>>Under the terms of the plan, bondholders would initially receive 10 percent. They could then exercise their warrants for an additional 7.5 percent when the new G.M. rises to about $15 billion in value. The second set of warrants for the final 7.5 percent would be exercisable when new G.M. rises to $30 billion in value.

The union would initially receive a 17.5 percent stake to finance a health care trust for its retirees. It has also received warrants to raise that holding to 20 percent — but those warrants are exercisable only if new G.M.’s value hits $75 billion.

Once the union and bondholders achieve their full stakes, the government’s share would drop to 55 percent.

The hope is to create a new G.M. by late August, people with knowledge of the matter said.

During a briefing on Thursday, administration officials said they expected that G.M. would emerge from bankruptcy in 60 to 90 days, but would probably not be a publicly traded company until sometime later, possibly after a public offering. Until then, there would not be a ready market for the equity holdings of former bondholders and others.

The administration officials said that G.M.’s balance sheet going forward could make a $15 billion market capitalization possible within a relatively short period of time, but did not offer details on how its value would rise to that level.<<

Yeah.

#89 statik:

Amen. Same to you, while I’m at it. All of you, come to that. What a day. Reminds me of another old(er) song about a great Galveston hurricane:

“Wasn’t it a mighty day? Mighty day. Mighty day, Great God that morning, when the storm winds struck the town.”

By only the volt (not GM) and later sell or give the technology to the big three companies

and let GM sell cars and be a company that can make profit.

re Statik’s clarification for me. Thanks. You’re skilled enough in the nuances, using, while I admittedly use a neat tenderizer and then the side of a fork. Seems like a phased in road to inevitibility (but the same destination, correct)? I can’t get my head around how failing slowly is significantly better, other than the spin/propaganda.
Sheesh, I’d still rather my rosier prediction – rebound fairly soon and a soft landing.
I’m still working through some personal medical issues which limit my participation here, so please don’t thinnk that it’s related in any manner to the topics or my rabid interest in the Volt.
Be well,
Tag
LJGTVWOTR!!**********NPNS
==========================

Sorry to hear you are still not 100%. Take care of yourself first…not much else matters when your not healthy, especially cars, lol.

/we always have a spot warm for you here

The Presidents Task Force already declared the Volt was not a viable money maker for GM. Would the government permit this money-pit to continue under the “good” half of GM, or will it be assigned to the “bad” half?

I was also most suspicious of the generator, when GM announced the concept Volt. Actually it was the price of the whole vehicle which was related to the generator. From the generators I had been exposed to, 50KWh seemed like something too big and too expensive to fit into a reasonably priced small sedan. But I don’t see the efficiency as such a problem. What are your diesel MPG numbers based on? Remember the generator only needs to supply average power and can adjust slowly (feathering according to GM’s engineer) as the load varies. Most generators are supplying the power demand directly and must vary output constantly and quickly. The Volt’s generator will be running at or near peak efficiency all of the time. What other losses are there ahead of the electric output from the generator, besides the generator itself and powering the stator?

Looking at the this chart http://www.dieselserviceandsupply.com/temp/Fuel_Consumption_Chart.pdf the 60KW deisel generator run at 1/2 load show a return of 10.34KWh/gal. This isn’t far from what I calculated for the Volt’s genset and see the tables notes about various factors that can increase or decrease the value. Again, I return to the fact the Volt’s generator will run at near ideal conditions. Also, I used 95% efficiency for the generator. This was taken from the higher end of Tesla’s motor efficiency but the Volt’s generator can be optimized for high efficiency. Some generator sites state 75% efficiency. This could be where your numbers differ. I’m thinking the Volt’s genset will have a cycle design life of @5000hrs (225,000 miles at 45mph average). This allows for lighter, more efficient componentry than the much longer design life for typical gensets. Perhaps this is where the costs are lowered too.

Hopefully GM is optimizing the genset output to a typical 70mph load. The Tesla data (http://www.teslamotors.com/blog4/) shows the Roadster uses 21KW at 70MPH. Perhaps the Volt is a little better but that would be difficult with the frontal area so much larger. Tesla’s Cd isn’t that great and I don’t think they use low rolling resistance tires, so the Volt’s power draw at 70mph under similar conditions is 18-19KW. If so, and with the engine at optimal efficiency (closer to 37% or Prius) perhaps we can see up to 45mpg at 70mph under the same conditions.

You’re probably right that if the US started adding those kinds of tariffs the world would freak. I just can’t see Japan successfully taking us to the WTO given their record of protecting their home market.

I agree about the dollar. It’s going to collapse. Although I’m not sure it will happen right away. Neither Japan nor China are going to want to face the instant evaporation of their trade surplus with the US. But there will be major long term consequences for us. America’s not going to be the predominant country in the world anymore. But I also think that postponing the reckoning will make it even worse when it actually happens–for Japan and the US. (Maybe not China since they’ve used the situation to copy all of our technology.)

#49 DonC

I agree that the entire auto industry is having major problems. The difference is that the US auto industry was already in a state of decline. Obama’s trying to restructure GM so that it will be a healthy company when the economy recovers. I applaud his goal, even if I disagree with how he’s planning to get there.

Nice bailout. Please come prepared next time.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lucid