Racers Andretti, Johnson Approve Of Electric Chevy Volt

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Racers Andretti, Johnson Approve Of Electric Chevy Volt

Antony Ingram

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NASCAR racer Jimmie Johnson checks out the Chevrolet Volt

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We're seeing an increasing number of gearheads getting into electric cars, and it's not really surprising.

With impressive performance, plenty of torque and by simply allowing us to drive more without incurring the expense of fossil fuels, there's a lot for even traditional car fans to like.

That includes racing drivers like Marco Andretti, who recently tried a Chevrolet Volt at the annual Woodward Dream Cruise.

Normally an event for the best the hot rod world has to offer, this year Volt drivers from Michigan and Northern Ohio were welcomed along to enjoy the drive in atypical silence.

The Detroit News managed to get IndyCar driver Andretti and a Volt together for a test of efficiency--rather than Andretti's preferred discipline, speed.

Despite admitting that he's not a good "fuel economy driver", Andretti managed to complete the 40-mile Dream Cruise route entirely on electric power--and the engine only cut in after another seven miles.

That range, as an increasing number of Volt drivers is finding out, is more than enough for their daily route, and many have spent very little time at all in gas stations. So far, 63 percent of Volt miles have been all-electric.

Andretti was certainly impressed, describing the Volt as "the future"--even in a racing environment.

NASCAR racer Jimmie Johnson checks out the Chevrolet Volt

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"This car's performance isn't measured by horsepower, but it is so smooth and has so much torque at the bottom that it really accelerates. I am looking forward to this in my racing future."

Andretti isn't the only racing driver to have checked out the Volt recently, either.

Team Chevy NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson has also been checking out the car. The five-time Cup Series champion was invited to the Detroit-Hamtramck facility to get a closer look at the Volt assembly line.

Johnson drove to the plant from the Dream Cruise in another Volt, though it may be some time before NASCAR itself goes down the electric route...

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Comments (23)

RIck Scinta Posted: 8/17/2012 7:14am PDT

Anyone notice that the photo of him touring the factory shows the Ampura not the Volt? I love the look of that even more.

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/17/2012 1:55pm PDT

They are all built on the same production line.

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Adalberto Burke Posted: 8/17/2012 7:39am PDT

The Volt hybrid system is one of the most advanced available today at a relative low price. However, (IMO) they should continue working on extending the Volt's electric range in the following directions: reducing curb weight (which is not low today), lowering the Cd (which is still higher than the Prius's), and by covering some body parts with solar panels to assist battery power during day time. This should reduce night time charging as well as creating other solar infrastructures

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Jeff Hre Posted: 8/17/2012 11:17am PDT

Adalberto, very good points. I would love to see more people with refineries in their yards or on their roofs. Solar sourced propulsion energy is domestic energy, and corny as it seems, "driving on sunbeams," is a lot cheaper than using gasoline.

Note: Yes the Prius has a lower Cd according to Toyota's numbers. But when each were tested on an equal footing in GM's wind tunnel at their Warren Tech center, the results were reversed.

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Adalberto Burke Posted: 8/17/2012 7:02pm PDT

@Jeff Hre: Thank you for your input. What you say makes more sense than what read. Both cars are slick but the Prius is in fact taller than the Volt: 62in vs. 56.6in

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/17/2012 2:02pm PDT

I agree that lower weight will be better. Potentially more expensive. Remember that Volt is 5-star rated in crash safety and Prius Plugin got a 4 star rating due to its increased weight over regular Prius (strange to me since the weight difference is small).
Cd is very close. But I think the tire resistance favors Prius due to the wider and more performance rated tires on the Volt.

I think solar on the car is silly. B/c at 18% efficiency a m^2 of solar panel is only 180W. How much surface does the car have? 3 m^2? 540W? even with 4 peak hrs of sun, you are talking about 2.1KWh. That is already covering up all the horizontal surface and at a cost of over at least $1k. Not worth the cost for consumers.

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Adalberto Burke Posted: 8/17/2012 7:24pm PDT

@Xiaolong Lee: Thank you for your reply, but you are not giving me enough data to fully understand your point. But I will get deeper into that, and then I will get back to you. By the way I live and work in Florida, which is very sunny most of the year and my car has to sit under the son for at least 8 hours. Even if the battery got recharged to 1/3 capacity, it would make sense to me because my commute is around 60 miles (longer than the EV range). I cannot dream of Volt solar charger like the ones you have in your workplace. BTW, I saw a plug in Prius at the last Miami Auto Show with the entire roof consisting of a high density solar panel covered by a transparent high resistance plastic material. Again, I think Volt engineers should

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Adalberto Burke Posted: 8/17/2012 7:30pm PDT

contemplate the possibility. The change would return usable electric energy (for radio, AC, etc.) and would reduce the weight of the car.

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/17/2012 11:56pm PDT

okay, that PIP roof solar is a "few thousands" dollar option. Secondly, how large do you think the roof area is? 2 sq meters at best if NOT less. Let us say it is 2 sq meters. 1KW/sq meter of solar energy reaches surface of the earth at 90 degree angle near the equator on a clear day. A commercial solar panel is around 18% efficiency. So 2 sq meter solar panel with ideal condition only generates about 360 W. That is the size of the Prius or Volt's roof. 360W for 8 hour (with peak of only 5 hours) is only 360x8 = 2.8 KWh. That is assuming no loss and very ideal condition.

2.8KWh gives you about 11 miles in the Volt. Sure, it is better than nothing. But those options are really expensive. Makes efficiency sense, not economic sense

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/18/2012 12:01am PDT

Even if Volt engineers don't do it, you can certainly do it yourself by buying one of those "flexible" solar panels and using it when it is parked and create a shade for your car.

I am lucky. My work place has a 1MW installation that happens to provide shade as well over the parking lot...

I don't know where you work, but maybe you can request your work place to go solar "leasing" and it is very cost effective and it will provide shade to employee parking...

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/17/2012 4:38pm PDT

That looks like one of those 2013 Volts...

Nice Red color! :)

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Adalberto Burke Posted: 8/18/2012 6:55am PDT

@Xiaolong Li: Thank you for your reply and your time. I have a better picture now. I am a teacher with a public high school in Miami. Teachers park their cars in a huge area exposed to the elements. Public schools are struggling for survival nowaday in Miami, so I don't think that building a solar parking lot will be contemplated in their budget any time soon. The other option I have is my house, yet doesn't solve my problem as I am out of the house the entire day. If the Volt had removable batteries, then I would be able to solve my problem with a set of two batteries and a solar charger on the roof of my house. Can you give me more info about what "solar leasing" is? Thank you!

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/18/2012 1:48pm PDT

@Burke,

I admire you for being a teacher. These days, teacher have it pretty tough. I assume you are one of those science teachers and we need more people like you to educate our children. If I can make enough money to pay off my mortgage and send my children through school and retire early, I will probably quit my job and volunteer as science teachers.

Back to the topic, many solar companies (Sungevity, Solar city just to name few) offer something called solar leasing. It is a program that allow to buy "solar power" from them by allowing them to install solar on your house. You pay for the 20 years of solar energy upfront at a contract cost. Then you get to keep the solar panels for 20 years. They guarantee minimum amount of (cont

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/18/2012 1:53pm PDT

(continued)
power generated each year. For example, a 3KW system leasing cost anywhere between $9k -$12k upfront and they make sure the solar panels generated about 4800KWh per year. If they are short, then they will pay for shortage at the highest electricity rate you pay. If they generate more than that, you keep the difference. They will also give you a table of yearly generation for the next 20 years (each year, the generation will drop about 2-3%). Once the lease is up, you usually have the option to keep it or tell them to uninstall it. Some of them also offer per month leasing rate.

The upside are: cheaper than out of pocket cost of "owning" it. Don't have to deal with tax credits. No warranty/service issues.

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/18/2012 1:57pm PDT

additional upside: You don't have to deal with inverter companies or panel companies if they are ever broken. Most solar companies are "installers" they don't warranty anything unless you lease. You would have to deal with the makers of inverters and panels to fix any issues. Also, leasing company issue your panels as well. Technology are also changing, in 20 years the solar panels will degrade by 30% in output if NOT more. Why NOT upgrade it to the newer and more efficient panels?

Downside: You don't own it. So, they are borrowing your roof to generate the power. So, when you sell your house, the new owner will get to keep the panels for free (well basically xfer of contract). You can't remove them until the end of contract.

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/18/2012 2:00pm PDT

Also, another point for the solar parking thing. Many schools in CA are installing solar panels on their parking structures. Yes, CA schools are in trouble too due to budget issue. But since the electricity cost is fairly high in CA, the solar pay backs are usually in 5-7 years. so, many California schools are installing solar panels to offset their huge electricity usage. Especially if they are on flexible rate. Schools mostly operate during the day where the sun power is at its fullest. So, it makes perfect sense for them to do it. I believe many of them are doing the "leasing" option.

I would imagine Miami would be another perfect location for it since it gets a lot of sun. Did anyone do the math for the school board?

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Adalberto Burke Posted: 8/18/2012 4:29pm PDT

@Xiaolong Li: Thank you for your time, the info and the kind words. I can tell you are an expert in the business of solar energy. Florida is not California when it comes to implement solutions to existent problems even when the solutions are too evident. I went to San Diego, CA in July for the first time to visit my daughter, and I was impressed by the relative high level of environmental responsibility and the implementation of hybrid technologies there. I guess your descendants are going to grow in a good place and with your experience and good will they will help make this world a better place.

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/18/2012 11:05pm PDT

Thanks. I wouldn't call myself an "expert" in solar energy. Ever since I was trying to install solar myself, I have been reading up and doing all the research on it. About 4 of my co-workers all installed solar recently, so lunch time discussion among engineers can get pretty technical.

CA is only green around the major cities such as Bay Area, SD and some of the LA basins. As you go farther into the central valley, the environment is taking back stages. If you ever get a chance of visiting Sequoia National Park, you will understand what I mean (Smog are so bad that you can't even see very far towards the West). Same with Joshua Tree NP...

Driving EV and go Solar is the least of what I can do.

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Adalberto Burke Posted: 8/20/2012 8:57am PDT

@Xiaolong Li: I have just one question for you. Can you charge your battery using the solar charger in your workplace of not. Has there been a time when you could not charge your battery because energy was fed back into the grid?

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/20/2012 11:09am PDT

They are connected through a large inverter system and 3 phase tranformer. So, the power is constantly feeding the grid. But the charging post is tapped off the transform. You always have power regardless how the power is flowing.

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Roy Harvie Posted: 8/19/2012 8:18am PDT

"If the Volt had removable batteries, then I would be able to solve my problem with a set of two batteries and a solar charger on the roof of my house."

Unless you are totally off grid, storing your own power is not worthwhile. Most solar systems come with an inverter that synchronizes with the power from the grid, so excess energy generated makes your meter run backward. This is by far the cheapest way to "store" your solar power.

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Adalberto Burke Posted: 8/19/2012 10:16am PDT

@Roy Harvie: Thank you for your reply, but I don't follow you. Xiaolong Li has solar chargers in his work place and he uses them to charge his Volt's battery during daytime. They seem to have solved all the problems related to solar battery charging already, so it is a fact. Then, If I had a similar system at home, I could use it to charge my Volt's battery same as Xiaolong does it at work. But I am not home during day time. So, If the Volt had removable batteries then I could charge two over the weekend and then using one every weekday while I charge the other one. I just made an inference based on the fact.

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Xiaolong Li Posted: 8/19/2012 10:58am PDT

@Burke,

Roy is correct in terms of existing solar installation. Solar panels feed powers to your home/work when it is generating power. But if you home/work can't consume it all, then it will be fed into the grid. When the generation is below the usage, then it will pull the power from the grid.

Having a seperate battery pack will help the situation so you don't even pull power from the grid during the charging, but the cost is prohibitive as the additional battery being very expensive. Also, most of those high KWh battery system weigh hundreds of pounds, it will be hard to swap it at home.

Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with "depositing" extra power into the grid and "withdraw" it back when you need it.

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