GM Hybrid Sales Hurt by Recall of 9,000 Faulty Batteries

let the GM bashing begin (who makes the Prius traction battery ?)

 

1st problem in a string of many to come.

According to the article, it was said ""It's not an insignificant number, but it's also part of what happens with a brand-new technology." [Speaking of 9,000 recalls]
Brand new technology? Where has GM been hiding their head?

Toyota put out the Prius in 1997 in Japan, that's quite a few years now folks.

I don't know how long Honda has been selling Hybrids overseas, but you'd at least think GM could buy a Prius, dissect it and LEARN from it.
They're probably still trying to decode the Japanese language.

At this pace, GM won't be a competitor to Toyota or Honda for years to come.

ZC1

 

How can they have that many failures already? They have access to wonderful battery technology through their relationships with Texaco and the Oshinsky batteries.

Like stated above, I don't see this a good opportunity to bash GM. This is a failure that hurts our image as well.

 

I don't think this is going to reflect on "new" or "hybrid" technology.

It's going to reflect on GM.

 

I hope you're right Godiva.

 

It still reflects on Hybrids. Its a shame that GM's Hybrid solution is associated with Toyota, Ford, or even Honda. I could get the same MPG results as a GM hybrid out of a regular GM car by doing a simple spark plug upgrade from their stock OEM delco plugs.

 

Some were NGK as well. We had plenty of LS1, LM7 (5.3L), and LQ4 (6.0L) motors that had different spark plugs in them. I guess it came down to supplies at hand when they built them. The stock Delco units would usually be missing the "puck" at the tip of the plug by about 30k miles so most of us replaced them with NGK TR55s, they lasted much longer. lol

 

Oh, that's *priceless*. Cobasys, the big bad boys of NiMH and
the reason we've got such small cells in the Prius, goes down.
Mitsubishi and Panasonic are probably dancing in the streets.
.
All those patents and lawyers and general greedy repression of
a desperately-needed industry are for naught, and some twisted
form of justice is served. Now, can the rest of the people who
actually know how to do this stuff RIGHT please get back to work
in an unhindered fashion?
.
[Assuming the article is for real, that is; it's almost so ironic
it could have been an Onion piece.]
.
_H*

 

Are any of us really surprised? Now we know how GM will screw it up. Truck sales down. A strike reducing the supply of truck parts. Battery production going to warranty work instead of new product. The only way I can see GM improving is if they rebadge joint venture Prius production.

 

um. yikes.

:doh: doesn't even begin to say it.

 

I agree, this is likely to look bad for all hybrids and fuel the faulty/exploding battery myth. This was my biggest fear that GM would rush into the hybrid mix (because of the time spent poo pooing hybrids) and make all hybrids look bad.

Not good at all (although it does cement my decision to stay away from GM).

 

Is this what Bob Lutz was thinking when he said that hybrids were not economically viable?

He was anticipating the warranty costs. :madgrin:

 

I think word of mouth will rule in many cases. On my street alone, we are up to 4 Prius right now, with my immediate next door neighbor looking closely at the Prius and Camry hybrids for the very near future. Our street has maybe 20-22 houses on it.

 

I have a feeling that GM chose the lowest bidder to supply their batteries, instead of the most reliable battery.

Since we are on the subject of batteries, I might as well ask this here ... does Toyota's Prius maintenance schedule include "flipping over" the battery? With my cell phone, the cell phones of my family members and other batteries that I own, I have scientifically found that when the battery stops holding a full charge, if I flip it's [gravitational] orientation during charging, it then holds a charge like when it was new. Has anyone heard Toyota mention anything about this?

 

I don’t recall GM’s reliability issues on non-hybrid cars affecting Toyota or Honda.

 

On the other hand, its only solidifies GM’s current reliability issues i.e. “well, it’s GM built carâ€.