The parking brake looking like a power switch isn't that uncommon amongst current luxury brand cars. As for the buttons, yeah, they're capacitive and it's an unfortunate trend that some automakers are going towards. I believe Ford started doing this on some of their recent cars. I've test driven a Volt before but wasn't paying close attention or asking about all the indicators. As for the info in front of the steering wheel, yeah, whenever I've seen pictures of it, I've scratched my head about some of information being conveyed.
I'm not worried about GM trying to dash the image of electric vehicles or PHV's. There are too many of them coming down the pipe for sale soon - PiP, Focus Electric, Fit Electric, iMiEV, Leaf, ... if GM wants to single-handedly make EV's look bad, well, they'll just end up looking bad and outdated and will hopefully pay penalties for not having an EV on the road. btw, I really like the Prius foot parking brake - nothing like hitting the parking brake, pressing power button, that's it, leave the car. So easy to use!!
Ain't that the truth. I bought one of the VW clean diesels when they first came out. What a mistake that was.
Interesting thought, but I suspect they built the Volt to satisfy congress and the environmentalist. I do not image failure was deliberate goal. Just an opinion. But I do believe, the vast majority of the motoring public (save an except PC contributors and a small percentage of others) are not interested in electric cars. Over and over the public has demonstrated they want power, speed, acceleration, towing capacity, "gritty sounding" machines. And that is what "Detroit" provides. That is where "Detroit" make the big bucks. Even Toyota is showing a "new Supra" at the auto show. Cadallac ads are all obout horsepower and speed. The magagines are all about 190 mph autimobiles .... well you get the idea. I bought the G3 (and grateful I did ... wonderful vehicle) because it was "right" for my situation ... not because I am "green" or doing my part to "save the planet."
I think they know it will go the other way... They want people to think, gee it can't be that big a deal if 6,000 people had an option to sell back and none of them did...
i tend to think the only reason they built the car is because they were given this huge cash sum and while most people were pist... the rest said " do something with it now" (since everyone knew they had the tech longer than anyone else (legally)... as for the response above that stated it's their first production run and it's prone to fail or... whatever it was... tell that to the 1st gen prius owners who still use their cars... a car that cost half of what this volt cost... (probably same interior space too) the battery holding up is a huge point with this car.. it isn't like a gas tank where you can get a leak and fix it by emptying the tank and patching a hole... if this battery gets damage like that it catches fire... keep in mind that the volt battery is a good (estimated by size) 8 times larger than a prius battery... if a prius battery cost a grand to replace... what does a volt battery cost?.. and for that matter.. will a volt battery even last over 100k miles?
When I had to give back my EV-1 at the end of the lease I was very disappointed. I missed the car for weeks afterward. From what I've seen the Plug In Prius is far cheaper than the Chevrolet Volt about $13k cheaper from what I've seen. With the mpg of the Volt really sucking after the first 35 miles... I think I will be going Plug In Prius.
For sure, but I think they also did it to satisfy their biggest 'customer' - big oil. If the Volt 'fails' just like the EV1, do you think GM would try to build an electric car again? They still build and sell more cars than any other company except perhaps Toyota (a company that sells the most hybrids).
If you count on a car selling because of a Tax Credit, maybe the damn car is too expensive in the first place!
A guy just had his replaced after running over something and getting a hole in his battery radiator. He subsequently continued to drive and messed up the battery permanently.. Total bill for radiator & full battery replacement was $4100. GM wound up covering it under warranty though after he fought it tooth and nail, but that is what he was initially charged by the dealer for non-warranty repair work. As far as the cars needing the tax credits he is also refering to the PiP's tax credits as well I would imagine. Although the base PiP would be considerably less than the base Volt even after the tax credit.
I haven't gone through the details to compare equipment lists but the major difference between the base models that I recall offhand: Volt: advanced telematics Control or monitor car from smartphone or web. Pre-condition the car during hot or cold weather. Control charging. (Download destinations when graphical gps option is present.) Volt: high voltage battery is 3.6 times larger PiP: basic graphical gps
The PiP can also be controlled through your smart phone using Entune (which will be similar to our current Onstar RemoteLink). So this is not going to be exclusive to the Volt.. The Prius also has advanced telematics and all of that jazz. If I am not mistaken the base PiP will have leather. Granted I like the cloth interior, but I imagine that is a plus for a lot of people. I think the only advantage the Volt really has, and the reason I bought one is the all electric range. Other than that I think the PiP will be comparable, or even exceed the Volt in a number of ways. I still like the way the car looks though, and even if the PiP had been out when I bought it I still would have chosen the Volt. Although if the PiP had of been out when I got my Gen3 I may have bought the PiP instead.
The Prius PHV can't pre-heat the cabin. It appears to only to be able to really heat from the ICE. Granted, it makes more sense than just draining its smaller pack, but it might work out that some might only see EV mode 9 months a year.
We'll have to see how it works out. One thing for sure, the MPG will definitely get a boost. EV purity aside, what's wrong with using the right fuel for the right job right? If you have it, use it.
I'm pretty sure the Prius telematics are only on the much more expensive PiP and not on the base model. The base model Volt has gps and gets OnStar audio turn-by-turn instructions but no gps graphics display (the center display is still used for non-gps purposes)
Then why not have a gasoline fired heater? That would be far more efficient for those with commutes within EV range than turning over the ICE. For some, it becomes a why bother with the plug if they are just going to be leaving EV mode for heat. It is a major difference when comparing the it with the Volt.
