Comments on: Chevy Volt’s Battery, its Moral Hazard, and My Solution

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:36:42 +0000

Hammer Time, first, let’s not pass around slurs like “you made up.” Don’t be rude, don’t be crass.

The Volt’s battery has a recharge range, from around 30% to around 50%. GM will convey this to users as conditioning, in order to preserve the battery. Chances are, the final UI will never show this exact figure to the user. They’ll only see the amount of battery life that they’re allowed to use.

I never talked about CO2 emissions, so that’s an irrelevant point you’re spuriously bringing up.

Finally, you brought up the notion of “always refilling so the gas tank doesn’t get to empty.” Unfortunately, you missed the emergency word in there. A EREV shouldn’t be designed to think that gas will always be available.

What about a gas crisis? Please don’t tell me that’s unlikely. What about a natural disaster? Please don’t tell me that’s unlikely.

A big battery is nice. A dead person that couldn’t get to safety, while that battery still has a charge left in it, isn’t.

By: hammer time

hammer time — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:30:10 +0000

umm dude just like in a normal car u wouldnt let the gas tank get to E before you filled up durrrrr when the tank is like 25% reamining u would probably want to fill er up just as in a normal CAR!!!!

also the battery can be go down to 30% not 50% check GMs web page not some figure u made up. also can be charged up to 80% not 100% as some people may believe. ok u have a huge battery to take care of after 10 yrs but u reduce co2 emission but what almost half. Lesser of two evils the volt wins, also send the batteries to a 3rd world country they can built huts or something out of them bam problem solved. there about 400lbs a battery fyi pretty big

By: Many Still Unaware of the Chevy Volt Emergency Mode Problem | Christopher Price .net

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:42:12 +0000

[...] I showed GM how they could easily take advantage of the OnStar modem, inside every Volt, to send a signal to OnStarevery time the Panic Button is pressed. After three strikes, the battery’s warranty would be [...]

By: An Idea to Save the Big 3 Auto Maker’s… And Their Warranties… | Christopher Price .net

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:47:17 +0000

[...] in 2010… provided that the economy isn’t still in the crud, and that it ships with an emergency mode. So, to prevent there from being issues with that, I propose that the Big 3 contract insurance [...]

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:27:23 +0000

As to the two comments that suggest that the Volt shouldn’t have access to the full battery capacity in an emergency… it’s simply a false premise.

The Volt already has an emergency reserve… even GM has admitted that. Now it is a matter of if GM will let you access it. That’s why it is a moral hazard for them to not offer an Emergency Mode.

I’m not asking GM to add an emergency reserve. The commenters above are correct, most cars don’t have one. But, the Volt happens to have one. In an emergency, you should be able to use it.

Like I proposed in the article, if people abuse that option, GM can easily void their warranty. It’s no excuse to not give the user the choice… especially when their life could depend on it.

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:24:37 +0000

Travis, the principle does not hold true between Prius and Volt.

The Prius battery is very small. It couldn’t handle any reasonable distance… a mile would be a stretch.

The Volt’s battery, if uninhibited by limitations from GM, could easily go 80 to 120 miles on a single charge. Chevy will limit the EV-only mode to 40 miles, in order to sustain the life of the battery for 10 years.

But, if you are in an emergency situation, such as a natural disaster, 20 miles could be the difference between life and death. It could get someone to an emergency shelter, when gas stations are out of fuel.

Finally, there is another key difference between the Prius and Volt. Using an Emergency Mode on the Prius, would harm the battery much more… with again, only the walking distance of a mile gained. With the Volt, the battery would not be dramatically harmed from any single drain-down event. However, several drain-downs would have a life-shortening effect.

You really cannot compare the Volt’s battery and the Prius’s hybrid system…. there are a lot of other technical factors, but safe to say, GM could easily offer an Emergency Mode, and GM’s CEO has even said that the battery will extend itself beyond typical specifications if you are “close to home”… the technology is there, and they should do it.

I’m not saying I wouldn’t ever buy a Volt if they don’t add an Emergency Mode, but I sure won’t buy the first-gen if they lack it. It would show that GM isn’t serious about thinking out every usage scenario with safety in mind.

By: Travis

Travis — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:11:31 +0000

When a Prius runs out of gas it doesn’t run on just the battery and the gas tank of the car has to be totally filled in order to restart the car. Yes I do realize that the Prius is a Gas-Electric Hybrid and the Volt is an electric vehicle with a range extending ICE but the same principle holds true. If the car runs out of gas it should remain nonfunctional until it is topped off again. I’ve only ever run out of gas once and that was in a vehicle with an inoperative fuel gauge and I was actually on the way to the gas station then. I’d also imagine that GM will include a fuel range gauge on this vehicle in the Driver’s Information Center I own an 06 Chevy and it has one as does most of their lineup. I’m speaking as someone who works parttime for a rental car company and my experience with various cars. If there’s something I missing please feel free to enlighten me.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:44:16 +0000

I agree Jay! Under the theory proposed, all cars regardless of energy source, should have reserve energy stores for a so called emergency mode……

Moral hazard? Most every aspect of the invention called The Motor Vehicle lies upon moral hazard…..

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:37:40 +0000

You confuse me.
Why is it essetial to have an emergency button?
Do you say the same for current Gasoline cars?
There is no difference between the two – Both can run out of gas?
The only thing you gain from the VOLT is possible solution.
It is not essential or a Moral issue?

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:11:02 +0000

Taking your comments a step further… OnStar should actually report each use of Emergency Mode. That way, a hacker can’t simply reset the unit when hitting close to the five-or-so strikes. That would be an exploit similar to how DVD drives can have their region lock count reset.

By phoning home immediately after each usage, GM’s servers would be able to keep count independently… that would be a lot harder to hack out (you’d have to rip out the OnStar module , and I doubt the Volt will power up in that event… for various reasons GM has yet to spec out, so I’ll stay quiet on that).

I certainly can see GM’s stress about this. If not handled properly, hackers could hotwire the battery, and make the Volt run 80, even 120 miles on a single charge. While that sounds cool, the battery would be shot after three years… a la EV-1.

GM doesn’t want the bad press of turning away legitimate warranty claims on the battery, out of suspicion of abuse. Still, it’s a public safety issue overall.