Chevy Volt - What Were They Thinking?

[rat_avatar]

@Bemused

You can always tell the early adopters. They’re the ones with the arrows sticking out of their butts.

I wouldn’t buy a hybrid today. Maybe a decade from now, but not today. I understand all the arguments in favor, but I almost always ride a motorcycle and I’m getting 50 MPH anyway unless I’m really getting on it in which case I get 45.

But wait until hybrids start appearing on the used car market, and watch how cheap they are. They’ll be dirt cheap; the people who bought 'em new are going to get hammered.

Why? Two reasons: first, the battery. Second, advances in technology. The battery represents half or more of the cost of one of these cars, and it’ll fail. I suspect that for most people the claims of 100K miles from the battery will prove high. I have reasons for that suspicion, but going into them would just bulk up the post. Suffice it to say, they’re going to go bad.

And when it goes bad, a new one is going to cost many, many, many dollars. So an 80K miles hybrid that appears on the market will have a battery value depreciated to zero, and the ordinary vehicle depreciation on top of that - and that vehicle depreciation will be extra high because of new technology.

Our electric car technology is in its infancy. All the controls, the motor and engine management, the battery management, the regenerative braking systems…all new. All immature. All more than likely buggy.

Oh, they’ll get better as the manufacturers gain experience. But guess who’s going to pay for that experience? The early adopters, that’s who.

Bless the early adopters; they lead the way and they’ll pay heavily for it. That $40K Chevy Volt purchased today will be on the market in 5 years for $3K. And in 5 years, the new hybrids will be cheaper than today’s Volt, and better. Of course, since we’re talking Chevy, they might not be much better, but they’ll be better and all the better quality brands will have been learning as well.

2002 Prius don’t sell that cheap, the first gen toyotas have had a sub 1% battery failure rate and the second generation is even lower.

The battery in my car is warranted for 10 years and 100K miles.

When batteries do fail it is often possible to replace individual cells and there will be a source of complete packs from wrecked cars. This industry already exists for the earlier cars.

[ralph124c]

I think the Volt, Tesla, and Fiskars electric cars will join the Edsel , in the ranks of failed efforts. The real solution is to convert a gasoline car to CNG-virtually zero emissions, engines will last 500,000 miles, sparkplgs never need changing.
Plus, the conversion costs about $2000.
Forget the electric car-until low cost fuel cells become available.

[Procrustus]

@Magiver

The Volt is not a technical achievement beyond launching a hybrid configured with more batteries. It’s not failing because of a right wing propaganda, it’s failing because nobody wants it. The niche is too narrow and the price is too high. you can buy 2 Prius’s for the price of a Volt. .

Well, not quite. As someone who actually has bought two Prius’s (we say Prii), and a Volt in the last three years, I can tell you that you can’t buy two Prii for the price of one Volt. Especially if you factor in the $7,500 tax credit. I will agree, however, the Volt is expensive.

I’m a big fan of the Prius, and my wife still drives her 2010 model. I’m also a big fan of the Volt. They’re very different cars, however.

[Patty_O_Furniture]

Update: Chevy Volt sales surge in CA, outselling Corvette

According to an analysis of registration data from January through March provided by R.L. Polk, the Detroit Free Press reports that California bought more Volts by far–837 of them–than in the second-highest state, which was Michigan at just 232.

California buyers are crucially important to the future success of Detroit’s automakers, who sell far fewer vehicles there than Asian and European brands.

So it seems that some of the dire predictions made in this thread were a bit premature.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@Patty_O_Furniture

Update: Chevy Volt sales surge in CA, outselling Corvette

So it seems that some of the dire predictions made in this thread were a bit premature.

So you’re saying electric cars still have a lot of… potential?

[Diceman]

@Bryan_Ekers

So you’re saying electric cars still have a lot of… potential?

Pure electric cars, no. They’re doomed for the foreseeable future. Hybrid-electric cars like the Volt, however, may be able to carve out a sustainable niche for themselves.

[Patty_O_Furniture]

Barring unexpected resistance, of course.

[Tom_Scud]

It’s so hard to keep current with these developments.

[Lobohan]

I find this whole thing very shocking.

[robert_columbia]

Do you think that GM will have the capacitance to predict the market trends, or will they decide that they are FET up and go into bankrupcy again?

Maybe some executives will be facing charges in the next few years.

[Chimera]

I still want to get a Chevy Volt and then get a “VOLTRON” personalized plate.

[steronz]

I find the Volt to be very… a-peel-ing.

Err, um…

I mean, it’s eggs-actly what I’m looking for.

No, wait.

The Volt’s electrons make me rock hard.

Well that’s not right either.

The Volt is associated with various concepts relating to electricity.

Fuck it, I give up.

[Chimera]

@steronz

I find the Volt to be very… a-peel-ing.

It does generate a lot of buzz

[SmellMyWort]

Not that I have a problem with the frequency, but hasn’t there already been one thread this week that devolved into a series of electrical puns? I can’t really fault you for doing so and I’m not one to buck the trend.

[Dog80]

@Patty_O_Furniture

Update: Chevy Volt sales surge in CA, outselling Corvette

So it seems that some of the dire predictions made in this thread were a bit premature.

Problem is that the Volt doesn’t compete with the Corvette, but with the Honda IMA and the Toyota Prius. Unless it comes even close to the sales of those two, color me unimpressed.

[Telemark]

@Dog80

Problem is that the Volt doesn’t compete with the Corvette, but with the Honda IMA and the Toyota Prius. Unless it comes even close to the sales of those two, color me unimpressed.

I believe this is for May 2012: http://green.autoblog.com/2012/06/01/chevy-volt-sales-climb-to-1-680-in-may-nissan-leaf-rebounds-to/

Prius Liftback: 13,053
Prius C: 3,693
Prius V: 3,645
Prius Plug-in: 1,086

Volt: 1680

Nissan Leaf: 510

So the Volt was the best selling plug-in in the US. But plug-in sales are much lower than hybrid sales. The Prius dwarfs all other models.

[Bryan_Ekers]

@SmellMyWort

Not that I have a problem with the frequency, but hasn’t there already been one thread this week that devolved into a series of electrical puns? I can’t really fault you for doing so and I’m not one to buck the trend.

Then don’t be so negative.

We need somebody named Anne to make a point in this thread, then when it was disputed, I could say “Hey, it’s not like Anne owed you details for every contingency.”
Someone named Kath will do as well.

[Chimera]

Anne owned me money, but Kath et her.