In 2005 Dieter Zetsche got his way over the objections of all his VP’s and they started selling the diesel Jeep Liberty they sell to the rest of the world (under the name Cherokee CRD).

The VP’s only agreed to selll 5,000 per year in the US. In the first 2 months, they sold 11,000 of them and had requests for another 50,000.

They could not meet the demand for the additional 50,000 units as VM Motori (diesel engine maker owned by Detroit Diesel / DaimlerChrysler) was not tooled for that many engines.

Now that GM owns the share formerly owned by DaimlerChrysler, maybe they can get a small 50 state diesel from them for the Volt.

Yeah right. Besides the fact that this is not true, you could not pay me to ride in one of these go-carts on an interstate highway. Not worth it for 33 city/40 hgwy. I was shocked when I saw how low the MPG was on these things. Why buy it?

GM continues to lie about the batteries. Jon Lauckner, for example, claims that the VOLT pack is a third of the EV1 pack by weight. But he’s a liar, because the EV1 lead-acid pack had more than twice the energy that the VOLT will deliver (18 kWh vs. 8 kWh).

Moreover, the 1000-lb. NiMH battery pack in the 1999 version of the EV1 (now almost all crushed) delivered 26 kWh, while the same weight in the Toyota RAV4-EV of the PEVE EV-95 batteries deliver up to 30 kWh.

So ceteris parabus, 400 lbs. of lead-acid would deliver 6 kWh, almost as much at the $20,000 VOLT battery! And Lead-Acid only costs $1,600. So if you only need 40 miles range, why not use the cheapest battery?

But if you want long range, don’t “research lithium”! The NiMH battery is here, now, and 400 lbs. of EV-95 NiMH would deliver 12 kWh, enough to take the VOLT 60 miles in all-electric range.

I know GM suck-ups don’t want to hear these facts; they’d rather believe Lauckner’s lies and distortions.

The fact is, Lithium has not been proven in any EV, except for the $100,000 T-Zero, the $109,000 Tesla, and the $75,000 eBox. And none of those has gone more than 50,000 miles without significant battery degradation.

The big point is AVAILABILITY. NiMH and lead-acid is WELL-PROVEN, is here, now, and is cheaper than Lithium and lasts longer than Lithium. It’s non-toxic, has a scrap value, and won’t explode or catch fire.

If GM were seriouis about the VOLT, it would make it with real batteries, instead of hedging its availablity because Lithium research didn’t pan out yet.

Join the protest, http://TaxPayersAgainstBigOil.com

A great example of greenwashing. I sure hope Volt doesn’t attempt the same nonsense.

12,000 vehicles is not a take over by any means. And how does just reduction of size & weight represent a step forward?

Prius is a little larger than Corolla, yet it delivers quite a bit better emissions & efficiency. 181,221 were sold here last year too. That’s genuine progress.

The 33000 person “waiting list” are people who said they would be interested…not people that put down payments on the cars. I would be suprised if 20% of the people on the waiting list actually buys one.

So 6600 people on the waiting list buys one, that leave 93,400 for everone else.

Let’s just guess on prices here: The EV half of the car (pack, controller, motor, etc..) will cost about $15,000 (GM claims the batteries alone will cost $10,000, but that’s probably a bit of fibbing). At $25,000, that leaves $10,000 for the traditional components. They can barely build an Aveo for that cost in Korea. I doubt they could make a Cobalt-like car for that price here in Michigan. And this isn’t considering the cost of R&D that they have to include in the price of the Volt.

$25,000 would get the volume (masses would buy these, no doubt about it, but at what cost to GM).
$27,000 would be break-even with Prius as far as initial cost plus energy cost (so a lot of people would buy it, but not “Chevy” people, and GM still wouldn’t see a profit).
$30,000 would be bare minimum (GM could sell it to break even maybe, at least that’s my guess).
$35,000 and they could see a profit (but could they really get the volume needed at this price).
$40,000 and they could sell it to the early adopters and rich and famous and make plenty of money in the first year or two (until they switch to volume sales and lower the cost for average Americans).

GM has to drop the price! If they can’t sell it in volume as an affordable Chevy, they need to rebrand it a Cadillac.

Please give this some consideration. We can we build jet airplanes that are the envy of the world, but we can’t build the best cars unless we look overseas for help!

I agree that GM deeply resented being forced to build the EV1; but it had a far greater hostility because the EV1 threatened all the internal constituencies of IC cars as well as dealer profits for repairs and oil changes.

The problem with your argument is the PRICE. If the *only* reason to fight and struggle (that’s what’s going to be required) to buy a VOLT is to save money, then no one will do it. The savings just aren’t there on $5/gallon gas. Saving 2 gallons per day, $300/month, won’t pay for the extra cost of a $40K car.

It makes more sense to buy a 37 mpg Toyota Corolla for $15,000, or even a used 20 mpg Camry, than to spend $40,000+ for a VOLT, IF the decision is based on money alone.

Of course, those who want to live free of oil, or want to finance their solar system will seek to buy a VOLT; but it’s very, very difficult to pay off a $40K car that only gets 40 miles on overnight electric. Basically, you only can save $10 per day, at most.

Being able to drive 120 miles per day on overnight stored electric allows much higher savings, but neither justifies paying the additional $25,000 for the VOLT based on money alone.

We need GM to be FORCED to produce a 100-mile-range EV, with or without a range-extender, and sell it for NO MORE THAN $25,000. If they want the benefit of selling cars in America, they must also produce a plug-in car. If there’s too much demand, then the government should give subsidies.

But the key idea is, GIVE BUYERS A CHOICE. Don’t FORCE everyone to buy an Electric car, but ALLOW everyone to choose whether or not to buy one.

Look at it as a cost of doing business; it’s a national security imperative.

We’ve driven about 600,000 miles in HondaEV, EV1, RangerEV, Rav4-EV, and various conversions since 1997, saving about 30,000 gallons of gas.

At $2/gallon, that’s a savings of $60,000 on the gas alone, which would have paid for TWO EVs plus our rooftop solar system. But they kept taking our EVs away, and crushing them.

It doesn’t matter if the EVs are only used for short trips! It turns out, that’s where you put on the miles.

High gas prices are the only thing fueling high demand for the Volt. Sure, there may be a few environmentalists. But sadly, most American’s frankly won’t spend a few thousand dollars extra for clean air. And I’ll admit, I’m one of them.

As much as I hate to say this, we need high gas prices in order to see the electrification of the automobile.