33,000 buyers supposedly signed up for GM Volt

[a priori]

Originally Posted by ceric

I don't know why people on this board are so critical to Volt.
There has been several articles on IEEE Spectrum on Volt project.
Those are American engineers like I am who have been working hard on
the Volt. As an engineer myself,
I will continue to give them my support. I don't necessarily love GM,
but I would cheer for those American engineers who try very hard to get
it (Volt) done. I hope they succeed eventually, and GM be smart this time
to stand behind it.

I think your sentiments are shared by most people on PC. Most of us probably "don't necessarily love GM," yet at the same time who of us wouldn't like to see the Volt actually come to market? Well, at least come to market timely and at the right price . . . oh, and also be of high enough quality that it isn't dismissed as high-priced junk.

I would LOVE for this plug-in to really work well. I just don't have much confidence that GM will move far enough from its historical record to accomplish this.

To have this attitude is not to distrust the engineers or to be un-American. It is simply being a realist.

[bedrock8x]

The Opel-Lec will have no market for it even if it is produced. GM knew it because no one will buy a car without a trunk and the passenger has to rest the feet on top of a hot inverter box. This is a good engineering experimental prototype for prove of concept. The first negative comment about the Camry Hybrid is the small trunk and many people stay away because of it.

Originally Posted by hill

Go outside, in the daylight, when there are no clouds. Look up. What do you see? The answer is the same . . . clear blue sky . . . that's where the answer came from.

Ready for a real shock? GM has actually been failing to build the Vold for nearly 40 years now. Don't take MY word for it. Here's a copy from a 1969 Boys Life Magazine. Best to copy & paste the scan so you can zoom in to read it. You tell ME what it is:

http://usera.imagecave.com/w4abj/Hyb...l-Lec-1969.jpg

40 years. Read it and weep. For 40 years . . . thanks for nothing GM. Thanks for nothing ~ still.

[cwerdna]

Originally Posted by ceric

I don't know why people on this board are so critical to Volt.
There has been several articles on IEEE Spectrum on Volt project.
Those are American engineers like I am who have been working hard on
the Volt. As an engineer myself,
I will continue to give them my support. I don't necessarily love GM,
but I would cheer for those American engineers who try very hard to get
it (Volt) done. I hope they succeed eventually, and GM be smart this time
to stand behind it.

I too want them to succeed but I also want GM to be fully behind it, unlike a lot of their other efforts: lame BAS hybrids, hybrids that have worse emissions ratings than their non-hybrids, very expensive two-mode hybrids that barely break 20 mpg, killing the EV1, taking advantage of the E85 scam...errr incentive, etc.

The other problem is that GM's reliability track record for first model year conventional cars is generally very poor. Even beyond the first model year, they still have many models that have below average reliability.

Their simpler BAS hybrid Vue "Green Line" and Aura "Green Line" also got off to a bad start with "GM Hybrid Sales Hurt by Recall of 9,000 Faulty Batteries" Green Car Advisor. Thus, I sure wouldn't want a first model-year (aka version 1.0) Volt. As my friend would put it, he'd wait for service pack 1.

[hill]

Originally Posted by PriusSport

If gas prices drop below $3, they are liable to kill the Volt. The manipulation of oil and gasoline prices is ripe for some investigative journalism, but that seems to have disappeared from the American media. Some people are beginning to think the people at the gas pump are paying for the government's mistakes the past 8 years.

Investigative journalism ... and maybe another couple dozen congresional investigations too? It never fails to baffle me how congress loves to 'investigate' the oilies. Why do they continue doing it? It makes 'em look like they're doing something. Even though it's doing nothing. Same result ... decade after decade. The conclusion is always the same: market forces. And NOT speculaters. For every one that makes a bundle on 'futures', another 9 will loose money. But we DO love a good conspiracy, don't we? There's more drama in a conspiracy, than simple economics 101 ... supply & demand. Below $3/gallon? Malorn's got a Toyota avatar making that prediction about a half year ago. The only manipulation w/ fossle fuel is pumping it ... using it ... and needing more than what's available. Supply & demand. Why not write your congressman and tell them you'll do what ever it takes to get him/her out of office, if they don't quit wasting money (on behalf of the fuel industry) on ethanal and the hydrogen hoax ... and force him/her to focus on a REAL legislative solutions. A Volt type car is a good start in that direction, if it ever gets off the drawing board.

[emtownsend]

I dunno... I remember when gas prices started climbing around a year ago; the climb was attributed to speculators worried about Iraq, or Iran, or hurricanes, or storms in the Gulf of Mexico, etc... Basically, anytime there was anything in the news, oil went up.
I do believe in basic supply and demand, but I also blame the speculators for crying wolf. I think they can and do manipulate the price of oil to a significant degree.
I'm no expert on economics, but I just remember all the scuttlebutt being about speculators, and now, nothing... Now they say, "supply and demand". The oil companies have too much power to investigate them. User "hill" is right, it is a waste of money to do so. So, what is the answer? We need to get off oil, both foreign (especially) and domestic ASAP in my opinion... For me, cars like the Volt can't come soon enough. I would love to never buy any more gas! :-)


Edit: FWIW, I signed up on "the list" and am number 36,000 and some... !

[JimN]

Originally Posted by ceric

I don't know why people on this board are so critical to Volt.
There has been several articles on IEEE Spectrum on Volt project.
Those are American engineers like I am who have been working hard on
the Volt. As an engineer myself,
I will continue to give them my support. I don't necessarily love GM,
but I would cheer for those American engineers who try very hard to get
it (Volt) done. I hope they succeed eventually, and GM be smart this time
to stand behind it.

The reasons I believe GM can't produce a quality hybrid: I was told the oil consumption of the 3.5L engine is within spec at 1 quart per 1000 miles.

The automatic headlight sensor turns the headlights on although it is bright enough to wear sunglasses. I turn the headlights off by turning on the parking lights. (No "off" switch.) I couldn't get an answer when I asked "at what intensity is the light sensor supposed to trip the lights?"

The only thing Mr. Goodwrench could do in only one trip was replace a light bulb.

GM built the EV-1. GM built the Precept. Based on what I read both cars worked. Why do they have to start from scratch?

I predict the day before GM debuts a production Volt (presuming it even gets that far) Toyota will reveal their "next best thing" that will show up the Volt project for what it is: too little, too late.

[TonyPSchaefer]

Originally Posted by JimN

I predict the day before GM debuts a production Volt (presuming it even gets that far) Toyota will reveal their "next best thing" that will show up the Volt project for what it is: too little, too late.

Being an ex-Buick driver and the current owner of one, I agreed with most of what you said until your prediction.

Do you honestly think Toyota would be willing to sit on a good thing that long? I mean, if they have the technology within my lifetime why would they wait to roll it out?

[bac]

Originally Posted by TonyPSchaefer

Most are in favor of reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

If only the government was on board with this very basic idea.



... Brad

[jayman]

Originally Posted by bac

If only the government was on board with this very basic idea.

Awwwwww those two guys like each other. They should take a quick trip to Canada and get hitched

[hyo silver]

Originally Posted by ceric

I don't know why people on this board are so critical to Volt...

Hmm...where to start?

Maybe with GM buying up public transit companies and shutting them down, so they could sell more cars. Or maybe the EV1 - you have heard that story, haven't you? Or maybe with the backlash against all that hype about a car that doesn't exist yet.

Nothing against the engineers - I'm sure you're doing a fine job - but GM's track record is not exactly stellar.