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 Volts 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 Obamas task force reported in 2009 that the Volt will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short term, it didnt 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 ...
So I’m not buying anything from Government Motors... So if I want to buy an Hybrid, I would go with a Toyota... The Volt is going to fail and fail big time..
I agree. Not only do I dislike as a matter of principle their acceptance of government largess and the sorry way that the legitimate debtors of the company were treated, as a matter of simple practicality I think that Government Motors pricing is ludicrous for the Volt.
If they wanted to succeed, they should have given it a market price, not an outlandishly high one. Trying to recoup all of their investment in a short payback period is very likely to be unworkable.
does anyone think employers will allow mooching of electricity to subsidize travel?
Mileage to KWH reimbursement. I love it. How useful.
Suppose people will get a ‘battery allowance’ or ‘segwey uniform & helmet’ cleaning?
rank and file union members don’t realize their so called leaders only care about the money they skim off pensions.
the union leaders would (and have) sell out their own for a dime.
how will the local governments collect kwh taxes if people start replacing roof tiles with solar panels?
like digital sat tv we need a federal preemption law that prohibits the banning or taxing of solar panels.
I really, REALLY wish Stan Ovshinsky’s photovoltaic plug & play solar shingles were affordable: http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/07/profile-at-85-green-giant-stan-ovshinsky-sees-his-ideas-bearing-fruit.html
I do know that at least one major electric company CHARGES FEES and overage charges if you go above ‘expected’ wattage/month, OR, if you use a generator for anything other than emergency purposes. Net metering my eye.
Paper seatcovers, lots of chrome, and steady profits until a small dark cloud shaped like a Japanese car appeared on the horizon. “The Reckoning” would soon arrive.
You'll be able to drive it as far as Der Leader did the other day.
“You’ll be able to drive it as far as Der Leader did the other day. “
Unless it’s actually in the snow, ‘cause it won’t have enough oomph left to move the tires through the drifts.
‘Dolt in a Volt.” I like that.
‘Dolt in a Volt.” I like that.
but how are they with rain, windstorms, snow, etc...
I don’t know, but Stan’s companies are ordinarily in MI. OTH, I see the price and lose interest in details that I may not be able to afford in my lifetime.
I’ve also heard a lot of buzz on nanosolar.
It is disappointing to see these yeahoos on HGTV building green castles and other things like $$ is no object. You have money? You can buy goodies. They may last if someone doesn’t take them. If they break, you can get them fixed or do something else with more money.
Stan, however, if you’ll recall, invented the Electric Car, the patent for which is owned by Texaco now, IIRC. Yes. THAT electric car, that came & got them all and smashed them. And they worked.
I have seen here on FR a cool Honda gizmo though, but not a utility-related thing. Rogue: http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/segway-inspired-all-electric-honda-rouge-concept-is-remote-controlled/
Oh. I really meant the U3-X, not the segwey-rickshaw: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1215741/Honda-unveils-Segway-style-unicycle-travels-direction-want.html
I also saw some kind of anti-mold/anti-bacterial steel coating that was used in a California concept house. People got sick a whole lot less. I had thought that was developed by AK Steel, but I haven’t heard much of it lately.
The long & short of it is that the solar shingles are, I suppose, still out of reach & limited use in Northern climes, but I can’t guarantee that. For Stan, however, I would emply garbage and clean toilets just to work with him.
This car will go down in history as the infamous “brownout” initiator in major cities.
I have seen compact cars like the Pinto converted to have a golf cart electric drive on the rear axle and a couple of deep cycle batteries, actually any front wheel drive can be converted to a half gas half electric vehicle.
I have a Chevy Lumina van that is sitting on my property and it would be a good hybrid project for me. plenty of room for some batteries in the rear.
Nope.
Had the big three actually build cars the American consumer wanted maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess..
Some Japanese manufacturers understood that America was the market to be cracked open and Edwards Deming was teaching the Japanese how to manage their industry to do it.
The results speak for themselves.
You can re-generate on your way back home.
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