Count on it.

Peace,

Martin

 

Depends on whether the important thing is number on the window sticker or gallons saved based on rational choice. A person who needs an SUV and opts to buy a 2-Mode will save more net gallons of gasoline per year than a person in the market to buy a D-Segment mid size sedan who opts for a hybrid version.

In terms of total gallons used, the the hybrid sedan wins. In terms of total gallons saved, the hybrid SUV wins.

Peace,

Martin

 

OK Mr. Satisfied GM employee, I will direct my feedback directly to you since you are so satisfied with GM (oh and GM to many - mean GAS MONEY- which you certainly need plenty driving a GM vehicle).

First of all, it takes nerve being on a "green hybrid" site and supporting GAS GUZZLING vehicles which are the majority of GM products in production. Just ask yourself, Mr. GM, how many of GM vehicles get more than 25mpg? Hmmm, the Chevy Aveo which SHOULD fall into that category doesn't even get good mileage. An Infiniti G35 with 280 hp gets better gas mileage.

You should take offense to GM's lack of listening to the what the customer actually wants....

AT $4 per gallon, we are looking for a gas economy solution NOT MORE BUMMERS!

As an American car company, GM SHOULD BE ASHAMED of themselves, one of the last to plan for a gas economy car. NOTICE I SAID PLAN, I have not seen a VOLT on the market yet and will NOT BELIEVE IT UNTIL I SEE IT!!

You people at GM JUST DON'T GET IT- let me make it simple for you to understand...

WE ARE ALL SICK OF PAYING FOR GAS GUZZLING VEHICLES and supporting BIG OIL. WE NEED OTHER SOLUTIONS like ELECTRIC, PLUG-INs etc.

Of course, thanks to the foreign automakers, we now have choices... SHAME ON GM for letting the foreign automakers beat you to market!

 

First off, let me make it clear that I don't want to engage in California bashing. I don't like GM bashing, so I try to stay away from CARB bashing, Toyota bashing, etc...... BUT........

You can thank CARB for contributing to all the work being done on Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles. In a well meaning effort to catalyze technology development, CARB has devised a very complicated ZEV / PZEV / ATPZEV crediting scheme that provides incentives for automakers to develop and place into commerce commercially viable fuel cells. Automakers were going to due some amount of research into fuel cells anyway because of the potential to remove petroleum from the propulsion discussion. The CARB credit incentives push automakers to go a bit further in order to earn some fairly impressive credits. As a result you have Honda's Clarity program, GM's Equinox Fuel Cell program, and a Toyota program that will likely be launched soon.

Keep in mind that the Volt can run on E85, so only 15 - 20% of the fuel would actually come from petroleum.

Most automotive leases are OPEN END leases, meaning when the lease is complete, you have 2 or 3 options....1: Return the vehicle 2: Purchase the vehicle 3: (not available in all cases) Extend or renew the lease. The EV-1 lease and the Honda Clarity lease are both, by design, CLOSED END leases. This means the consumer does not have options at the end of the lease.


There was always a plan to crush the ones that were not needed for further product development. I mean, logically speaking if you KNOW your not going to resell them (closed end lease) why keep them around?

Pricing has not been set and won't be until very near actual production target date.

Hope I helped, Steve

Peace,

Martin

 

Ok. I asked respectfully that you refer to me by my screen name or my chosen name. You chose to clown anyway, so I've added you to my ignore list. So sorry we couldn't be civil about this, but I don't have time for foolishness.

 

Here's the issue......Energy storage density. When you compare the amount of energy stored in a normal sized fuel tank to the amount of energy stored in an equal sized battery, the density ratio is about 100X in favor of the gasoline tank. So if you are truly going to replace the fuel tank with a battery, with TODAY'S technology, you either need a battery roughly 100X the size of a gasoline tank OR you need constant access to a recharging source OR you need some way to efficiently recharge the battery on board.

That's why the Volt concept was framed as an EXTENDED RANGE Electric Vehicle. In city driving situations, it's fairly easy to get through a day's driving with no oil usage. But for that weekend trip of several hundred miles, you don't worry about being stranded.

For city vehicles, electric is VERY doable. GE just sank a lot of money into THiNK, which already makes Neighborhood Electric Vehicles. The thing with city vehicles is you are never too far from your next re-charge. With vehicles that see a lot of inter-city or inter-state driving, that next charge might be further away than is easily managed by the driver.

Peace,

Martin

 

I think the Volt model is the correct one. Those that want to avoid paying for fuel can avoid doing so by limiting their daily driving, and those that need the extra range have it.

GM has a new issue on it's hands though - bad gas. For those that are charging every night and rarely burning the gasoline in their tank, the engine is going to have issues with the gas going bad in the tank. Does E85 go bad? Maybe E85 would be be a better option for those that don't burn through a tank quickly.

 

"California's part in all this was to develop an infrastructure to support the EV-1s and other potential electric vehicles to be marketed in California. California never came through on their commitment."

Huh. did not know this. You mean I can't blame GM for the EV-1 demise, it was actually an entire state? Where does that little bit of data come from? Just wondering. I know according to all the GM ads that I should be fine driving their high-MPG vehicles...when, in fact, I'm not.

And who GM sold the EV-1 battery tech to MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE! C'mon, an oil company holding patents for an EV battery tech that DID power EVs, displacing ALOT of gas and oil use? Tell me another good one. Yeah, if the EV-1 battery tech was sold to non-fossil fuel company, I might be driving a "gas-free" EV right now. Maybe even from GM, the leader in EVs not so long ago. Nice forward thinking. Wow, can it be even sadder...oh, yes, I foresee us taxpayers bailing out GMs short-sightedness WAY before a 'volt' comes to my driveway.

Oh well, back to the imported cars...

 

Yeah, I know. Makes about as much sense as GM selling Isuzu and Subaru shares to Toyota......Oh, wait! That did happen!

But seriously, oil companies are hedging their bets by investing in related, though somewhat conflicting products, much like the tobacco companies investing in food and health care companies as that whole mess was unraveling.

Peace,

Martin

 

It's a wonderful day in the Neighborhood... Won't you be mine...Won't you be mine...Won't you be my Neighbor...Hi! Neighbor