Bob Lutz on the Future of Green Cars and Fuel Economy

[Hell's Pariah]

+ YouTube Video

I found this on youtube. Thought you guys would find this interesting.

[Old Dood]

Interesting. Thanks for that.

They 'seemed' more intune with what the 'wealthy' are going to purchase then the rest of us 'regular folks'.
Speaking of a Cadillac getting 100mpg.
They made fun of people purchasing a Prius simply as a 'fashion statement' more then people that are actually trying to save money.
Making fun of people that live in Olympia (Wash?) as if they are all Hippies.
I lived in Olympia Washington and it is not all hippies.
All the while they are at a very expensive hotel/resort having a very expensive meal along the seashore.

What they did not really take a look at was what is their base of people looking to purchase.
The Rank & File people that need a fuel efficent vehicle.
That to me is where they should be looking at. Not just the wealthy.

I am sure there are people that buy a hybrid so they 'look' like they give a damn about the enviroment and so forth.
However, that is not so much the case anymore. Not at over $4.00/gallon.
My best friend bought a Camry Hybrid through me at the Toyota dealer I bought my car at.
I got him a pretty sweet deal last year.
Since that time two of his co-workers went to that same dealershp and bought Camry hybrids as well.
Not because of any fashion statement but, because they all travel a lot.
They drive a lot of distance between Detroit & Chicago and in between and a lot with in those cities.
They need a fuel efficent vehicle.

That was another thing I did not hear them speak about.
The Camry Hybrid or the Malibu Hybrid.
The 'regular people's cars'.

They all seemed 'out of touch' in my opinion and the rest of the gang there was doing some serious butt kissing with Bob Lutz.
Were they all Yes Men/Women?

[PMC the 1st]

I don't get it. GM cars were always known as the fashion statement alternative to Ford, which explains why GM cars were always more stylish than Fords.

The Prius is rightfully a fashion statement. Like GM cars form a long time ago, the Prius expresses the style of the driver. Can't GM "leadership" (spineless wimps who suck up to Consumer Reports) return to their styling enterprise and build a hybrid that these environmentally-concious folk would love to wear as their next fashion accessory?

Of course my post here is entirely pointless and academic in light of the Tahoe hybrid and the Chevy Volt that's on the horizon...

(why GM leadership are spineless wimps:
http://www.3autos.com/20060320/Criti...-apology,6827/ )

[gotz_otto]

I was driving on the freeway today and saw two similar yet different vehicles and I got mad at both of them.

The first was a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, I could not stop thinking about how ugly it was and wondered if the fuel economy was really that wonderful or you bought it because it said HSD on the back.

The second was a GMC Acadia, which I feel is a really nice vehicle and wondering why GM has not stuck the 2-Mode into anything other than a full size truck or SUV. Why have they not pushed it into the Acadia or Malibu. I know that it will show up in the Vue soon, but why not more and why not sooner.

On a side note I would rather have a diesel in a Malibu or Vue than a bunch of batteries.

[Sal Collaziano]

Damn. I want to see the rest of that meeting.. And more talk about a full-size Volt-type vehicle for Cadillac.

[auburnblu]

With a 40 mile range, what will be the point, I'm guessing the gas motor will get the same fuel economy as an Aveo. So anyone that drives 100 miles a day will actually get probably just a bit better mileage from the Prius. Once the Volt is out, hope for GM's sake I'm wrong or no one does the math or the Volt will stall after about 10,000 sales.

[fp115]

Originally Posted by auburnblu

With a 40 mile range, what will be the point, I'm guessing the gas motor will get the same fuel economy as an Aveo. So anyone that drives 100 miles a day will actually get probably just a bit better mileage from the Prius. Once the Volt is out, hope for GM's sake I'm wrong or no one does the math or the Volt will stall after about 10,000 sales.

Read up a little more. The generator should produce something similar to 150 mpg. How it can produce the same as an Aveo or a Prius makes no sense, at no time is the generator used to drive the vehicle, it is solely used to recharge the batteries. There is no need for more than a 40 mile range since most people's commute is 40 miles or less. Most people will never need the generator unless they decide to go on longer weekend trips.

[fp115]

Originally Posted by Sal Collaziano

Damn. I want to see the rest of that meeting.. And more talk about a full-size Volt-type vehicle for Cadillac.

You mean the upcoming SRX?

[Gagarin]

Who are these guys, anyway?

I always thought the 2-Mode was going to be tried out on the trucks first, and then get launched all over many models, and the Mild-Hybrid would be an option on many, many cars because it fits in a conventional transmission size casing, instead of the bulky Prius system.

Instead you could hardly find the 2-Mode, or the 6-speed, and the Mild-Hybrid wasn't on many cars at all, and that's hard to find, too.

Maybe if GM wasn't so cash-strapped they could have made a bold move with the technology that was emerging. That would have changed the image right there. "We offer 10 hybrid models - some of them with V8s." The economies of scale GM is capable of - or was - is so ridiculous I can't believe they didn't get those 6 speeds, Milds, and 2-Modes out accross more models.

Can you imagine comparison shopping against Ford or Chrystler models if the 6 speed and BAS were ambigitous on the dealer lots?

I know many people would have opted for 2,500 option for better fuel economy (that's NOTHING on monthly payments when you finance) and take a huge cut in their variable fuel costs...especially when it was always going up.

[bleuler]

Liberals are against personal mobility?

this guy is seriously out of touch and the douchebags around him and just kissing his butt.

What a blowhard.

[Old Dood]

Originally Posted by Sal Collaziano

Damn. I want to see the rest of that meeting.. And more talk about a full-size Volt-type vehicle for Cadillac.

I did too...AND...I wanted to see what they were served for dessert.

[regfootball]

Originally Posted by bleuler

Liberals are against personal mobility?

this guy is seriously out of touch and the douchebags around him and just kissing his butt.

What a blowhard.

a lot of them are, actually, and the whole green movement was concocted for that reason. one of them, anyways.

[Hell's Pariah]

I'm amazed that this actually caught interest, I thought everyone would be like "Meh, another youtube video." At any rate for those of you who wanted to see the rest, there are more videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/lockergnome

[auburnblu]

Originally Posted by fp115

Read up a little more. The generator should produce something similar to 150 mpg. How it can produce the same as an Aveo or a Prius makes no sense, at no time is the generator used to drive the vehicle, it is solely used to recharge the batteries. There is no need for more than a 40 mile range since most people's commute is 40 miles or less. Most people will never need the generator unless they decide to go on longer weekend trips.

But isn't it gas only after 40 miles. Maybe I'm missing something in what I have read. And if I have a short commute why am I buying an electric car? Where do a lot of the urban yuppies that live in expensive condos plug these in at? The person that might buy it with a long commute likely can't plug it in at work. Didn't the Impact have a much longer range. I remain convinced that GM has missed the mark some here. Think initial hype and fanfare will be great, then once the number crunchers and bloggers start reporting on real world results, the reality will change. Hope I'm wrong, but a Prius type vehicle would seem a better path at the moment. But kudos to em for trying, beats doing nothing.

[logansowner]

Originally Posted by auburnblu

But isn't it gas only after 40 miles. Maybe I'm missing something in what I have read. And if I have a short commute why am I buying an electric car? Where do a lot of the urban yuppies that live in expensive condos plug these in at? The person that might buy it with a long commute likely can't plug it in at work. Didn't the Impact have a much longer range. I remain convinced that GM has missed the mark some here. Think initial hype and fanfare will be great, then once the number crunchers and bloggers start reporting on real world results, the reality will change. Hope I'm wrong, but a Prius type vehicle would seem a better path at the moment. But kudos to em for trying, beats doing nothing.

So the fact that you may use some gas occasionally makes the VOlt pointless?

You assuming nobody owns a house or something? If it's not for everyone, it's for nobody?

The reason the Volt is so efficient is because the gas engine only charges the battery, no connection for electric motor to the wheels. The engine can run at a constant speed where it is most efficient, which is better than ranging from 1500-3500 that you usually are between in a large sedan.

If I buy a volt and live 40 miles from work, I can drive all the way to work on the battery, and drive home on the generator providing the electricity and getting 120 or so MPG effectively.

If you don't have a plug at home, well then no, it's not for you, but that's kinda like saying the internet is useless just because you don't have access to high speed service.