I just want to program my own with the Jetson sound effect, I dont care about the legislation.

how big of a cradle does a Volt need? I dont really want to be that close to any inductive coil putting out 4kw, and would worry how close you have to match the location of the pickup to the coil so you dont melt the surrounding metal from hysteresis heating. If they take long enough to come out with a standard it will be too late for rapid implementation, though i dont see apartment buildings and parking structures ever putting in charging coils, much less businesses, unless there is some incredible tax benefit.

I am sure they will sell hundreds.....that being said, unless they develop some new packaging technology that can be used for hybrid cars, its a waste of money. Its not a matter of not being ready for prime time, its a matter of a very, very small specialized market, one that prefers loud, demonstrative vehicles.

with all due respect, 244 patents!!!!! cross licensing or not, do they really expect enough income from licensing to pay for the cost of the patents, much less fighting to keep them from being invalidated since Ford was so late to the party? start-stop on a hybrid is a no brainer since engine is typically spun over 1000 rpm during the start and the battery has more than sufficient power. Using a warmed over battery and starter may be ok initially, but at the three year point when most batteries get marginal is the engine still going to restart instantly? My friend has the "mild hybrid" malibu ( recently discontinued), similar to the Ford design,but he hasnt seen the 1 mpg improvement it was supposed to get and he worries constantly about the battery failing when it gets cold out.

Having had several GM cars, I have to question whether those numbers are GM estimates or actual EPA test numbers. the EPA tests less than 10% of the cars to create the numbers, allowing the manufacturers to create their own estimates otherwise. GM has rarely disappointed in having high numbers but always disappointed in actual mileage, with the caveat that EPA test data is for comparison only and not representative of actual driving. Their focus on aerodynamic shape may be an issue, since the EPA uses estimates of resistance to make up for the fact they are using a dyno. No matter, I have no intention of buying a GM ever again. I never liked Fords, but I have to admit liking the Fusion hybrid..though a Leaf is in my future.

I was wondering how they would get out of their dilemma. Most of the initial leaks of their charging algorithm indicated that an 8 year life was median, and "failures" would be occuring by the 5th year. But "failure" by their definition was failure to hold a charge, with range limitations happening as soon as 3 years on those used for the full 40 miles daily. They made the battery pack twice the size needed, and you dont have access to the full pack though it would give added range, they wanted range decay to be hidden as long as possible. By having a "dump" program to support second hand use, they have an excuse to replace battery packs "early" instead of admitting they designed for a shorter life.

Pratt has been working on this gear drive engine for over 10 years with virtually no support from major airlines or plane manufacturers, in fact most are opposed to it. The newest GE engine matches or exceeds its capabilities in all categories. At least the Pratt engineers get big awards every year for keeping the program alive. Just another example of a big corporation that doesnt listen or care what the customers want. That might be why Pratt has such a low percentage of the market.

I guess I am too conservative, the oil system is the last one that I would ever play games with, especially on a turbocharged engine. Maybe its no longer an issue, but if the oil passages get smaller due to coking from reduced flow, its going to make a very expensive problem occur much sooner.

LOL, dont forget the EPA limited methods that could be used to collect the oil to the 99% criteria instead of relaxing it to allow any efforts. And the feds also held up sand berms etc. the interesting item after all this is that Louisiana is opening up the fisheries again since the fish arent showing contamination.Ixtoc, back in 1979 released 30,000 barrels a day, for 10 MONTHS and fishing came back within a year. Note that the estimates that keep changing are from the feds, BP stopped creating them after the first week and then quoted the fed number. Funny thing is different fed groups kept complaining the numbers were wrong until they were forced to work together. the end result doesnt seem as bad as Ixtoc.

the Leaf is built on an extended Versa platform, so its in the 3000lb range, probably 3400lbs. the key is that besides the $7500 fed rebate ( that GM negotiated), people in california get an additional $5k. so its roughly a $20k commuter car. Since the feds and california paid half of my solar power installation, the least I can do is take another $12.5k from them to get a new car. I can always drive my 911 on weekends and long trips.( The Honda just didnt have the right interior colors and I missed the big rebates on the Prius).

Its hard for an american to admit, but we arent responsible for everything anymore. China and India, as noted, are where the biggest risks will be. China is taking action "Mainland China has 12 nuclear power reactors in operation, 23 under construction, and more about to start construction soon. Additional reactors are planned, including some of the world's most advanced, to give more than a tenfold increase in nuclear capacity to 80 GWe by 2020, 200 GWe by 2030, and 400 GWe by 2050." We havent built a new nuclear plant in about 20 years, and though Big O has greenlighted a few more, they will get held up in environmental issues until the ones we have are decommissioned.It is expected that we will regulate ourselves out of any changes that may improve things, so get used to being dependant on oil forever.

saying they have a warranty is nice, but I have owned GM's before, and the only way to get full warranty service is with a gun. without specifying the terms, saying it has a warranty is meaningless. It could be the standard "if it wont hold a charge" , which doesnt help you when it still holds a charge and only goes 10 miles. Or it could be waiting until the monitoring device decides it is no good, probably shutting it down like an ink cartridge and forcing you to replace it, or the monitor may be like apple Iphone bars, never admitting the true condition. I dont trust GM, I have had too many of them. The final discharge/recharge algorithm should be interesting, the initial one seemed to guarantee an average life of 6 years with half failing just over 3 years due to excessive deep cycle. But they keep tweaking it for advertising reasons, not customer satisfaction.

This new engine is the right solution to many problems, while GM is just starting to work on aluminum blocks and chrysler still wants to put out big engines. Fiat would give Ford a run for their money if they werent cursed with that Chrysler albatross . As for the arguments about Prius EPA mileage, please remember the numbers are for comparison only, they are calculated for 90% of cars and measured for only about 10% of cars and thats done on dynamometers with corrections for resistance etc. They arent real life and vary for every driver.

I realize time is important, but with that diamond saw they could have cut the bolt heads off instead and had a nice flat sealing surface to work with, use tapered pins through the holes for perfect alignment. locking the flanges together after that is a simple job for a graylok style clamp ring. Robust approaches would be better than the ham handed kludge they have now.

Yup, American LeMans will outlast Indy because it is true racing.At indy you have one motor, one chassis and one tire manufacturer, you might as well be racing at a gokart rental yard. The Le Mans you have 3 classes running together at different speeds and cornering ability, and within each class there are different engines, chassis and bodies. There is true competition at all levels while Indy is just copycat cars with predictable outcomes. If you want indy to be relevant, restrict fuel to 80% of what it takes for a race now, and let them use whatever engine, chassis, body, etc to get to 500 miles.Thats where technology would get developed! the downside is that the racing teams cant afford any real development. the whole series is worth less than what Ferrari paid in fines for cheating. It would force teams to ally with colleges for engineering and test support....

NASA? LOL, thats better than the army corps of engineers, but nowhere near the capability of teams from MIT and CalTech competing against each other. The Oil companies only try things they have experience with, and they are mainly crude, brute force methods. the cap requires exceptional maneuvering and really good seals, not the best solution. A tapered pipe inserted into the riser is insensitive to seals and self locating, and can be weighted to resist the pressures. Slide it in with an open valve on top, once in place close the valve. the API 6A spec on the christmas tree gives some insights on other options.

extensive use of rebadging between the divisions pretty much killed the individuality that justified having different divisions.

I wonder what other F1 advances they can copy? Realistically,losses of sponsorship make it doubtful they can continue much longer.

LOL, Ford is a late comer to the party. Due to startup costs and environmental issues, most major battery makers are already outsourced to China. the key technologies have already flown the coop. The DOE has given close to $500 million in grants overall along with another $120 million or so from Michigan. GM is the major winner of the grants, yet the Volt is still overpriced.

net jobs increase? fat chance of that. they are using standard government charts that tie company income with number of jobs, not reality. The assumption is always that economies that reduce costs of shipping will increase the amount of product that is shipped. However recent events show that amount of product shipped by trucks has dropped due to lack of consumer buying, thus price does not matter. If and when the economy recovers, trucking will recover with it, with some expectation of gaining back jos already lost. the improved efficiencies will improve the rate that trucking recovers, but it will not be the driver for jobs.

It will be interesting to see if Elon tries to run this as a non-union factory, especially considering how the UAW castigated Toyota for bowing out after GM pulled the ripcord ( and they let GM off scot free). If he tries as a union factory, he will sell out within a year rather than deal with the UAW. Downey would have been less hassle.

With all due respect, this may be the final nail in the coffin of GM. last year they claimed 110 mpg, now they have doubled that, and all the time they are "working" with EPA to develop the algorithm that calculates the mpg. The EPA tests are actually only 11 and 14 miles, conducted on a dyno with arcane algorithms used to develope the MPG. The real test would be to fill the tank, charge the battery and drive it til it dies, but that will never happen. the bigger problem is GM keeps playing with the charge/discharge algorithm to the extent that batteries will start dying at 3 years with 50% failing at 5 years, betting that better batteries will be cheaper and profit will pay for replacement. GM has learned nothing.