Volt Job 1 scheduled for November 1!

Well, just because I'm useless, angry, pointless BS spouting, self-important and middle aged, doesn't mean we haven't been cheering for the volt and every other EV / PHEV ... but if we had the spare change ... "she-who-must-be-obeyed" decided she would look much better in one of these, when we check it out:



Oh ... and no one doubts they're availability ... THEY are actually available. Plus, you can go three times as far EV powered.



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I hate the 230mpg claim and think GM is setting themselves up for failure with it but.....

GM is not all about gas guzzlers. They are leading in MPG on many vehicles in their classes. Some (but not all) are winners in their category.

Two come to mind...
The 4 Cyl Chevrolet Equinox gets 32mpg on the highway. I test drove one and found it quite nice. The Equinox leads in its class and comes at a good price. The quality is also better then average.

The 4 Cyl Chevrolet Malibu gets 33mpg on the highway. The quality reviews are also above average and pricing is good.

What sucks???
The Aveo (poor quality, poor mpg for size, bad crash design), the Cobolt (aging design, poor crash design), HHR (bad mpg for its size, poor quality, less usable space then it looks)

 

Where am I getting figures? I am pulling them out of my hat just like everyone else, because the car does not exist and because GM's promises keep changing, but I sure as hell don't believe them when they say 230 mpg!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why won't GM give us any straight information? Probably because there is none because they have no intention of ever building the car.

I'm not talking about the PHEV Prius, which I have said many times I have no interest in because less than 30 miles is useless to me, and I am not convinced of the usefulness of any PHEV.

I'll tell you why I knock the Volt but not the Leaf:

GM has a long history of lies and deception. The Volt was going to go 40 miles, then, no, maybe only 30, then, well, that assumes no use of A/C or heater or unfavorable weather or road conditions. The Volt was going to cost around $20K, then 30K, then 40K, now maybe $40 after the federal tax rebate, assuming it actually gets enough EV range to qualify for it. The Volt is supposed to get 230 mpg. Hey, if you believe that, I get emails from Nigeria you'd really be interested in.

Nissan is a company with a reputation for quality. Nissan does not have a history of lies and vaporware. And unlike GM, Nissan does not have a vested financial interest in selling gasoline. I may be wrong about Nissan, but if you look at all the information out there, Nissan looks to be the most serious and the closest to bringing out an EV after Tesla.

I treat them differently, because the companies behind them are different. And because the Leaf is an EV, while the myth of the Volt is all about a PHEV, a concept I regard as inferior. (In this, my opinions have changed. A year or two ago I thought PHEV was a very good idea, and I'd have bought a Volt. GM could have built the Volt two years ago if it had wanted to. I now find that a pure EV is better for in-town driving, and a Prius is better for road trips.)

And as far as I know, the only Volts in existence are mules that do not have the actual innards. I believe there are actual Leaf prototypes being shown, and being driven by a few lucky folks.

 

Apparently the fact that I saw one pass me by silently and park is not sufficient. The actual existence of these cars is insufficent so any argument is over if fact is insufficient to contradict your evidently deeply ingrained belief in what you consider the truth.

 

I saw one too, the battery is unbelievable.

 

That has not been true for a long time! In 2008 the Volt drivetrain was loaded into other cars like the malibu (and not fully complete). They were driving around with them under electric power. Then they had handmade pre-production versions starting in mid 2009. Now they have basically production ready versions (made on a slow mo test production line) rolling around with 'beta version' software.

 

If even Malorn says it's unbelievable, how do you expect me to believe it?

 

What i think will really be unbelievable will be the repair or replacement cost if it fails, especially the way it has the car body on top of and wrapped around it.

 

Oh boy, oh, boy! Me defending the Volt.

There's really nothing to fail in an electric car. The weak point of the Volt will be the gasoline engine. Of course, car makers do everything they can to make repairs expensive. But, no, repair costs will be less of an issue with the Volt than with pretty much any other car.

(Though I still don't believe it will ever come to market.)

 

I get your like of EVs (which I share), but the volt mules are real and are pre production units just the same as the Leaf. Journalist and even jay Leno have driven them. EV mileage is known to take a dip because of factors like a/c(heater usage which will effect the Leaf just as much as the Volt (ask mitsubishi about the iMiev only getting around 30 miles or the Mini E). Sadly without a charging infrastructure the volt is the only viable solution to anything over 100 miles (if the Leaf's mileage does not deteriorate from factors, which all ev's do!)

All you are spouting are beliefs with NO facts. You are taking the word of one car company and disregarding another because of personal dislike. IMHO everyone has their own opinion, but opinions are NOT facts and shouldn't be touted as such. oh I would love some of that nissan quality because my 2002 Nissan Altima sure doesn't have it.

 

Since the Volt will probably come nowhere near the FE of a Prius, I would say the only viable option is to use the EV for local driving and a Prius for road trips. Most American families have two cars. The only sensible option would be to have no more than one gas-guzzling long-distance car for road trips, and let EVs provide the local transportation, until such time as the electric highway allows the last stinkers to be retired.

I make no bones about my hatred of GM for what it has done to the country (which includes me as a citizen of the country). However, I base my views on the two companies' history and actions and interests. GM owns a big chink of Big Oil and has consistently acted in such a way as to promote wasteful use of fossil fuels and block use of electricity, which GM has no stake in. Nissan has no such financial interest in oil, therefore is more likely to be serious about electric cars.

And how can you believe anything said by a company that claims that its PHEV will get 230 mpg??? GM has such a culture of dishonesty that it cannot even keep its lies credible.

 

The EV1 battery was unbelievable too . . . almost as unbelievable as what GM exec's did to 97% of the entire fleet. Now THAT was unbelievable. But like Tiger Wood, we all hope for a 2nd chance (ok ... in GM's case, we'll conservatively call it a twenty second chance) so we hope for the best.

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Live Green, Go Yellow.

Remember how incredibly misleading and quite desperate that was?
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Well yeah, but then they got real honest, and are hard at work at saving America with the hydrogen economy.

 

ound:

 

:lol:


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Just like Honda and toyota?

 

embarrasingly true.

2015 Toyota Hydrogen Hybrid - Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology - Automobile Magazine

I'm saving all the stupid articles for 2016, as Toyota, et al keep saying (again & again) that's the next date that it'll be ready. Right.

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I feel toyota has it's fingers in every basket. ev, phev, and hydrogen just incase one takes off. Honda is fully behind hydrogen and Honda has no EV plans and their hybrid tech is aging faster than betty white. Honda has no hope for EV aspiration in the coming years and will end up far behind the rest.

the only car co that has no hydrogen aspiration is Nissan. Which is fully behind EVs