Chevy Volt May be Built in Ohio

15 Responses to “Chevy Volt May be Built in Ohio”

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   OptimisticMF Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 12:24 pm

   OOOOO AY Way to go Ohio…

   (For you Pretenders fans out there)  
   
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   Estero Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 12:26 pm

   The good news keeps coming!  
   
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   Brian Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 12:52 pm

   hopefully it is built somewhere in the U.S., and has a high domestic part content. that would encourage more people to buy a Volt instead of a next-gen Prius or whatever else is available in 3 years.  
   
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   Tim Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 1:16 pm

   The A123 batteries are made in China.

   The Volt will make use of GE Plastics for the lightweight components of the vehicle. GE Plastics was recently sold to the Saudis.

   The motor will likely be built in Asia. Even with Tesla it is.

   That’s the reality of globalization and an expense American work force.  
   
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   Steven B Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 1:23 pm

   “Buy American” doesn’t need to apply to the vehicle itself. The electricity to power it will be All-American, instead. The plastics may be from Saudi Arabia, but the fuel mostly will not.  
   
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   Tim Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 1:35 pm

   Believe it or not we import a lot of our coal. We’ve also sold most of our nuclear power plant suppliers off to foreign companies (Westinghouse to Toshiba, B&W to Areva). The US doesn’t have the ability to make large steel vessels for power plants anymore (reactor vessels, pressurizers, etc). It’s amazing what it’s come to.  
   
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   kent beuchert Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 2:44 pm

   My big question is what the Pontiac and
   Saturn versions will look like. I predict
   a crossover/SUV for Saturn and a hi po, perhaps convertible from Pontiac. The Saturn may borrow heavily from the Opel, just as their Sky did. I wonder what the folks at Buick are thinking? I figure that when we get within 10 months of roll out, it will be rather obvious what kind of competition is out there and how much demand, and that becomes the point at which Saturn and Pontiac get the go/nogo signal for their own versions, which will, after all, be largely sheetmetal and interior designs.  
   
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   SteveF Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 4:16 pm

   Do we have confirmation from GM that a Saturn E-Flex concept will be shown in next Detroit Auto Show (Jan 2008)? I thought I read that somewhere but not sure if that is for sure.  
   
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   Dave G Says:
   September 17th, 2007 at 8:43 pm

   Tim – I’m trying to verify how much coal the U.S. imports and I’m coming up empty. For example, this source:
   http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2004/06/fill_up_on_ener.html?t=archive
   says we produce more than we consume. Do you have a another reference?  
   
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    Dave G Says:
    September 17th, 2007 at 8:59 pm

    OK, I found the U.S. department of energy stats for coal. In 2006, the U.S. exported 19% more coal than we imported, and this seems typical. So saying that we import a lot of our coal seems misleading.

    Sources:
    http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/quarterly/html/t18p01p1.html
    http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/quarterly/html/t10p01p1.html  
    
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    Tim Says:
    September 18th, 2007 at 7:54 am

    #4 Tim is right. In fact, over 30% of US firms are now owned by foreign interest.

    Apparently Americans love to consume. We pay for this squander with service industries that produce nothing, with personal and public debt (much of which is also owned by foreign interests) and with gigantic trade deficits. We sold our country for that new washer & dryer while the Chinese produced, saved and invested in their future. Ultimately, the price for our indiscretions will be hyperinflation while we attempt to make the interest payments and a drastic lowering of our standard of living as we nurse our “roaring 20’s” style hangover. It was easier then because we still had our manufacturing base.

    Most of our manufacturing has now been dismantled, sold or is obsolete. It will take MANY years and much sacrifice to rebuild. So, go ahead and buy that shiny new whatever…. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article444.html  
    
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    kent beuchert Says:
    September 18th, 2007 at 9:01 am

    Does anybody know what the volume capacity of the Lordstown plant will be?
    If the E-Flex cars launch with little
    or no name brand competition, they are going
    to be in short supply if there is only one
    production facility. I still don’t think that GM has a grasp of just how popular these cars are going to be. I have a hunch that they are going to have to have two battery suppliers to keep up.  
    
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    AES Says:
    September 18th, 2007 at 10:14 am

    If A123 wins the supply contract as it’s expected to, I suspect they will have to expand their production facilities in Asia to cope with demand and to get the price lowered. Either that or they share their chemistry secrets with GM, and GM takes advantage of its own manufacturing infrastructure in Asia (or Mexico, eastern europe, etc, wherever labor is cheapest).

    That brings up an interesting question – will GM be tempted to all out buy A123?  
    
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    Dave G Says:
    September 18th, 2007 at 1:26 pm

    AES- Yes, GM may be tempted buy A123, but that would probably be a bad thing. When a large company buys a start-up, the stock options make evryone in the small company rich, so they have little motivation to work any more. I’ve seen this happen more than once.

    Here’s a better scenario. GM starts funding A123 to the point where they are the majority investor. Then, after A123 has ramped up and are delivering competitive products, GM can buy A123.  
    
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    Vincent Says:
    March 24th, 2008 at 8:56 pm

    Not to hijack the thread but this in interesting
    http://www.winknews.com/news/consumer/16896176.html  
    
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