Chevy Volt to only be released to select markets?

Of course it will be marketed in California first. Florida will probably be second. All market dynamics point to those areas for such a vehicle. I spoke with a Toyota GM two days ago, and he stated that most new Prius are now slated to go to Florida and California. Marketing.....

 

No no. You guys have it all wrong. The imaginary Volt is going to be sold to the pixes and elves that live in Imagination Land. That's the only people that will be able to purchase the vehicle.

 

Aaahhhh ha ha ha ha haaaa !!
I am so very much having a EV1 deja vu right now :glare:
Only gm would figure no one remembers. I can hear it now, "Sales (or lease only) of the Volt were not what we expected, so we're canceling the program."

 

So I can expect to only see the Volt in Hollywood, right?

 

The hybrid Altima is only sold in select markets. Did you all unleash a snark parade in Nissan's direction when that was announced?

 

No because the Hybrid Altima actually exists.

 

Also, as far as I know, Nissan never took took back and crushed any of their lines of vehicles.

 

First people say it's a fantasy car, then they say GM will crush them.

They very well can't crush something that doesn't exist, so you guys need to get your fantasies straight.

 

Yes. I have and continue to deride Nissan for that. Goshen doesn't believe in Hybrids. Nissan takes a loss on their Altima Hybrid just to meet certain states emission laws. It's a pile of crap.

 

This is discouraging. I'd take the claim of a "green" car more seriously if GM didn't have execs who call global warming "a crock of s***" and if they didn't release the car only to those markets with political advantages.

It sort of makes me wonder if they're making the Volt because they want to offer a car that's good for the environment, or if they are building it for political leverage to acheive some ulterior motive.

 

I think you are reading the posts wrong. You've probably been inhaling too many exhaust fumes from all those SUV's you have around.

We said the Volt will never exist.... and besides that GM sucks because they crush cars.

 

all,

Speak'g of sell'g certain vehicles ONLY in select markets (we'll disregard the Volt right now because it doesn't yet exist), what would happen to a Nissan Altima Hybrid buyer who buys one in an area where it IS marketed & either does NOT live in the same area or has to move away from it because his job moves him?

Who could he trust to service his non-traditional special-needs vehicle? If he's out of the Hybrid market'g area then I'm sure the local Nissan dealers will NOT send any of their techs to be trained on the new technology of a vehicle that's not expected to be in their area/that they don't ever expect to see. Of course, since Nissan's hybrid system is actually supposed to be licensed from Toyota (as opposed to the Ford Escape Hybrid system that's been incorrectly attributed to Toyota), the owner in that situation might be able to have a Toyota dealer with a Hybrid-trained tech accept the challenge.

Of course, to maintain the warranty properly, any parts would probably have to be ordered through Nissan after the diagnosis is made at the Toyota dealer. But I'm not sure if Nissan would accept a Toyota dealer work'g on/install'g parts on one of their (Nissan's) cars should any hybrid related problems arise later on down the line. They (Nissan) might say "you're not qualified to work on our customer's car", but then would a Nissan dealer without a Hybrid tech in their employ be any more qualified?

I do suppose that Nissan could transport in a Nissan Hybrid tech to a dealer who is NOT in their Hybrid market area to do the work, but would they be will'g to pay the expense of transportation, hotel, meals, etc? I believe the new Tesla buyers are in an even worse service predicament because at least Nissan has 9 different states that their Hybrid is maketed in.

I know this grew to way off topic from the Chevy Volt, but Volt purchasers will be facing the same situation eventually. A Chevy dealer may refuse to work on the Volt if they're out of the market'g area & a travel'g customer brings one in to them & they have nobody trained to handle high voltage.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

If Clinton or Obama get in office and gas prices drop (they will trust me) GM will drop the Volt faster than it dropped the EV1 (When GWB came in office). If on the other hand Mccain gets elected gas will stay up and GM will drag on the PM campaign with the Volt.

 

This should not be a problem for Nissan since they also produce the Altima Hybrid which is sold everywhere. There may be slight differences as to where things are located in the Maxima but the overall technology is the same.

 

Disregarding the political options I don't think fuel will drop and stay low for our lifetimes until we develop sufficient anti-petroleum options. There is just too much demand in this country and in the developing world for a limited resource.

It isn't the oil companies that set the prices / control output, it's the producers. But even moreso the final price is set by us, you me and everyone here still driving a petro-fueled vehicle. As long as we all buy the product then they have a ready market and we all here will have to fight every new driver from India and China and SE Asia for the right to pump fuel. We fight with our wallets. The stronger wallet wins ( gets more supply ).

GM won't drop the Volt because it will be needed longterm. The domestics already see what the market is doing. It's in the monthly / yearly stats. They, all the manufacturers except poor calcified Chrysler, are already moving fewer and fewer monsters and more and more cars.

I do think though that the Volt EREV like any Toyota PHEV can only be sold to a limited number of buyers. This technology, at least at first is going to be very very expensive ( $35K-ish plus IMO ) so it will immediately appeal only to a small part of the driving public. But the whole concept is designed to appeal only to well-off or comfortable suburban drivers with short-to-moderate drives. Center-city dwellers who park on the streets or public garages need not apply. Those living rurally, like myself, having long daily drives will probably find the PHEVs and EREVs not economical vis-a-vis a traditional hybrid.

 

sendconroymail,

First, what does the Maxima have to do with the Altima Hybrid? I was speak'g mainly in my post of the Altima Hybrid & that is NOT sold everywhere. Somewhere I have the sales brochure Nissan mailed to me & it says that the Hybrid version is only available in certain states (I think they are the California emissions states that allow some of us Prius owners to have the 10 yr/150,000 mile Hybrid component warranty over the 8 yr/100,000 mile warranty the rest of the nation's Prius owners are stuck with). In case you were imply'g it, I don't think the Maxima is available as a Hybrid. Now that I've posted this, please re-read my original post.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

I understand oil is a limited resource... blah blah blah. And I'm glad the prices are high. In fact I wish they would go higher. I'm just saying.... first of all under the Clinton administration the oil companies where monitored closely on the profit made per gallon of gas sold. It averaged about 30 cents during the Clinton years. You know what it is now? About 1.20 the last I heard. So if the oil companies were forced in the same profit margin as they were in the Clinton years gas would drop by about 90 cents overnight. Then theres the refineries not being online because of maintenance, etc... It sounds like the Enron years with the power plants in the Midwest and California.

Head guy in Enron calling a powerplant: We need you to take your power plant offline for maintenance.

Local power plant: Sir we don't need maintenance right now.

Head guy in Enron calling a powerplant: I don't care if you don't need it find a reason to take it offline.

Local power plant: OK sir we'll think of something.

When I heard those phone calls and saw the emails send back and forth my blood pressure went through the roof. Anyone remember the documentaries name?

Anyway were are going through the same thing again, this time with refineries. There are a lot of them offline. There's plenty of oil coming into the US. In fact the government is doing everything they can to take it out of the market by filling the federal emergency reserve.

Anyway I think it's good the prices are high and the government is giving alternative sources a chance but don't say the prices are high and no one can help it.

 

I thought the Maxima was limited and the Altima was available everywhere. I've seen the Altima available in NY and FL and assumed it was available everywhere. Where cant you buy one?

 

There is NO Maxima hybrid. Maximas are currently only available w/6 cylinder engines and have been that way for at least 10 years, if not longer.

The Altima Hybrid is only available in CARB states (my mom has one). The states are listed at 2008 Nissan Altima Sedan Key Features - Nissan USA.

Altima non-hybrids and Maximas are available in all states.

(FWIW, I used to own a 5th gen 02 Maxima and the 7th gen was recently introduced.)