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The Chevrolet Volt got a long-awaited price tag announcement today.  It will sell at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $41,000 before incentives.  After the federal tax rebate, that means the car is $33,500.  Leases start at $350/month with an option to buy.

The cars are available for pre-order now at any of 600 Chevy dealers in the car’s debut markets (California, New York, Michigan, Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey, and Washington D.C.) with deliveries scheduled to begin late this year.

So there you go.  The Volt is finally priced, though it doesn’t get a rebate from California (8 year warranty, CARB requires 10).

Speaking of which, apparently Nissan decided that California’s rule is stupid too and has announced a warranty for the battery on the Leaf.  Looks like they’re going to match Chevy’s 8 year, 100,000 warranty.

Battery life is a big issue with electric vehicles.  It doesn’t look like manufacturers in the main stream are willing to stretch for a 10 year guarantee.  Not that the bureaucrats who wrote California’s law care about that.  They wrote it down.  Right?  So it must be possible!  These evil corporations just won’t play ball.

I wish I could run my life like a politician.  I’d write “100 bajillion zillion quadricentigazillion” as the balance in my checkbook register and then act accordingly.  Hey!  It’s written down!  Must be true.  First thing I’ll do is write a check to buy up all available carbon credits so Al Gore has to start living like a hippie.

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• By The Numbers: Chevy Volt vs Nissan Leaf (techcrunch.com)
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Eva Hakansson has announced the final design for the upcoming KillaJoule electric streamliner motorcycle, which she plans to race at Bonneville soon.  I’ve personally seen the frame and other components (front wheel assembly and so forth) and it will be exciting to see the final bodywork put on with this thing ready to rock.

Of course, then it’s lunatic owner plans to attempt to hit 400mph in the thing.  Two wheels, one driver, and four hundred miles per hour.

Nuts.  I personally don’t like going more than 80mph in my pickup and it has four wheels…

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• Shooting For 400 mph On an Electric Motorcycle (wired.com)

I’ll be honest right up front here.  The only reason I even read the original press release on this one is because it has “Wankel Rotary Engine” in it.  I just like saying that.  Wankel Rotary Engine.

Hey, buddy, how’s that Wankel rotary engine doing for ya?

I got yer Wankel rotary engine right here, pal!

Hey!  That thing got a Wankel?

You can’t get tired of saying it.  Wankel.  Makes me giggle every time. I guarantee this article will be full of innuendos.

Anyway, it turns out this isn’t such a bad idea.  One thing the Wankel is good for is power vs. size (meaning energy density).  Now that modern technology has trumped what was available in the 1960s and 70s, when the Wankel first emerged, they aren’t oil guzzlers either.  Mazda has been fiddling with Wankels for a long time.  They even have a little RX model burning hydrogen through its Wankel test driving in the Netherlands now.

A company called AVL has been perfecting the Wankel’s stroke for quite a while and now has a prototype Mini E with a Wankel rotary acting as a range extender.  The single-rotor, 254cc engine produces 15kW at 5,000 rpm or up to 25kW at 7,000 rpms.  With only 2.6 gallons of gas and a 10kWh battery pack, the car has a range of 124 miles.  That’s pretty impressive.

Best of all, this compact package of rotary, generator, power electronics, and cooling weighs about the same as the average passenger (143lbs).  That’s more than fifty pounds lighter than the Volt’s range extender.

Wankel that, buddy!

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