NY Times Chevy Volt Criticism Confounds Proponents

National Legal & Policy Center ^ | April 9, 2012 | Mark Modica

[jazusamo]

The report by the NY Times that it would take up to 27 years for Chevy Volt buyers to save enough money in gas costs to make up for the high price of the car must be very confusing for apologists of the vehicle. The normal defense for any criticism is to accuse sources of having a right wing hate of the car. But the NY Times? The very vocal Volt defenders, who are quick to attack anyone who doesn't agree that the car is a technological marvel worthy of billions of dollars of taxpayer largess, will have to attribute the left-leaning Times' criticism to something other than a political agenda.

Many stories are circulated falsely proclaiming that a "crapload" of money can be saved by buying a Volt. The Times explains the misconception stating, "So why do some buyers pay more for advanced technology that might not save them money? Many never do the math, analysts say, or they tend to overestimate how much the added miles per gallon translate into actual monetary savings."

Of course, given the political nature of the Volt, it is more likely that outright lies rather than poor math skills are leading to the flood of pro-Volt stories. I have written in the past about the simple math of gas savings for the Volt that equate to about $2 a day in fuel savings . When you have a President of the USA campaigning on the perceived success of the Volt and General Motors, it is not surprising that false reports are circulated regarding the benefits of the vehicle. The Times report is a tough one for Government Motors to counter since the old "Rush Limbaugh/Fox News/right wing lies" defense will not work.

Obama-appointed GM CEO Dan Akerson's politicically based defense of the Volt is as disengenuous as the false gas savings hype. Akerson claims that Republicans are unfairly attacking the Volt, but not the plug-in Nissan Leaf. He goes on to blame low sales of the Volt on the criticisms. GM then trumpets how many more Volts are selling than the even more dismally selling Leaf. Wouldn't it stand to reason that if criticism is determining sales that the Leaf would be outselling the Volt? C'mon Mr. Akerson, put a little more thought into your spin.

The Times story is not the only cause of inner conflict for the gullible green crowd and extreme-left supporters of the Volt. The defense of GM because they are a patriotic company producing the American-made Volt must be just as paradoxical to the side that brought us the Occupy Wall Street movement. Shouldn't they be condemning evil American companies that do not pay their fair share instead of defending them? I guess the perceived good done by attacking Mitt Romney and Republicans for the slightest of Volt criticisms outweighs the eagerness to bash American corporatism. In addition, there are all those subsidies that go to wealthy purchasers of Volts. It seems that the desire to have the rich and corporations pay their fair share only applies to the conservative wealthy populace and politically unpopular oil companies; rich supporters of President Obama's failing energy policies who buy Volts and crony company GM get a bye.

The bottom line is that the Chevy Volt is a politically motivated car that is now being used as a campaign tool for Democrats. Millions of dollars will be spent on ads (which seems to be influencing news coverage) and lease incentives to see that the car is perceived as a success, regardless of the fact that the spending causes GM to lose money for shareholders, many of whom are the US taxpayers. Another approximately $20 million in tax subsidies contributed to the vehicle selling over 2,000 units in March, a still dismally low number that is being touted as a great success. Crony corporation, GE, will play its part as they purchase an undisclosed number of the vehicles each month leading up to November elections. And Government Motors will continue to whine about right wing conspiracies to hurt the Volt, even though the facts about the over-hyped vehicle not being all it was cracked up to be is coming from those in the media with a modicum of journalistic integrity (even if that integrity is short-lived, as might be the case with the NY Times) rather than a political agenda.

Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.

[TheOldLady]

So long, jim_in_nj (Posting History)

Hat Tip to jazusamo and awesome Admin Moderator

Chevy Volt fan stretches the truth and bumps straight into Admin Mod who gives him more Volts than he can handle




And you didn't even thank the Admin Mod, troll


Thank you JoeProBono

FReepmail TheOldLady to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.

[luvie]

Great zot! :)

I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, as it were!

[jazusamo]

Thanks, TOL!

That photo is perfect for this ZOT. :-)

[SunkenCiv]

The only thing I have against zotting a retread is the smell is terrible, like bbq’ed horsesh—. Thanks TOL.

[TheOldLady]

Things will not be getting better before the election. That’s for sure.

[TheOldLady]

My pleasure. :)

[TheOldLady]

Instead of horsesh--, try adding some horseradish. It goes well with barbecued troll.   ;-)

[Arrowhead1952]

I posted a reply, but it looks my embedded Calvin and Hobbes image must have been censored.

You posted a stupid reply and have been ZOTTED. Bad riddance to left wing trash.

[Old Sarge]

BEGONE, THOU VOLT-RIDING TROLL PERSON!!

[Mark Modica]

Oh yeah, only 30 million Volts need to be sold in 10 years to stop terrorism. Do you think you are dealing with viewers of the Ed Show here?

Not only are you 29.9 million Volts short of your goal, the oil savings are off as well. One more time for the shills who can not seem to get the math straight. The Volt can save about a gallon of gas a day. It takes over 20 years to make up for high cost, costs are not reduced by tax subsidies, only borne by taxpayers instead of purchaser.

You would need to sell 3 million Volts a year to get to 30 million in 10 years. That’s 30 million divided by 10, because I know you guys have trouble with this. Get a calculator. Oh, and 2,300 Volts a month still falls short of your administration’s goal.

Congrats on paying enough millions in ad revenue to buy off Fox and a Media “conservative.” Post your lies elsewhere, readers here are smarter than your average liberal.

[Mark Modica]

Sorry, make that 29.99 million Volts short.

[SunkenCiv]

I’d need a lot of floss...

[Absolutely Nobama]

“Chevy Volt fan ?” Really ? I mean, really ?

jim_in_nj: Turn in your man card at once. You’ve lost all rights to call yourself a man or a capitalist.

[Chode]

Looks like meat's back on the menu boys!!!

[grey_whiskers]

Rename it the “Strength through Joy Car”. KdF-Wagen, for short.

You mean because if you ride one, you're getting screwed?

Or are you pointing out Axelrod's well known resemblance to ...

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

Sorry, confused "Strength Through Joy" with Lebensborn, "Spring of Life".

Same principle applies, more or less, as long as you drive on the Autobahn.

Cheers!

[Berlin_Freeper]

You, LOL!

[Kickass Conservative]

March is when GM started to offer a ZERO DOWN, 3 Year, 36,000 Mile Volt Lease for $369.00 a Month.

Now tell me how the finance numbers work out on leasing a $42,000 Vehicle that cheap.

A base model MBZ C Class has a $34,000 MSRP and the typical 36 Month Lease is $449.00 a Month with $4,000 Down.

The answer of course is that GM, currently indebted to the Taxpayers for about $50,000,000,000, is keeping the $7500 Tax Credit as the Down Payment on the Volt Lease.

Even with those Lease terms, they only sold a few thousand Volts in March?

[Eye of Unk]

In four years from now Obama will have set up America to the point gas is $40 a gallon, yes forty dollars per gallon, thus ensuring his “Voltswagen” will be a success.

Typical socialist stategy, make some useless useful by making something practical too expensive to own.

[TheOldLady]

Dance in its ashes, or dine on its crispy corpse, or both, Viking Kitty! Let the floss fall where it may.