Volt 2.0: Ruess "It will leap-frog... the competition"

After spending decades slowly shrinking from the world's largest car company to near extinction, maybe GM is discovering the source of their problem is inferior vehicles. Unfortunately, corporate fossilization is extremely hard to overcome. The ignition switch is the logical result of cutting corners to excess as part of this fossilization. The Volt is actually a real attempt to return to innovation instead of cost cutting as a attempt to develop the next generation of cars. Regardless of gas prices today, gas prices a decade from now will be vastly higher than today and every car maker knows this. What really hangs in the balance is seeing if GM can make high reliability and long lasting cars. Volt or not, this is where GM survives or dies. The Volt would be a really big seller if the reliability and quality was understood to be at the same level as Toyota products.

There is one thing about new product funding that is unmistakable. New product funding primarily sustained out the companies budget is very no-nonsense about developing a viable product for the marketplace. At the other extreme, new product funding using primarily government funding/subsidies is almost entirely spent developing "stuff" that is optimized NOT for the marketplace, but for obtaining more government funding. The government funded end product always ends up being a marketplace dead end and a political love item. Some of the major EVs and PHEVs being developed by the automakers are designed as real products for the real marketplace...especially important once gas prices start a sustained and permanent long term climb. All fuel cells and some EVs are still just products optimized for government subsidies and public financed R&D money.

 

2016 Chevrolet Volt Configurator Live, California Order Books Open

 

why cali first? shouldn't be iowa?

 

GM did the same thing with the Gen 1.

 

dissed iowa on that one also?

 

Here's the release schedule.
2016 Chevrolet Volt Launch Timeline Fully Revealed

 

My PiP EV is getting 150 MPGe. Loving it

 

With such modest improvements... well below what had been hoped... the lack of fanfare is no surprised.

Enthusiasts had anticipated a revolutary leap forward; instead, they got evolutionary... which is what "next generation" was always intended to represent.

I'm glad the craziness is over and we can all join in as a plug-in team. The "vastly superior" nonsense really had a negative effect on the overall effort to end the reign of traditional vehicles.

Sadly, this outcome had been predicted many years ago, when the "too little, too slowly" concern was first made. Finally having reached a state of closure is quite nice.

I'm looking forward to more plug-in events. The looking down upon Prius PHV was counter-productive. Now there can be a variety of approaches and a recognition of how diverse the market really is. The more-is-better mindset has proven ineffective.

 

The webpage was changed overnight.

It now states 41 mpg combined.

 

Gen3 Volt? - Tesla will have eaten the Volt by then.

DBCassidy

 

It won't matter. Volt is no longer Volt already. An affordable choice for the masses will likely be something else anyway.

Go over to the daily blog. Yet again, they are changing definitions & goals. Those changes have skewed the vehicle called "Volt" so far from the original intent, what difference does it make what comes out next? By the way, that's why there is still some resentment for Prius. Toyota has stayed true to purpose.

Thankfully, the pointless chest-pounding is fading away. Business reality is helping to bring about plug-in cooperation. In other words, market need is finally being addressed. In fact, we're seeing that here now with more constructive discussion. The magic "$100 per kWh" target will open up a wide range of battery configuration opportunity. It won't be possible to declare "vastly superior". There will be a variety of choices for a variety of buyers.

 

Did GM ever say the Volt was going to be 'mainstream'?
Aside from the 60k a year number, which was puffery of wildly optimistic.

 

good question, you have to go back through a lot of years of puffery quotes to find out.

 

Again, Volt - too little, too late. Classic GM.

DBCassidy

 

I'd love to have one!!
I'm especially pleased that the V2 is cheaper (by about $1500) than the V1, even with the re-design.

Unfortunately, even with an MSRP of 33K and the Fed kickback, I can't strike a check for one juuuuuust yet.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the remaining inventories of the V1.
I'm already seeing prices that are sub-30 OTD.