Volvo goes electric

[Zundfolge1432]

The chinese owned firm announced today that electricity will power every new Volvo beginning in 2019 making it the first major car manufacturer to leave traditional internal combustion engines behind. Some experts question how soon American consumers will adapt to the idea. Speaking only for myself I've owned hybrid cars for several years now and we like them having had zero problems. Ready or not and like it or not it's coming, get ready

[hazetguy]

from the NYT article:

Volvo Cars on Wednesday became the first mainstream automaker to sound the death knell of the internal combustion engine, saying that all the models it introduces starting in 2019 will be either hybrids or powered solely by batteries.

Volvo’s transition will be gradual. It plans to still produce existing models with conventional engines after 2019, but it will no longer introduce new models with the older technology.

Hybrids still require gasoline or diesel fuel, but they are typically more efficient because the batteries share the load.
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[Zundfolge1432]

[calvinater]

So when i am on a trip and need to refuel (recharge). How many coffes do i have to drink before my batteries charge. ? I E how long to recharge ?
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[Zundfolge1432]

[wcfvw69]

I love the idea of electric vehicles for daily driving and road trips! Living in Arizona, you'd only need some solar panels w/enough umph to charge the car. Despite the upfront costs of buying the electric car and cost of the solar panels and associated wiring, It would be nice to drive by the gas stations and smile while not supporting the oil industries and countries that hate America.

The only downside is still having to buy gas for our classic VW's. I would never do a electric conversion unless the politicians ban our gas burning engines which won't happen in my lifetime.
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

I was talking with my local Volvo dealer about this.

Volvo sales are on a downward slide...have been for a few years now. we have decided that this will be Volvos death nail.

the 2 hybrid XC90's they sold got bough back by VCNA because they were just epic turds. personally, I am not going to want to stop for 45 mins for a recharge on a trip. furthermore....Volvo's are far too expensive now, I don't know how they will stay in any price point that the average person can afford

"eversince I bought this electric car, my utility bill tripled"

china (Volvo's owners) have a huge reserve of lithium...gee wonder why they are pushing it..

also, solar is pretty destructive. lot's of "solar waste" that hasn't been able to be contained

http://www.environmentalprogress.org/big-news/2017/6/21/are-we-headed-for-a-solar-waste-crisis

snagged from the internet:

A Tesla battery has 8 years of typical gasoline passenger vehicle CO2 emissions baked in from manufacturing before the car ever hits the road, and its aluminum body is five times more energy intensive to make than a steel car. Economics clearly favor virgin production over recycling for batteries and solar panels, so all the optimistic environmental impact modeling assuming 100% recycling is disingenuous fairy dust.

so...once again....how "green" is going green? not very from what I have read....
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[TDCTDI]

Let us not forget how a majority of the electricity is generated.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_power_in_the_United_States

I guess this falls into the "other" category.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbsnews.com/amp/new...d-fetuses/
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[vwracerdave]

Note to self: Sell all Volvo stock before 2019.
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[heimlich]

I knew Ford was selling it to China but I thought that deal never went though. I never paid attention to it after that. It was a losing investment for Ford.

As recall their announcement a few days ago they aren't abandoning gas entirely. They just aren't making a car that is entirely gas. They are all hybrid or electric. That's a far cry from all electric. In our lifetimes we may never see gas abandoned entirely. Most electricity is made from fossil fuels (coal gas). Thus there is no zero emissions vehicles either.

[raygreenwood]

As hazetguy noted....and I read the articles and heard the NPR piece as well......Volvo will continue to manufacture gasoline, diesel and hybrid cars.......in existing models.....until those models die out......meaning it could be 6-8 years or more until a model is no longer selling enough or viable enough to keep upgrading.

All NEW model introductions will be electric as of 2019. I agree.....it will kill the company in the long run.
Hybrids have some advantages but not in every envrionment. They have their own ills. And....all of them are weight sensitive, drag sensitive and tire design sensitive. Each kf tjose issues takes a lot of efficiency away.

Its hilarious.....take a prius....slap on a bike rack, put four people in it and drive with the windows down.....and its mileage drops to marginally higher than my 2012 Golf.

A full on electric....at this point in time....regardless of cost.....would be useless to me. I make bi-monthly drives where I need to be 600 miles away without 4-6 hour stops for charging. Same day to see clients. A Tesla....or similar....without a quick change battery module.....like a five minute plug in......is a worthless luxury car.

It will get there...but its not there yet. Also its not clear where the shiploads of neodymium for the motors and regenerative braking.....and wind turbines.....will come from to convert 30,000,000 million vehicles when not one gram is produced in the US. Ray

[Zundfolge1432]

I wonder how many of you actually have driven a hybrid vehicle or better yet have owned one for a period of time. Have you taken one on an 8000 mile trip?Still a lot of ignorance and superstition surrounding this concept which is now well over 20 years old, that's right 20 years. Not everyone is asleep though as many companies and some govt agencies have entire fleets of them. It's human nature to resist change and be suspicious of new things, history shows the transition will happen and it will be gradual. It will be aided by the older generation dying off because the younger ones are more receptive to this technology. Rather than resist change I bought a hybrid several years ago, it was a hertz rental from San Francisco and had over 200 k miles on the clock. It now has over 300 k and is still in daily use. Parts if needed are now available on the used market cheap. Some of the upscale hybrids are cranking out over 300 horsepower, its not all miserable. Don't let fear keep you locked into yesterday's ideas.

[ROCKOROD71]

like Skills sez, lots of folks don't take into account the strip-mining of mountains required to source the materials to make new cars, gas OR electric. Factor in that the electricity is generated by fossil fuels and the "green-ness" starts to boil away pretty quickly. Its obviously better than idling in traffic with a gas engine. most benefit will be seen in cities, where it will cut smog and most trips are short enough where you get home or get to work and plug in to top off the battery. I would for sure drive one around Boston. 60-70% of your drive time is waiting.
I tend to think that I am being green by driving an almost 50 year old economy car. The iron was dug out of the earth a long time ago, and I am not creating demand for more while I keep it on the road.
I think car manufacturers will have to become part manufacturers and turn to RE-manufacturing cars, I.E. restoring the older ones they made by the millions to keep gas-powered cars going. It probably won't happen since it is likely not economically viable but just driving around I notice there is likely 3 cars for every person able to drive out there, whether on a dealer lot, driveway, or a junkyard. I don't see how they keep going producing brand new cars at the clip they do when the things lose 20% value the second you drive off the lot, and afterwards you are hounded with re-calls.
In New England its obvious as the salt just eats them away to dust, necessitating a new one.....
Anywho...it's an interesting news nugget. Skills, I guess you gotta go subi-conversion full time eventually!
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[Gary]

[TDCTDI]

Gary, from the article that you supplied...
"The drop in coal use is due largely to the natural gas boom."

While cleaner than coal, it's still fossil fuel & was once just a cast off byproduct of oil extraction that is now being used. When coal & natural gas are added together, that still means that over 65% of the power grid is supplied by fossil fuels with "green" technology only providing 13%.

Until solar, wind, hydro, & other forms of renewable energy have replaced fossil fuels as means of generating electricity, you're still relying on fossil fuels. It is you, & all the other electric car drivers that refuse to believe where that electricity is generated from, that keeps repeating the myth & misinformation.

ZF, you're driving a hybrid, it still uses fossil fuels. In fact, it probably uses more percentage wise, per mile, when you add in the amount of fossil fuels used to generate the electricity to charge your hybrid as opposed to just the same displacement engine not carrying the additional weight of the hybrid system.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Zundfolge1432]

[TDCTDI]

When will you be going full electric?
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Zundfolge1432]

[TDCTDI]

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[skills@eurocarsplus]