GM goes further down the dumper; NiHM battery supplier broke due to Chevron

GM may soon be feeling some of Chrysler's pain over bankrupt
suppliers. The CarConnection reports Cobasys, supplier of the NiMH
batteries used in the light-hybrid Vue, Aura and Malibu and holder of
"a key contract in the development of GM's much-anticipated plug-in
hybrid, the Volt," is out of money. The battery maker lost more than
$76m last year and expect to lose $82m this year. To make matters
worse, the company's joint owners, ChevronTexaco and ECD, can't agree
on the 2008 budget. So Cobays' operating budget is $92m short.
Cobasys is now on GM's "distressed supplier list;" the General refuses
to comment on the situation. In the meantime, GM has struck a deal to
buy batteries for its two-mode hybrid trucks from a Panasonic - Toyota
joint venture.

Note how it's ChevronTexaco who's putting the kibosh on Cobasys by
stalling their budgeting...another move by Big Oil to stop any move
toward electric propulsion dead in its tracks. A Democratic
administration will probably have the government take over funding of
NiMH development, thus ruining this attempt by Big Oil to "defund"
competition for their products into oblivion.

To read more:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/news-blog/cobasys-crisis-has-gm-buying-batteries-from-toyota/

 

I bet GM is kicking itself in the ass because they sold Stan Ovshinsky's
Ovonics patents to Chevron in the first place after they crushed all of the
EV1s

 

Electric car in Winnipeg? Forget it...might as well start walkin'.

 

LMFAO !! Electric car in Manitoba HAHAHAHAH it would freeze HAHAHAH My soon
to be brother in law lives there and says he has his car programmed to start
every 45min or the thing will freeze solid!! No joke He said the one time
his car didn't start and the weather dropped 46 below with wind chill and
the battery froze, rad fluid froze and oil was like mud BUT wait.. if the
car is electric.. just plug in hair dryer

 

The wind chill will cause the car to cool off faster, but it won't get
any colder than if there is no wind chill.

The radiator fluid should not freeze nor should the battery at those
temperatures.

Use synthetic.

They make these neat things called "extension cords" that lets you bring
a hair drier outside.

They also build these neat things called "garages" that let you store
cars in a warmer environment.

jeff

 

LMFAO !! Electric car in Manitoba HAHAHAHAH it would freeze HAHAHAH My

And if you can get them to start, you drive down the street on
square tires for about fifteen minutes. Kerklunk, kerklunk.......

 

The wind chill will cause the car to cool off faster, but it won't get any

A car sitting in about -34C with no wind will
stand a better chance starting than one sitting in -34C with a windchill
of -46. That -46 wind chill separates the wheat from the chaff. The boys
from the men. Winnipeg hit -38C this winter, and that was with no wind thank
goodness.

With a water cooled engine we use block heaters.
Also little interior car warmers that keep the interior warm and the windows
clear. Some people even use a battery blanket as well. When we drove in the
States years ago (60s) with three electric cords and plugs hanging out the
front a gas jockey in southern Minnesota asked if it was an electric car. We
also had these clear plastic panels you stuck to the inside of the glass, in
essence making a "sealed unit" to fight frost buildup. Better
defroster/heaters have rendered them obsolete and I haven't seen them in
years. Driving a British car in Winnipeg winters back in the 50s and 60s was
particularly adventurous. A "demister" was no match for a 1/8" coating of
frost. "Okay, quit breathing so much, I can't see out the bloody
windscreen".

Whaaah? Parking a car in a garage, eh? But where
would I then store all these 8 track carts, players, and other assorted
treasures?

 

Windchill applys to the cooling effect on exposed human skin. A car
sitting in -34 with no wind ends up at the same temperature as a car
sitting in -34 with 100 mph winds. -34

Steve B.

 

Didn't do too well in school, obviously, as your grammar and spelling
tell. Most Chevrolet fans are usually of that caliber.

 

Don't bother trying to explain it to him...he's too dense.

Not if it's 50/50 ethylene or polypropylene glycol and water, it sure
shouldn't. Of course, people like this moron probably never service
their cooling systems on time, either.

....and synthetic ATF...nary a problem with cold weather performance
there! But wait...it's an old Chevy...not worth putting synthetic
into, as the worn out valve guides will just pump it out in no time.

Everywhere I went in Canada, there were "plug-ins"...duplex outlets so
you could plug your trusty block heater in for a nice, warm night.
Starting would be as if on a balmy day, even with a Detroit diesel.

People of his class don't have "garages."

 

-34°C atmospheric is -34°C to any inanimate object immersed in it.
The wind just makes it cool faster (more gas circulating faster over
the cooled object = faster heat transfer), but it'll never get any
colder than -34C. Basic thermodynamics, high school physics...in
which I got an A+, of course, which stood me in good stead as an
undergrad.

I used a Kim Hot-Start up in Canuckia back in my days up around
there, (a VERY common US make). It was 500W and kept an 8V71 Detroit
toasty enough to start on the first go 'round even at -20°C, along
with a 250W oil sump heater running 20W-20 MIL 5208 oil, then de
rigeur for any Detroit Diesel. Of course, starting any diesel
(assuming the fuel isn't gelled and the oil isn't too thick) is easier
at such cold temperatures anyway due to the lack of absolute moisture.
Having #1 ASTM fuel was a big help on 2 strokes, too, but that went
away everywhere after the First OPEC Embargo, and the only way to
"make" it after that was to cut #2 with some water white kerosene. The
WORST climate in which to start any diesel was around 5°C and high
humidity. The large amount of water vapor, coupled with the cool
intake air, would quench the detonation every time.

The Brits could never built deicers for aircraft, either. Ask anyone
who was over there in WWII and watched Lancasters fall out of the sky
due to wing rime, while the 17s and 24s just flew by unfazed.

Well, that's your choice! The garage is for the car...the junk goes
in the junk room...or the dumpster, your choice.

 

Hillary went down the dumper in a grand fashion, not GM

 

Categorically untrue. Your car does not understand wind-chill. Wind-chill
is a reference for people only.

 

How can wind make air at -34 C colder than -34 C? It will cool off the
car faster, but it won't make it any cold than -34 C.

 

And other animals exposed to the cold, like dogs and cats.

 

You well know how this works Jeff - the wind blows some of those electrons
away, robbing the car of its full starting power.

 

Well yeah - but they don't complain about it.

 

How can wind make air at -34 C colder than -34 C? It will cool off theOf course wind chill readings are always prefaced by
"feels like". But at any rate what I said was:
A car sitting in about -34C with no wind will
stand a better chance starting than one sitting in -34C with a windchill
of -46. Which says nothing about cold or colder, just what I observed this
past winter out on my street. And what CAA wait times would likely confirm.
I dunno. Come spend 30 days here next January or February and find out. As
wind chill readings rise the time required to freeze exposed flesh drops. I
work outside in all weather and can assure all that -46/-56 wind chill
separates the men from the boys and you will need to warm up more frequently
than at -34 and no wind. And I wouldn't want to "currently" depend on an
electric car here.

 

Hillary went down the dumper in a grand fashion, not GM
Speaking of wind chill.

 

Oh yeah, they do! If I'd leave my Buster out in the cold morn air
after taking his morning constitutional, he'd sure bang on the door to
have me let him into the warm house!

Sidebar: Dogs aren't affected by "wind chill" on the same magnitude
as humans, as they do not sweat except through their tongues and feet.
"Wind chill" is a psychometric phenomenon, similar to what happened
when you measure atmospheric moisture with a psychrometer...the wick
on the wet bulb thermometer shows a depressed temperature from the dry
bulb due to evaporation of water. Same happens to people or any
animal that sweats through the skin.

It does NOT affect cars, except to cool them down to atmospheric
temperature faster.