I am pleased at what he was saying about the generation studies being proactive in that, they are looking at the next generation of VOLTEC application without waiting for the completion of the generation before. That is “Outyear Thinking”.

I believe that the CEO should be driving a model of the Volt right now and show enthusism when asked, if he will be driving a VOLT. I would have liked to hear him say, Damn Right! I’ll be driving one.

Keep up the good work as I believe that GM will be on the top again and, will be employing Americans in a multitude of associated VOLTEC plants.

http://aptera.com/

GM is going to dissapoint us all. : ( -

Unlike Apple, they don’t hold back and then surprise with good news. Corp. culture is difficult if not impossible to change.

I wish I had a chance to put the following question for you to ask but was occupied with exams, but better late than never:

QUESTION: Does there need to be cultural change at GM and its subsidiaries (meaning w/s change in mgmt) to overcome cultural resistance to the mass production and hence mass adoption of hybrids and electric vehicles?

This question is in relation to an article title “Plug-in cars a pipe dream, says Holden”:
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=63559&vf=1

Note Holden is GM’s Australian subsidiary.

Some Background to my queston:
==========================
Lyle, I have been doing some research into GM’s Australian subsidiary, Holden. Your readers may be surprised to find out, that Holden (on behalf of GM), teamed up with the CSRIO (Australia’s premier govt scientific body) a decade ago to come with a family car that would reduce fuel consumption by half and emmissions by 90%. The car they modeled the hybrid on was the Holden Commodore (Pontiac G8 for you yanks). The car was built for and used in the torch relay for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. This car was a big family car that could get 800km on a 45L tank. See this link for the technical specifications:

http://www.csiro.au/solutions/ECOmmodore.html

This issue was revisted last year when the Australian govt committed funds (38 million?) to Toyota to build a hybrid Camry here in Australia, and people were asking well what about the hybrid commodore? Just for the record it sits in the Powerhouse museum in Sydney.

What is interesting about this vehicle is that it uses a lead acid battery with an ultracapacitor built in – the CSRIO patented ultrabattery. It has similar performace of NiMH, faster charge/discharge rates, and is a third of the cost of NiMH, and doesn’t have the Chevron patent issue that the NiMH have. Also the battery has already been road tested for 150,000km and counting and so battery warranty issue is covered and a quick rollout is possible (comapre to testing of Li-ion for volt).

Now, Holden didn’t wanted to be outdone with the hybrid Camry announcement last year (Camry due out early next year), so they announced that they would come out with their own hybrid family car – to date neither Ford nor GM holden have a hybrid family sedan. This announcement was a year ago.

However, earlier this week, when Holden’s energy and environment director, Richard Marshall made some ludicrous claims in the article “Plug-in cars a pipe dream, says Holden” which to mean sounds like backing of the committment to build a hybrid Commodore.

Instead, with govt funds, Holden are going to launch the Cruze, a car that gets approx 8L per 100km. However the hybrid Commodore, a large and more powerful vehicle would be using approx 6L per 100km.

Why the constant exuses from GM? Why not just build this hybrid, especially when the technology is much cheaper than the one Toyota use.

Lyle, if you need clarification on anything, please feel free to email me.

Some other links/articles on the Ecommodore:

Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_ECOmmodore

7:30 Report (current affairs show):
‘Hybrid hype, but who killed the ECommodore?’
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2271918.htm
‘New Commodore do or die for the industry’
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1696794.htm

‘ECOmmodore is Australia’s first ‘green’ car’:
http://www.fastlane.com.au/News/Holden_ECOmmodore.htm

Whereas HUMMER went for around 80 million (still can’t believe they got this, I’m thinking it is a premium paid for a Chinese company to finally break into the US) and 100-200 million-ish for Saturn (reportedly)…I’d wager Saab went for around $1 (no details were given)

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE55A3Z020090611

______________________

Don’t you mean a single study crank “author” who has been shown to have little data and even fewer qualifications. Please show us these studies.

There should be an intelligence test for those jobs…not based on whether or not you are rich enough to buy the office. American’s are low IQ fools for voting these *SSH*LES into office.

The generation that built the United States in to a manufacturing powerhouse and put a man on the moon are all dead and dying…all we have left now are the greedy fools that got the good seats at the University because they were connected, or had a particular color of skin.

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My family primarily owns American cars although we have purchased a Honda, Mazda, Datsun and Subaru. All cars in my family have been bought new. The Datsun we owned caught on fire. Datsun had such a bad image that the company changed the name to Nissan. The Subaru transmission failed within three to six months of purchase and we did not have a car for a full year. The 5.0 liter, ‘87, notch back, Ford Mustang that I owned had a bad module in the distributor and for the first 25,000 miles the car would jerk, stall and not be restartable for sometimes up to an hour or more…until the module cooled off. The Ford dealer screwed me out of more than $500 for unrelated repairs…then when the recall came in replaced the module, but would not return the cash paid for unwarranted repairs. The 2001 Chevrolet Express cargo van that I own requires the use of two completely different sets of keys to get in and out of the vehicle. The car was broken in to and the replacement keys, although we used the VIN….DO NOT match the original keys.

You would think that by 2009, the human race, given more than 6 billion individuals, the ability to place a man on the moon, would be able to mass produce a car that would work for 250,000 miles, was crash worthy, easy and reasonable to maintain and repair, reasonable to insure, and get 40MPG or better.

What I cannot figure out at all is why ALL American manufacturers allowed all the Japanese and Korean manufacturers to take an enormous segment of the automotive market, that of fuel efficient small cars and OWN it. DO NOT tell me that American’s, Europeans and people from all over the globe do NOT want to buy small, efficient, well made cars. That is a straight out lie and a copout. The American manufacturers are lucky they are a going concern in 2010.

At the time of my next purchase, that purchase will be determined on the type of vehicle I need, cost of the vehicle, cost of vehicle insurance and how well made it is….and if the company looks like a going concern. I do not typically buy first year manufactured goods….oh, AND I ABSOLUTELY HATE SOCIALISM that is owned and operated by the Democratic party, AKA the UAW because they give 100% of their support to the Democratic party.

I make no promises to buy American so your product better be UNREAL.