mmarshall

Is that possible?

J.P.

50 miles is a coffee runner..... enough to run out and get some starbucks in the morning and head back

mmarshall

Can't be any worse than some of the I-Drives and MMI's I've tried to use.

RXSF

haha yeah. I like watching car reviews from CNET cartech.

here is one they did on the smart electric

http://cnettv.cnet.com/8301-13415_53-20051511-11.html

Kostamojen

Its strange too, I saw one on the back of a car trailer A YEAR AGO!!!

spwolf

why would you buy iQ for road trips? that makes no sense... it is an city car.
you pay for that battery, nobody gives it to you... makes no sense for city car to have huge range.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

true - it's a city car. or something that rhymes with city anyway.

Sulu

The iQ EV's 50-mile range is greater than the Volt's electric-only range of 30-miles and GM claims that 30 miles is enough for most Americans who only need a (single-passenger) daily driver city/commuter car. Drive it only in the city (to and from work or the commuter transit station) and plug it in overnight; that seems perfectly acceptable to me.

mmarshall

It might (?) have been going to an advance-display for an auto show, not to the general-public for sale.

IntegresS

iTrader: (2)

There's no official announcement yet-- that won't be made until 2012, but what is being looked at is the role for small electric vehicles in low volume fleet programs. (This is not being looked at for sales to the general public at the time)

Kostamojen

Probably so. Could have been going to the EPA for inspection, or who knows where...

Its just odd to see a car that far ahead of its release. I figured they would start showing up right after I saw that one as I was used to seeing pre-production models in the area, no such luck...

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

the volt has a backup gas generator. this iQ EV doesn't, right?
and if someone's only driving to and from a transit station, a cab might be cheaper.

spwolf

heh.. Volt has petrol engine. I guess you meant electricity generator, but that has proven to be just PR since they had to make it drive the wheels directly. Another GM fail.

Sulu

Yes, the Volt does have the petrol-fueled range extender, but I am just regurgitating GM's claim that most of the buyers of the Volt will find the 30-mile EV range enough for daily driving and will never have to use a drop of fuel to extend the range (aside from occasional automatic firing up of the internal combustion engine to keep it from seizing up).

I don't think that a daily taxi ride to the transit station will be cheaper than buying an electric car. Those taxi fares will quickly add up. There are also likely going to be more and more EV-only spots at transit stations where EV drivers can park and charge up during the day while they are at work.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

let's compare.
car: $20k let's say
in 5 years let's say it's worth $10, so that's $2k depreciation/cost a year.
+ charging/fuel - even if charging only, let's say $3/day or $1k/yr
+ insurance - let's say $1k
so that's $4k a year assuming NO GAS is used and NO cost for parking!

taxi: let's say $10 each way, twice a day then, x5 days a week, x 50 weeks a year, or $5k.

see, it's already pretty close.