Chevy Volt Deathwatch - DOE puts funds on hold

[JSH]

Originally Posted by rex

On Earth Day Toyota annouced the price structure for the 3rd generation Prius. and during all the hoopla and debates over option packages and best combinations, apparently no one here noticed that on the day after Earth Day, Toyota renegged on the promise to bring the plug-in Prius to market in Spetember 2009. They quietly announced that they may never sell the plug-in Prius to the general public.
I consider this a betrayal. Any company that lies to me does not get my business. And I am a 2001 Prius owner. so now I will advise everyone to avoid forming a relationship with a company that is quickly, at least as quickly as GM slides under the waves, becoming the new GM, demostrating the same short sighted "What's good for us, is good for us, and screw the world!.

I have never heard Toyota promise to produce a PHEV Prius for the general public in 2009. All of heard is that they would be building 500 to test and 150 would come to the US for fleet sales. The soonest release date for the general public was fall 2010 as a 2011 model. (Same as Volt)

Lately I've been reading that the public won't get a PHEV until at least 2012. I really don't expect Toyota to build a PHEV unless GM builds the Volt or another major manufacturer commits to building PHEV's.

SAE 2009: Toyota plug-in Prius (and 3rd-gen Prius) update
"To get a little bit of clarification on the reported 12-mile EV-only range that the plug-in Prius is achieving in current testing, we spoke with Toyota Prius vehicle specialist Stephanie Wohlgamuth, who is working at the Toyota booth here at the SAE World Congress. Wohlgamuth said that the number is fairly accurate, and that the vehicles are currently driving between seven and 14 miles on electrons only. While this is notably shorter than the Volt's 40-mile EV-only target, Toyota is giving itself time to work on the technology. Wohlgamuth said that the PHEV Prius will only be available as leased vehicles for fleets through 2012. All we can do is speculate as to when the purchase date for individual customers will be – Wohlgamuth wouldn't say if late 2012 or early 2013 was even in the ballpark."

[FL_Prius_Driver]

Good news for Tesla. If you're rooting for American Autos, the dithering of all the major manufacturers is good news, since we have one company that needs that window to stay open as long a possible.

[hill]

Originally Posted by JSH

GM didn't make or cause .... snip

Toyota didn't actively lobby against ... snip

GM did not cause Toyota to discontinue their RAV4 EV ... snip

Toyota did all these things because they wanted to ....

Yes, Toyota publicly relented in the face of don'tcrush.org's [but] snip

However, their true colors returned .... snip

It was only after GM announced they would build the Volt ... snip

I see Toyota as a company no different ... snip

As you say ... "Life goes on". They also say, "History repeats itself". And here we are, rushing to the defense of poor poor GM ... making excuses for them. I call it, "johnnycat-revisited" because he too, for whatever inexplicable reason, loved to "make excuses" for GM. Say GM is wrong, & here it comes ... "well, Toyota did it too"

Everyone with kids has to listen to this stupid 'defense' ... which really aint a defense:

"... that's not fair! He hit me first!"
"... that's not fair! She keeps looking at me!"
"... that's not fair! He keeps touching me!"
"... that's not fair! She won't stay on her own side!"

Heck, we adults are no better:
"that's not fair! The palistinians hit us first!"
"that's not fair! The jews are persecuting us!"

GM doesn't need excuses. They don't NEED anybody to tell us that life is not fair. We already know it. Heck even GM is mature enough not to cry, "well THEY did it too". The same stupid behavior is NOT a defense ... and we all KNOW ever one else in the universe does wrong too. There's a TON of prior threads where this invalid - piss poor - alabi didn't wash. But as stated infra ... history repeats itself ... as well as life goes on.

Seems like I remember watching the Bulls game a long time ago, and someone fouled. The guy raised his hand as the foul whistle was blowing. That's character ... that's integrity. Admit it ... and suck it up, rather than run up to the ref, crying, he pushed me first! Then again, it seems the later behavior is more in vogue.

[finman]

This pic says alot...anyone have other EV crushed pics from Toyota...or Honda...or Ford?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by finman

This pic says alot...anyone have other EV crushed pics from Toyota...or Honda...or Ford?

Watch "Who Killed the Electric Car". You can see video of Honda EV+ vehicles being crushed and shredded.

[hill]

GM-Volt.com Chevy Volt Mule Test Drive w/ Video | GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Here's a nice "test-drive" web page recently published. I think it's that guy who used to post here on PC. So near, and yet so far, if the DOE funds don't continue. What a mess. I hope the Prius PHEV testing hurrys up.