Why is that my goal as a driver?

Intrinsic luxury performance and low maintenance:
Quiet.
Maximum torque at 0 rmp and up to about half the top speed.
Instant and near linear acceleration at all times.
Lower center of gravity possible with the energy carrier for improved handling.

Drivetrain has one moving part and a single gear.
Less mechanical brake wear due to regenerative braking.

Sure, toss on a range extended generator if you want, but give me that electric drive luxury performance 100% of the time.

You are referring to pedal assist electric bicycles with regenerative braking activated at the pedals, for additional efficiency. Such things sell in the millions in Asia and around the world. Surely you don’t think you could imagine anything that hasn’t already been implemented. If folks ever knew about even 1% of all the great stuff that’s already available out there, civilization would be very different and much nicer.

That’s why I think that marketing is the key. Pretty much no one has ever heard of the GM Volt or even if they have, know anything about it. Now, where can GM find a great marketing guy with lots of experience to coordinate GM’s high performance EREV and EV product development?

I’m always amazed at how much of this there is on the snarky comment side. There are axes to grind and the blades are always sharp, long before there is a Volt on the road to make comparisons to.

The “Prius killer” Honda Insight’s sales results should show folks one more time that conjectured projections and real world performance don’t line up with one to one correspondence.

I’m not taking a side so I’m sure that I’ll be eCastigated for taking such a wrongheaded stance by those that have staked their bets on one of the warring sides.

Starting a list.

Prius is crushing Volts
Volt renders Prius archaic
Prius pushes Volt to niche status
Prius sales fall off a cliff of Volt popularity
Volts can’t be built fast enuf
Prius blows Volt mileage away
Volts can’t be given away
All of the above is forever written in stone

The reality is that EREVs are a whole new ballgame, and cars like the Prius are much more like a regular car than an EV.

The other problem is that some people want to compare sales figures of a car that’s been out since 1997 to a car that won’t be out until 2011.

Having said all this, I do agree that the Prius is a great car and will be remembered fondly.

GM’s sales mix is 40/60 cars to trucks (and the “trucks” does include the HHR).

Toyota, in terms of units actually sold, is selling more high-mpg vehicles than GM, by far.

Also, Toyota’s line includes the Yaris and the Prius, both of which are extremely thrifty with a gallon of gas. These drive Toyota’s CAFE numbers even higher.

People like to point out that Toyota has several models of SUV but, so what? They sell in insignificant numbers (800/month for the Sequoia, even fewer for the Land Cruiser) compared to their small cars. People do buy vehicles like that and it’s hard to see where Toyota should leave money on the table by not exploring these markets.

I think Chu is looking at E-85 compatibility as something akin to a civil defense measure. If cars run on flex fuel, they’ll be able to operate on alternatives in situations where oil is temporarily unavailable and, should ethanol production become somehow practical, cost-effective and gains a net increase in energy beyond fossil-fuel-supplied process heat and farm inputs, having a flex fleet to fuel would be useful. Given the extremely modest cost of adaption, it’s almost a no-brainer. As of now, there’s no ethanol economy visible on the horizon.

I’m an unwilling investor in this ongoing catastrophe. It’s my duty to point out what’s really going on.

Reality sure is unpopuar around here.