Will the Chevrolet Volt be a failure or a success?

Wouldn't Leaf and Prius be a better combo for you? Cleaner and higher MPG long range vehicle (Prius) and more EV range with the Leaf. Plus you can keep your current Prius.

 

Being really vague and dismissing the many videos from multiple sources, besides the ones we provided, makes for a very weak argument.

Claiming people never want the engine to run, even for just a few seconds, means you don't understand the purpose of a plug-in hybrid like PHV or the market it is intended for.

Volt was hyped as a solution for the masses, something that would sell better than Prius. We now se that's not the case... hence this configuration failing. The PHV will provide a significant efficiency boost, offered as a package. It's still a hybrid, but will deliver much higher MPG and be even cleaner, while remaining affordable.
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I hope your right on the stats, that would be a great car to have on the road. I personally expect it to cost more like $32-34,000 similarly equipped. I think you're right on the acceleration, and I'm not sure who "greenies" are but I assume you mean people who use environmental considerations as their primary car selection criteria in which case you are probably right. However, I disagree to the extent you imply there aren't also drivers who will care about all electric driving.

Also there are plenty of people buying cars that are more expensive and less efficient than the Prius every day so there are obviously many other factors that influence car buying decisions.

 

I still don't see what you are basing your assertion of the Volt failing on. Customer satisfaction among people who bought them seems very high (mine certainly is) and they have a backlog of sales orders to fill. If you define failure as building a product your consumers like and selling as many as you can make a failure what do you call a success?

 

To be the "game changer" that was hyped, mainstream sales would have to be achieved quickly. Just because you weren't part of those pushing expectations should make it easier to accept.

GM has a popular niche now. Later, they could have a model that offers the depletion efficiency, emission rating, and price which was hoped for from the first.

Unfortunately, gas is already $4 per gallon. So, the time to deliver something beyond traditional MPG has already expired.
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If the Volt had debuted at $30k,after the $7500 off it would have been $22,500 same price as a Prius and really been interesting. It's selling all it can make now because it's not making anything (not really). I can't wait to see what monthly sales are like in a year. High, low, who knows. I think at its current price point only if gas gets super high and stays there (and I strongly, strongly doubt this to happen soon) maybe it does well, otherwise it will disappoint in sales.

It may do well in fleet says as marketing/gimmick reasons. I don't care about that. Consumers sales are all that are interesting to me.

 

[spoiler alert]

Just because there is no Santa Claus, doesn't mean you can't enjoy Christmas. I'm sorry you feel so let down that the hype wasn't lived up to to your satisfaction.

For what it is worth I am driving a Volt, I am comfortable with the price I am paying and in the past 250 miles I have burned 0.25 gallons of petrol (~1000 mpg), the game has changed; it is not over by any means, but it is certainly different.

(sorry about the run on sentence it kind of got away from me there)

I should also like to add that when I filled up last (7 gallons about 2 weeks ago), I paid $3.79 for premium, $4 regular gas hasn't been seen in my immediate area yet (but is surely looming).

 

That's even better than GM's 230mpg number

 

I know it is not a measure of actual energy consumed or anything and I appreciate my grid power has emission effects etc...

But it is literally a measure of my premium fuel consumption in miles traveled per gallon burnt.

 

I don't understand that sentence. The Volt would be helped by higher gas prices.

 

I would start with building more than 20 a day. GM must be close to 6 months into production at a spiffy new plant built with taxpayer money (naturally), yet the cars trickle out dribble out. At this point I think GM is either more incompetent than I ever imagined, or they are matching market demand with a few month backlog. The second possibility strikes me as more likely.

 

Does anybody know what GM's production plans were? I am not sure why they are only creating 20/day, it really does seem pitiful, but is this to be expected; was it part of their ramp up plan? Estimates from 2008 are not helpful but do we have any figures from, say, Q4 of 2010 talking about production in 2011?

 

Who?

Is that what you will tell mainstream consumers that believed the hype?

For years they were hoping for GM's answer to Prius. They got an expensive "performance" plug-in instead. What are they going to buy now?
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Depending on the press release, 20k or 40k.

 

I know you say that tongue-in-cheek, but I will not buy from any company that blows smoke as a business strategy. I lose any confidence in the company standing behind its promises.

Full disclosure: I will likely never buy a GM car, period. My comment is meant to apply to any company.

 

The PHV Prius was originally promised as a 15 mile EV range, thats why usbs has graphs comparing the 40 mile AER PHEV with 15 mile AER PHEV's. Toyota realized they couldn't deliver and have changed the statements. All companys suffer some of this in new product development.

GM promised 40 miles AER and many consumers are getting that (not me yet, but mine close enough to 40 to be good enough for me). GM promised 40 mpg in CS mode and delivers 40 mpg hwy in CS mode 37 mpg combined, close enough for me. They promised the price under $30,000 and the cheapest you can get one with the tax credit is about $34,000, that bites but hopefully there will be some economies of scale that bring it closer soon. Overall, they delivered about 90% of what they promised, which is better than I expected they would.

 

Leaf has more EV range than the Volt. 73 miles vs. 35 miles. If an EV enthusiast cares the most about range, Leaf would be the choice. It is not all about EV range but the whole package. Prius PHV is a very well balanced car for any situation. Volt can be good for a specific commute range (15-35 miles). Go outside of that and you'll get penalized for it (paid too much or use premium gas).

So the market is for EV buyers that can't accept EV range limitations? If they can't accept range limitation, they wouldn't be EV enthusiast to begin with. I think you drunk too much of GM's range anxiety cool-aid - an EV enthusiast that fell for FUD marketing.

Volt's gas engine is not an electric generator. It also turns the wheels and requires maintenance. Are you saying that's an acceptable trade-off for EV enthusiasts?

 

I did 42.2 today. 1 mile left when I got home. Am I duty-bound to post the picture, obtained with much abuse from my wife, on gm-volt?

Drive cycle was 10 miles @ 68ish mph, the rest on surface streets ranging from 25-50mph, driving at whatever the flow was - in other words, treating like a normal car. Morning temp was 60 cooling to 50 this afternoon. No need for HVAC. Full throttle/sport mode once for a merge.

I did another warm up test yesterday. 100->150F took 75 seconds.

 

Which post were you referring to? Prius PHV has always been a blended design.

 

uhm, Toyota didnt promise anything at all, they dont even sell the car yet. everywhere they say how it is test vehicle and numbers will change. this is very different from GM's boastful PR sentences that are now ridiculed.

There are many people here who can easily get 60-70 mpg from their Prius.

Does that make Prius 60-70 MPG vehicle?