New Poll: Americans Shun Electrics

Plain and simple, GM manufactured about 2500 Volts for FY2011 and sold all of them in their stipulated USA market.
NOW, You are able to jump onto the purchaser's waiting list but without delivery until mid 2012.
The great GM market handling BS.....

 

Glenn Beck:

GM has something else to compete with and it is not just Toyota and Ford. It's ok to discuss the gas tax, but it is not ok to say the Volt is no good without saying what is wrong with it. Right now, I think they are having some marketing, production and demand issues. As far as the car is concerned, i have not heard anything bad so far.

GM may have to drag some people to court for bad entertainment reporting, ie..Tesla vs. Top gear. I think it would be a good thing for Television to run Neuropsychological testings before giving somebody a show. Hate is on display on TV for anything that moves.

Glenn Beck goes off on GM's Akerson over proposed $1 gas tax, calls Volt "crappy" — Autoblog Green

 

What's wrong with it? You really haven't heard that most folks can't afford it ... and considering that GM desperately needs to sell a Prius (much less a PHEV Prius) competing car that customers actually CAN afford, GM STILL has nothing ... and that GM had hoped that the Volt WOULD compete withe the Prius? How can a car that's smaller than a Prius ... worse mpg than a prius ... more expensive gas than a prius ... less passenger capacity than a prius, even THINK they're going to sell any where near Prius numbers? IMO, folks no longer need to discuss what's wrong with it. Some facts are simply a given.

Of course, again, that has NOTHING to do with EV's ... as does the Lion's share of this thread ... even though the OP ostensibly was looking for ev shunning dialog. See? Even on PC, we don't seem to be able to tell the difference between an ICE, an EV, or a PHEV.

 

I did not say it is going to compete with the Prius for the same reasons you mentioned and I think GM should also know that $41,000 dollars +price gouging + those who do not have access to a plug, garage, driveway are limiting factors for a lot of people. For me, the Prius has already proved itself, I work is 6.1 miles from home and a Prius PHV is what I am currently waiting for.

 

Makes you wonder how long they can keep up this game of diversion. The IPO and rollout of Volt were enough to keep people wondering. But now that those have passed, it comes down to what they offer... what people actually need and can affordable.

A quick glance at the soon-to-be-available hatchback version of Cruze makes it clear why it won't be offered in the United States. It looks remarkable similar to Volt.

Rather than offering us the choice, they are telling us what our preferences will be.

Having Cruze at one extreme and Volt at the other really does point out that huge void in the middle... where Prius so nicely fits (efficiency & price), despite being a larger vehicle!
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I would like to know what other members in Priuschat think.
I think Toyota should change the PHV ordering a little by adding that if you are not in a launch state, you can order the PHV and it will be deliver to your local dealer. That would make the car available in all states to anyone who wants one. That also would keep dealers in non-launch states from ordering for themselves, price gouged people or put them on Ebay.

 

Given that toyota has consistently used price gouging on the prius, I doubt they are going to do anything to stop it on the phv.

 

Not entirely sure what you mean by that, but they are going to have quite a bit of competition within themselves. I mean they have quite a bit of competition from Ford and Honda now, as well as even their sister mfg arm, Lexus with the CT200h and even the HS250h. Competition is a wonderful thing particularly if they are being pushed. I'll be particularly interested in the fallout from the introduction of Prius C. Why would they produce such a thing if they feel they can continue to gouge us on the regular Prius?

I myself will look at the Volt in my local area which has about 18 vehicles within 100 miles as well as the Lexus CT and yes the Prius PHV before I give a definitive vote with my pocketbook.

 

I think they are bringing the Prius c for about $20,000 dollars and the regular Prius will probably go upscale with the next edition.

Now, How can there still be 18 Volts available for sale within 100 mile radius of your zip code when GM only produced about 2500 Volts for 2011?, and does that mean the original demand list was not that significant?. The reason I would like to know is because a recent report stated that GM plans to build 60,000 Volts for 2012.

 

If you use the autotrader search tool and look for volts you'll probably get dozens of results. The problem is they are not actually where they say they are and for sale.

Many are dealer demos that are being used to take orders, some are just dealerships listing their open allocations, and some are cars that have already been ordered by another customer and not picked up yet. There is no standing inventory anywhere for a new Volt. Anything to the contrary is propaganda.

 

Late response, but they most definitely are...just on the big government nanny state end. Listening to an hour of Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow can lead an objective thinker to no other logical conclusion. The problem I have with FOX is they feign interest in those who favor smaller government and have been caught intentionally misleading (even covering for the current Pres, which would actually align them with MSNBC ) by using footage that doesn't correlate with what they're reporting (showing a scene with "palm trees" during the Wisconsin union protest) and attempting to brush over or mudsling candidates who have publicly expressed an interest in upsetting the money masters (the FED). Mainstream "news" is anything but for the most part. And yes, I admit to finding myself in agreement with Beck's ideology over that of the other aforementioned "journalists." It is human nature to pick sides based on our own understanding of how the world operates. If that makes me a victim of "engineered ideological propaganda," so be it, guilty as charged.

When it's all said and done, they all make me sick to varying degrees, for their treachery in choosing agenda over the truth, and I am thankful for the Internet as an alternate news source while it lasts.

 

The Volt is soon going to be available in all 50 states and also for export. I think just like the Prius plug-in, it is difficult for a manufacturer to really gauge what the demand is or going to be. May be the 60,000 Volts also included the Ampera which I believe GM is also building here in the states.

I would admit that your lease from an earlier post is very enticing. I would definitely take a look if offered such a lease deal since the Prius PHV will not hit Florida for almost 2 years, unless I pick it up from my home state of NY next year. IMO, dealers are more interested in selling than leasing the Volt for obvious reasons. GM should be able to put a lot of Volts out there at this lease price.

 

No they haven't.

The worst they do is tolerate it by not being choosy about where their inventory goes or having weak franchise agreements.

Unless they do a Nissan and sell direct to customers, prices will be set by the dealers as usual.

 

There's an article in this morning's newspaper about 2000 new EV chargers getting installed in Seattle.
Local News | First electric-car charging stations go online in Seattle | Seattle Times Newspaper

 

I may be open to an EV, were it a reasonable option for me, but it's not. So I don't say "no" to EVs. I say, "If they can do what I want a car to do and I can be sure of keeping them going, I may go check them out." But it's a ways off, if at all. I couldn't even charge one.

Americans have always had a love affair with big, noisy cars. I don't think that'll totally change. There will always be people buying sports cars in their mid-life crises or to pick up chicks or whatever. This is one reason I think these self-driving "pod" concept cars will never become universal, too. They remove all sense of individualism and preference. I myself drive different ways depending on my mood and all, like punching the gas in anger when I'm in a bad mood or trying to make a light. And I'm pretty much always running late.

Anyway, with EVs, the infrastructure needs to come into being properly, along with probably some further improvements to the car's energy capacity and performance. It's just not time for everyone to run out and get one. This is why the hybrid concept was such a good idea--to get the best of both worlds and become accustomed to the idea of a car that's not a noisy gas guzzler. We clearly couldn't go from gas straight to electric in any workable fashion.

Also, for noise, maybe they could start adding "fake" noise like they do to the electric trains? They did that with our Metrorail after people got hit because they didn't hear it coming. Maybe the EVs need a fake "vroom."

 

This is very interesting subject, we will have to get on it in different forum.. otherwise we will be hijacking EV thread.

In a nutshell "I find rightwing social engineering not anymore desirable then leftwing social engineering".. which btw the way brings us to the point: how the Fox&friends covered the guy who said it says it all.

 

The public can be stupid and many other thing both good and bad but, let's take a real look things shall we?

We Prius owners are currently driving what still amounts to primitive technology just further stretching out big petroleum's interests.

The Prius is just a stepping stone that is being milked for all it is worth as well, yeah I love my Prius but I am not blinded by fanism or whatever you call it Toyota intends to make a buck off of what they have developed for as long as they can and for as much as the market will pay them, it is called business.

So now we have the wonderful leaf gee whiz I can go what all of 100 miles on a charge? Eh yeah right whatever that is a joke.

Hmmm let's see how about the chevy disaster what was that called oh yes the trump up exaggerated figures what was it something like 200 MPG?

So is the public being Stupid? No I think the public is voting with their feet walking the other way and basically saying screw you big corporations with all your bullshit lies, do not try to push an underpowered, overpriced, limited range crap on us.

I for one agree. The 2010 Prius is none of these things and that is why I own it put that sucker in power mode and it acts like a V-6.

People love their big stupid truck, with 1 or two people in them getting 12 miles per gallon, their oversized station wagons called SUV's people are insecure and like to sit up high so they can see everything, people love to race to the next red light and claim ownership of the prize.

So the answer to turning the public to electric vehicles is really very simple, quite trying to milk the shit out of every little technological stepping stone along the way and just give the people what they want.

Big dopey powerful vehicles with the range they have Come to expect with a gasoline powered vehicle and the ability to refuel As easily and conveniently the advent of the latest liquid battery tech makes that possible. Google it and look at gizmodo website for more info. Remember we only know about the tech that we are told about and even then there are bigger interests at stake than what the public is concerned about.

 

My other car has a V6 and trust me the Prius only acts like that during the split second when an SUV has just nailed you from behind

 

I agree with most of 2010PriusOwner's post, but also, we need to note that we in this country, do not buy vehicles or other things based on our needs or means, but based on our wants. And once gas gets up to $4.00 a gallon, we start complaining and looking for someone to blame since it is never our fault for buying a low mileage vehicle and have not learned how to drive it efficiently.

Anyone who pays taxes, buys gasoline subsidizes oil companies and gasoline for those 12mpg SUVs/Trucks. People will not make better buying decisions as long as gas is subsidized to less than half of current Gas Prices in other countries (U.S. dollars per gallon) Germany $8.46. U.K. $8.42 ...

Also, car companies who did not manufactured hybrid vehicles and the press have been disseminating inaccurate information to the public for most of the existence of the Prius. A recent survey claimed that 51% of Americans still believe(OMG!) that a Prius needs to be plugged in for it to work. We can go on and on!
Study: One-third of drivers don't know what this dashboard light means — Autoblog

 

maybe it's difficult to gauge, ... maybe it's not. Consider all the THOUSANDS of Prius DIY'ers who went to the trouble to put their OWN PHEV bolt-on system in. Now ... consider how many GM hybrids get converted by DIY'ers. My guess? Dr. Andy Frank did a few, and there may be another few ... so maybe one person could count 'em up ... probably count them on their fingers and toes. On the OTHER hand, there are probably more after market Gen II & III Prius' converted, then there are Volts "on the road" (don't wana count the dealers selling 'em back & forth to each other). So that may be a safe way to gauge market .... by the manufacturer's core product ... rather than the general "PHEV" product ... sad to say.

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