Why not make GM's Chevy Volt affordable by removing the expensive battery technology?

[Trekd]

Since it gets 50MPG in extended mode after the batteries runs down, removing that expensive part of the car's price can make it affordable enough for people to buy it. The small engine that drives the generator can be easily swapped out for any type of engine or alternative fuels. Too much common sense for ya, Detroit?
I don't mean add a bigger engine, just don't have the batteries. That little engine will only have to run at one low speed and it will generate all the power the car needs. A typical engine/transmission drivetrain loses a substantial amount of energy due to friction losses in the gearing, but a Volt without the batteries will get 50MPG or more, the car gets that when the batteries run down!
Here's the link: http://gm-volt.com/chevy-volt-faqs/

Removing the batteries will make the car lighter and thousands of dollars cheaper which will only increase to above 50MPG and that is better than the Prius and cheaper.

Plus, no expensive Li-ion batteries to replace when it goes bad.

Also, that engine can be swapped with a more efficient engine, a small two cylinder diesel engine, one that runs on natural gas and you can switch back easy too.

That is why trains use this technology, because it is the most efficient way of going from one place to another, trains using any other engine design would to be too fuel hungry.

[TylerFromNE]

It doesn't work like that. It's a series hybrid; the IC engine is a generator that powers the electric drive-train, similar to a diesel-electric locomotive. The engine is only 3 cylinders and 71 hp, it's designed to operate at constant RPM and can't be throttled up and down efficiently like a standard automobile engine (kind of like the engine on a lawn mower). You could drop a four- or six-cylinder motor in and leave the batteries out, but then they'd have to replace the all-electric drive-train. And that would negate the efficiency gains and thus the entire point of the model - it'd basically just be a Chevy Malibu with a different body.

Also, it obviously wouldn't allow for the 40 mile electric-only range, which comprises the model's competitive advantage over the Prius and other hybrids. If you owned a Volt and used it only for commuting, errands and the like, the average driver would never have to fill up.

[unplugged-Pro-Peace]

you know what? their getting too much money from the oil industry to keep practical electric cars off the road.

i can convert my mom's gas van into an electric van for EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS ONLY!!! and it will have more than twice the range of the volt.

the volt is a lame excuse for an electric car... electric cars don't have gas generators.

yea, detroit has common sence, they just rather have more money from the oil companies than better cars.

on the other hand, there are other small auto makers making more practical electric cars. hopefully, they will grow and will surpass the massive auto companies...somehow

[arch0049]

Coven M hit the nail right on the head.

GM and Chrysler will fail. GM is like Goliath and got cocky. Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth should have went bankrupt ten years ago. For a few decades analysts have said one of the big 3 would fail. We should have let Mopar fail years ago.

[adarix]

The generator only produces the average electricity that the car needs. It cannot produce the peak electricity. The peak comes from the battery. Putting in a bigger engine would kill the MPG.