GM: Yes, the Volt's gas engine can power the wheels

The October, Dashboard report, possibly the November, will be the last pre-flood data. The key data points will be:

1. Penetration - the percent of hybrids sold, currently running 2.5-2.8%. Will we see a larger foot-print of hybrids?
2. Distribution - will the new hybrids and EVs take from the existing hybrids?
3. Is the EV/hybrid market fixed at <3% of all vehicles and we're just rearranging the rubble?

I don't know but I've been worried that the hybrid sales have been running just under 3% of the total market. If the new vehicles expand the market, great. I hope that is the case but the data will tell. We live in interesting times.

Bob Wilson

 

Hey there was a reason GM went into bankruptcy - poor management and poor products. If the volt is a good product it will succeed even with the poor marketing.

How good the product is, is difficult to say right now, but with the reasonable sales goals and lease price the volt should live at least until gen II improvements can be made. I'd call it a success for those of us who like technology if it pushes tbe other car companies to build better phev's and bevs. For it to be a success for gm it only needs to start selling 50k vehicles a year world wide, and IMHO that is quite likely.

 

I would say that December will be the last month, pre flood as volt and leaf deliveries won't really happen en mass until January. I would expect the leaf and volt to canabolize other hybrid sales, at least initially. I don't think their is really a low 3% floor though. More choice and less of a premium will get hybrids out there. My uneducated guess is 2012 is that year, and then there may be enough good hybrid stories out there that people will be asking for them. I expect it will take the small players like nissan and hyundai taking risks to really get the bigger companies to cut costs and add features.

 

Autoline Daily, 10/29/2010, podcast

I was listening this evening and apparently missing the emissions level means the Volt loses out on a California sales rebate. Worse, they are subject to a 10 year warranty coverage versus 8 years that they wanted to offer. So far, nothing unusual but then John McElroy opinioned:

• testing used gas while owners plan to use EV
• beauracratic nit picking
• GM plans to fix it in a couple of years

I'm not terribly sympathetic because of the poor mileage under the range extender. But to screw up the emissions, after all of the nonsense Lutz put out against hybrids and hybrid owners . . . schadenfreude.

Bob Wilson

 

Eeesh! G.M. = Generally muddled. I wish they would get their act together.

 

He was proud of the Volt before he "retired". None of the hybrid under his belt got better emission than the non-hybrid version. So, this is no surprise to me.

 

This Volt hype . . . . it just keeps getting better and better. Lutz brags it's an electric car, and now we're hip deep into this thread talking about the ICE running the car ... and only at 37mpg.

Now this:

GM Pushing Back the Volt Launch
News Headlines

GM is pushing back the Volt launch ... about 2 1/2 weeks. Here GM wanted to get their "electric car" to market before the Leaf ... and it's not even an electric car ... and they may not even be able to rush it to market first either.

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They probably heard the Leaf is already sold out of it's initial 20k production run! No need to rush now!