Volt Job 1 scheduled for November 1!

It will be nice to see it on the roads but at £30,000 ($46,000) in the UK, I doubt I'll be seeing too many

 

Great to hear the news.
However, I am still waiting to actually SEE them on the roads and in dealerships before getting excited about it.
Eventually we want an EV and an extended range vehicle for longer trips. Right now our plug-in Prius is the extended range vehicle. A Volt MIGHT take it's place IF they do actually sell them someday

 

Who said nay?

Most of us said production volume would be severely impaired due to the high price. Sales on a scale large enough to leapfrog Prius simply won't be realistic.
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Technically, that's true. The odd looking, aero-dynamically challenged vehicle using a 1.0 liter 3-cylinder engine won't actually be built. What they call "Volt" now isn't the same.
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Can you really blame people? With all the dishonesty that's come out of GM (ever since the 1930's in fact - [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_streetcar_scandal]Great American streetcar scandal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] ) over the past 7 decades, who in their right mind could honesty give even half a grain of salt to GM finally comming through?

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Prius 13 years in Production, technology proven and improved to now a 3rd generation. A GM New Untested Technology car ? ? ? ? . . . aaaahhh . . . eeeerrr ..... I'll Let somebody else buy the first few million or so, and . . . aaahhh . . then maybe, because . . .well . . . 'who knows' . . .a Comet could hit Japan in the meantime.

 

I'm not sure "Untested Technology Car is exactly right. Seems many forget that GM was 1st with the EV1. Although they were not committed to it or it was TOO Expensive? Funeral for the EV1 electric car

 

I'll admit that I was (am) one of those that said it wouldn't be built. However, the Volt "concept" has changed so many times it gave many an opportunity to say "that won't be built". I'll believe it exists when I see it sitting on the dealer's lot. I'll probably be interested enough to ask for a test drive.

 

I'll believe it when I see it. There's still plenty of time for them to come up with an excuse. The company that built the EV1 and then called them back and crushed them is quite capable of scrapping the Volt project at any time. It also remains to be seen how like the promised concept the actual car (if ever built) will be. A car with the Volt name plate that gets 5 miles on EV will be as good as not building it at all.

 

When will we know the Volt's MPG in CS mode?

 

Probably not until they actually build one.

 

I'm going to ignore all the useless, angry, pointless BS spouted by self-important middle-aged people here and say that I saw a Volt prototype today. It's a little smaller than my Gen 2 Prius, with a little lower roofline. In total length, the prototype was a few inches shorter. All in all, I'd say it was Honda Civic sized. I would bet money that if/when the car is released, Prius owners here will scream "too small!!!"

It had really nicely shaped rearview mirrors, much more aerodynamic looking than on my Prius (I doubt it makes much of a difference though). It looks like the aero work is pretty through - the front of the car had a black air dam that was dropped pretty close to the ground. I would be pretty surprised if it made production - I've never seen a production car that low, that's the kind of low that's seen in car tuner magazines.

EDIT: I do hope the car makes actual production. More competition in the hybrid space makes for better cars in the long run.

 

I hope Gm makes the Volt. I think it's very late in the development cycle to scrap it, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. I'm rooting for GM just for the volt, because it will serve many peoples needs. It is a bit smaller than a Prius, but the battery pack being in the middle makes the cabin seem smaller (the same way the console in the gen III prius makes the interior seem smaller than a gen II even though that isn't the case). it might be more comfortable for the rear passengers because they get to sit in bucket seats rather than a bench. The time table maybe a little too relaxed. if the volt came out before summer GM would have the market to themselves. by Nov nissan is going to be right among them.

I fear that nissan is going to come in at 30k (and around 23k with the tax rebate). I can't think to myself "I am going to pay 10k more for a range extender". I am pretty sure I could put together a range extender trailer for like 3k.

 

I think the two are really not going to compete much, very different markets.
For those that really never need to take the car on more than a 90-100 mile round trip, the Nissan wins (as it does for me).
For those that occassionally travel more, the extended range (with gas) of the Volt will make them the winner between the two.
There may be a little overlap, but I think it will be very small.

 

I would think they could have a smaller micro generator, that couldn't sustain the car but go into an extended mode. So... you would still be limited in range, but the range could be much greater with a small continued charge.

 

They gave up on that idea. The original 1.0 liter 3-cylinder engine for the concept model was abandoned, similar to what the Metro once used. Now, it's a 1.4 liter 4-cylinder.
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No, the prototype is long gone. You saw a pre-production build.

As for competition, we've seen that not all competition is helpful. Poor designs can actually be counter-productive.
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