Over 33,000 buyers signed up for GM electric car

[jason4225]

Over 33,000 buyers signed up for GM electric car

By Kevin Krolicki-Reuters

In a bid to show the demand for the upcoming all-electric Chevrolet Volt, a proponent of the car has released details of an unofficial waiting list for the vehicle with over 33,000 prospective buyers.

Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist who has emerged as a prominent enthusiast for the battery-powered car from General Motors Corp, has been assembling a list of prospective Volt buyers for over a year through his Web site GM-Volt.com.

The average price buyers were willing to pay for the car was $31,261 -- substantially less than the $40,000 GM has said it will cost to build the first-generation of the car equipped with a massive lithium-ion battery pack.

More at link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...0080812?rpc=44

[randiferous]

Signed up on GM-Volt.com I am number 33,550 on the waiting list!!!

[FenwickHockey65]

Umm...would they be willing to pay $2k more? That's probably what it'll end up being with the federal tax credit...

[doh]

Humm, and Lutz says "Maybe 10000 the first year"

Now How to fix the $15000 battery problem.

[RamJet502]

Hopefully GM pays attention and prices the car correctly.

[randiferous]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Umm...would they be willing to pay $2k more? That's probably what it'll end up being with the federal tax credit...

That is what I was hoping for, with that tax credit it could be a reasonable price...after a couple of years of ramp up they won't need it anymore.

I think they did this with the first set of hybrids, didn't they set a quota of 250,000 for each brand that were eligible for a tax credit?

Lawmakers should come up with a plan to raise the bar on the tax credits available and specifically identify a credit to each technology. Like 1,500 for a BAS, 2,800 on a parallel, 4,500 for a 2-mode and 7,500 for a series hybrid like the volt.

Do it on say the first 500,000...and the ones that have already been built and bought (i.e. BAS, parallel, etc) count those to keep it even.

Plus something to encourage bio-fuels as well.

Then a second round of incentives when Hydrogen becomes commercially viable.

Don't wanna sound like the government should do this forever... But we should encourage these new technologies enough for the free market to do the rest.

Then we can finally start becoming energy-secure.

[doh]

The Worst part of Tax Credits, is that GM will factor that into thier assumption of what the Public will pay for a "Wanted vehicle" If not GM then the Dealers will.

When all is said and done, the public will be hard pressed to see any benifit over a 6 year life, to purchase a Volt.

On the good side, Thier lack of dependance on oil should cause the price per barrel to come down more. End result,? The greenies will feel good about Helping the Earth, We will see lower fuel prices, but high electricity prices.

[ronald mcretard]

Originally Posted by doh

The Worst part of Tax Credits, is that GM will factor that into thier assumption of what the Public will pay for a "Wanted vehicle" If not GM then the Dealers will.

When all is said and done, the public will be hard pressed to see any benifit over a 6 year life, to purchase a Volt.

On the good side, Thier lack of dependance on oil should cause the price per barrel to come down more. End result,? The greenies will feel good about Helping the Earth, We will see lower fuel prices, but high electricity prices.

6 year life? I think electrically driven cars will last much longer than that. The electric motor will essentially last forever and the gas engine will not be used much for most people. And don't forget it will likely have a very high retained value if you want to sell it.

Again, the batteries are the big unknown.

[CJ Thunder]

I don't know, now that the radical styling is abit gone I will have to see. I am much more apt to put down 500 for an Aptera.

[jason4225]

If the tax credit is going to be $7000, the Volt might make a good stable mate to my 2011 Camaro.

I think that the electric utilities should be supporting these plug-in hybrids. I work for the local utility company and was discussing with my supervisor that they should think of installing recharging stations at their offices and possibly even at the power plant. This could be a great marketing program.

When doing some research, I saw that Portland Gas and Electric is installing a dozen recharging stations that will be free to use during the testing phase.

This could be a huge moneymaker for the utilities and another great way to keep our money in this country (coal instead of oil).

[D C]

Originally Posted by doh

The Worst part of Tax Credits, is that GM will factor that into thier assumption of what the Public will pay for a "Wanted vehicle" If not GM then the Dealers will.

I disagree.
The worst part of tax credits is that they exist at all. The gov't shouldn't have any part of this. There aren't any tax credits for the guy who quits driving his SUV and buys an efficient motorcycle, or the guy that rides his bike to work. There's no reason for them to exist for hybrids, either.

Frankly, I don't want to pay a dime toward someone else's new car.

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by randiferous

Signed up on GM-Volt.com I am number 33,550 on the waiting list!!!

OMG, I'm 8,810.

[eaton53]

Originally Posted by D C

I disagree.
The worst part of tax credits is that they exist at all. The gov't shouldn't have any part of this. There aren't any tax credits for the guy who quits driving his SUV and buys an efficient motorcycle, or the guy that rides his bike to work. There's no reason for them to exist for hybrids, either.

Frankly, I don't want to pay a dime toward someone else's new car.

Then the government shouldn't have any part of telling automakers what their mileage needs to be.
Want to make the mandate, then fund it, too. Otherwise don't make it.

[johnny smallblock]

Originally Posted by D C

Frankly, I don't want to pay a dime toward someone else's new car.

Not to get political here, but you're paying for it already with Iraq. And didn't Bush sign a tax break for businesses that bought SUVs, like 2 years ago?

[hercman]

It's nice to see the support.