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Chevrolet Volt Fatigue Setting In
Business Week ^ | 07/30/2010 | David Welch

Posted on 07/30/2010 12:56:20 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

The Chevrolet Volt may be wearing out its welcome. General Motors has been hyping the gasoline-electric car ever since the company showed it off to the public 1,300 days ago. The company has let countless reporters into its battery labs and given interviews with its engineers, all in a very credible attempt to show that GM has smart people with good ideas. And it has worked. GM has picked up some technological credibility and fostered goodwill with the environmental crowd.

Now that GM is finally, after three and a half years, getting close to selling one, the commentariat is taking shots at the Volt. In an editorial in the New York Times today, Truth About Cars Editor Edward Niedermeyer panned the car as “GM’s Electric Lemon.” He criticized the car for, among other things, having bland styling and because it will likely lose GM money. Before that, “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, a well-known car buff, also took a shot at the Volt’s styling, telling the Detroit news that, “if you didn’t know, you might think it’s a Cobalt or a Camry.”

What gives? It could be a case of Volt fatigue. Sure, documenting the tale of the car’s development gave GM a great story to tell. But in the past few months the company has amped up the noise on a car that has been hyped for years. I count 14 press releases on the Volt since June, including an announcement today that GM will boost 2012 production from 30,000 to 45,000. Some of those releases were absolutely necessary, like vital information on pricing, warranty and ordering options.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chevy; fatigue; greencar; volt; voltswagen
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To: SeekAndFind
The Chevy Volt Dance

Big government awesomeness!

Updating 60s Soviet chic with a distinctly 80s feel.

41 posted on 07/30/2010 1:22:30 PM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: WayneS
Or, it could be that the car sucks. A 40 mile range after somehting like an 8 hour charge (@ 110 V)?

From what I understand, you have to install a 220 V line to charge it. 110 won't work.

42 posted on 07/30/2010 1:22:33 PM PDT by Ditto (Nov 2, 2010 -- Time to Clean House.)
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To: SeekAndFind

$40,000 for a volt?.....FUBO!....I can buy a classic car with a new engine and drive train for less!


43 posted on 07/30/2010 1:23:11 PM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
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To: WayneS
And it STILL has a fossil fuel burning engine on board in the form of a "generator" for recharging the batteries "on the go".

Except, IIRC, it doesn't recharge the batteries. It merely generates enough electricity to power the traction motors.

Given that it still costs twice as much as a Cruze (same car, conventional powertrain) and more than a Prius even after the tax credit, I predict the Volt will be a flop.

44 posted on 07/30/2010 1:24:06 PM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (Hang in there, baby! November's comin'...)
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To: mylife

Are you talking about the car or 0bama?


45 posted on 07/30/2010 1:24:09 PM PDT by Truth is a Weapon (If I weren't afraid of the feds, I would refer to Obama as our "undocumented POTUS")
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

hyperbole and overstatement is a hallowed FR tradition.


46 posted on 07/30/2010 1:25:43 PM PDT by rahbert (Come heavy or don't come at all)
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To: kenmcg
Actually, a 110 volt connection will work -- it would just take a lot longer.

The Volt is heavily subsidized; ipso facto it is not worthy of being sold on the free market. There are plenty of reasons to criticize it -- don't water down the criticism by attacking with easily falsified arguments.
47 posted on 07/30/2010 1:25:49 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: JPG

The Volts wagon. The REvolt. The Bolt. The Dolt. The ...


48 posted on 07/30/2010 1:26:38 PM PDT by ichabod1 (Hitler Was Their Fate and their Fate Could Not Be Stayed. Von Braustitch.)
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To: Ditto

I read an article yesterday that said it takes about 8 hours to charge at 110 V; or 5 hours at 220.


49 posted on 07/30/2010 1:26:45 PM PDT by WayneS (Respect the 2nd Amendment; Repeal the 16th)
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To: SeekAndFind

It is reVOLTing what Obama did in GM’s bankruptcy, basically stealing from bondholders in favor of his union chiefs buddies.


50 posted on 07/30/2010 1:27:59 PM PDT by winner3000
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To: winner3000

BOYCOTT CHEVROLET!


51 posted on 07/30/2010 1:30:13 PM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
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To: AngelesCrestHighway

RE: $40,000 for a volt?.....FUBO!....

The actual price is $41,000, but you don’t have to pay that much -— You get a government rebate for $7,500 just for purchasing their car.


52 posted on 07/30/2010 1:30:18 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind


53 posted on 07/30/2010 1:32:18 PM PDT by maggief
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To: nhwingut

Yeah, what IS the deal with the heater on this thing, when there’s no heat of combustion available to warm the cabin? Does anyone know how it works?

Don’t tell me that the heater in this thing is an energy-hogging electric.


54 posted on 07/30/2010 1:33:20 PM PDT by Claud
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To: WayneS

You could be right.


55 posted on 07/30/2010 1:34:21 PM PDT by Ditto (Nov 2, 2010 -- Time to Clean House.)
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To: winner3000

“It is reVOLTing what Obama did in GM’s bankruptcy, basically stealing from bondholders in favor of his union chiefs buddies.”

Thank me very much.


56 posted on 07/30/2010 1:35:20 PM PDT by maggief
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To: Claud
Gasoline will always rule.

For many reasons, not the least of which is plenty of heat in seconds on a cold winter day!

57 posted on 07/30/2010 1:35:26 PM PDT by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
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To: SeekAndFind

I can’t wait to laugh at friends and family that fall for the voltswagen.


58 posted on 07/30/2010 1:36:05 PM PDT by pennyfarmer (Even a RINO will chew its foot off when caught in a trap.)
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To: SeekAndFind

G.M.’s Electric Lemon

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/opinion/30neidermeyer.html?_r=3&ref=opinion


59 posted on 07/30/2010 1:37:32 PM PDT by preacher (A government which robs from Peter to pay Paul will always have the support of Paul.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Oh dayum! Michelle gonna go Aunt Esther all over his ass for cruising with a white chick!


60 posted on 07/30/2010 1:37:46 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel
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