I wish damon and peter had answered my post's question, but instead decided to hijack my thread with their off-topic view of how much they like the Volt plugin hybrid. Both of them should know by now how long I have been promoting plugins (which covers both EVs and pih).
And that I have to be terse with the amount of words I can use in my posts to describe what I said to the employee (likely too many already think I am way-too verbose as it is). So the next time someone reads something I post and mentally goes off in an emotional tangent with something they picked out, ... count to 100 ... take a deep breath, then remember when it comes to EVs and pih/phevs (like the Volt pih), I got your back (I am for both). So, if the evdl is going to discuss EVs vs pih/phev then let it be on this thread for that purpose. Remember to keep this on topic, but also lets put a time limit as pih/phev discussions are *OT on the evdl and should be taken offline. John's post in reply to the above two responses http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EV-cause-promotional-signage-tp4662108p4662117.html ' ... make the distinction between a hybrid and an EV. EVs are not inherently better, but they are different ...' is close to my points/views. The poor public is so confused over what is what, we, the plugin community have a responsibility to gently help undo all the misinformation that has been spread around. When the public talks of what they know about plugins, which actually is what they have heard as if it is their own opinion/knowledge, I do not debate them (that is counter productive), but gently herd them into coming to their own conclusion/decision that what is being put into the vehicle to power it (on or off grid electricity, or chemical fuel, or both) is what defines a vehicle's type. Meaning, though a Volt driver may drive around all the time in Electric-only mode, their vehicle, by design is a plugin hybrid, a blend of both EV and ice. It can neither be called an EV, nor an ice. When I talk to the public, it has to be in a simple wording that conveys what they can take ownership of without it being too technical (like explaining that the Volt is plugin hybrid. i.e.: the employee did not even know what a plugin hybrid was). On the evdl, their are very knowledgeable members that are great at defining down to the smallest delineation what is what. But to even begin to do that with the public, their eyes glaze over, roll-back, and soon you lose them (their attention is lost = a bad thing for an EVangel). ... All the Volt owners I have chatted with like their vehicle, but over 90% say they want more Electric-only range, i.e. 80+ miles. To me, that translates to they want all the benefits of an EV 'and' they want their angst safety net of an on-board ice that a plugin hybrid offers/provides. So, Volt and other pih drivers, please do not get defensive when you hear or read words that tell the truth that the love of your life, your pih, is not an EV. It isn't, and be proud of that. In the case of that employee, I did not have time (because he was on camera - if he talked too long his boss could get on his case), nor was he interested in knowing the full details of EV vs pih. But in other cases when in the public, the person does give me the time and shows the sincere interest in knowing, I liken the difference the common man can easily grasp. I use an analogy: Chocolate-Chip ice-cream is mostly vanilla ice-cream with some chocolate chips thrown in. It is neither chocolate ice-cream, nor is it vanilla ice-cream, it is both, a hybrid ice-cream. So goes a plugin hybrid. If a customer only eats the few Chocolate-Chips out of their Chocolate-Chip ice-cream, and not the vanilla ice-cream, does not make the Chocolate-Chip ice-cream now chocolate ice-cream? No. It means they chose to eat their Chocolate-Chip ice-cream, in chocolate-only mode. ... Now the hairy bit, defining what type of plugin hybrid as their are different types of these. From all that I have read and heard from Volt drivers, their on-board ice can drive the vehicle alone, or injunction with the Electric-motor, or be totally off when running in Electric-only mode. I am going to by-pass discussing a Karma at this time as they seem to have enough woes. But lets look at a new player, the BMW i3 which will have an plugin hybrid option. You can buy an i3 as an EV with a 80+ mile range, or get one with the small on-board ice genset as a plugin series hybrid that has an 80+ mile Electric-only mode. Their i3 plugin hybrid design is different than a Volt's. If a Volt driver wanted to drive the steep grapevine highway to or from Los Angeles (I-5) or the steep mountains from LA to CO, GM designed their pih to do that with no issues. However, BMW's design uses a lighter, smaller motor-scooter sized ice which is just enough to keep the pih going on less-demanding highways. That means the large amount of weight of an ice to drive the wheels has been exchanged for a lighter genset to pump electricity into the pack http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_i3 http://www.caranddriver.com/news/bmw-i3-electric-city-car-concept-news Currently, a Taiwan scooter company Kymco is going to build the small ice used for the genset on the i3 plugin option. There are newswires that mention the plugin hybrid genset is not for daily use. Although a lot of this is still pre-release, meaning we will have to wait for the final design limitations, it seems i3's pih gives a better design for those that just want enough ice to cover their angst, but the majority of the time, they will drive their pih in Electric-only mode. However, since the i3's Electric-only range is nicely about the same as Production EVs, it would be a shame if the BMW i3 did not offer a level-3 charging ability. At this time, it is unclear if the i3 will definitely have a l3 ccs SAE combo coupler port. I fear if not, that short-sightedness will hurt their sales as many customers would have liked to have the l3 same quick-charging abilities as the Leaf and iMiev EVs. {brucedp.150m.com} ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equals_sign#Not_equal <> means not-equal-to ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_hybrid -- http://www.fastmail.fm - A no graphics, no pop-ups email service _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
