Comments on: Chevy Volt Program is Costing GM Nearly One Billion Dollars

By: John Schupp

John Schupp — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:12:39 +0000

I hope GM has the sense not the release the Volt before it is ready. If it bombs like the Citation did, it will put us back 20 years and GM may never recover.

By: Jeff M.

Jeff M. — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 01:08:09 +0000

At the rate we are using up oil supplies we as people are setting ourselves up for an inevitable deppression. Gas prices are litteraly increasing about 2/10 a cent per gallon a day. At this rate prices will hit over $5.00 a gallon by 2010 and thats if production stays steady! I really am angry that the generation before me has ignored the problems of oil and are not doing anything to keep a global deppression from happening. You see these major car companies coming out with hybrids, big deal they still use gasoline and cannot run soley on electricity or be charged at home. Or the E-85 ethanol cars, these are good but still burn gasoline.

I really hope that our economy holds out till the volt is up for sale. Our economy can not operate with gas prices past $5.00 a gallon. If i have to sell everything I have to buy the volt I will. Then I will laugh when the Middle East says they cut production and gas prices will be going up! So hurry up GM because we need these cars today not just 3 years from now!

By: Jeff J

Jeff J — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:17:21 +0000

JohnP you nailed IT
Its all about China , for the last five years they have been adding 1 million cars a year and 200million more gl of gas every year(just China), and with over 1.5 billion people (low side ) this trend will not slow down for some time to come. Plus other Third world countries are watching US TV on satellite and seem to want a piece of pie ( the good life ) .Gas just peaked today at $3.20 gallon (low season) in Bg ky yesterday , I fear $4.00 to $4.50 at summer time during peak summer time driving season . For those of you wishing for $5.00 gallon , you just might get your wish but it will come with a Hugh price . ie. you can forget about a recession the U.S. could easily slide into a full blown depression . Its all about the cost of moving goods around the country , plus milking $200 dollars more out of a two car family monthly budget that is already struggling to make ends meat no more dinners out no more family trips ,no getting that bigger house plus that HD TV , on &on & on….It will just trickle down faster and faster. Our economy is not ready or setup to run on plus $5 gal . My cost $100 a fill up 3 tanks a month =$300 plus wify $85 x 2 = $170 ,, at $ 5.00 I will be paying $470 monthly , four years ago we here paying $145.00 .ouch. I just hope GM volt is for real , we as a nation really need this technology ASAP. IMO

By: Jon P.

Jon P. — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:35:43 +0000

To all of those that think the price of gas will drop to $1.00 a gallon once 5-10% of the market moves over to electric of some form.

I think what your not taking into account is the price of oil in 2010. If it happened today that statement is probably correct. But with the dramatic increase of middle class car owners in China & India, i think we will be paying $4.50 a gallon on average by then. So if it does slide it will only be to maybe $2.00/gal.
This is the problem once we get off oil, there’s 2 main countries under us (china,India) which represent like 2/3 of the world’s population just wating to get hooked. If there economies ever balance off enough to have a thriving middle class (which is already happening in China) they will be in the same place we were in the early 80’s.

By: Eco

Eco — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:43:01 +0000

My oh my, what a coincidence!

Luminant will spend $1 billion to cut emissions (Fort Worth Star Telegram)

By JIM FUQUAY, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
“Luminant, the power-generating unit of Energy Future Holdings, detailed a $1 billion pollution control program Monday that will outfit its older coal-fired power plants with new technology and equipment to cut emissions.”

A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon the air will be fit to breathe.

By: Eco

Eco — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:54:20 +0000

Oil will always have significant value–a barrel of oil produces hundreds of things. But as someone else said, just a 5 percent structural drop in gasoline consumption will drive a serious decrease in prices.

But…the governments (I use this term loosely) of the oil countries are addicted to 80 dollar a barrel oil. To prop up their economies to stay in power, they can’t live with less than 80 dollars a barrel anymore. The minute the spot price dropped to just over 90 a couple weeks ago, they issued statements that they’d cut production to keep it above 80.

The 50 year period of oil being just cheap enough to prevent the Volt from being produced may finally have come to an end.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:37:15 +0000

This article brings to mind a commercial once released by Apple Inc.

“Here’s to the crazy ones…” (Queue montage of various geniuses and great folk in their own right.) “The misfits, the rebels. Troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They are not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Cause the people that are crazy enough to think they can change the world… are the ones that do.”
-Apple’s Think Different campaign

By: Chevy Volt Fan

Chevy Volt Fan — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:08:00 +0000

Man, I hope GM has a big hit on their hands with this new Chevy Volt. It needs to be an ALL AROUND good car. A car that Motor Trend, Car and Driver, Consumer Reports and those guys all say is a good car. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it would sure be nice if won a few awards for quality and value and so forth like they’ve done with the new Chevy Malibu and the Cadillac CTS.

GM shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel TOO much when it comes to features that come with the car. Hell, just get some of the same people who designed the Malibu and the CTS to help design the interior and exterior, etc. It is going to have to LOOK GOOD.

The exterior of the EV1 was, er, “ok”. GM needs to make sure they focus enough on ALL aspects of the car and not too much on just the battery and powertrain and so forth …. even though those things are going to be very critical.

I want GM to have a homerun car when it comes out in 2010 … or at least a triple. Hopefully, they’ll blow the car magazine guys’ mind and the rest of us when it finally arrives. I’ll be following the development of the car every step of the way. I can’t wait to test drive one and buy one. 2010 can’t get here fast enough.

By: Wise Golden

Wise Golden — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:39:38 +0000

59 – The United States consumer controls the world price of oil. When we cut our oil usage by 5%, the price of oil will fall dramatically. We are on track to dramatically reduce usage with ethanol booming, small cars booming, hybrids booming, plug hybrids and EV’s in the pipe. Even LPG, CNG and other fuel types are booming. This will cause the bottom to fall out of the oil market in under two years — I’ve seen it before.

I’m with the others — I’m buying electric and I’m doing it for reasons other than payback, but I gotta tell you, it’s going to suck to pay all this money for an electric and watch gas go down to $1, or $1.50 — I’de like to see it go the other way, $4, $5 per gallon. The only way this can happen is if the government steps in and does it’s job. I’m as anti-government as they get as far as having the government regulate my life, but Energy, Defense, Environment, Food standards, Road building and infrastructure is where the government should be regulating — that’s where it makes sense. Our government does all of these fairly well, except energy — it seems to be “hands off” for some reason.

Hillary and Obama need to stop talking about health care and start talking about energy because that is where the need for regulation exist — not healthcare.

By: John Schupp

John Schupp — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 03:53:52 +0000

No one, not even OPEC has the power to control the worldwide price of oil. To those who would advocate a tax to regulate the price of crude, don’t we have enough government intervention in our lives. The fact that oil is going away cannot be denied. If the price does fall, it will only be because the demand has fallen. This will happen and not GM, the federal government or OPEC can do anything to stop it. Our addiction to oil will stop one way or another.