous lithium mines (pretty much none of which are in the US which is why you never hear about them) or recycling batteries after they've been cycled out, they don't degrade whatsoever, aren't cheap to replace (usually in the $2-5k range) and have plenty of other issues that make them unhappy campers. They use extremely high voltage, if you don't know the proper procedure to disconnect the batteries, and discharge the capacitors, you're posing a risk to your life.
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alpinaturbo (Dec 18, 2018)
Dec 25, 2018, 01:30 PM
#7
Evolved Member
Thread Starter
The Chinese say they are banning ICE powered vehicles, no exact date, but within a couple of years. GM sells more vehicles in China than in the US. So, I look for them to continue building IC powered trucks in the US and importing smaller vehicles from China.
BTW, forget charging electric vehicles in the cold of winter or heat of summer with 120. Most electric vehicle batteries have heaters or coolers that kick in and use as much power as is coming in on 120. You'll need to visit a DC charger.
BTW, forget charging electric vehicles in the cold of winter or heat of summer with 120. Most electric vehicle batteries have heaters or coolers that kick in and use as much power as is coming in on 120. You'll need to visit a DC charger.
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Dec 26, 2018, 07:20 AM
#8
EvoM Community Team Leader
The electronics and control packages for autonomous vehicles are better suited in an ev then ice, so that's more pressure to develop ev tech. EV's have the ability to regenerate energy through braking and don't require any while not moving. The tech has been around a very short time, I imagine there where plenty who though horses would never be replaced by ice.
Dec 26, 2018, 08:08 AM
#9
Still a ways out before/if ever it gets actually big. There have been rumors of Chinese tech that's in testing with 5 minute charge times for EVs, China is investing more in EVs that almost the rest of the world combined. It's been almost a year since I've had to really talk on EV stuff so I'm a bit cloudy on some of it but we're not exactly the cutting edge with it here in the US.
Electric vehicles are still too gimmicky for me. All it does is mean that yet even more coal is being burned and regulations on coal power plant emissions isn't nearly on par with the standards that tailpipe emissions on cars are held at. And lots of people still believe their lives are in imminent danger from nuclear power which is just absurd. The average consumer nowadays is exceptionally stupid and is willing to listen to all the swayed, bull**** news that comes from the media so when people on social networking say "Electric cars are the way of the future, WOW LOOK HOW GREEN THEY ARE!" all of the sheeple watch and agree without actually doing any research.
Electric cars are like communism, sounds perfect on paper, works well in a controlled environment, absolutely dismal on the large scale in the real world. I spent a year in college studying alternative forms of power production for vehicles and just the infrastructure challenge for EVs to get over alone is laughable, never mind all the other issues like super hazardous lithium mines (pretty much none of which are in the US which is why you never hear about them) or recycling batteries after they've been cycled out, they don't degrade whatsoever, aren't cheap to replace (usually in the $2-5k range) and have plenty of other issues that make them unhappy campers. They use extremely high voltage, if you don't know the proper procedure to disconnect the batteries, and discharge the capacitors, you're posing a risk to your life.
Electric vehicles are still too gimmicky for me. All it does is mean that yet even more coal is being burned and regulations on coal power plant emissions isn't nearly on par with the standards that tailpipe emissions on cars are held at. And lots of people still believe their lives are in imminent danger from nuclear power which is just absurd. The average consumer nowadays is exceptionally stupid and is willing to listen to all the swayed, bull**** news that comes from the media so when people on social networking say "Electric cars are the way of the future, WOW LOOK HOW GREEN THEY ARE!" all of the sheeple watch and agree without actually doing any research.
Electric cars are like communism, sounds perfect on paper, works well in a controlled environment, absolutely dismal on the large scale in the real world. I spent a year in college studying alternative forms of power production for vehicles and just the infrastructure challenge for EVs to get over alone is laughable, never mind all the other issues like super hazardous lithium mines (pretty much none of which are in the US which is why you never hear about them) or recycling batteries after they've been cycled out, they don't degrade whatsoever, aren't cheap to replace (usually in the $2-5k range) and have plenty of other issues that make them unhappy campers. They use extremely high voltage, if you don't know the proper procedure to disconnect the batteries, and discharge the capacitors, you're posing a risk to your life.