not sure if anyone is/has been following this (http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2012/small-passenger/chevrolet/volt/nhtsa-dampens-down-volt-fire-saga-28489)

but a little while ago, as part of safety testing, GM left a crashed volt in a field, 3 weeks after it's "crash" it caught fire,

GM's response has been that it (the test) wasn't carried out correctly as one of the techs left the battery plugged in (although the test was to see if there was a danger in storing the car after a crash, but a minor point)

now something I have noticed is in Vic cars that have a battery pack are sporting a little red diamond (much like the LPG sticker on gas powered cars) which I think is a great Idea,

there is one thing I foresee as been a problem above the normal issues with E.V's, and "hybrids" is the battery/engine management system in the volt

for those that are unaware the car starts itself roughly once a month if the engine has not been used, (to get it all nice and working), this also happens if the battery drops below a certain charge (all without user intervention)
then there is the fuel management system, as some people might be aware, fuel goes off, so if there engine hasn't been used (other than the once a month it should do) after a year, it will turn on, and drain the tank completely (which might be some 6 or more hours of running)

now, say you park your car on the lawn and go on a holiday, (likely) maybe put a car cover on the car, there is no way (that I know of) to turn the automatic running feature off, a car, parked over grass (which will grow rather tall quickly) and the car runs, catalytic converter heats up, and bam, grass fire

or you live in a little home, like a retirement village or alike, you by the car, you do your 5000kms a year, the engine clicks into "drain the tank" mode, and suddenly the house is filled with carbon monoxide,


while this is a nice idea, (even if it has taken far longer than any good reason to be released here, not like they are selling wildly...................anywhere) I can see there are somethings that might not be well thought out,

also, I greatly dislike GM, but thats a side note, and should have been clear to all,
(the last good thing they made was the 1962 corvette)

I look forward to hearing about why this is a bad idea from the extremist capitalists though :)

Invest in a profitable company,
profitable company expands taking up the slack of the non-profitable company.
Economy is good, but the profitable company obviously has better efficiency so less wastage of non-capitalist lovers money.

Win Win. (The GM example is kind of a win lose, like backing a sports team which has lost every event but still managed to win the hearts of it's fan and sponsorships paid off).

Not like you can reduce the number of car sales, old cars get old due to time, and new cars are required because of that + growing populations.

now, say you park your car on the lawn and go on a holiday, (likely) maybe put a car cover on the car, there is no way (that I know of) to turn the automatic running feature off, a car, parked over grass (which will grow rather tall quickly) and the car runs, catalytic converter heats up, and bam, grass fire

Not sure what mystical land you live in with magical grass but I used to regularly park my spare car out back on the grass and after a month there was no grass at all because no sun got to it and it just died. Sure the grass around the outside of the car got tall enough but there was no grass under it.

(pretty sure li ion doesn't like being above 50c, as it gets all thermal runaway and stuff)

I've got a Li-Ion powered drill and that fucker gets so hot you can't touch it. Just sayin'.

i like the look of it more than some of the other electric cars i have seen to-date

will they be available in Aus?

Just buy a Nissan Leaf