Audi Chief Calls Chevy Volt “A Car For Idiots”  

the fact that about 70% of American electricity currently comes from coal plants

Most recent numbers put coal at 46% and in May of this year renewables hit 13%.

Thats a change from 2006 when the distribution was 49% coal and 9.5% renewables.

Even if EVs were charged using 100% coal produced electricity there would be less released carbon than if the same miles were driven by petroleum fueled ICE vehicles. Coal->electricity->EV->road is more efficient than petroleum->ICE->road.

advances in diesel technology have resulted in very high mileage cars with extremely low emissions

We would need incredible advances in diesels to make them as efficient as electrics. The typical ICE vehicle looses a very large percentage of the energy in its fuel to heat. Only 20% or so of the energy gets to the road. Electrics loose only 10% or so, put 90% toward pushing the car.

Diesels already have the infrastructure needed to provide a fuel supply. Electric cars need to have infrastructure built and completely upgrade

The electric infrastructure is already in place for roughly half of American drivers who have garages with outlets. Thousands of curbside outlets are being installed.

In one installation program Nissan has partnered with eTec to install 12,750 charge points in five states. So far 400 are in place and it is expected that the rest will be up and going before the Nissan LEAF starts arriving in numbers.



The US grid can easily absorb hundreds of thousands of EVs if charging is done during off peak hours.

As for the Volt/Corolla comparison, my understanding is that the Volt will be more upscale/middle market and not an econobox.

Diesels have been a hard sell in the US largely because until recently we had only high sulfur diesel in our pumps. We now have cleaner diesel, but it may be too late for diesel cars to deeply penetrate the US market.

Diesel is not that easy to find in fuel stations once you get away from the highway stations and I would imagine not many stations are going to be interested in spending money to change over one underground tank and set of pumps for a handful of diesel cars.

With PHEVs coming to market and, for most drivers, delivering equivalent MPG ratings in the hundreds, not tens of miles per gallon diesels won't be that attractive.

Let me put my argument in simpler terms....

Let's assume I'm one of the 90% of American drivers who drives less than 40 miles on 90% of all days. (Or a European who probably makes even fewer >40 mile trips.)

Why would I buy an Audi diesel that gets 50 MPG and has hundreds of moving parts that will need service and can break when I can buy a Volt PHEV and get 200+ MPG and danged little maintenance?

And why won't I buy a Nissan LEAF and get 356 MPG and almost zero maintenance?

Perhaps de Nysschen's outburst is that of a man scared that he has steered his company down the wrong (petroleum) path....

Robert makes some clear concise points about Diesel and Nissan.

That proves some right and wrong.

My fear is that the complexity, short lived necessity and limited applicability of dual mode over priced hybrids will kill the market interest for the obvious next generation electric vehicles.

Sure all we 'should' do it better... but the reality is that nearly ALL fleet vehicles and commerce was run on electricity at the turn of the century run mostly by alternative energy until cheap coal and oil shifted (bought) the market instead of evolving it.

But considering a 'future' run on coal and oil as not a future but, a lack there of.

Yes diesel is the lesser evil and a good stepping stone for massive fleets of cargo, air and military vehicles that WILL NOT be phased out for several decades.

Yet continuing to build subsidize and sell NEW petroleum powered passenger vehicles beyond 2012 makes no sense from a security, safe, financial
Supporting unless we think personal convenience out weighs the necessity of cargo, air and military vehicle?

NOTE - We should be throwing every extra 'passenger vehicle' nickle at storage, infrastructure and charging. Did someone say gas tax to bridge conversion gaps to electric?

Coal seriously? That's sooo 1800's.
Powering and charging our future on this would be as idiotic as buying a 'sustainable car' for $40,000.

I also see a vital shift to encourage both consumers and limited service vehicles to convert all aging petro fleets into sustainable natural/bio/syn gas fleets as they also will be on the road for the next 20 years historically.

Oh wait the US and AU did try to do this awhile back ;-)

If we want progress we should stop ignoring it.

Now I know why I own an Audi.

Well Rob(ert), ask yourself why more Audi's(pick a model) are sold than Chevy Volts and you'll have your answer.

Robert--- give me a break-- the efficiency of an EV doesn't look so good when you factor in the losses associated with charging the battery and transmission lines. The most efficient means of transport would be using electric trams powered directly.