With all the talk about the environment, green house gases and electric cars, I don’t think the Chevy Volt is going to cut it with the public. Why? Well one, the surface the electric car is the answer to a lot of peoples issues with high and fluctuating prices, but no ones seems to be addressing the issue of cost it would take to charge these cars.

Electric Utility companies are, and have been, reporting a strain on the electrical stability of this country [US] for some time, and if electric cars take off in popularity, the utility companies are going to respond by raising rates and spouting issues of rising demand, based on more electric cars. Then where will we be?

GM is losing loads of money everyday because they chose to ignore the signs of the future, didn’t innovate on gas mileage and kept building massive fuel guzzling vehicles. Once the most popular vehicles, SUV’s were hot tickets; everyone had one and if you were monetarily well-off you owned one for social status. Now, if you own a SUV, you still have money put your losing lot of it at the pump. Keeping up with the Jones’s is the stupidest game ever played- and you guys know who you are.

The Chinese, Japanese and Asian markets have steadily flooded the market with small fuel efficient cars. Foreign cars are the most popular cars on the market. Their small, safe, comfortable and get better gas mileage than any domestic cars on the lot; unless you want to drive a sardine can with wheels and no A/C.

So getting back on track a bit, the American automakers are losing billions and the foreign auto makers are raking in the dough. It’s not a secret.

GM [example] is betting the farm on the Chevy Volt on the future of the company, but the truth is is not going to live up to the hype. Yes, it’s nice looking, attractive, comfortable and promises savings galore, but it still needs gas [gasoline/E85-powered engine generator ] for sustained trips. The price tag for this beauty is not going to be cheap, starting at $40k; makes me want to jump right out and buy one right now.

For the most part, cars are out in the sun a lot. Honestly, unless you are parking in a garage, your car is getting about 18 hours of sun each day. Why aren’t cars charged with this? Why don’t cars run on water? The fact is the Volt has dependencies on fossil fuel; that’s not going to cut it. the Volt is going to require more electricity, more coal or nuclear power sources. While the gas engine is running there’s a environmental impact. The car is too needy.

Again, the boys in the Asian markets are still working and innovating. They have cars that run on water, run on solar and batteries. The concept of designing a full size car to employ all these technologies is the right thing to do. Why build an electric car that requires fossil fuels? Batteries will power cars for short trips; long trips are not the goal here. Vehicles with water based systems could charge the batteries while in use as required and solar would be in place for cars that are in rest in a parking lot during the day.

This article shows to support a working concept. This article says that 1 hour of sunlight would get you 3 miles. While a typical person is at work [8-9 hours for a working day] they would get an estimated 24-27 miles a day for travel just from solar solutions; that’s a large market. Employing hybrid concept, the use a water based system [hyrogen], the vehicle could be sustained even longer. It’s not out of mind and it’s not impossible.

Self-sustaining cars is where everyone should be going. It’s just a matter of time before they do. Environmentalist realize this, know this and will argue all the different ways to address it, but the issue is a transport vehicle that’s self-sustaining; no matter how it’s achieved.

I’ll be patiently awaiting the high school kid who beats the big companies to the punch [done]. Necessity is the catalyst for innovation.

Regards,
NapoleonAG

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