I saw the EV1 comments made earlier in this thread- not surprisingly, I agree w some and not w others. But the salient point is this: not to minimize the engineering feat of the Volt, but building a good car- even a good plug-in car- has never been GM’s biggest challenge (least not for a few decades now). It wasn’t with EV1, and it’s not with Volt. Skeptics remain because we lived through the last generation of actually having a variety of EVs to put on the road and still had it all go south. This is the piece that GM has not yet proven it “gets”- while the Volt folks we all know seem to, I’m not yet sure that Chevy does. Time will tell; the fact that they’ve re-started the conversation with arguably their most skeptical audience is a good thing- I hope they continue to engage and learn from the knees that have already been skinned. But either way, there’s still a huge amount of work to be done on stuff that has nothing to do with the car itself.

I do find the debate about credit for the Volt interesting…but counterproductive, imo. There is no question that Lyle and his site have contributed to the enthusiasm for the Volt, by both the public and GM. But there are many others who have been working for this moment too, some very quietly and for years. Not all of the contributions are equal, but that doesn’t matter- this site wouldn’t be what it is w/o the 50,000+ folks who’ve put their fingerprints on it. I know that much of the internal support from the Volt stems from the fact that so many folks in the company have taken ownership of it- one of the jokes among the senior engineers is how many people in GM think the Volt was their idea. The same needs to happen externally as well- each snowflake in the avalanche needs to feel responsible to perpetuate the movement.

The exciting thing to me is less figuring out who made it happen, and more the fact that it *is* happening.

“The Doctor who Delivered the Electric Car.”

Lyle certainly deserves credit here. However, I think the most credit should go to Martin Eberhard, Elon Musk, J.B. Strabuel, et. al. for delivering the Tesla Roadster.

GSP

Chuck: 40 miles per charge?! Give me a break! In 1996/97 GM started leasing the EV1 (which got over 100 miles per charge), and then forced the leasers (who LOVED these cars) to give them back so they could go crush them all in junk yards, claiming a lack of demand. More like a lack of advertising! I will NEVER buy a new gas-powered car again, especially from GM, after what they did. The only new car I will ever buy will be a plug-in electric. I’ll keep buying used cars from private owners until then….which will never be in my lifetime (I’m 40 years old). And I know many people who pledge to do the same. The technology has been here for at least 15 years. Earlier this year, the Tesla got 313 miles in one charge, for God’s sake! Too bad ordinary people can’t afford one. GM can go ahead and pretend the Volt is some breakthrough car, but they’ll never get a cent from me or many of the people I know.  (Quote)

I’m not as nice as the last poster, but Chuck, pull your head out. The EV-1 was a great experimental car. It showed the world that it’s possible to make an electric car. It was never going to be successful in the market place. It cost too much, didn’t last long enough, had too many problems statistically and would never have been bought by the public in numbers to make it worth it.

The world owes GM a huge hug because they spent the money and gave 100% toward developing the EV-1. They pioneered a lot of the core technologies that run in the Tesla, and other EV’s.

You’re mistaking what you want, and the theme of a movie for what actually is. If you want to buy gas guzzlers then you’re hurting the EV tech. GM has done nothing but good for it.

Chuck: 313 miles in one charge

Chuck, you come through loud and clear. I share the same slow burning anger with the greed and gouging by the oil companies.

I would like to make one point in defense of GM and the Volt. True, the Volt could provide 100 miles pure electric distance as it is right now.

Only 50% of the battery is being used. By charging to less than full and discharging to far from empty. This battery will perform at 100% for the first ten years. And 80% for a time thereafter. If we lived in a country that could care less what manufactures sell to their citizens, then car makers could toss a 3 year life battery at us.

It is very likely that a similar size longer range battery will be available for the Volt long before the 10+ year life of the original battery.

=D~