Meltdown07 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Just curious if anyone else is curious about the Chevy volt. While I cant imagine giving up the power and AWD system of the LGT, almost all of my driving is going to and from work (less than ~15mi round trip) and occasionally out to dinner, a show, etc. To me, the volt is looking pretty appealing. Just saw some some interior shots today, and I am even more impressed with the stylish (albeit very different) interior. How does everyone else feel about this car? Interior & Exterior pics, and video interior walkthrough: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/16/video-walkthrough-of-2011-chevy-volt-interior/ Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FocuS Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 ....I really like the idea but would need more range for it to be a viable alternative for me. Maybe if they ever get the cellulose based Ethanol up to speed we'll have some more options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 I think I saw that car in Back to the Future 2 or maybe it was Demolition Man? Great effort by GM. However, has yet to prove itself. Still not 100% convinced on the whole Lithium battery thing. Check out the Disadvantages and Storage temperature vs. charge is also kinda interesting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 "how do you stop this mickey mouse piece of shiiiiiiit" I'm interested.. but at $40k.. not very... "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meltdown07 Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 They have yet to announce official pricing, but I agree at 40k, it would be DOA. ....I really like the idea but would need more range for it to be a viable alternative for me. Maybe if they ever get the cellulose based Ethanol up to speed we'll have some more options. I can understand that, but even a 40 mile range would do wonders for a lot of people. Plus after 40, its not like it becomes a guzzler, even using the small gas engine, it should remain pretty efficient. Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 I think 40 is fine.. this is not a trip car.. this is a commuter.. for commutes it would save you fists of dollars.... in gas.... in replacing the batteries in 5 years?..... well that would probably cost 4x what the gas saved you. "well for your 60k mile tuneup you get new sparkplugs at $500, an oil change, timing belt check, and $15,000 in new batteries" "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meltdown07 Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 well that is a very dramatic example, but yes, the cost or frequency in which the batteries need to be replaced is yet undetermined. That would kill sales too if the public is aware of expensive or frequent battery replacement. I highly doubt replacement batteries are going to cost $15k though. Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 They don't even have a functioning prototype yet. Vaporware. More of the same bullsh!t GM PR. In the meantime, demand for the Prius continues to outstrip supply and a plug-in version is due very soon. GM's market share contiues to slip and the band plays on in Detroit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 and bring on the hate mongering.. this early in the thread? Someones trying to come up with a product that actually addresses SOMETHING rather than just spinning on their ass pumping out 3.8L FWD v6s like they have been for more than a decade and you hate on them for it.... what did you want GM to do? "OOP WELL WE'RE JUST GONNA GO OUT OF BUSINESS NOW THANKS!" they dont have a publicly released prototype that works. They may have several types of battery tested.. the car part is easy.. the battery technology is whats in the works..'we havent seen the 2010 legacy yet.. does that not exist either? "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hokiebird Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I'm not in the market to buy something like the volt (especially in it's first year), but I do think it will be a game changing car. I live about 8 miles from my office and that is the majority of my driving on week days. A car like this could decrease my gas usage by a large chunk. 40k is a lot for any car frankly, buy if a $7500 tax credit is passed for EVs like the volt it would make it a lot more reasonable. I also heard somewhere the batteries are getting a 10 year 150k mile warranty. In the end it's all internet rumors so we will just have to wait and see what happens. They don't even have a functioning prototype yet. Vaporware. More of the same bullsh!t GM PR. In the meantime, demand for the Prius continues to outstrip supply and a plug-in version is due very soon. GM's market share contiues to slip and the band plays on in Detroit. ZOMG!!1! a 2010 car isn't finished yet it must be vaporware!!111 They have working cars out on the roads in different sheet metal and they are doing battery tests in the labs. What more do you want from a car that is two years away? The prius sells great because of marketing and a cultural following. It isn't God's gift to the automotive world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilT Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 If I was in the market for a commuter car then there's only one option, Smart Car ! 70 mpg Beat that ! Double Award Winning Legacy GT Wagon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 GM- "Hybrids are a fad." "Rich people don't care about the price of gas." "Global warming is a crock." "SUV profits!!! Wooo Hooo!!! Build more SUVs!!! Make em frickin' hybrids!!!!" Okay I made up that last quote... but my point remains. GM is hyping this car as the car that will save GM. It is going to cost $40k and not make GM a dime... huh? Yeah I'm hatin. I'm hatin' on a company that bleed itself the last 30 years and squanderned record SUV profits all because of executive ineptitude, arrogance, and greed. Why is GM hyping a car that is still 2 YEARS away? Because they want a hand out from you and I in the form of a government bailout. They want to say look at us, we are all green an shit... we are good for 'merica **** yeah! Gimme gimme gimme because the credit cruch and gas prices are like so unfair... boo hoo! Maybe if you hadn't sat on your asses for the last 30 years and built decent small cars you wouldn't be up shit creek without a paddle. The Volt won't be a game changer because it won't sell and the new Prius will beat them to the punch.... again. How can GM claim the Volt will get 40 miles on batteries when they don't even have a battery yet? They can suck it. You guys can keep drinking the kool-aid though, I don't want to inerupt your party with you know, reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I didnt see any reality there other than the fact that GM has enjoyed a large profit over the last decade or so in the production of SUVs and Trucks.. and btw.. you seem to forget.. the market dictates demand.. not the producer.. if GM only made crappy aveos like you seem to think is their entire purpose as an automaker.. they would have went out of business before we got this far. they are stirring the pot because the volt concept has been exactly that for some time now.. and people are wondering with these insane prices when the thing is coming BECAUSE THERE IS MARKET INTEREST. and where do you think that money that GM made on the suvs was "squandered?" If you guessed the CEO you're barking up the wrong tree.. detroit has a very large very persuasive group of workers that are.. united of sorts.. that can be very demanding in salaries and retierment and benefits that eat up a large portion of their competitive market especially when compared to auto makers like subaru who are laregly non-union. what did you want GM to do with the money they made on the suvs anyway? stuff a mattress? the 40 miles is a goal.. its part of their product research and probably what they have seen in testing. The 40k price tag is speculation. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I didnt see any reality there other than the fact that GM has enjoyed a large profit over the last decade or so in the production of SUVs and Trucks.. and btw.. you seem to forget.. the market dictates demand.. not the producer.. if GM only made crappy aveos like you seem to think is their entire purpose as an automaker.. they would have went out of business before we got this far. they are stirring the pot because the volt concept has been exactly that for some time now.. and people are wondering with these insane prices when the thing is coming BECAUSE THERE IS MARKET INTEREST. and where do you think that money that GM made on the suvs was "squandered?" If you guessed the CEO you're barking up the wrong tree.. detroit has a very large very persuasive group of workers that are.. united of sorts.. that can be very demanding in salaries and retierment and benefits that eat up a large portion of their competitive market especially when compared to auto makers like subaru who are laregly non-union. what did you want GM to do with the money they made on the suvs anyway? stuff a mattress? the 40 miles is a goal.. its part of their product research and probably what they have seen in testing. The 40k price tag is speculation. Care to explain how Toyota was able to continue to make a tidy profit on small cars then and only just recently making the mistake of getting into full sized trucks? Right, market dictates demand... if they had been watching the market they would have seen the price of gas increase coming instead of putting all their eggs in the SUV basket. GM is late to the party and is trying to make up for it by hyping a car that doesn't even exist. GM has some of the most overpaid executives in the WORLD. Remember, GM agreed to the UAWs contract, no one put a gun to their head. But they wanted to keep the profitable SUVs rolling off the line so agreed to their demands. They could have put some of that money into developing competive small cars and hybrids. Instead they make half-assed mild hybrids and SUVs. Idiocy. Regarding price and mpg.... exactly, all speculation... which equals hype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 the article writer and "analysts" made the speculative pricing statement. GM hasn't said.. most likely because they dont have the battery supplier picked out yet and dont know the other parts of the equation like production volume warranty issues that may arise and other things. I dunno.. I hear the UAW can be pretty nasty.. arent they the ones that set fire to peoples cars and threatened their families and all that back in the day? Arent' they the ones recently who refused to let the us navy use a parking lot they owned because not all of them had American cars? I've never considered buyine one of Toyota's crappy little cars, although I have considered and actually did buy a GM truck in the last 5 years and I would again. If anything GM didnt see a large enough profit from making small cars when they could be maximizing their profits using high profile items like suvs etc. It was a market by contrast. The gas price hike was relatively sudden. I'm sure GM has had a contingency plan for gradual gas prices increasing and alternative models. They have shown that they are willing to innovate, which is something they have not been so willing to do in the past. you cant flip a switch and go from making suvs to aveos overnight.. it doesn't happen. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dergara Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I dought this will ever hit the market. Currently they (GM) are trying to get a loan from the government for 25 billion dollars to help them survive another ten years. When actually all this money would go to is the workers wages and benefits that are killing the company. Wall Street is talking. WS says why give them a loan to coast another ten years when all they would be doing is playing catch up. “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here” -Dante Alighieri http://youtu.be/lLFunBPgPOo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLegacy99 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 $40K isn't an issue for the first round of buyers. People were willing to pay that for the EV1 and while the Volt isn't as efficient, its up there. The question is will the plug in Prius be king? Also, the Volt is supposedly AWD so you wouldn't be giving that up. I read that it has an electric motor in each wheel hub = 153 HP and 273 trqs. at any RPM. ...though I haven't seen anything about that idea in awhile. Perhaps they dropped the AWD. Anyway, with that much torque, you would think it was a diesel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLegacy99 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26726172/ The Chevy Cruze also looks promising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwannaSportSedan Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 One thing... Electrical load. Utilities costs are going up, including electrical power generation. What makes charging your CAR from your household meter good sense? Between the cost of the car over other normal cars in it's class, the cost for the electricity to charge it, the rails to transport the coal, or the expense of maintaining wind, or hydro, and the costs of producing lithium batteries... I don't really see the net gain. A false sense of gain at the consumer level, because the consumer just buys the car, gas, and electricity, not the itemized costs built in to those things. This seems like an overly complex mechanism that in the end just plays the shell game. And we know who loses the shell game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 ^ that makes a lot of sense.. it sure wont help with Picken's plan either, wind power is a lot more sensitive to power usage spikes. I am still wondering why solar panels have been axed pretty much completely from the plan. I mean my car sits outside all day every day in the sun.. if I could collect even a small amount of "free" energy from that.. why not? I suppose the only logic I can find is that solar panels are still expensive to make.. but they should be improving it.. theres a lot of incentive right now for "free" energy sources like that.. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLegacy99 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Someone should start a business. Sell solar panels for your home's roof that go with your Volt. But, I think the idea here also is less air pollution from cars. Good thing clean coal technology is available. We're gonna need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Gas prices spiked but were headed up for a long time. Again, you ignore the fact that Toyota and Honda were practically unaffected by the gas price increases. Right, you can't flip a switch and go from trucks to cars... that is why Honda and Toyota never stopped making good small cars. Willing to innovate??!!! Please! They were dragged kicking and screaming into developing small cars and hybrids only after it was obvious that the truck market was imploding. It has become obvious that the only contigency plan that GM has is for their executives salaries which are bankruptcy proof. Go ahead and continue to pile on the UAW while the executives float off in their million dollar golden parachutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 yea, its never the union's fault for threatening to strike and putting production at a stand still for months becuase the company wants to replace 4 guys who take parts off a conveyor belt and put them on holders with a robotic arm. also, you are ignoring market diversity when it comes to the types of cars GM makes when compared to toyota and honda. Toyota and Honad specialize in making small econo boxes. heres a comparison for you.. lets say you own a constructon firm.. you need a truck that can tow a tractor.. which of the following are you going to purchase for that job? this? http://www.automedia.com/NewCarBuyersGuide/photos/2006/Honda/Ridgeline/Pickup_Truck/2006_Honda_Ridgeline_ext_1.jpg or this? http://blogs.cars.com/photos/uncategorized/chevy3500side.jpg the fact that honda and toyota "make" a truck does not mean it can compete with the domestic heavy duty pickups on the market. the same goes for suvs.. did you know you can also tow that payload with a suburban? Yep.. my uncle does it.. I agree slegacy, sounds like a great market to me.. hell I wouldn't mind putting solar panels on my house now to make my energy bill cheaper. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxerGT2.5 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Looks like apple helped out (white console), that's the same batt image on the iPhone. http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/09/volt-interior15.jpg OBAMA......One Big Ass Mistake America! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwannaSportSedan Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I said it on Autoblog, I'll say it here, too. ---------- BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD console design. (look at the frontal shot of the white console) Lots of little black icons and text that will be hard to parse, on a smooth glossy surface that will show fingerprints and all sorts of stuff, and offer no haptic feedback at all. Some of the tech might be interesting, but they have abandoned usability, which makes the technology harder to use. Plus, I am getting more and more fed up with bullcrap non-replaceable components, and built-in stereos. They are set up for today, but what about 3-5 years from now. Will they work with new GPS, digital media players, cell phones, and other personal devices? My 2005 [legacy] is abysmal, and it is barely 4 years old. It will not connect to ANYTHING, and is not replaceable for something that will, because it is built into the console. It is a stupid oversight. Modularity is somewhat desirable, and can be achieved. An iPod is easier to use than that Volt dashboard. (because you can set it and mostly forget it.) Talk about a built-in distraction. Besides that, setting a nice long playlist running while sitting in the driveway, and letting it play for the entire drive, is safer than fiddling with that busy white dash. And it is certainly more convenient than a CD when you already have the playlist on the iPhone, which also operates hands-free for receiving and ending incoming phone calls. I would rather have my ipod set, and not need attention than fiddling with a grid of flat-touch non-buttons, all black text on white feild. That has to be crappy to try an read backlit at night, too. Field backlit black text is not easy to read as fast as backlit text on a darkened panel. And I hate spending tons of money for incompatibility, and built-in systems are planned obsolescence and intentional incompatibility. It doesn't have to be a home stereo component system to have enough modularity to be useful beyond the current technological horizon, or at least enough expandability for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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