I truly hope it turns out that you are completely wrong. I want the Volt. It’s the only car I’ve every truly wanted. I’ve always seen cars as simply transportation. I never thought much about cars except when I needed to buy one and then it was only to fill a void.

The Volt is one that I think about daily. Not obessively but I am indeed hooked. I’ve never thought about an impending car purchase like I think about the Volt. If it were available this fall I’d be buying one.

If it turns out to be smoke and mirrors on GM’s part, I will be turning to a foreign manufacturer that can supply me with an electric car, whomever it turns out to be.

I want to support GM because it’s domestic and in my home state. Whether they ever receive my purchase dollars again depends on the Volt coming out in 2010. It’s that simple.

It is fun to dream and fantasize about glass roofs, LCD intrument panels, heads up displays, magic finger massaging seats and launching nuclear tipped missiles from Navy submarines in the Pacific with one touch of the OnStar button.

But let us all be realistic.

The cold hard reality comes down to dollars and what the average American is willing to and can pay.

If GM is serious and wants to sell this car to the general public, The Volt can not cost 30K, 35K, 40K or up. For Christ sake the car is the size of the Chevy Cobalt,

I not convinced that GM is at all serious about selling these vehicles, There is alot of hype, but from personal experience, GM sure does not seem committed in selling their current crop of Hybrids.

Where are the targeted TV advertisements? There are none. When I go to local dealers in the Raleigh/Durham area, whether Saturn, Chevy or GMC, there are none of these cars available. Also when you look at their websites in the small print it says Limited availability. At the Saturn dealer I was actively discouraged not to purchase the Aura Hybrid by the sales agent.

I can already hear some of the people here try to compare the Audi A4, or the Mecedes C Class as examples of similar sized cars that cost just as much. Hell, even the Cadillac CTS is in that range.

But let us be serious about that as well. If they cost the same… Chevy or Audi? I would choose the Audi. Chevy or Merecedes? I would choose the C-class. If the choice was between the Chevy and the Cadillac CTS, give me the Crested Wreath.

In reality, it makes more sense to make it a Cadillac at that price point. I think that is what the Cadillac Provoq show car built on the E-Flex platform was all about. The Provoq was a surprizingly well thought out, well finished and well excecuted car for being just a concept.

GM knows they can not make the Volt at a reasonable price for the average American. But they can get away with it at $ 40K under the Cadillac nameplate.

Right.

I freaked out over the price and I absolutely DO NOT want all these gizmos and fancy things.

To be clear, these would all be cool options to have. I just don’t want to be forced to pay for them if I ever buy a Volt.

Compared to what? A BMW? Most average folks don’t drive Beemers. Remember, this is an electric Chevy Cobalt.

They showed this along with several other interior concepts. It’s a Cadillac concept.

Interesting, but how about several iterations of this exercise:
Take this, then imagine Steve Jobs yelling in your face “That fucking sucks!!!”
and do another version
repeat

Glass roof: I hated the idea of a see-through roof. Now that it can be opaque, I like it a lot.

Shifter: Why? It is not necessary and adds weight to the car.

Wants and desires: I want an ejector seat on the passenger side. I want the car to act like a submarine. When I am in a traffic jam, I want to push a button and the car turns into a flying machine. I want a 1000 miles on a single charge of battery.
And I want this in the Volt 1.0 and I want it all for less than $10,000 total.

Of course, a purchase like this will involve straight economics, too. Many will simply not be able to afford this vehicle when it comes out. Things look grim now, with recession looming, a painful surprise on the price.

Maybe in a couple years things will be very different, an economy rebounding, battery prices down, the yen up, dollar down, gas way up, etc.

The value equation could all shift.

But the intangible coolness of having a car with all the romantic electrochromatic possibilities, the statement about American engineering your kids will always remember, the statement about American energy independence, the statement about Global warming, all that makes me wonder where does my real discretionary income go, and for what emotional needs.

If I put aside a little to make this purchase possible, will that be worth the buzz. If not, at least I’ll have the $$$ for some other statement-free gizmobauble.