How GM "Lied" About The Electric Car
The Chevy Volt has been hailed as General Motors' electric savior. Now, as GM officially rolls out the Volt this week for public consumption, we're told the much-touted fuel economy was misstated and GM "lied" about the car being all-electric.
In the past, and based on GM's claims, we've gone so far as to call the Volt GM's "Jesus Car." And why wouldn't we call it that? We were told the Volt would achieve 230 MPG fuel economy and would always use the electric drivetrain to motivate the wheels — only using the onboard gasoline engine as a "range extender" for charging the batteries. It now turns out that not only were those fuel economy claims misleading, but the gasoline engine is actually used to motivate the wheels — making the Volt potentially nothing more than a very advanced hybrid car and pushing some automotive journalists like Scott Oldham at Edmunds.com to claim "GM lied to the world" about it.
First of all, let's talk about fuel economy. In August of last year, we heard GM's then-CEO Fritz Henderson claimed with all the marketing might it could muster at a Detroit-area press event, that the Chevy Volt would get 230 MPG in city driving conditions. Now, as the Volt's being tested by the auto trade press, we're seeing some surprisingly low fuel economy figures amid the expected lavish praise buff books are heaping upon the Volt.
Let's see what they've found out. Popular Mechanics saw just 37.5 MPG in city driving. Car and Driver apparently didn't choose to use their wheel time for any city driving — but found with all-electric driving
"...getting on the nearest highway and commuting with the 80-mph flow of traffic-basically the worst-case scenario-yielded 26 miles; a fairly spirited back-road loop netted 31; and a carefully modulated cruise below 60 mph pushed the figure into the upper 30s."
Motor Trend, like the rest of the trade press other than Popular Mechanics, didn't appear to do any testing in city conditions, but did find that
"Without any plugging in, [a weeklong trip to Grandma's house] should return fuel economy in the high 30s to low 40s."
They also parrot GM's new line of 25-50 miles of all-electric — a far cry from the 230 MPG they originally marketed — that the "Volt provides 25-50 miles of real-world electric operation no matter how hard you flog it."
But while even providing only 10% of the fuel economy initially touted, these more real-world figures are merely an exaggeration. The bigger problem is that, as Mr. Oldham now claims, is that GM lied to them about the powertrain.
Since the Volt was first unveiled as a concept car, GM engineers, public relations staff and executives have all claimed adamantly that the internal combustion engine did not motivate the wheels. If that were the case then the Volt would be nothing more than a very advanced hybrid. Even as late into the development cycle as this June, we were told the only drivetrain that motivated the wheels was the electric one. The auto trade press swallowed the line, hook and the sinker. Sam Abulesmaid at Autoblog even ran a piece headlined "Repeat after us: The Chevrolet Volt's gas engine does not drive the wheels!." And why shouldn't he have lapped it up when in online chats, the Volt's chief engineer Andrew Farah was saying:
"you're correct that the electric motor is always powering the wheels, whereas in a typical hybrid vehicle the electric motor and the gasoline engine can power the wheels. The greatest advantage of an extended-range electric vehicle like the Volt is the increased all electric range and the significant total vehicle range combined."
This meant that the gasoline engine was nothing more than a "range extender" designed to charge the batteries which would allow the electric drivetrain to continue to move the car — and allow GM to claim that the Volt was something different, something new and something worthy of taxpayer dollars.
It turns out that's not correct. We're now told by Volt's engineering team that when the Volt's lithium-ion battery pack runs down and at speeds near or above 70 mph the Volt's gasoline engine will directly drive the front wheels along with the electric motors.
That means that for all of the all-electric or extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) hype GM's imbuing in the Volt, it's really nothing more than a plug-in hybrid vehicle. A very advanced plug-in hybrid, but a hybrid nonetheless.
That's enough for Mr. Oldham to claim GM lied to the world and to then go ahead and endorse (via a retweet on Twitter) the all-electric Nissan Leaf (full disclosure — Mr. Oldham's brother works for Nissan) as the only choice for an electric car.
It's enough for us to wonder why GM pushed the 230 MPG number in the first place and why they didn't just come clean on the powertrain this summer when asked a straightforward question.
Send an email to Ray Wert, the author of this post, at ray@jalopnik.com.
Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments."when the Volt's lithium-ion battery pack runs down and at speeds near or above 70 mph"Okay, so it only uses the gas engine to power the wheels when the battery's dead AND at highway speeds. And you have the audacity to say that this is flawed?!
The fact of the design is that the car is designed as an extended-range plug-in electric vehicle. The range is extended by a gasoline engine. When the battery is depleted, rather than wasting the kinetic energy of the engine's moving parts that is a byproduct of electricity generation, the Volt will use that motion to power the car. It's a concept called efficient use of energy.
Which is kind of the point.
Wert, you've missed the point. Reply
IMHO having the engine directly-power the wheels when the batteries are depleted is a good thing. With the original Volt there was only 100 hp driving the front wheels in hybrid mode vs 140 in all-electric, with this design you get all 140 all the time. Seems like a winner to me.That said I'd rather they had simply brought back the EV-1 all-electric car as a hybrid just doesn't interest me as much.
Guess we'll have to wait for the Tesla Model S to get our "Jesus Car" as you put it. Reply
Whatever the reason, this does not bode well for GM's future. All the money that was wasted on this silly car could have been better spent on a good diesel small car with comparable economy numbers and a substantially lower cost. After all, if you want more people to drive fuel efficient cars, more people need to be able to afford them in the first place. Then again, this was never about practical solutions, but rather it was about building a car that politicians and environmentalists could feel smug and vindicated about. However, environmentalists and politicians are not engineers nor are they technically savvy, so they were easy to dupe due to their ignorance. Reply
Hey, love on the rocks, ain't no surprise. As I see it, if the car holds gas, and uses it in some way to make power, directly or not: it's a hybrid! The fact that it does drive the wheels directly, only reinforces that.
/feeling like an old fart Reply
Wow, what a brilliant snow job by GM.Guess I will be sticking with Ford for my American car fix. Reply
Wow... What a let down. I was hoping for something truly special here. I suppose a straightforward hybrid isn't all bad.I have this suspicion that GM was designing the car to do what they've been claiming. The intention had been to have the gasoline engine only charge the batteries and not actually motivate the car. But during development they started realizing that it was harder, less reliable or more expensive than they had hoped. So they had to find a compromise and that solution was to turn the car into a more conventional hybrid.
This car has been in development for a long time. I find it hard to believe all that effort was expended merely to develop yet another hybrid. Especially when they could just license the technology from someone else.
And all else aside, it's still a hybrid which is nothing to sneeze at. It's about time an American automaker has offered a proper one to compete with the Prius's and Insight's of the world.
I would also take Car & Driver's mileage claims with a grain of salt. They have a habit of extracting poor mileage out of most cars they drive. Well, for GM's sake, the Volt had better get mileage at least in the range of the Prius. Reply
I have not followed the Volt any more than the typical person on the street and the impression I always got was that the car would be 100% electrically powered and the gas engine was only there to supply electricity. Reply
So hypermiling at a reasonable average pace in a Porsche 911 can yield better economy than the Volt. ([green.autoblog.com] What a farce. Reply
I'm not going to argue that GM didn't overhype the Volt. They did. And so did media outlets like Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, etc.Is the media feeling all disappointed and hurt right now?
Well, they should. They deserved that one. Critical thinking and rational skepticism have long been considered founding blocks of good journalism.
But apparently, the flying cars debacle over the past 60 years has taught us nothing.
And for the record, do note: It was not GM that called the Volt "the jesus car" and pinned so much hope and expectation on it; it was the media.
Now let's address those concerns, starting with Popular Mechanics. Typically, I respect Popular Mechanics, and this one little bit of context that was not mentioned in the post justified my respect for them:
Fuel Economy
In addition to measuring EV range, we also recorded the fuel use when the car was in its "charge sustaining" mode. In other words, we computed the fuel economy after the battery was depleted, both on our city loop and the highway trip. In the city, we recorded 31.67 mpg and achieved 36.0 mpg on the highway. If we factor in the distance traveled on the battery's energy the fuel economy jumps to 37.5 mpg city and 38.15 mpg highway.
Note that they are completely upfront about the fact that the fuel economy numbers that they calculate took place after the battery ran out on the highway trip, which took 33 miles to happen. Let's assume that they only went 38.15 miles past the point that the battery died on their trip. In other words, let's say they used precisely one gallon of gas once they ran out of battery. Let's also assume, that for the sake of us lay people, that the standard formula for calculating MPG, distance traveled divided by gallons of fuel used, remains in effect.
That means that they were able to travel 71.15 miles on a single gallon of gas. That's pretty damn impressive if you ask me.
As far as fuel economy once the battery runs out, that sounds about right, when you consider that the Volt is a midsize-car, and a rather heavy one at that thanks to the battery weight. Still, it's better than the MPG offered by the four-cylinder Camry, Altima, Fusion, etc.
GM didn't tout the gasoline-only MPG of the Volt. They touted the combined fuel economy of the Volt. Did they do so utterly inaccurately? Yes. Yes they did. I'll chalk that up to them not having a clue how to effectively translate that combined economy into a useful metric, and Department of Energy that didn't correct them because they were equally clueless.
Also, Andrew Farrah didn't lie:
You're correct that the electric motor is always powering the wheels, whereas in a typical hybrid vehicle the electric motor and the gasoline engine can power the wheels. The greatest advantage of an extended-range electric vehicle like the Volt is the increased all electric range and the significant total vehicle range combined.
As is mentioned not only in the referenced articles and in this post, the electric motor is always powering the front wheels. He was completely straightforward about that fact. What he didn't mention was that the gas engine could kick in and power the front wheels in parallel with the electric motor.
He just happened to leave out a key detail, that's all. Lord knows it happens to engineers, program managers, and journalists alike.
As for the Autoblog article...well, yeah...this is Autoblog we're talking about. Overall, they are neither the sharpest tools in the shed nor the best journalists in the world. There's a reason why I come to Jalopnik and not Autoblog.
Finally, I still don't get the bitching going on about this car. Even after it's media-hyped jesus car-ness has been shot down by the realities of life, it's still an impressive car and an impressive piece of automotive technology that's more gasoline efficient than anything else out there.
If my money as a tax-payer had to go to bail their asses out, this is the sort of thing I want them to be building. I want them to have the balls and creativity to go out there and experiment with new technologies that will give them a head start on other companies who haven't tried them yet, and won't do so until someone else does because they're to timid. I want GM to innovate and try new things like this. If they don't, then what the hell was the point of it all?
We got all pissy with GM and the government about the bailout, and only half-jokingly insinuated that they damn well better act like they deserved it, or else, and they did. They tried something new. They innovated. They took the first steps in laying the foundations for new automotive technology, and even gave us a usable product out of it that's better than anything else on the market.
And here we are bitching them out for doing exactly what we told them to do.
Tell me again, what is the problem here, and where does the problem lie?
It's doesn't lie solely with GM, that's for sure. Reply
"It turns out that's not correct. We're now told by Volt's engineering team that when the Volt's lithium-ion battery pack runs down and at speeds near or above 70 mph the Volt's gasoline engine will directly drive the front wheels along with the electric motors."I'm sorry, where are you hearing this? I don't see this in the car magazine publications. Reply
Ray Wert promoted this comment
Here is the question for the day!
What is the top 10 biggest ALTERNATIVE letdowns in automotive history?....my answers
not in any order
1. Chevy volt ELECTRIC
2. Chey EV1 ELECTRIC
3.Crysler partriot FUELCELL-FLYWHEEL
4. Ford Think Stirling (VIA DEAN KAMEN)
5. ANYTHING FROM ZAAP
6. THE PERSU HYBRID
7. HONDA PHIL (CNG)
8. BMW CLEAN ENERGY (FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY)
9. THE MERLIN sPARROW
10 THE FLUX CAPACITOR ReplyBuckus promoted this comment
Would be sweet to own one of these if you have solar power set up...pretty much free fuel, provided you dont drive outside of its range very often.People need to understand that this car has a bigger value to those who fit in its commute category, which should be most people. If you have a 30-mile commute to work, and can plug this in while your there, thats a win-win. And you dont have to feel tied down like you would with the Leaf, because regular ol' gas is always an option for longer trips.
Pretty much an ideal for many of us city folk. Reply
So, off by an order of magnitude---unless the happy smiley plug face doesn't represent a zero?
There are also a lot of Volt defenders here who say things like, "The wheels are always driven by the electric motor. It just appears that under some cases the engine also sends some power to the wheels in addition to the electric motor. Why does this matter?"
Because it means that the first statement is a lie; and "appears" is hedging; does it or doesn't it? And what are the "some cases"?
Might be some General workers here. Reply
Geesh, I already get that kind of milage with my 2009 Honda Fit. When I hear about people writing/talking about how "green" a car is, I always wonder: What is so "green" about:- Non-renewable electricity used to power said vehicle?
- Extremely polluting, toxic battery chemicals that aren't recycled when the battery dies?
- Petrochemicals used in manufacturing all the plastic and rubber?
I hate to tell the self described "green" person riding around in a Prius, but if you really want to practice what you preach? Ride a bike. Reply
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Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Top 10 - Local SEO
Here’s just a short little guide that can hopefully set you on the right path to begin having your website turn up for local search results ABOVE your competition:
- Optimize your site for a certain keyword, product, prospective customers, and geography. It is important that these four factors are balanced, just like a chair would be very unstable if one leg is missing. Forget about what most folks say regarding keyword density, you are writing for your customer, not for the search engines. If you’re just a pizza shop in Detroit don’t repeat ‘cheap pizza’ over and over again, instead actually provide a description of your shop, where it’s located and what you offer.
- Plan your website so that it’s comfortable to navigate. Seriously, this is a important one. You’d be amazed at how many websites I see that are complete tragedies when it comes to navigation and site links. Also – I’m not the only one who finds this as annoying, believe it or not so does Google. Simplicity is your friend when it comes to designing your website.
- Get your website indexed in local search engines as well as in the big three: Google local, Yahoo local, and Bing. Getting indexed is completely different than being ranked. I know this should probably not be on the checklist because it’s so basic, but some people don’t understand the difference. When your site is indexed on a search engine that just means it has a record of every page on the site (and will use that record to determine what each page is actually about). Ranking is, well…just what you think it is. You can’t just start at the top as far as ranking is concerned, but you can definitely skip some painful SEO steps once you’ve made sure that the site is actually showing up on search engines. TIP: To make sure your website is indexed, type in the entire domain name in quotes and see if it shows up. If not, then they have no record of your website.
- Rank your site locally for specify keywords targeted to your local community. How to do this? You can do keyword substitutions or combinations with the places that you are targeting. Here’s an example: If you’re trying to rank for a plumbing service based in Dallas, TX, use keyword phrases like ‘Dallas Plumbing’ or even a more localized phrase that involves what neighborhood, street, etc.. that is more specific than all of Dallas (i.e “Highland Park Dallas Plumbing”).
- Get your site listed in local directories. Drop your links to as many local directories you could find but make it sure that the website directory is relevant to your product and services.
- Build links to get your site ranked well for a certain keyword. Don’t do too much at first because search engines would treat you as a spammer. Do it naturally while you participate in WEB 2.0 sites.
- Take advantage of the social networking sites. There are local SEO for social media optimization. Build contacts and friends and be an authority in your niche product or services.
- List your site on all the major map services – Google maps, mapquest, etc… Put your target main keywords and a good description of your business. What’s very important in this step is that you use the SAME format for displaying your address and business name on every site that you list it on. For example: “BOB’s Electronics” is different than “Bobs Electronics.” So is “100 Ford Street” vs. “100 Ford St.”
- Install analytics software on your website. This is something that you need to do before you even think about launching the site. There are hundreds of free services, including Google Analytics, that can help you achieve this but it’s essential that you’re tracking the users who view your site. It’ll provide you with research on how they’re searching for it, allowing you to adapt your local seo tactics so your customers will find you faster.
- Be innovative in your online marketing strategies, always be researching your competitors to see what they’re doing, where they’re listed and how they’re listing themselves. Once they notice you’re above them when people search for a local pizza shop because of local SEO they’re bound to try and compete with you.
Google updates it's "Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide
Google has released its updated “Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide” e-book in pdf format. This guide is updated and designed for the webmasters to make themselves updated with search engine optimization, so that they could improve their website interaction with users and search engines both.
As published on the Official Google Webmaster Central blog, The updated new version of
Here’s the list of contents in “Google SEO Starter Guide” e-book:
- Create unique and accurate page titles.
- Make use of the “description” meta tag.
- Improve the structure of your URLs.
- Make your site easier to navigate.
- Offer quality content and services.
- Write better anchor text.
- Optimize your use of images.
- Use heading tags appropriately.
- Make effective use of robots.txt.
- Be aware of rel=”nofollow” for links.
- Notify Google of mobile sites.
- Guide mobile users accurately.
- Promote your website in the right ways.
- Make use of free webmaster tools.
You can download the updated Google SEO Starter Guide from the download link: “http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf“
I have an idea...
Which puts me at the gas station more than I'd like to be. You know how they refuel fighter planes mid air? ....
Sunday, October 3, 2010
So You Want To Move To Hawaii! Here are Some Tips!
This article will go over some of the main things you need to consider. Where To Live Where to live depends largely on your reasons for moving to Hawaii. If you want a high paying job then you probably should move to Oahu. Do you want to surf big waves, then you will probably choose one of the northern shores. Do you want to live in a rainforest – maybe you should check out Volcano on the Big Island. If you like remote coastal areas you should visit Hāna, Maui and see if it is your cup of tea. After you have thought about the type of place you want to live and what your requirements are, then visit a few different islands and get a sense of what each area is like. While you are searching for the best placer to live you might want to rent a temporary place just to have a base camp from which you can do your research. For the best places to stay in the Islands, and at the most reasonable prices, see Hawaiian Beach Rentals. You may also want to check out job listings online and in local papers to get a sense of the opportunities available in particular areas. Also do some research on cost of living and see what stores are near the area where you are considering. Some very beautiful but remote areas may have only a few stores and they are very expensive. Home prices and rental prices may also be high near larger cities such as Honolulu, though if you can can shop at a Costco, Wal-Mart, or other discount store it will help you control your costs. What To Bring When you move to Hawaii don’t bring too many personal belongings. Many of the things you may have needed on the mainland, or wherever else you are moving from, may not be needed in the Islands where the lifestyle is generally much simpler. Clothing needs are also less in the Islands. Most people just wear short pants and a light shirt most of the time. If you rent a place that is furnished, it may also be equipped with pots and pans and kitchen needs so you won’t need to bring these items. You may wish to mail some of your belongings to Hawaii via parcel post, and these boxes will take about three to five weeks to arrive. Don’t forget to bring your personal documents with you. When you travel keep them on your person or in your carry-on luggage. It is best to get a Hawaii Driver’s License as soon as possible after you arrive, as this may also help you get locals-only deals on various things. Transportation You may want to ship your car here to avoid the hassle of having to find a good one. Another good reason to ship a car is that cars rust easily and quickly in the Islands, so bringing a car from the mainland can at least give you a fresh start. If you rust proof your vehicle and keep it clean you can prevent the rust from taking hold. Shipping an average car cost about $1,000. Check the prices and requirements online at matson.com. You can also get around using public transportation (the city bus) on most parts of Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii Island (the Big Island). You can view bus routes online: Oahu at www.thebus.org Maui at the County of Maui website Kauai at the County of Kauai website Big Island at the County of Hawaii website. Taxi service is also available on all of the Hawaiian Islands including Lānai and Molokai. Pets Another concern when you are moving to the Hawaiian Islands is bringing your pet with you. Because Hawaii has strict laws regarding the importation of pets, research this process well in advance – four to five months – so your animal can avoid a lengthy quarantine. Investigate Hawaii’s Animal Quarantine Information so you can follow all of the proper steps. Renting or Buying a Home or Apartment Renting a place to stay can range anywhere from about $500 a month for a small studio to $2,000 a month or more for an average house. Prices have come down a lot in the last two years as the economy has seen a general downturn. If you are looking to buy a home, this is a good time since there are historically low interest rates available and even an $8,000 government tax credit. Home prices in Hawaii have been dropping steadily and may be reaching a bottom, making this a perfect time to buy. The best website to use when searching online for real estate is Hawaiilife.com because it is backed up by a respected team of real estate professionals in partnership with a local marketing firm that prides itself on customers service. Those are some general tips that will help you prepare for your move to the Hawaiian Islands. Don’t forget that the best places to stay in the Islands, and at the most reasonable prices, can be found atHawaiian Beach Rentals.If you are considering moving to the Hawaiian Islands you probably have lots of questions. Where will you live? What should you bring? What about transportation, rentals, pets?
Saturday, October 2, 2010
SEO, Rankings and the way people search.
Where you rank in search engines matters equally as much as which keywords you rank for; however, you should not confuse rankings, relevance or search behavior when targeting keywords for a new or seasoned SEOcampaign.
With the multi-faceted metrics responsible for producing a top search engine ranking, the last thing or rather one of the worst things you can do is tofocus solely on one phrase and expect it to bring server-taxing salvation to your website from eager consumers.
While the two most prominent metrics responsible for producing rankings (without links) are domainand page authority combined with the degree of relevance and trust a page or website has within a particular space.
Try not to confuse one metric for the other, search engine trust is needed to get on the grid and to be considered a contender (as older websites are oftengrandfathered into search results), but keep in mind that relevance, on page (page strength) such as how many internal links and anchor text are consolidated to a page internally and deep links (links from other websites) are the SEO trifecta which often decides who ranks where and for what.
The framework I am attempting to evoke here is (1) once a website gains enough trust (2) citation or (3) on page authority it is not easy for others to discern which of those metrics are responsible for spearheading the rise to the top in search engines.
A website with thousands of carefully cultivated pages need only add a new page and provide a handful of select internal links from other pages which either (a) rank for a fraction of the keyword intended for the target page or (b) have enough dormant authority to add weight (like a wildcard ranking credit) to the new target page as a result of the overlapping elements that comprise the page providing the link (trust, or a volumes of inbound links to that page).
The premise of link flow is simple, consolidate link equity in a site while cultivating enough on page signals (through ball rolling pages with internal links) while simultaneously aging the pages (like grapes to wine) until your page or domain has enough authority to cross the tipping point.
Despite all of the analogies, clichés and clever puns in this post, the reality is, tactics based on these strategies are responsible for capturing uber competitive keywords regardless of if it’s a niche, segment, market or industry.
On the tail end of this conversation, another“equally as important” consideration at present is to map mid-tail (competitive 2-3 word phrases) and long-tail phrases (key phrases containing 4 or more words) to rank above the fold (in the top 3 positions in search engines).
This is due to the fact that as search behavior is remolded to correspond to shifts in technology“such as Google Instant”, many of the traditional keyword research, advertising modalities and quite simply – the way people find information has shifted.
So, the more specific and niche oriented your queries are crafted (in conjunction with the process of selection) being captured and fed into the Instant Engine (to auto suggest keywords, queries and clusters) will also result in people finding pages from a broader array of unsuspecting keyword combinations (you may or may not have optimized).
At first thought, will “Google Instant” and the auto suggest feature cannibalize most long-tail keywordsand suggest shorter more succinct alternatives (perhaps) but not everyone uses Google instant, not will that discourage someone from conducting a more thorough search “to get what they set out for”.
Long-tail keywords have a distinct advantage; thepeople using them know what they want and they don’t necessarily want noise (alternative key phrases) to diffuse their search and ranking for those keywords are more lucrative (despite the lack of search volume) since they are from people who are willing to purchase and are laced with commercial intent.
My suggestions for search are to:
1. Embrace an approach of hedging your primary keyword selection.
2. Finding relevant off shoots of lucrative keywords (by using Google Instant, Related Searchor Wonder Wheel) to find which alternatives they are funneling traffic to… and
3. Optimize targeted landing pages (with a distinct conversion objective above the fold) to increase ROI while spreading the semantic array of catch-all keywords driving relevant traffic and more business to your pages.
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