Yes, your right, but the Volt platform is based on a “common mans” vehicle. Even though it will be out of reach, financially, for most people, I believe it represents the most viable solution. I see no way, at this time to develop an EREV cheaply due to simple economics of the situation. You cannot add all these components (battery, generator, motors, generators, electronics, software) and expect a $20,000 car. (PS: This leads into my argument of justification of a true BEV, but lets leave that for another day)

As I said many times before, the Volt is out of my price range, but I hold out hope that the basic EREV platform will be successful and eventually the price will drop down into an “affordable” vehicle.

When I see GM pushing the EREV into an even more unaffordable auto, and using my money to do it, I get very frustrated.
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I do agree with you right across the board on this one. I totally agree.

I think this (costing) is a major conundrum at the moment. We have the technology, it is viable and ready to go…and you could make a much stronger argument for it only 7-8 months ago… when the economy was ‘ok’ and crude oil prices were hovering north of 120.

Now we find ourselves in the largest and longest recession since WWII…maybe the 30s. Unemployment soaring. Home equity/housing dropping rapidly. Unprecedented credit freezing…and the monstor roadblock –$40 gas again.

The gas is a huge number just by itself, because people have already been abandoning their ‘guzzlers’ for smaller more efficient cars…and those cars are a lot more efficient still from their historical peers in the same class. We are now asking consumers to switch from efficient cars or ‘cheap cars’ to the Volt…with low gas prices.

Basically, ‘Joe Public’ ditched his ‘05 Blazer for a slightly used Malibu, because times are tough and gas was high. Today he finds himself plunking down $18 bucks at the pumps…where only a frew months ago he was dropping $65.

In ‘Joe’s’ mind, his car situation is great, he has dropped his payment from $450/month on the Blazer he bought new 4 years ago to $200 on slightly used sedan…and his gas has moved from $65 a fill every 5 days to $18 a fill every week. He went from $800 to $275. “Huzzah! I can make that readjusted mortgage house payment now!”

Through a strange set of economic circumstances, just trying to keep his transportation costs in line, he has inadvertantly taken $500 out of his transportation costs a month due to this new gas reality. Just try to get him to ‘re-saddle’ himself with high transportation costs now in a Volt now in this environment…or any PEV, E-REV for that matter.

Michelin’s Active Wheel for Affordable Electric Cars:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/active-wheel-affordable-electric-car.php
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Thanks ThombDbhomb for that interesting link find. Michelin getting behind EV related development of this nature is significant reinforcement that the EV wave that is building is real; a Tsunami. It will be interesting to see which car builders ride the wave and which ones get crushed by it.
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Electric Cars + Nuclear Power = American Energy Independence!
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I’ll watch perhaps with a little delay. i hope to see something really new.

Regards,

JC

So not having been in favor of any of the bailouts, I share your frustration. At the same time, I think pushing EREV up into more expensive vehicles is a good thing. Less expensive automobiles are made possible by automating the production of a vehicle after details have been worked out to a very fine level. Starting EREV as a Chevrolet was too ambitious, so now we have all this awkwardness in the collision between Chevy prices and realistic Volt prices.

For the Volt (or any other car that is really different) to get to the point of high volume and low cost production, there has to be some years of development. That development can be self-sustaining in a lower volume but higher cost vehicle. Sometimes Corvette has been used for development of innovative components. Ultimately development at the upper end brings benefits up and down the line. EREV needs Cadillac, because Cadillac customers can and will pay the extra dollars needed to pay for EREV while it is not yet perfected or inexpensive.

As for the bailout, it is just frustrating.

Of course, no Volts have been built so far, just various half-finished mules and prototypes. That means there is as of now no car for consumer or anyone else to evaluate. Maybe later this year

As I said many times before, the Volt is out of my price range, but I hold out hope that the basic EREV platform will be successful and eventually the price will drop down into an “affordable” vehicle.

When I see GM pushing the EREV into an even more unaffordable auto, and using my money to do it, I get very frustrated.

I do not care if a company develops products that I cannot afford, or that are not environmentally smart, but GM touts the Volt as the savior and part of the bailout justification, then they “find” extra money to spend on these luxuries. The Cadillac EREV should be shelved while using “my” money to develop a real solution.

The time for GM to pony up and get the Volt done has come.

PS: I saw that GM commercial last nite, where they show the evolution of the car, and end it with the Volt (the gas station disappears in background). They commercial still says 2010, so how long before GM changes this commercial?

Now GM is making a concept vehicle based on another concept vehicle. Think about it.

This whole thing is a joke. I want to see a group of people such as consumer reports be able to evaluate the “volt”. No where has anyone been able to verify range, battery type, or any other design parameter. As far as anyone knows, this could be an extended cushman golf cart with a car body on it!

That is a fascinating question. No doubt a big issue is where to put the batteries. They are bulky so they use a lot of room. They are heavy, so they change the dynamics. And they have big electrical cables, which have to be routed. Positively, if the batteries can be located in a good place in an existing vehicle, maybe it can be done.

On the other side, once one begins to make major changes in an existing vehicle, maybe it is really faster and cheaper to start over. That also gives an opportunity to address otherwise awkward features, such as a back seat filled with something unnatural.

Dear Statik:

Thank you for signing up to receive updates on the Chrysler ENVI program. To thank you for your interest, we’d like to plug you into the world of this progressive new vision of environmentally responsible, no-compromise Electric Vehicles with a special opportunity.

Please join us online for the live reveal from the North American International Auto Show. At noon on Sunday, January 11, get a first look and the most up-to-date information. Just visit http://www.chryslergoeselectric.com

If you can’t be online for the unveiling, check back any time for videos, pictures and other news.

We hope to see you online.

Sincerely,

The ENVI Team at Chrysler LLC

So now that GM has that wheelbarrow full of cash, they are going to develop a vehicle that only about 10% of the population can afford?
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They are already doing that…it is called the Volt.

I would call this, a car that only half of ‘the Volt’ people can afford.