Chevy Volt Halted. Who did not see this coming?

EddieWalker · Mar 9, 2012

deezler said:
But I don't necessarily understand the vitriol about it being a crime against American tax payers. Yes, we bailed out GM. Proper thing to do in our system of capitalism? Debatable. But it definitely saved LOT of jobs and helped keep our economy out of the toilet. Can't we move on now that it is largely re-paid? The amount of outstanding debt or losses with GM pale in comparison to annual subsidies for big oil, foreign nation building, completely unnecessary and unwarranted wars, etc.... Just let GM fail with the Volt on their own now, and stop feeling so put upon. It's really not your problem, Joe the plumber.

Nothing that you said here is true, and you cannot find a link to back this up. While I understand you "want" to believe this, dealing with reality and the facts are the only way to solve the problem.

Eddie

EddieWalker · Mar 9, 2012

And GM continues it's path of spending tax payer money.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/an-american-auto-bailout-for-france/

Eddie

deezler · Mar 9, 2012

mjw357 said:
I don't understand the concept of this vehicle. At all. Why put all that extra gear (batteries, electric motor etc) and not give the vehicle the capability to recharge itself while running on the gas motor? We should buy it 'cuz it looks cool, it's got a hip name (Volt!) and you can plug it in?

Uhm, actually it does exactly that. The gas engine re-charges the batteries so that they have some juice to deliver.... it's all electric drive. It also has a hill-climb mode that you can engage before approaching a mountain pass. This revs up the gas engine to get the batteries up to an even higher state of charge before you need to accomplish the hard work.

But in generally re-charging the batteries fully off the gas engine is stupid, because it's not as efficient. This is why it's a plug-in... using the existing electrical grid and it's inherent economies of scale, while also allowing for alternative energy supply, is a better idea.

I agree GM's marketing plan and honesty about the tech in this car was pretty horrible. but the amount of mis-understanding about how this car works is somewhat shocking, especially on a somewhat technical forum like this. Can't help but feel that people don't bother to figure out how it works because they just don't want to, and are already conditioned against it.

jonyyuma · Mar 9, 2012

So you didn't feel the Volt would be a boon to you from your VW? well join the crowd. We do drive 70 miles a day..Why drag dead batterys around while commuting?300 miles was the info on the card..That was their claim,, it might not even get that MPG? Since it is all EPA...I did my research at a show as no-dealer had one here..I expected a lot more for the money and really don't trust all the ideas with the car, But obviously neither did you. No I'm not violated by it, I thought it would be too big a Security Risk to let GM fold...But they really weren't at any risk?? Remember Chrysler and the railroads getting big loans in the past..

crazyal · Mar 9, 2012

I wouldn't mind owning something like the Lupo with a small diesel. Even if it was for the drive to work and parking it in bad weather. But I don't see our government doing the right thing and backing off on all the emissions. It's that last few percent is what really drops mileage.

deezler · Mar 9, 2012

EddieWalker said:
Nothing that you said here is true, and you cannot find a link to back this up. While I understand you "want" to believe this, dealing with reality and the facts are the only way to solve the problem.

Eddie

Nothing? C'mon, Eddie. The Iraq war will cost us over a trillion dollars alone. You don't actually need me to supply you a link for that, do you?
Annual oil tax breaks are $4 billion, every YEAR. Again, you can find that out on your own.

You don't think keeping GM out of liquidation saved jobs?

Estimates vary for our total net bailout to GM, as the accounting seems rather murky. Whether its $5 billion or $50 billion, other pointless expenses and money grabs in this country far outweigh it.

We're getting off on a bad foot here though... I should have stayed out of these political threads. :confused2:

GolfAddict · Mar 9, 2012

deezler said:
Now, would I buy one? No way. My diesel VW gets 50 mpg without even trying, can run on 100% biodiesel, and blow the doors of any hybrid under $30k. The EPA and CARB's assault against practical diesel vehicles is a true shame. Sorry, off topic rant.

No surprise that the Volt is not selling well against an American public that has been conditioned by Rush Limbaugh and Fox News to hate it before they ever understood it. And frankly, it's just wayyy too expensive.

So, I'm not clear here. You didn't buy one because of your first quoted paragraph (based on sound data) or the second (you were pre-conditioned by those nasty conservatives)??

EddieWalker · Mar 9, 2012

deezler said:
I agree GM's marketing plan and honesty about the tech in this car was pretty horrible. but the amount of mis-understanding about how this car works is somewhat shocking, especially on a somewhat technical forum like this. Can't help but feel that people don't bother to figure out how it works because they just don't want to, and are already conditioned against it.

Or maybe we are all just like you, and either have or want a vehicle that better suits our needs and don't see a need for the Volt?

Why do you think it's such a great vehicle, but not have one yourself?

Would you want your Mom to have one? Would you feel comfortable with her spending $40,000 for one or would you tell her to spend less money on another car?

Instead of assuming that we are all mind numb and not smart enough to see the genious in the Volt, why can't you consider that we looked at it and in comparison to what is out there, that the Volt is a piece of junk that isn't worth what they want for it? That we are offended at out tax dollars being used to force this vehicle on us against our will? That it accomplishes nothing and that it isn't even competitive in what is already out there in the green market?

Eddie

mjw357 · Mar 9, 2012

deezler said:
Uhm, actually it does exactly that. The gas engine re-charges the batteries so that they have some juice to deliver.... it's all electric drive.

From Chevy's Volt webpage:
Energy is stored onboard in a T-Shaped lithium-ion battery. The battery powers the electric drive unit, which is capable of meeting full vehicle speed and acceleration performance while driving the car electrically for an initial range without using a drop of gas. And when Volt's electric range has been used up, a gas engine works with the electric motors to keep you going.

It sounds like it works more like a railroad locomotive. Gas engine=>generator=>traction motor.

deezler said:
I agree GM's marketing plan and honesty about the tech in this car was pretty horrible. but the amount of mis-understanding about how this car works is somewhat shocking, especially on a somewhat technical forum like this. Can't help but feel that people don't bother to figure out how it works because they just don't want to, and are already conditioned against it.

I never bothered looking at it up close. We already have a Prius as our commuter car that cost us $22k± and gets 47mpg, so we weren't going to give that up for a car that costs $32k plus and gets 37mpg. And the advertising was bad, as you mentioned.