GM CEO: Toyota Prius is a "geek-mobile" that "I wouldn't be caught dead in"

1 Gen Prius produced and sold 1000units/month start back in 97
2 Gen Prius sold 1.5million
3 Gen Prius becoming best sold ever car in Japan over a year

Volt arrives now, and facing this horrible/geeky/most sold hybrid, presents customers with a average increase of 30-40% in energy consumption. Cruel, isn't it?

 

telmo I'd agree with you but in the Volts defence I would say that your costs would be reduced if you ran the Volt on electric and hardly ever went over the 35 mile range.

Whether you'd still save money is unlikely considering the much much higher purchase cost of the car, even in Europe where our fuel is nearly 3 times more expensive than the US.

I like the idea of the Volt but they've made so many questionable decisions with it - why only 4 seats? why such a small boot/trunk? and why is it soo expensive?

 

The media seems to bring out the negative in so many people, How many times have we seen a sports figure quip about an opponents player in an upcoming game, that fires the rival up?

I was taught to never challenge the opposition to do better, to be motivated, to build a better device. Also, should your product fail to out sell, or exceed the competition .... look how foolish you appear; how deminished your product must be.

If I were on GM's Board .... I would repremand anyone that spoke as quoted.

 

So this thread is here because it involves -NO- death in a Prius?

 

I beleive the thread is here because it involves a new plug in hybrid, oops my bad an EV with a small range extender

 

So will the Volt be GM's Ford Edsel? [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Edsel]Edsel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

or the European Ford Scorpio Mark II? [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Scorpio]Ford Scorpio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

Hey, I rode in then learned to drive in a 1961 Corvair - is that an odd car or what? The stick shift lever was in the dash - just like the Prius.

So GM is not targeting geeks?

Guess they are targeting aggressive drivers that tailgate because they don't think more than two car lengths ahead, and like the old GM, only pay attention to their funds just before defaulting.

 

Haha. Good point!

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-1bxSsTtrU&feature=channel"]Maybe[/ame]

...but why can't GM nail down just how far it will go on a single charge, like the Prius PHEV and it's 13 miles of EV. Note in the commercial at 20 seconds where the EV mileage claim of 25 to 50 miles is made. Now that will really nail it down for non geeky drivers that wish to drive in EV only.
And to think, I never knew that even 50 miles was "far, really far".

 

This commercial is to battle the Leaf. Volt is also electric, so they say, and goes far (unlike the Leaf). Actually, GM's timing with release of Leaf is good, except the price is going to bite 'em.

Volt is series PHV according to

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/phevtech.shtml although maybe it's series/parallel PHV since ICE can clutch to drive wheels.

I'm a little confused that Volt can apparently run to over 90 mph all electric, but ICE can clutch to drive wheels over 70 mph ??

25 - 50 probably because the Volt will likely go much farther in city only than highway only. Nissan had indicated the Leaf might go more like 130 miles in city driving, but maybe under a 100 on highway.

EV range in PHV is cool and all, but kWh/mile efficiency is cooler.

 

When the battery is low and the gas engine is running, it can clutch in (depends on the torque demand) to drive the wheels.

When the battery is full, it'll only use the battery (foolishly) even though there is performance to gain with the gas assist. It'll use battery going up a mountain and drain the pack in mins. It uses battery in non-optimal situations, even when it is optimal for the gas engine.

The result is 36 kWh per 100 miles electricity consumption. For comparison, PHV Prius consumes about 23 kWh per 100 miles.

 

I have a hunch when most customers go shopping for a plug-in highway car, they will often look for the maximum EV range for the minimum cost.

A dude on volt forum showed a survery where average Americans expect an EV to cost same or less than a conventional and have 300 miles of range. Yeah, right. Maybe someday, yearrrrrs from now.

In the Volt's price range, it would have to be a very appealing, almost luxury type of car. Most people are not going to buy it just because it plugs in. They want value for their money.

 

One thing I haven't heard many talk about on a PHV is .... you still have to go to the gas station sometime ... and you have to plug-in.

You have two 'tanks' to keep track of.

But, maybe that's not a bad thing if you end up going to the gas station less. So, I guess that's may be the battle of Prius hybrid vs. Volt - which car will allow you to gas up less often?

 

The battle will be Prius PHV vs Volt. However for both the reality is that they are both the worst of both worlds. Under electric power they both have the extra weight of the ICE and fuel tank reducing electric efficiency. Under gasoline power they have the extra weight of the battery to lug around. Now the regular Prius gets 40+ MPG with just enough battery weight to capture the braking energy. The only advantage of a plug-in hybrid if the ability to run a portion of the time on electricity which is cheaper.

 

The GM CEO's comment is disturbing on so many levels.

Don't alienate your potential customers.

Don't denigrate the best selling competition's product when your product is similar on many levels.

Don't act like a testosterone charged teenager when you are CEO of a struggling corporation.

 

He has a Telecom industry background. That 'splains it.

 

I can't even remember to charge my iPhone. How am I going to remember to charge a car?

 

Yes, two examples of unsuccess.

But if you look closely, Scorpio was beaten up by how its looks, and Edsel was ergonomically wrong designed.

Volt is worse: a plug-in hybrid, with all to work well, but still 99% complete, and never kept up the pace of its so-called-rivals. And even no servicing has been made in a Volt, let's wait for those 3 clutches to work leaving debris to the transaxle oil...Sooner or later, there will be (more) bad news.

 

Dear GM: "haters gonna hate" love, prius.

 

Perhaps you should read the results of consumption Volt vs Prius PHV. "Our" laboratory product need a lot less electricity to run EV. And beats also Nissan Leaf, which is rated very closely to Volt.
Prius PHV is, IMO, more ahead of its time than the regular Prius! PHV Prius is slightly more efficient in running on gas alone than the HV Prius...