
I had the experience of being interviewed by Degan McDowell on the Fox Business Network on Monday.
I continue to be amazed at how much exposure this site is getting, and the opportunity to discuss the Volt on mainstream national media was quite exciting.
After all, one of the main objectives of this site is to spread the word. A lot of people still haven’t heard about the Volt or know what it represents. I believe that once somebody truly considers being able to drive normally without gasoline they will definitely wish to do so.
Thanks to the reader who uploaded the video to YouTube.
Also, I just completed an interview for NBC Nightly News New York. I’ll let you know when it will go on the air.
Popularity: 3%
April 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
NP it was an excellent interview. Lyle, tough to believe that GM didn’t hand pick you because this kind of good fortune doesn’t happen by accident, and I’m sure GM knows it.
Keep up the good work.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Great interview Lyle!!! Keep up the great work drawing attention to the Volt.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
So sweet!
April 9th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I noticed the tags they were running under the video were wrong:
one said “The Volt is gas free” - Wrong. Only the 1st 40 miles are gas free.
one said “The Volt has an electric engine” technically incorrect - it has an Eletric Motor AND an engine. (gas or flex, we’ll see)
April 9th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Lyle Dennis - Neurologist, Auto Blogger, Rock Star!
April 9th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
#4
It has an electric motor and a generator. If you must be totally accurate.
The point is, main stream coverage like this is worth a lot to GM. You must have earned your Volt by now Lyle ! Good work buddy.
Note to GM. If you make the range extender a fuel cell you would qualify for 5 credits (maximum) under the CARB mandate. A hell of a lot cheaper than the money you are wasting doing it the other way. IMHO.
The fuel cell would be cheaper as well, smaller and constant output.
Limited run H2 only just for CARB, himm, that sounds familiar.
Think about the good PR BOB !!!
Kind Regards
David
April 9th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I think this sort of press only keeps the pressure on GM. That July deadline is quickly approaching, and we are all looking forward to some SERIOUS SCRUTINY from our Volt reporter. That clip was probably viewed by a couple hundred thousand people, who the heck knows?!
April 9th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Lyle
Good job.
Take Care
Arch
April 9th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Lyle is a “natural.” It makes sense that a neurologist is a Volt enthusiast. Both the nervous system and the Volt involve electrochemistry. I hope that, once he gets his Volt, he won’t tinker with it too much. I fear he may create a hybrid, bionic entity that becomes self aware.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Way to go Lyle!
April 9th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Lots of potential is being demonstrated. That’s very good. It can serve well with the early stages of rollout… when Volt begin to appear in people’s driveways. However, until that actually happens, merit cannot be awarded.
Two-Mode is a very recent example of that. All the messages posted about it before rollout were a good build up. But so far, delivery has been quite underwhelming.
The means stay credible in the meantime. Don’t build up expectations that could have a backlash… like “gas free”. The sucessful penetration to mainstream consumers depends on the difference being made. They’ll see what the vehicle actually does and make their own judgement.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Great interview!! I think the more of these you give the more you will educate the general public and politicians on the viability and benefits of this technology. I live in CA and with the new lower CARB rules it seems that some education is necessary on how close this technology is.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
#4 Eletruk
Good catch. I also noticed at 3:39 in the video it said “Volt Can Drive Up to 40MPH”…. OUCH! Between that statement and the 40 mile electric range statement (without an explanation of the generator) people not familiar with the volt must have thought “Big Deal”
Let’s hope we can dispel those rumors here… Currently, 400 mile total anticpated range to date with the onboard generator (reduced from 640), and a top speed of 100MPH.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
#9 ThombDbhomb,
“Lyle is a “natural.” It makes sense that a neurologist is a Volt enthusiast. Both the nervous system and the Volt involve electrochemistry. I hope that, once he gets his Volt, he won’t tinker with it too much. I fear he may create a hybrid, bionic entity that becomes self aware.”
Maybe we should update this commercial for the EV-1 with Lyle and the Volt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5TLUIU5KFI&feature=related
April 9th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Lyle,
I learned alot about you in that interview. Fantastic job.
I had to watch the video a second time to catch the typo errors. I’m sure most people missed it.
Anyways, why do they think it is still a concept? I’m under the impression that they babies are being made.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Has the range actually been reduced to 400????
April 9th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Good job Lyle, as usual!
April 10th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Stop talking about range of 400 or 640 (not talking about here). Range is unlimited just like the car you drive now. What is the range of my truck? I don’t know, never given it any thought… who cares. I know when to fill up and that is all that anyone needs to know. By non-volters hearing something like the range of the vehicle they are going to think that they will need to recharge it after 400 miles and make it useless for long trips.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Lyle, great job. The more the mainstream learns of this, the better off we will all be, including GM.
You are really getting good at this thing, Lyle. Thank goodness we have someone like you at the helm.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Nick, #17, Apparently omegaman66 at #19 took exception with your question. So how about this instead: “Has the gas tank really been reduced from 12 gallons to 8 gallons?”
Frankly, I only heard that here and I doubt it. If someone has proof of that, I would be interested in seeing it.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Lyle, Very nice job. I liked the Mercedes-to-Volt bit at the end. Are you going to wear a helmet cam for the mule drive?
April 10th, 2008 at 6:44 am
About the 400 mile range. Are there many drivers out there that drive for more than 400 miles between bathroom breaks? Not me. Additionally, a plug-in hybrid with a 400 mile range will probably go longer during normal weekly driving than a non-plug-in ICE car with a 600 mile range. You get 40 miles a day X 7 days = 280 miles of electric range alone. Add the 400 miles of ICE range and you get 680 miles. Can we all relax about the 600 mile range? If you’re that crazy about it install a spare tank in your trunk. If it’s a huge problem there will be an after-market fix. I would call it, Gas sacks.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Reducing the gas tank to get the range to 400 miles, instead of 640 miles, makes a lot of sense. Today, most cars do not get 400 miles on a tankful. People have to stop when taking a trip of 400 miles to eat, stretch and gas-up. For the Volt not to carry that extra weight of gas makes a lot of sense.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Great job on the interview Lyle! Also, thanks to whomever posted the interview for the rest of us to see–I missed it when it was originally aired. Please follow up the same way when the NBC interview becomes available.
The more people know about this vehicle, the more momentum it will have, and the strength of impact it can make on our driving world. To GM: Don’t let up, and don’t lose focus! Keep pushing forward!
April 10th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Billr #24,
Thank you for the link. I am disappointed, but for long trips only.
Unlike some people here, I don’t stop until I need gas. I keep food in the car during long trips. But for everyday use, it’s perfect. My current car gets 430 miles to a tank which is 15 gallons. But I paid $3.47 a gallon yesterday. Too much. The Volt will help significantly.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Wow, great interview - GM has an outstanding advocate!
… so is Degan McDowell as hot in person as she seems on TV?
April 10th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I have to be honest…go figure.
Your interview was just a smidge dull…may I suggest ‘jazz hands’ next time?
http://bp2.blogger.com/_9ENRgShB4N8/Rrtp0oVDsyI/AAAAAAAAArI/_GLQQCZaXdY/s320/spirit+fingers.jpg
April 10th, 2008 at 8:23 am
#17 #21 et al:
I’ve read some articles that states the range has been reduced for space and weight reasons (removing the original dual tank setup for a single tank setup. I think this was made known at the dog-and-pony that Lyle attended. An article stating this reduced generator range is shown here: http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1428
Second page, “Do you show both gallons of fuel in the tank, which has shrunk to a single tank that GM is now estimating will give the car 350-400 miles range, instead of the original 640 projected for the concept car. Do you display digital bars of remaining energy in the battery pack similar to my Insight?”
There is another article that someone posted here previously (possibly from Popular Mechanics) that also described this reduced gas range.
#19:
My concern was sort of on the lines of your comment, in that if the Fox News channel stated a 40 Mile Electric Range, combined with stating the Volt uses No gas, then people would infer that the Volt can only go 40 miles.
The non-electric range of 400 miles on a single tank is largely meaningless, except that I personally won’t be able to run the generator on Ethanol alone for my 400 mile trips unless more pumps get installed.
I’m assuming the generator will be FlexFuel, and if so that wouldn’t be a problem anyway.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:35 am
I’ll start out by apologizing for my post last evening. ThombDbhomb was right to call me on it. That said, while I think Lyle did a great job, Fox makes me very uncomfortable.
1. I think that it is pretty standard practice in the industry to minimize the size differences of the interviewer and interviewee. Examples: Leno and Letterman are both over 6′2″ but you don;t see them towering over guests. My folks’ local newscaster is 5′5″ but he looks the same size as everyone else on the set because they use camera angles and seating arrangements to minimize differences. There are several shots, short and long, where the interviewer towers over Lyle, or where giant hands flash in front of his face. This was the point of my crude joke about the size of the interviewer: there was something very abnormal about they way Fox set up and directed the interview.
2. Size matters. It’s not an accident that Lutz is over 6′2″. Even though less than 1% of the population is (or at least was) under 6′2″, over half of all CEOs are over 6′2″. For whatever reasons, size is hard-wired into of psycology to be associated with leadership. Example: every president since Nixon has been over 6 foot, and all except Carter (naval academy grad) and W (no excuse) were college atheletes. We associate credibility with size. Remember those Dukakis in a tank ads?
3. The tone of one of the questions was incredulous, “But Dr. Dennis, we don’t even know if this is going to work…”
4. Fox is good at playing on our base psychology. Watch Hannity and Colmbes. Within three episodes you will see the camera go to Hannity rolling his eyes and/or making a face while Colmbes is making a subtle point. It is straight out of 6th grade.
5. Fox reinforced the #1 current limitation of electric vehicles currently on the market (40 MPH flashing under Lyle’s face).
I look forward to seeing Lyle’s NBC interview. Before you take me to task, compare the two and see if there are not differences in tone, setting, and camera angles. I think that Fox put a spin on the interview that attempted to marginalize the Volt and Volt enthusiasts.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:49 am
I agree with #4. Great job Lyle! If you haven’t earned enough free publicity for GM to get a free car no one has, Keep up the good work.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:52 am
P.S. I also think you should be the first reporter to drive a mule in July!! Good Luck.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Go Lyle! That was a great interview. I too, am holding onto my E320 until the Volt gets released. I’ll keep my 18 year old Miaza (mint) as a second car.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:25 am
We all know the technology and software that is needed for the battery system is already working in the mules with the Non Lithium batteries… Now just pop in the new batteries…and if it looks good (which it will)… Put the VOLT on the Market….late 2009 and get the jump on the other guys…
As for the limited dispersement of the first Volts. It does not matter where GM sells them…. Canada (yes Please), the US, Austraila…GM has entire network of parts out there… Purolator / Fedex any part over night to the Dealer that has a Volt in need of repairs…. and ALL GM Service dealerships have internet access to ALL Technical and service manuals for ALL GM vehicles ever made and for all the new ones that will be coming…
GM. Central Alberta Canada….. I need a Volt.. I was in the first 500 on the sign up list….
Where do I send my deposit?
(and make it in Black please)
April 10th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Side note:
Mitsu is ramping up marketing for it’s all electric i-miev coming to market in 2009…according to the CEO, Mitsu still plans on ‘worldwide release’ in 2010.
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.jp/special/eco/tvcm.html
Here a technical film (in Japanese). Little long, but I think it demonstrates perfectly where we all think we should be.
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.jp/special/eco/whats_movie.html
April 10th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Great interview. Let’s leave Fox vs NBC out of this. It strikes too close to politics. We have enough of that outside this forum.
I really wish GM could move much faster with the introduction of the Volt.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Statik #34
I just finished viewing the Mitsu. It kind of reminds me of the Smart for Two only with two more doors. It is not in english so I don’t know what equipment it will have available. Living in South Texas, it is necessary to have A/C. This really doesn’t look like much of a car to me. What your take on this and what is the price tag??
Thanks, Tom
April 10th, 2008 at 10:22 am
#36 Tom
The car is not much to look at…no question. (Yes, it has a/c…I own a Smart Fortwo coincidently, hehe).
If you convert Mitsu’s estimated price when it goes on sale in Japan (2.5 million yen, lol)…it would be around 23.5-24.. Apparently it will eventually be sold in two forms, standard and extended range.
Will get 160km (100 miles) in it’s initial form, so thats more than enough, considering we hear about how we will rarely ever go over 40 miles in a Volt…but you still need a alternate vehicle for long distances.
The kicker is the four doors/4 passenger, which is the major failing for most ‘EV vehicles’…and it is from a mjor auto manufacturing, so ‘where do I get it serviced…and from who?’ is not a issue.
Personally, I am starving for a electric vehicle from a mainstream automaker (obvious advantage), I’ve said it before, but whoever is first gets my $, I refuse to wait on hypotheticals. (…butI’m not opposed to two electric vehicles though, hehe).
April 10th, 2008 at 10:38 am
#37 Statik:
“I refuse to wait on hypotheticals.”
Well put. I can just sense the availability of the Volt to the likes of me receding into the future. 2012+? As the price of gas continues to rise - up $0.08/gal here so far this week - sooner or later people will run out of patience and make a move.
I think that a lot of the value of this “open development process” to GM is to provide a carrot to persuade the faithful to delay buying someone else’s high mileage car and wait for the Volt. It has worked with me so far, but it can only last so long.
“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
April 10th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Too bad the interviewer sounded like so much of a hick! Lyle however, was stellar.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Great interview, Lyle! I don’t know how you find the time, but thank you so much for doing this.
That is certainly one way to get national attention!
April 10th, 2008 at 10:51 am
37 Statik
Thanks for the info.
One other thing is the top speed. Here in San Antonio most of my driving is “freeway” untill we get toll roads crammed down our throat by TexDot. If we don’t drive 70+ we become endangered species.
I have one thing going for me in that I only live 18 miles from my office which has all kinds of covered parking with electrical outlets 110 only.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:04 am
#41 Tom
The top speed of the standard vehicle is electronically limited to 82 miles a hour, but it accelerates decently to the max. 0-60 is 8.7 secs average on the initial test fleet (approx 30 cars). Of note, you can change to ‘eco’ mode and be a turtle…but get a extra 10-15 miles on your range.
The ‘extended range’ incarnation/i-Miev sport will have aprox 120-130 mile range, with a 50 percent jump in hp, no numbers yet on the limited top speed, probably looking around 100.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Well, here we go again, the old codger from South Texas has to express his thoughts about the issue of giving the VOLT and other vehicles with some type of exterior noise for the hearing and sight imparied pedestrians. I for one wish to give them every advantage available. However, my question is this, what ever happened to taking responsibility for our own actions?? Most states, if not all stress that ” The pedestrian has the right of way.” I can’t tell you the number of times I have attempted to cross an intersection in the cross walk with a green walk sign and damn near get run down by drivers making a right or left turn.
It is up to each one of us driving a 2 to 4 thousand + rig to watch out for pedestrians who are unprotected.
Whatever comes of this issue, we need to be exceptional drivers and be responsible for OUR own actions to protect these people and ALL pedestrians so they are not injured or killed.
Ya’ll have a great day ! God Bless.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Good interview. If I can offer one suggestion for Lyle……..explain how the Volt works (40 miles in electric, then a gas engine/generator turns on that charges the batteries - extending its range to 650 miles). I realize you may not have had the opportunity to explain this during the interview, as I’ve done similar interviews on different subjects with the agenda-driven media. It’s very apparent that the media knows absolutely nothing about cars, let alone electric cars. The numerous printed errors during the interview (uses no gas, 40 mph, etc.) clearly shows that people are going to have a tough time understanding how the Volt works. It’s going to be very important to educate the public and remove traditional electric car stigmas in order to sell the Volt to the masses.
Keep up the good work and if you become overwhelmed with interviews, I’m sure many others here can substitute.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:28 am
#43 Tom M:
Hahaha, LOL. Someone here yesterday was imagining Lyle gliding silently around NY, and across Central Park, in a Volt. I could only remember someone else’s suggestion on this issue that each Volt should be preceded by a man on horseback with a red flag. Can’t you just picture Lyle and the Volt in beautiful Central Park with the man on horseback leading the way?
I saw yesterday that someone in Congress has seriously introduced a bill to require electric cars to make noise. What a world.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:35 am
#15 BillR
Considering my post #9, I got a chuckle out of that commercial. Thanks.
#29 MarkinWI
Thank you for taking responsibility. I have a new respect for you. You made good points about interview staging and its influence on the audience. That said, the Volt seems to appeal to many different types, including “red-staters” (US made, no $ to OPEC, etc.) So, I suspect Fox News will support the Volt. They already gave the Volt air time, albeit with errors. I suspect that the errors were due to ineptitude as opposed to malevolent intentions.
If I had to pick between reduced range and more trunk space, I’ll take more trunk space with “only” a 400 mile range. I assume later versions of the Volt will provide trunk space and long range.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Noel Park # 43
That’s all we need now is for the government to get involved. If it can be screwed up they certainly can manage that.
Thanks for your input.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Lyle — excellent interview. I thought the interviewer’s questions made it possible — enough skepticism to make the answers interesting— and the responses were great.
April 10th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Noel, If Ic
April 10th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Congratulations Lyle, it seems that the zone of influence of your initiative is growing from day to day.
I just hope that the economic/financial crisis we see developing will not create such a recession that even major companies like GM will find difficult to invest in new products.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Regarding the topic of noise to alert pedestrians… Why not have some subtle horn that the driver can use if he/she feels somebody may not know they’re approaching. Operate like a horn (another button on the steering wheel) but just makes a very low humming noise to make people aware.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
#51 Eric:
Yeah, my idea was a soothing voice, saying “Excuse me”. Maybe you could put a twist handle on it to ratchet it up to be more shrill if they didn’t take the hint. Most of you are too young to remember Nervous Norvous and “Transfusion”, but his famous line “Out of my way, I don’t drive with my horn!” comes to mind.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
The thread wandered to noise, leading me to this thought (which I probably shouldn’t suggest)…
Instead of solving the “quiet” problem by requiring everyone to make noise, couldn’t the sight and/or hearing impaired carry a device (radar detector? range finder? Motion sensor?) that tells them if cars threaten them?
April 10th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Glad to see Volt getting so much press. Can’t wait to get one in my garage = only long enough to recharge it and go for another 40 miles on my solar panel generated electricity. But if I had my choice for a body style, I think these guys have it right…
http://www.sintesi.pininfarina.com/features.html
April 10th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Awesome work Lyle! Can’t wait to keep reading more about the Volt… can’t wait until you get to go drive one of the mules for us!
April 10th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
BillR said:
Lyle Dennis - Neurologist, Auto Blogger, Rock Star!
But NOT necessarily in that order!
April 10th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Polished, effective (credible) advocate.
Have come very close to purchasing my Boomer generation, post mortgaeg, post kids dream car - Corvette. Then heard about Volt, Tesla, Fisker. Would now be difficult to buy the gasser.
CorVolt!
April 10th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
#58
mortgage, that is.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Geat Job, The Man.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Why is it that so many people are interested in the noise issue? So many of the newer cars these days make little or no noise, particularly in parking lots or moving at low speeds. It sounds, (no pun intended) as if there are deaf and blind people running out into the streets everywhere. What about all the people jogging and walking around with headphones on with the music blaring? Does that mean we’ll need a louder noise? Can’t we, as responsible people, just look out for people in our paths?
Maybe I’ll buy a set of Kahlenberg horns for my Volt. They will surely warn anyone within a half mile or so that a vehicle is passing by. (just kidding)
April 10th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Looking forward to hearing what you think about the test drive!
Great spot. Keep up the great job on the site.
Thanks!
April 11th, 2008 at 12:50 am
#60 MarkFLL
“Why is it that so many people are interested in the noise issue?”
Because, as Noel Park said in #45, “someone in Congress has seriously introduced a bill to require electric cars to make noise”
April 11th, 2008 at 7:08 am
If cars have to make noise I bet I can disconnect it. I have a very quiet car and have never run over anyone in my life, sight impared or not. My current car goes 600 miles on a 10 gallons tank but my next car will use no gas at all. Honda Insight. GM when can I expect delivery of my new Chevy-Volt in Fort Myers Florida. I can hardly wait. With the new solar initiatives in Florida my solar recharging station will be ready before my VOLT is delivered. I’ll take the second one off the line because Lyle deserves the first. Geat interview
April 11th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I think the best answer to the “will it work?” question is that it *already* works. Electric cars with a usable range work now. The problem is can GM mass produce a practical car at a price people are willing to pay.
I still believe GM discontinued the EV1 because they lost money on each and every one. The Tesla Roadster is priced more like what I suspect the EV1 cost. The market for a *very* expensive third car is rather small.
I would be more than willing to buy an electric-only car with a 70 mile range (with the air conditioning ON) if it seats four people and the price is not too outlandish. I may not carpool to work, but I have errands with children after work.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:14 am
#49 Rashiid Amul:
Sorry, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me. Most of the above comment apparently did not go through, at least not to my screen. As I always value your wisdom and advice, would you try it again?
April 11th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Noel, yeah, I just got “Noel, If Ic” for post 49
April 11th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
#66 Tagamet:
Thanks. Sometimes I wonder if I’m finally losing it. No responses required on this!
April 12th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Noel Park:
Thursday was a tough day. I was writing my comment while at work, got called away from my desk for about one hour, came back and somehow my unfinished comment was entered. I reread yours, and still have no idea what I wanted to say. I’m 44 years old and suffer from the mental disease of CRS. Sorry my friend, I just can’t remember.
But I always look forward to reading yours.
April 12th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Sorry. Can’t type my own name.
Noel Park:
Thursday was a tough day. I was writing my comment while at work, got called away from my desk for about one hour, came back and somehow my unfinished comment was entered. I reread yours, and still have no idea what I wanted to say. I’m 44 years old and suffer from the mental disease of CRS. Sorry my friend, I just can’t remember.
But I always look forward to reading yours.
April 12th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Nice interview. Mercedes, oh man Lyle I’m never come back to gm-volt…where’s the prius. Just kidding, keep up the good work and I’ll keep coming back. Seriously though, buy a prius.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Yeahh…Nice talk.
Dodge Intrepid was 100% computer designed back in 1996 and took nothing but 6 months from concept to show-room. 12 years later GM is taking all these years just to resolve a simple (or impossible) battery equation.
Do you believe that?
If they were really serious about producing any EV, they would just resuscitate EV-1 with today’s technology in a few months time, and would be selling like hotcakes…and going out of business in their core one.
Roberto
dpaschoal@ev-motion.com