Lutz Update: Volt moves from Malibu to Cruze mules

[Gung_Ho]

Originally Posted by fp115

Get over the price, it hasn't been announced, you are just going off speculations. The Volt and the Prius are completely different vehicles, different goals, different technology. Where you don't find it exciting, hundreds of thousands others do. Dealers are getting asked to put down payments on the car, whereas they cannot yet do so. YOU may not like the looks or style on the Volt, but that is a personal opinion and again not a fact. When you can come up with concrete facts and reasons for the Volt not to work then it will make sense, but so far you have simply rambled about rumours which have not and will not be confirmed.

I searched all over the Internet for the prices of the Volt. The source of the "$40K to $48K" price tag is from a website that praises the Volt.

Yes, I know that the Prius and Volt are very different vehicles. I just keep on reading statements like, "The Prius also has a bland exterior, and that doesn't keep consumers from buying it." Well, the Prius is possibly half the price of the Volt.

[Buickman]

ah but price is an issue. so is appearance. common knowledge has it that the Prius will remain much less expensive than Volt. Prius is proven, Volt is not. the Japanese aren't standing still either. relying on Volt to save GM is a mistake. it will end up being a niche vehicle and a money loser. then again, Red Ink Rick is still running the place so what would you expect but more losses?

[fp115]

Originally Posted by Gung_Ho

I searched all over the Internet for the prices of the Volt. The source of the "$40K to $48K" price tag is from a website that praises the Volt.

Yes, I know that the Prius and Volt are very different vehicles. I just keep on reading statements like, "The Prius also has a bland exterior, and that doesn't keep consumers from buying it." Well, the Prius is possibly half the price of the Volt.

Your first problem, searching all over the internet. Have you never been told in school how to look up your sources? Have you ever gone to school? Like I said, the source to which you are linking is quite questionable. It is very easy to make a website as a Volt fan site and make up content. There is no point in discussing the price, whereas GM doesn't even know the price. The price will be heavily dependent on the material costs in a year from now. They could very well follow the cost of gas.

The Prius still uses gas, the Volt could possibly never use any. At today's prices the Prius costs 4.4 cents per mile (gas at $1.75) and the Volt costs 0.3-0.6 cents per mile. The Volt's warranty is also almost twice as long as the Prius'. Like I said, your arguments are never weighing in all sides of the argument. Its easy to say negatives, especially when you don't bother to inform yourself.

[Buickman]

Originally Posted by fp115

Your first problem, searching all over the internet. Have you never been told in school how to look up your sources? Have you ever gone to school? Like I said, the source to which you are linking is quite questionable. It is very easy to make a website as a Volt fan site and make up content. There is no point in discussing the price, whereas GM doesn't even know the price. The price will be heavily dependent on the material costs in a year from now. They could very well follow the cost of gas.

The Prius still uses gas, the Volt could possibly never use any. At today's prices the Prius costs 4.4 cents per mile (gas at $1.75) and the Volt costs 0.3-0.6 cents per mile. The Volt's warranty is also almost twice as long as the Prius'. Like I said, your arguments are never weighing in all sides of the argument. Its easy to say negatives, especially when you don't bother to inform yourself.

why do you attack people? this site is for conversation, information, and debate. as one who has endured your personal insults, I can say that it detracts from your sometimes intelligent posts.

[zete]

Originally Posted by Gung_Ho

Someone looking to "make a statement" will pass on the Volt because it looks as ordinary as a gas-guzzling Chrysler Sebring sedan. "Looks" do matter to the consumer who is trying to make a statement. The people who bought the Prius think that it "looks" like an futuristic electric car.

The Volt concept car received many praises for its looks. Why couldn't the production car look more like this? Consumers would be willing to sacrifice a little aerodynamics to get a cooler design like this. The new Camaro didn't lose all of its sharp angles.

What century are you living in? The Japanese love us Americans.

GM can make it stand out with paint jobs and the Volt badges -- esp. if those badges light up at night -- as well as a lot of marketing. The car isn't like any other car and doesn't look like any other GM, thus GM an make it make a statement. It doesn't have to look hideous or radically different. It only needs proper marketing and positioning.

As for your "What century are you living in?" comment, I'll just say you obviously didn't comprehend my comment. The regimes I'm thinking of ship the US oil. Every barrel the US doesn't import from a hostile or semi-hostile regime is a dollar left in the US. Thus the Volt addresses a US National Security issue: energy independence!

[zete]

Originally Posted by Buickman

ah but price is an issue. so is appearance. common knowledge has it that the Prius will remain much less expensive than Volt. Prius is proven, Volt is not. the Japanese aren't standing still either. relying on Volt to save GM is a mistake. it will end up being a niche vehicle and a money loser. then again, Red Ink Rick is still running the place so what would you expect but more losses?

The Volt is obviously going to be a niche product, at least initially. Even at full-out production they'll make 100,000 units. That's nothing. When that drivetrain gets put into a lot of cars and GM can crank out 1M E-Flex cars, then we'll have something.

But GM needs something to show their engineering prowess. Toyota has said it can't be done, but GM is nearly there. Toyota has bet on their Prius while GM is betting on the Volt as well as their 2-Modes and BAS/BAS+ systems. I think GM's solution is better, and it matches what Mercedes and BMW are up to (2-Mode + mild hybrids).

Also notice that after GM announced the Volt a lot of other folks jumped on the bandwagon: BMW (electric Mini), Dodge, Nissan, etc. Even Tesla admitted their sedan was to be built similarly to the Volt in terms of drivetrain.

The Volt will make GM relevant again -- like the original iMac made Apple relevant again. But, like Apple, GM needs to get the rest of their lineup redone. Had Apple stopped with that original iMac they'd probably be gone, but they put out a slew of new Macs, OS X, and the iPods. And they just kept going. GM has to do the same thing. They have to take the technology from the Volt and put it into a variety of other cars, either in milder form or in identical form. E-Flex Cadillacs -- esp. an E-Flex Cadillac ULS -- would move Cadillac to a new level. E-Flex based trucks would also be a huge plus, pushing their mileage upwards substantially even if the battery packs were smaller than the Volt's and offered something like 10 miles on electric only.

I keep looking at E-Flex and the Volt and seeing it becoming the next gen drivetrain system from GM. You can get "regular" petrol drivetrains or you can get these E-Flex systems for more, but suck substantially less gas. I'd love to see a next gen Camaro have an E-Flex option. It would move, be silent, and get incredible mileage.

The question is: Does GM have the time?