Chevy Volt Deathwatch - DOE puts funds on hold

i can agree. it was tragic that the high class Motor City Casino Hotel with all its glitter was one block away from a neighborhood where over half of the houses were boarded up.

 

Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

The Yahoo homepage has a full color photo and link to a review on the Volt, right now. They allege it will be on dealer lots in November 2010. That is what the reporter, who test-drove the Volt, said.

First Drive: Chevy Volt Test- Yahoo! Autos Article Page

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The bottom pic is out the back of the Motorcity Casino Hotel, I think the top picture is in front of the hotel.

I was shocked at how bad parts of Detroit look, and people live in those houses! There were cracks in walls you could put your fist in and snow on the ground!!

Detroit is dying, the directors are the undertakers.

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

I have to admit I have not followed the GM Volt news closely, but hasn't it always been 1.5 to 2 years away from being available?
Does anyone have their first scheduled availability date?

Also just read that Prius PHEV will be available to the public spring of 2011. Since Toyota had a 10 year head start on HEV technology and experience, how is GM beating it to the market with Plug-In???

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

I have huge doubts that gm will even be around to produce the volt. They aren't getting the money they "need". The volt is going to start at about 40k, I doubt toyota will top 30k. I have a feeling the Volt is going to be made in a cut corner fashion. Technically GM has had a 20 year head start (EV1). Toyota is going very slow, but methodically, the plug in version of the prius will be released to fleet sales later this year if I'm not mistaken.

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

I'm not sure where you are getting your information. The federal government just authorized another $5 billion for GM yesterday, 21-April-2009. http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/43341687.html GM will be around in 2010, but it will be a much smaller company with only a fraction of the currently brands and models.

GM did not have a 20 year head start on Toyota when it comes to hybrids or electric vehicle. Both started working on hybrids as a result of the Clinton administration's PNGV program. GM because they were part of the official program and Toyota started their own hybrid program because they were not allowed in the US program.

Both GM and Toyota made electric vehicles for the CARB mandate. GM made the EV1 and Toyota made an electric RAV4. Both discontinued their programs after a successful lobbying campaign to get CARB to repeal the EV mandate. Toyota terminated their EV program the day after CARB repealed the EV mandate. What did they do with those RAV4 EV's that they leased to customers? They took them back and crushed them, just like GM did with the EV1. Several hundred RAV4 EV's were sold to customers and Toyota did yield to a grassroots campaign by dontcrush.org and stopped crushing cars due to the very bad publicity.

I'm not sure why GM gets such a bad rap for crushing their EV's. GM, Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, and Toyota did the same thing.

 

The bottom pic is probably Detroit. The top picture is Iraq. Let's not get too carried away.

There are slums in every major city in the World. Even Paris. Detroit's problem is jobs. The car industry has shifted elsewhere.

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

GM has a bad reputation because GM GAVE themselves a bad rep. How many countless shoddy vehicles has GM put out? GM single handedly killed of the us diesel market. Every first anything(minivan, Suv) GM had, but waffled and didn't do it. GM is always a day late and a dolloar short. The state of GM has been in the making for a decade now. 5 billion is half of what GM needs to just finish the volt, not to stay afloat. they will be back in a month for another 5 billion, Cut the umbilical cord and let nature take its course. Even if they do get to the point of making the Volt, who is really going to buy a small car for 40k? I hope GM does make it, but not at the expense of the American public.

 

I have been to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, all over Australia and now the USA and have never seen an area of a major city as degraded as around the Detroit Motor City Casino Hotel. While there are poor areas in Adelaide nothing comes even remotely close to Detroit.

By the way I was joking about the bottom picture.

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

I know why GM has a reputation for making poor vehicles. Please reread my statement:

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

Please reread what you wrote, not even pressure from activist group could stop GM from crush every single EV1, while Toyota gave in to some. GM obviously didnt care how they are perceived, perception is #1 in the mind of car buyers(most). Toyota obviously cared how they are perceived and all the bad PR that went with that choice to crush the Rav4 EV. I did not think I had to qualify a statement when it was already.

 

GM got such a bad rep because they handled it poorly (they basically tracked down and crushed ALL but 1, maybe 2).
THEN after that, they belittled the technology and basically poked fun at the Prius as being a "toy" and not a serious piece of technology.
Then after doing NOTHING with what they learned from the EV1 for far too many years, they jump back on the bandwagon.
I will applaud GM if they can actually sell the Volt and market it successfully. From their track record, I don't see it happening, but I hope I am pleasantly surprised.

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

Honda recalled and crushed all of their EV's
Nissan recalled and crushed all of their EV's
Chrysler recalled and crushed all of their EV's
Ford recalled and crushed most of their EV's before giving in to public pressure
Toyota recalled and crushed most of their EV's before giving in to public pressure

All major manufacturers lobbied against CARB's EV mandate
All major manufacturers abandoned their EV programs
All major manufacturers have lobbied heavily against increases in CAFE requirements
All major manufacturers spend the last 10 years belittling electric vehicles and predicting that EV's will never met buyer's needs

Again, why does GM get constantly beat over the head with the EV-1 but no one seems that care that Honda crushed all of the Honda Plus EV's?

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

I can only answer for myself. But my answer is

1) Toyota was serious about high mpg hybrid vehicles
2) Honda was serious about high mpg hybrid vehicles
3) Ford was serious about high mpg hybrid vehicles
4) GM was not very serious about high mpg hybrid vehicles

You also might want to consider that GM had by all accounts, the best engineered EV and made the biggest commitment to dealers, marketing, and coverage.....thereby pulling the rug out from under far more people.

 

Do you have any quotes or articles companies other than GM belittled EVs? Sure, many have said that they don't meet buyer's needs (even though that is not true of ALL buyers).
GM was also the most vocal and 'in your face' about crushing their cars and making an advertising campaign which many said was designed to make people avoid EVs rather than want one.
And yes, many people felt the EV1 was the best of the EVs. And to see GM throw away that advantage and give away market share makes many people angry.

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

Also there is GM's history:
-Buying up the streetcar lines for the solo purpose of ending mass transit and creating urban sprawl.

-The Hummer

-Also that business with selling the battery patent to an oil company which set back the whole BEV / PHEV development many years.

 

1. Perhaps it is time to return Detroit and maybe all of Michigan to the Indians or we can try selling it to Canada or as a last resort, paying them to take it.

2. California & the Federal government tried to drag the American auto industry into the future but were thwarted by the very industry they were trying to save. Everyone who thinks they are worth saving should put up their own money. The rest of us will be better off without them.

3. The Volt will always be available in 2 years.

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

Oh please, quit pretending like you don't get it. GM was the biggest back then ... they took the poll position making the EV1, and then took the poll at the crusher ... crushing the largest numbers, and fabricating the worst lies ... "no, we didn't have a list of 1,000's waiting to snap up the EV1 ... oh, someone leaked the list? er ... we meant, er, if we HAD sold it to the list holders ... er ... well they really really didn't want it" ... ad nausium. Gee, I don't know WHY you folks are so hard on poor poor GM. Right.

Wow jim ... what'd the Canadians ever do to you?

 

Re: Yahoo Homepage says Volt to be on dealer lots in Nov2010

About GM, I agree with the sentiment but for a different reason: "dead man walking."

The chief architects of GM's demise are gone or soon will be, Wagner already and Lutz at the end of the month. They were aided and abetted by the GM board of directors, who have all but been replaced. "dead man walking."

This morning we learned all GM plants will be idled for 9 weeks ... "dead man walking."

GM won't make $1 billion bond payment, "dead man walking."

So I agree that beating up on GM is beginning to look like beating the spot where the dead horse was drug away from. I'm more interested in how the rubble gets divided and recycled ... the new rust-belt.

Bob Wilson

 

have you been to Detroit lately??

as far as your post. everything you say is absolutely true. but if a nuclear warhead had devastated the South-central and southeast parts of the City, the damage would have been much less than what the economy has done there in the past 20 years.

now, lets put your statement into context. your statement;

"every family has problems"

my take on your statement. still every bit as true as your statement about Detroit. but i can tell you the Gates family's problems probably are not the same as a family with one wage-earner sitting in the unemployment line.