Leasing si NOT ending, the INCENTIVES for leasing is ending. GM is no longer going to subsidize lease rates. Leasing was popular because the cost of cars was rising faster than the income rates. Now costs are dropping and incomes are still rising making purchasing a better bet for incentives.

You can still lease cars, but the RATE will be market driven and not subsidized.

Nobody sells very many of them. Not Toyota, Not Nissan, Not VW, Not Honda and GM and Ford will not either.

I suspect most Americans will consider the next models up the size scale. The Cruze Corrola, Civic, Focus type vehicles. But the real market is one size up from that bunch and two sizes up from these micros. The Accord, Camry, Malibu, Altima, Fusion, Sebring family sedans are the volumeleaders of the sedan market. When an Accord sized vehicles is achieving 30-40 mpg as that family will soon do, who really wants something smaller, for more mileage. Volts’ wil be in the Cruze sized group of cars like the Civic and Corolla and it will get to over 100mpge, so who cares about mileage then?

Tune the motor to run at its most efficient rpm, and leave it there, rather than have it range from 1500-6000 rpm. Think that’ll help? Then, disconnect the gas motor from the drive train, and let the electric motor (which has 100% torque at 0 rpm, unlike ICEs) fill that gap. Pad the difference with high-capicity capacitors or batteries, and you’ll have an efficient vehicle.

I’m a right-wing nut, and I drive a 1986 Mazda pickup that I converted to battery electric. It’ll go 70mph, with a range of 30 miles (higher, if I slow down).

It wasn’t cheap (about $8,000), but then, if every salvage yard had controllers and electric motors on even 1/4 the cars, it wouldn’t cost nearly as much… I’d be able to rebuild/convert nearly any vehicle from parts in the salvage yard.

Where is the American Ingenuity? Its been outsourced and regulated out of business.

Is it safer than a motorcycle? Then sell to those who don’t mind the compromise (like me). Can’t do that? ah – meddlesome government. Thats what we need. Its not safe to do ______. Lets create laws to prevent everyone from doing it.

I think (sarcastically spoken) that we ought to ban motorcycles, parachuting, beer, depression, heck, cars aren’t safe. more people die from car wrecks than from anything else. We should ban them altogether (sorry for the sarcasm, but the oxymoron of government “protecting us from ourselves” needs to be seen for what it is: government overstepping its bounds again, and meddling into everyday affairs).

We are frogs in warm pots.

Speaking of resources: We have all these vehicles all over the world. The Lupo gets 75mpg, and runs on clean diesel.
Does ANY American vehicle come close? Ford claims that their Mustang is one of their “fuel-efficient” vehicles – Clearly, they’ve NOT “driven a ford lately to the gas pump”

As a followup to my #106, I think we need to get away from pitting conservativsm against liberalism. I’m all for making the “correct” decisions and not being wasteful with our resources, both physical and monetary. But, as you pointed out, sometimes you have to invest to create wealth. Even political conservatives can lead principled liberal lives. Usually, there is no obvious correct decision. There is only the gamble.

You are way behind in your technology . I wish I could share some information with you, but you will just have to wait We are looking at several reclamation projects that will astound you. Their are several patients that have been granted that place the info I gave you at near zero emission.
Sorry but I do disagree with you because we need the energy and it is better produced here than purchasing it from the middle east. I take it from the way you are writing you are from the San Francisco area, nothing against that but you need to get down in the trenches with us producers, it will give you whole different perspective. In any case there are many new technologies on the horizon so we will have to just wait and see what shakes out.