Finnish Roll Cage Testing

They don't call them Flying Finns for for nothing.

Chevy Volt is NOT an electric car

I was discussing the upcoming Chevy Volt with a colleague yesterday who proudly how the US is getting into the electric vehicle business because "even Chevy makes an electric car".

I pointed out the the Volt - despite it's electric name - is in fact a hybrid, no different that a Toyota Prius. "No, No, No, it's an electric car" he stammered, "the gasoline engine only charges the batteries"

I beg to differ...

The new Chevy Volt is no more an EV that a Toyota Prius. It uses the gasoline engine to assist the electric motor to drive the wheels when necessary. You see my colleague made the mistake of actually listening to GM.

GM has recently uh.. 'adjusted' many of the original claims about the car. The first one to go as the 230 MPG claim. How didn't see this one coming. In August 2008 then-CEO Fritz Henderson claimed "230 MPG in city driving". Popular Mechanics recently tested a pre-production model and saw about 37 MPG, more than a little short the original GM claims.

I could write that off and new product optimism. What pisses me off is that contrary to 2+ years of PR claims, it's not even an electric car. It's a plug-in hybrid very similar to the current Toyota Prius.

GM now claims the original description was misleading because they wanted to ensure all their patents were approved before disclosing the real nature of the drive system. So, dishonestly is fine in the name of IP protection.

I'm not saying the Volt isn't fuel efficient, or that it's a bad car. I'm saying when you call something an electric vehicle for 2+ years and then launch a hybrid partially driven by it's gasoline engine, some people are going to cry "foul".

Izzy gets sick -- again

It's hard to believe that there are some places that so remote that you can't get wireless data service. On Saturday I learned that Pt. Reyes Station, CA is one of those places. 30 miles from central San Francisco yet a thousand miles away. The wife and I went up there to visit my newly rediscovered bubba Mike at Black Mountain Cycles and to procure some of that fine cheese at the Cowgirl Creamery.

Sure, that sound remote. But the fully grasp remote (in the 2010 context) take the long and bumpy drive through the Pt Reyes National Seashore to the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse. Out there you are on the dark side of the moon -- no cell service at all.

I know this because this is exactly where Izzy (the wife's E46 328ci) decided that power steering should be a optional luxury. So less than 100 yards from the parking lot and ~25 miles from cell service, Izzy started making Bad Sounds (tm) from the front end so strong they shook the steering wheel.

At first I though 'flat tire' but the sound was clearly tied engine speed which aint a flat tire. The fact that Izzy was now steering like a supertanker is what we call a clue. Nothing was amiss under the hood, even the power-steering fluid was still full so we reviewed our options. Hmmm.. ten cars in the parking lot but no people. ~25 miles back to town. No cell service. Ok, so we drive it.

What a workout. All in I drove that thing almost 50 twisty, turny mountainous miles in the quest to get home. The worst miles were the 10 miles stuck behind a tourist bus at 25 MPH. Three days on, I'm still a little sore.

Safely home, a little time on the internets showed that E46s share the habit of failing PS pumps. Typically the shaft between the pulley and the pump fails. Not ours, ours failed inside the pump, creating a loud buzzing sound that felt like something very heavy fell off and was dragging along the ground under the car.

My new cali-style mechanic (frosted hair and all) is now replacing the pump, reservoir (with built-in filter) and a couple of hoses. He's also going to replace both idler pulleys as a preventative measure as well. Tally: $1k

Ouch. Oh, I never did get to see that damn lighthouse but the bike shop was spectacular (How many Charley Cunningham road bikes have YOU seen?) and the cheese sublime.