James Brazell spent 40 years working for Texaco, ultimately retiring from the oil company as the coordinator of its worldwide exploration and production activities. So what is he doing driving a Crystal Red Chevrolet Volt electric car?“We know that the oil supply is a finite resource,” the 84-year-old retiree said. “We also know that oil will eventually become a scarcity, we just don’t know when.“I believe electric vehicles like the Volt are an important step towards reducing our dependence on oil, while renewable sources of energy – like wind, solar, and hydrological power – will all play a role in producing clean energy for electric vehicles.”Brazell placed a deposit for a Volt in 2008, more than two years before the car went on sale. When he learned the Washington D.C. area would be an initial launch market, he decided to purchase a Volt from Lindsay Chevrolet in Woodbridge, Va.He said he felt it would be the best electric vehicle for his needs:“About 90 percent of my driving is less than 40 miles a day, so I expect to use very little gas,” said Brazell, who recently audited a class on sustainable energy at the University of North Carolina at Asheville’s College for Seniors. “But the extended range of the gas engine is there if I want to take a drive to New York to visit my grandchildren.”His first drive in the extended-range electric vehicle was the 500-mile trip from Virginia home to Asheville.“The Volt is fabulous, and absolutely exceeds my expectations,” he said. “I was especially impressed with the transition from electric to extended range. It was completely seamless. We were watching for it, but got to talking and completely missed the changeover.”
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I watched the video yesterday on Voltage. Pretty neat.
ReplyDeleteYea, it was a pretty good video.. I'll post it here for others to see now that you've mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteI think this is great. Young guys who aren't environmental will embrace the Volt for it's tech aspects. Old guys may embrace it for the non gas buying simply because they may not drive much at all. I'd think women may buy it because they won't even have to go to gas stations but rarely. And the Volt or a car like it will come down down down in price, let's not forget that. This is the start of a beautiful thing. I can't wait until there are Volts in 8 colors sitting on lots for under 30k. They'll be gobbled up like crazy. I really wish though that gm can engineer some sort of auto plug in system with near 100 percent efficiency. Even though I think the system is genius and I'd rather have a car like the Volt with a 40 mile battery and an engine over a 300 mile battery, I slightly feel some people are so lazy the daily plugging in might be seen as a negative. Not for all. Just the lazies.
ReplyDeleteWires are a pain, not the plugging itself. You have to take the wire out, unroll it, plug it into the wall as well as the car ... then unplug, roll up, put up again before you go somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I plan to have either a spare 120V wire semi-permanently plugged into an outlet and attached to the ceiling of my garage, or a 220V charger (with it's coiled wire).
Here is an oil-executive story that runs against the conspiracy-theory grain:
ReplyDelete"We know that the oil supply is a finite resource,” the 84-year-old retiree said. “We also know that oil will eventually become a scarcity, we just don’t know when."
Who better to actually know the score than someone who's actually been there?
Very smart. The executive knows what will happen with the oil crunch, and is planning ahead. It feels good to know that a couple of gallons of fuel are saved for each charge compared with the 18 mpg vehicles sitting in the garage. If I did NOT plug in, I would still get double the mileage compared with those gas hogs. Most days I use no fuel at all. Best of all are all the comments about how sharp the Volt looks compared to some fuel only hybrid cars.
ReplyDeleteSo Mark, you own a Volt. I'd love to get your email and make a list of Volt owners, I'd love to have a larce sample and post the MPG of volt owners and such. Send me an email if you're interested, if it sounds like too much work no sweat JohnTCVB@yahoo.com
ReplyDelete(March 3, 16:31 EST)
ReplyDeleteUh oh, what happened?
Pretty good move, I'd say. Hybrids and electric cars today offer more practical solutions to the ever increasing price of gas and global warming. Most people think electrics are small, underpowered boxes of plastic and batteries. Nothing could be further from the truth! Today, electric cars are really making their presence felt.
ReplyDelete