It's insane. I visited my uncle in Petaluma and he drives a volt. He's normally a very slow driver (drives us insane ;), but one day we were running late to dinner (don't do that to my aunt...) so he decides to floor it (again, flooring it for him, so like 45 MPH) and that car just _took_ off.
I was very surprised at how much torque the car had. It's one thing to realize, "oh, yeah, of course electric cars have more torque because x, y, and z" but a completely different thing to be sitting in it when the car decides to go 20 MPH faster in a blink of an eye.
>I was very surprised at how much torque the car had.
The torque curve on EVs is awesome for sure; I can't wait to own one. But I'll bet that most people have never driven a ICE car with any real power or an automatic transmission tuned for acceleration as opposed to gas mileage. They also "take off" with minimal lag.
I had a similar "oh wow" experience when I discovered motorcycling, but eventually gave it up because I kept getting nearly hit by inattentive drivers. You pay dearly for that cost:performance ratio advantage over supercars, and the cost is safety.
I'm nearly hit by inattentive drivers on a daily basis. I've been riding bikes for so long that I just roll with it. I knew they were going to invade my space probably before they did because I read traffic ahead and to some degree predicted the possible outcomes.
But unfortunately that comes with time and experience. I've said in the past that if you can survive the first five years, you'll probably be pretty safe on a bike. I survived my first five years, despite of myself in retrospect, and the only time I've been down on asphalt was last year on a patch of black ice 400m from my garage. 35 years of not hitting pavement, only to be brought down by a stupid piece of slick road at 15mph.
I would never argue that a motorcycle is as safe as a car. For the youngsters under 25, I'm amazed that anyone survives, including myself. :-P But it's been mostly accident-free for me for 35 years. YMMV, in fact it probably will.
Haha, I agree re: under 25. I started cycling when I was 19; a motorcycle is a very intoxicating thing for a 19-year-old brain. I'm glad I survived. No accidents, but definitely some close calls.
The Volt isn't really an electric car, more of a hybrid - the gas engine is connected to the driveshaft, and the electric motor is only 82 hp. For a 3500 lb car, that's not much power. The Volt is IMO only marginally more "electric" than the Prius.
It is a similar experience, I'll give you that, but a LEAF (110 hp, 3300 lb) or Model S (300-700 hp, 4700 lb) will give you a much more exciting ride.
I drive the UK variant of the volt, and while it has good acceleration, it also has a variable lag from the pedal being fully depressed to the acceleration starting.
But no clutch, and no shifting. Just let off the accelerator for instant regenerative braking, and turn the wheel left-right. Acceleration isn't everything when driving; a clutch gives a car challenge, personality.
For me, driving without a dry clutch and without a shifter is no life.
