These guys at Government Motors just continue to outdo themselves. Just as Chevy Volt owners are getting over being called idiots by the head of Audi, GM comes up with an ad that lends credence to the accusation. A supposed Volt owner tells how she loves her car because her friends think it looks like a spaceship and it saves a "crapload" of money.
I laid off the original story of the Audi head saying Volts were for idiots. The .001 percenters who bought Volts have a right to spend their money as they see fit and I gave them the benefit of the doubt (given their higher income) that they were as intelligent as the rest of us average folks. The newest GM ad does more to insult Volt owners' intelligence than the idiots comment. It's not just the use of the word "crapload;" in fact the words "load" and "crap" can be used together to pretty well describe the whole Chevy Volt fiasco. But the idea that Volt owners are really that mathematically challenged to believe they are saving money is mind boggling.
Let's review this again for those that can't seem to figure it out. The science isn't as hard to understand as the space shuttle-like technology in the Volt. The Volt's electric range of 25 to 40 miles is the equivalent of approximately one gallon of fuel for a similar sized, conventional, gas efficient vehicle. It cost about $1.70 in electricity to charge the battery. Gas cost about $3.70 a gallon. $3.70 minus $1.70 equals $2 in savings. You can save about $2 a day in gas usage by driving a Volt. I'll even neglect the extra cost of premium fuel needed for the Volt and the gas used while in electric mode. This isn't that hard to keep up with, is it? I'll bet non-Volt owners can figure it out, that's why they are not buying the car, despite the misrepresentations of huge savings.
The cost of the Volt is over twice the amount of competitive small, gas powered vehicles. After the 99 percenters pay for tax subsidies for the wealthy, math-challenged .001 percenters who buy the Volt, the car cost about $15,000 more. I can't understand how these people got wealthy enough to buy the cars if they can't even understand that they're not saving a "crapload" of money.
Of course, given the deceptive nature of Government Motors, those who are making the false claims about "savings" are probably aware of the truth. They just don't like to speak it. Maybe GM is using actors to portray real owners to misrepresaent how much can be "saved" by buying a Volt. General Electric also claims they are buying thousands of Volts to save money. Come to think of it, it is the American public that is having its intelligence insulted if they are expected to believe this along with the claims that the Volt is a great success and the only reason they don't sell more is because there is not enough supply...wait, scratch that; it's because there is a right-wing conspiracy led by "right wing media" that prevents the true, wonderful value to be recognized.
Please, stop the "crapload" already. The Volt doesn't save owners money just as the Obama goal of spending $10 billion to get a million EVs on the road does nothing to reduce gas prices and reduce oil consumption . Yet the lies continue. I really don't know why GM continues to spend millions trying to pitch a car that does not appeal to consumers at the high price it is offered at. It's not supply, it's not Rush, it's not a NHTSA investigation, the car cost too much for what it offers. But I'm sure GM knows that.
What I'm not sure of is why GM doesn't stop the farce. Perhaps they have dug the hole too deep and the Obama-appointed management feels they can not admit the failure. Perhaps they have a plan to fluff sales numbers with GE purchases prior to November elections and continue the hoax so that cronies can profit as much as possible before moving on to the next big thing. Or maybe in true political fashion they will finally halt production all together (they must be losing millions of dollars a month on the green hoax) and blame Republicans for killing the car because they are indebted to big oil. After all, if they think people are dumb enough to believe all the nonsense up to this point, why wouldn't they think the public will believe that?
Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.