Posted on 07/31/2010 2:29:28 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
GENERAL MOTORS introduced America to the Chevrolet Volt at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show as a low-slung concept car that would someday be the future of motorized transportation. It would go 40 miles on battery power alone, promised G.M., after which it would create its own electricity with a gas engine. Three and a half years — and one government-assisted bankruptcy later — G.M. is bringing a Volt to market that makes good on those two promises. The problem is, well, everything else.
For starters, G.M.’s vision turned into a car that costs $41,000 before relevant tax breaks ... but after billions of dollars of government loans and grants for the Volt’s development and production. And instead of the sleek coupe of 2007, it looks suspiciously similar to a Toyota Prius. It also requires premium gasoline, seats only four people (the battery runs down the center of the car, preventing a rear bench) and has less head and leg room than the $17,000 Chevrolet Cruze, which is more or less the non-electric version of the Volt.
In short, the Volt appears to be exactly the kind of green-at-all-costs car that some opponents of the bailout feared the government might order G.M. to build. Unfortunately for this theory, G.M. was already committed to the Volt when it entered bankruptcy. And though President Obama’s task force reported in 2009 that the Volt “will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short term,” it didn’t cancel the project.
Nor did the government or G.M. decide to sell the Volt at a loss, which, paradoxically, might have been the best hope for making it profitable. Consider the Prius. Back in 1997, Toyota began selling the high-tech, first-of-its-kind car in Japan for about $17,000, even though each model cost $32,000 to build.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
All YUGO s came with rear window defrosters, so you could keep your hands warm when pushing them.
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Yeah, but if you hit a Pinto in the rear real hard, you could roast a turkey!
NO... it is obama’s electric turd.
LLS
“Just keep calling it the ‘Obama Volt’ a la Rush.”
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I’m thinkin’ the “Hussein Yugo”, the “Barry Vega”, or “Dolt in a Volt”.
LOL $41,000 for a car that Americans are supposed to buy in this economy?
A car that has to be plugged in every 40 miles and add to our electric bills, that will “necessarily skyrocket” soon?
When the battery no longer holds it’s charge and must be replaced, how much is that going to cost?
obama, King of the Stupid, may your name forever be married to the name Volt.
An old acquaintance I knew from Germany once said of the Trabant - the way to double its value was to fill it with gas.
Welcome to the inefficient, state-run auto industry in the US — its called General Motors!
New??
One day in the '80s, I bought a Vega - that ran - for $50 and a riding lawnmower for $100 - that didn't.
Go figger; but I did have 5 of them at one time.
I never had any serious problems other than rusting out.
(DAMN this state (Indiana) and the SALT on the roads!)
Yes, the front suspension mounting stuff rusted away and the things would wiggle! A LOT!
Design so stupid only a Democrat will drive it.
Design so stupid NOBODY admits to working on it.
Design so stupid it make bowties look neat.
Design so stupid only Obama thinks its cool.
I had one of those engines!
Yanked it out and had cylinder sleeves installed - ran forever after that!
First the Oil Spill (nature recovering quickly), and now the Volt.
It must be a sign of the End.
And 2012 is just around the corner...
Cheers!
Q: How long does it take to charge?
A: Most people will charge it like a cell phone overnight at home. A full charge will take 8h on a 220/240V home charging station. A 480V quick-charging capability will eventually be available in many markets once a standard is set.
And I get aggravated when at a sloooowly working gas pump!
(Will a ‘quick-charge’ only take 4 hours?)
Re-cycled; NOT replaced!!
There is an ELEPHANT in my living room that keeps asking QUESTIONS...
1. How well does the HEATER work?
2. How COLD is the AIR CONDITIONER?
I cry in joy that the Times has,at least in this piece,turned on Obama. The auto bailout is one of the ‘achievements’ that Obama has touted. Heck will they go after health care next or is that too much to ask for?
After they go public the stock price will represent performance and be tied to Obama. Without a stock price to measure by most people won’t really follow the out come.
On a snowy, frozen morning in mid winter, when the batteries get cold and weak, and you turn on the heater and defroster, windshield wipers, the headlights - maybe even the radio - then how many miles will you get on that advertised 40 mile charge?
Gee, so folks will have to hire an electrician to wire up a 220/240V charging station at home.....no big deal or added expense there AT ALL.
4.0 - just have to move the decimal point. Easy !
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