We recently announced a special opportunity for 10 GM-Volt.com readers to test drive a pre production Chevy Volt in EV and range extended mode in New York City.
We received over 100 entries of essays and videos answering “Why I Want a Chevy Volt.”
In a very difficult task, myself and a team of judges reduce the field to 12 entries. To favor those who are frequent participators and commentators on the site, 6 were chosen from that group, and 6 from the remaining field.
Below are the first 6 entries. Please vote for your favorite one in the form at the bottom. The remaining 6 entries will appear in the next post. From each group the top 5 will win and then in a third post we will vote for the overall winner who will have their travel expenses to New York covered by site sponsor NetLook.com.
1. I want a Chevy Volt because I want to be an American hero!
The scarcity of the initial Volts, coupled with the accepted wisdom that it will have a huge impact on the electrification of transportation in the USA, will lead to “dramatic” situations. Consider, if you will the following scenario:
(fade from black) Heavily armed convoys guarding the carrier trucks, have delivered the first Volts to the Dealer lots- which are also heavily fortified – surrounded by tall, chain-link fences, topped with rolls of razor wire. Guard towers with spotlights at the corners scan the lot and the angry crowd surrounding the entire area. National Guardsmen help punch a hole in the crowd surrounding the lot, for the poor anemic young man, who has won the National lottery that allowed this single Volt purchase for his State. But then, HE’S ON HIS OWN! He’s gotten his cherished Volt, but the angry mob blocks his way off the lot! Failing to inch his way out, he GUNS it – the crowd quickly parts, as dozens of people leap aside – narrowly escaping injury from the Volt’s instant torque! He’s OUT, but NOW WHAT? he can’t possibly just park it at his house – surely it would be stolen immediately! He needs to make a RUN for it!…. (announcer’s voice cuts in) “Follow the adventures of our Noble Volt warrior, as he tries to protect his car, his life, and LIFE AS WE KNOW IT IN THE U.S. of A!! This trailer rated PG – Parental Guidance suggested. V,AL,BN. Opening Independence Day 2010
2.Why I want the game-changing Chevy Volt
It appears that humanity is headed for a new chapter in our development. For the last 100 years or so we have enjoyed not only the advances in automobile technology but an almost uninterrupted growth in global petroleum production.
Early in the 21st Century, there were signs that all was not well in the energy industry. A flattening of petroleum production growth around 2005 started to raise eyebrows. When July 2008 rolled around, it was obvious (to many who researched the details) that some changes were needed. We needed to find a way to get off of our petroleum addiction or suffer the consequences of not only price instability, but reduced national security and even climate change issues.
What were we going to do? Electric cars have been tried before. GM learned the hard way with the EV1 that the pure EV model would not work. The rest of the major automakers faired no better. Hydrogen cars have been 10 years away for more than 10 years and counting. How are we going to get transportation off of that black gold?
The answer was drawn on the back of a napkin. What if an electric vehicle could be made in high volume that not only eliminated range anxiety, but reduced the size and thus cost of the battery pack? That answer was the Chevy Volt.
An unassuming doctor named Lyle, busy with his practice, heard about this answer and a light went off in his head. Instead of sitting back to watch what happened, Lyle decided to take action and start the now famous GM-Volt website. He wanted to get out the idea to as many people as possible and provide a way for people to discuss this amazing new idea. Little did he know how popular his website would become. Little did he know how influential his website would become for GM.
I was also looking for people to talk to about our problems with energy when I stumbled on to Lyle’s website. Little did I know how long I would stay. Little did I know how much time I would spend debating every energy issue under the sun.
I want a Chevy Volt because it is still the best solution to one of the greatest problems to face humanity – petroleum addiction. I wish to support this great vision and convey to as many people as possible that we do have options. We will make it thought this crisis.
Sometimes it takes a great leap, not only in faith, but in action. That is why I want a Chevy Volt.
3. Video
4. Why I Want a Chevy Volt
My grandfather was an electrician. I was impressed by the technology at an early age. As a child, I read an article in his Popular Science magazine; quoting experts who said that electric cars were just ten years away. Even then, the prospect of a real electric car was exciting. I wondered if one would be out by the time I got my drivers’ license.
Those experts must have been really knowledgeable, because they were right for nearly forty years. Whenever fears of pollution, energy shortages or oil embargoes threatened, research efforts continued to make this claim. The only results I ever saw were consortium or university-project one-offs which vanished as rapidly as they appeared; leaving us with the problems of our future transportation needs unsolved. Of course, over most of that time an enclosed golf-cart type of electric “car,” with very little practical utility, was available: not exciting at all.
Though I had hoped as a young person to contribute to the electric vehicle renaissance, I never did become an engineer. I still kept up with developments, had ideas of my own, and continued to dream of the day that a practical electric car might come within reach. In more recent years, I began to wonder if it would come before I was too old to have a drivers’ license.
New battery technology eventually did allow “rich men’s toys” to be developed, but these cars were so removed from daily life as to seem impossible. An electric car that anyone could drive seemed as remote as ever. To replace the role of gasoline for long range travel required a prohibitively expensive battery (and where could one “fill up” on the road?).
Then, I heard about the Chevy Volt: an electric car plus. With a battery pack inexpensive enough to purchase, yet practical enough for daily driving: even offering a rapidly-refilled gasoline backup for long distance travel. A car which would never leave a motorist stranded on the side of the road with a depleted battery. A meaningful step towards meeting future transportation needs.
I have hoped that I might still have a role to play in bringing the electric car to every person, even if it only means leaving comments at gm-volt.com. If I can participate in the Volt’s beginnings by only sampling that technology, perhaps I will still have that chance.
5. Why I Want a Chevy Volt
The reasons come in 3 flavors.
Flavor 1 — More than anything else, I think it will be a fun car to start up, because you don’t have to, then it will be a fun car to drive, because it has a low center of gravity and smooth acceleration, and then it will be a fun car to ride around in, because it seems to have all sorts of nifty gadgets in the console, and all sorts of nifty displays on the front panel. Sure, all cars are at one level just transportation from A to B, but life is short, so why have a car that is boring when there is another car that will be fun?
Flavor 2 — To show other people, maybe to show off to other people a little bit, but really mainly to show people who are interested already. OK, if my neighbors at home admire it, that is fine. On a much more serious level I work in a university and people think of me as a car person. Having worked where I work for a long time I know a lot of people at all different levels and schools of a wide and wonderful institution. University people are tuned into the future. Some days we think we create the future, through generations of students who go out and do wonderful things. Here there has been a lot of discussion of electric cars and what they will be like, in class and out of class. I want to drive one and then to own one so that it is possible for me to start talking about what the ARE like, not just what they MIGHT BE like or SHOULD BE like. And, assuming that is good as I have every expectation that it will be, I want to be able to show the car to students, staff, administrators and faculty, for all will really want to know.
And flavor 3 — the Volt is a car that has acquired a community of fans and followers through gm-volt.com They are knowledgeable (really are), eccentric, irascible, and intense people. Driving a Volt and owning a Volt, whenever they should be for sale here, is what this community is going to do, and me too. If the driving opportunity becomes a way to meet some more of them in person, so much the better.
6. Why Wouldn’t I want a Volt?! ….I can’t think of even one reason NOT to!
As an astrophysicist who worked on NASA’s “moon shot” throughout the 1960’s, I’ve always thought of GM’s decision to design, develop and market an electric automobile as not unlike America’s decision to design, develop and launch a man-bearing rocket to the moon. It has the same kind of overwhelming risks, heart-pumping excitement and huge potential rewards. It demands developing break-through technologies and facing overwhelming challenges unlike any encountered before. It risks enormous financial losses ….as well as painful losses in global prestige…. in event of failure.
So I have followed the Volt’s development at GM-Volt.com with genuine fervor since 2007. A day seldom passes without my reading most of the topics and comments on this remarkable blog. I even flew from my home near the Kennedy Space Center to a truly milestone event sponsored by GM-Volt.com ….VoltNation in NYC two years ago this month…. where I was privileged to meet and speak with Lyle Dennis, Bob Lutz, Tony Pozawatz, Andrew Farah as well as others on GM‘s Volt development team. Upon returning home afterward, I was PUMPED!
One thought I shared with several GM and other attendees at VoltNation was that I believed we had relied on American ingenuity and hard work to beat the Russians to the moon ….and that GM could count on it to beat their competitors world-wide to a viable EV design ….a design that could be manufactured in large numbers and that would revolutionize automotive design (just as we revolutionized space travel).
And the GM team has not shirked from the task. The car is powerful, quiet, responsive, reliable, handles well and meets the daily driving requirements of most Americans without using a single drop of gasoline ….at a cost for electricity roughly one-fifth that for gasoline! In addition, because the Volt’s EREV architecture embodies two independent sources of power (or “fuel”), the likelihood of ever being stranded along a street or highway is vanishingly small by contrast to present-day cars. Also, an electric motor’s inherently much higher reliability will greatly reduce maintenance requirements (and costs). And “range anxiety”, an unfortunate aspect of ordinary EV designs, completely disappears with the Voltec EREV design.
So in short ….moon shot or not…. there’s simply not a single reason NOT to want a Chevy Volt!
This entry was posted on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 8:24 am and is filed under Test drive, Volt Nation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:36 am)OK, it is getting close!
But where is my entry?????
Hopefully in the next set!!!!
Good luck to all!
+2
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:38 am)Wow, *this* should be really interesting! Obviously, these are all excellent, and I’m sure the next batch will be too. Personally, I welcome a little lighter topic, in which we all share a bond. Maybe we could do a subset discussion of “I wish I’d entered and said…..” I’m reasonably sure that lots of folks couldn’t make that date or distance, so may have not entered, but have great ideas.
OR let’s all just vote and get back to talking about politics and economics (NOT!) (LOL).
Be well,
Tagamet
No, ER, No Sale!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:40 am)It’s number six by a landslide. Is that Nasaman?
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:45 am)Great job, nasaman!!
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:59 am)Wow, they are all very good.
Cheers
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:06 am)Cute factor won my vote. It looks like NASAMAN is fairing well, too.
Good luck to all!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:08 am)I just looked at Nasaman’s bio on the forum members roster. Looks approx the right age (for having been on the moon shot) and astrophysics, electrical engineer.
All right, an engineer wins!!!!!!
If it’s you Nasaman, congrats! Great writeup.
+2
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:29 am)Comparing the Volt program to the Apollo program is excellent, it was my choice for best. One thing comes to mind though, I don’t remember very many people at that time being against going to the Moon.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:33 am)I think if the authors of the others had of been as identifiable as #6, they might have garnered more votes. Maybe. Nasaman is too nice NOT to vote for, though that kid was kind of cute.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:43 am)I have watched Apollo 13 about 100 times….and each time I do I think that was our best engineering achievement to date. (bringing the guys back)
The analogy works!
+2
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:43 am)Excellent job, Nasaman! Best of luck.
Be well,
Tagamet
No, ER, No Sale!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:53 am)There needs to be another voting choice: all of the above.
Really, not easy.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:27 am)First of all good luck to everyone! Since I already posted the link to my submission when the contest was announced it probably isn’t a surprise that I’m voting for my daughter and her video. I initially wanted to play the part of the guy who’s brakes didn’t work but then I remembered all the episodes of America’s funniest home videos I’ve ever seen. The winners were always kids, dogs and then dad’s getting hit in the crotch. IF we end up being one of the 10 to get a test drive I hope they let us put the car seat in the back. Thanks to all who have voted for our submission.
+7
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:35 am)WOW!
It’s nice to see so many people who care!
We all have so much in common.
We need to add one more positive description to Human nature – “the urge to do what’s right”.
I’m proud to be a part of this group who will be responsible for the greatest positive change to have come in a 100 years.
God bless you all.
NPNS!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:35 am)Hmmm… Who could #6 be. I’m not sure!
Why didn’t Nasaman just write, “Hey it’s me, Nasaman. Give me a test drive!” Would have saved me some reading time.
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:36 am)Every one was a strong entry and fun to read.
I made a selection, but I really would have liked to have voted for all of them.
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:38 am)Do the winners get a “family drive”? My wife would love to come along too!
Be well,
Tagamet
No, ER, No Sale!
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:48 am)Very good point and well-said to boot! +1.
Be well,
Tagamet
No, ER, No Sale!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:52 am)I remember reading that a GM employee has to come along but to be a real test drive I’d like to have my wife up front, daughter in the back seat, and my 70lb dog riding under the hatchback section. The GM rep can sit in the other side of the back seat and record the event for us
No guarantee that we’ll get a chance given the good essays but here’s hoping!
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:56 am)Great jobs so far and as usual glowing with passion!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:58 am)This was difficult. It’s probably beyond the technology that Lyle has available but it would be great if you had say 10 points which would could distribute over the entries. That way your second, third, or even fourth choices would be recognized. The way it works now, if it’s close between two or three, only one choice gets points.
I had a hard time choosing between two of the entries and many are deserving. It was fun to read/see them all!
Mar 13th, 2010 (11:12 am)I guess I just had it pictured as more of an “experience”, as opposed to a true test drive. JMO.
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
+4
Mar 13th, 2010 (11:17 am)Without the minder, you might not come back….
Mar 13th, 2010 (11:28 am)It is hard to choose. Good job gm-volters….
+4
Mar 13th, 2010 (11:30 am)That pretty much sums up my conclusion. I tried to leave my feelings out of it (sorry Tagamet and Gsned57), but then since everyone was letting Nasaman know what a good job he did, I decided to pick the most well written one besides NASA. (This is somewhat similar to my giving + votes to comments just because someone else gave them undeserved minus votes.)
I really related (notice I said I *tried* to leave my feelings out of it) to the two phrases in #4: “I wondered if one would be out by the time I got my drivers’ license,” and “I began to wonder if it would come before I was too old to have a drivers’ license.” Good job to whoever you are in #4. It was well written. Here’s to “still having that chance.”
+2
Mar 13th, 2010 (11:48 am)I voted for number 1 because it made me laugh! And that is really important these days. Congrats to whoever wins and lets hope the scenario in number one doesn’t become prophesy!
+3
Mar 13th, 2010 (11:57 am)This was really hard to choice. Wish I could of at least voted for the top three. I could really related to #4, immediately identified #6 author, laughed with #3 video, and cannot wait until the movie based on #1 is released. They were all enjoyable to read.
Mar 13th, 2010 (12:07 pm)Great job winners! Lyle looks like you’ve gotten them up to 12 tests?
Really? A lot of people said it was a waste of money, and still today there are people who say it was all done in a studio in Phoenix AZ.
Edit: see my comment from yesterday on support for government doing anything.
Mar 13th, 2010 (12:19 pm)What you said. +1
Mar 13th, 2010 (12:23 pm)This is a difficult task. Hope the VNT can be notified soon to allow time for ticketing. Will the time and place of the demo be publicly known? Or is GM planning on a quiet low key affair. Will be a big plus to see photos and video from the demo day.
=D-Volt
Mar 13th, 2010 (12:53 pm)Well done authors. I liked them all.
They were positive and uplifting. Gsned57, she’s beautiful.
We are a very passionate bunch. Too bad it will be restricted to only 10 people.
I will be there watching though.
Good luck to all that have entered.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (1:11 pm)#6. On a related theme. There’s a report GM is removing its GM logo from all brands. The idea stated by the report is to disassociate the GM ownership to overcome perceived sales resistance stemming from the bankruptcy and bailout. That’s incredibly dumb. More if confirmed.
Mar 13th, 2010 (1:30 pm)The submissions show the wide diversity and concerns of the gm-volt.com group! Most of them were personalized and told great human experiences. So how did I make my selection? It is common knowledge that in advertising or debating an issue that a question will catch the attention of the reader or listener. In submission six, the opening question grabbed my attention immediately. It contained that personal element that I always look for in a story. Then to top it off, it compares the coming of the Volt to a past achievement in this great countries recent history!
The comparison is apropos; going to the Moon was a crowning achievement for the United States of America requiring many engineering feats that lead to successfully walking on the surface of the Moon. It lead to many technological developments that nurtured new products and industries. The creation of the Volt may not look like a crowning achievement to many but it will be looked at by historians in the future as a major turning point for humanity. Just as man will expand his horizons in space, no longer bound to this plant, the electric vehicle will free mankind by keeping our planet alive. It will spur the creation of new products and industries as the space program has done.
Kudos to nassaman for this submission. His personal story combined with a memorable moment in our history; one dictated by a desire to expand our horizons and not necessarily one that needed to be done but lifted the spirit of mankind; the other absolutely necessary to sustain life on this beautiful green and blue planet, deserved my vote.
Well done, nassaman.
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
P.S. All of you make me wish that I had made a submission in this contest. Best of luck to everyone!
Mar 13th, 2010 (1:37 pm)April 2 – 11. 2010!?!
http://www.autoshowny.com/
Happy trails to you ’til we meet agian.
Mar 13th, 2010 (1:44 pm)I just want to say these are all really good. I can’t wait to see more. I am a supporter of the volt but did not compete because as good as the volt is I will not be buying one as it does not fit my family size or pocket book. I am egarly awaiting the anouncement of the $25k malivolt though and will trade in my Saturn for a chevy when that day comes.
Good luck all competitors!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (1:54 pm)Many people aren’t aware of all the scientific developments as a result of the Space program. Many new businesses were incubated through those developments. R&D was made available to the private sector that lead to product creation by new businesses, and new high paying jobs.
There are numerous examples of how improvements impacted the health industry.
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
Mar 13th, 2010 (2:35 pm)Double ++ for that.
One thing I will never forget is seeing a Congressman back in the 80s pictured in a newspaper, sitting with a personal computer clearly in view of the camera, saying he couldn’t think of one thing that came from the space program. I wonder if anyone has ever estimated how much development of the PC was accelerated by the Apollo program?
Mar 13th, 2010 (3:22 pm)ECOturbo,
Thanks for the ++.
Your statement reminded me (
)of when I owned a Tandy Color Computor (aka, Trash80) and programmed it with OS9, a batch basic. A modified Trash80 was in fact faster than the first IBM PC. OS9 was used on the Space Shuttle back then. The memory of it all, makes me wonder what language GM is using to program all the electronic functions of the Volt. Certainly not the old Basic, we once programmed in. 
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (3:37 pm)Congratulations to all of the finalists!!
As a prelude to what you may experience, here is a video of the Ampera driving to Geneva. At one point, it goes in excess of 140 km/hr (~85 mph).
http://media.opel.com/media/intl/en/videos.brand_opel.html
Mar 13th, 2010 (4:13 pm)Good luck to all. I had to vote for the Kid. Sorry Naz
Mar 13th, 2010 (5:10 pm)Nice clip of the Ampera in motion. Head room and inner dark wood grain door panels look very good. Still sports the Cruze mirrors. Noticed the Ampera driving past several gas stations. Was that intentional?
=D-Volt
Mar 13th, 2010 (6:39 pm)I also noticed on the Instrument Panel (IP) at the early part of the drive, the electric range was still 15 km. Later the driver points to the IP as the AER goes from 1 km to zero. Range in extended mode is shown as 226 km.
Finally, after passing into Switzerland, the IP is shown as the Ampera accelerates to 143 km/hr. It can also be seen that the green “eco spot” fades out and the amber accel light comes on.
Not enough data shown to determine mpg (or l/100km), but it does show some of the modes of operation.
Mar 13th, 2010 (6:40 pm)I think #6 Nasaman was a clear winner. The only one I didn’t like was the first one. I hope Nasaman wins the competition, and then Nasaman can do a review!
+21
Mar 13th, 2010 (6:56 pm)Hi everyone!
My apologies for not getting back sooner. I’ve been really blessed with a huge set of contracts from independent shops, so, I had to put in 14 hour days.
I was also blessed today because I was provided the opportunity to drive a Volt, here in Austin Texas. (I was so excited, I didn’t bring my camera). I also had the honor and pleasure to meet the GM pros and especially Jim Campbell, General Manager, and Susan Docherty Vice President, U.S. Marketing, and they gave me their cards. (I can prove to my friends and contractors that I really did get to drive the Volt and meet Jim and Susan).
The Volt.
I stopped by two hours early (before my appointment) because I wanted to make sure that the Volt was really going to be there at the location given to me by my friends at Austin EV.
It was there. I went over to have a quick visit with the Volt team so that I could get to know the flavor of the event. The Volt team is deeply genuine and most pleasantly professional, and, they are the kinds of folks who you immediately sense that you would want for friends.
Since other appointees had begun to arrive, I left to have a quick lunch at a nearby Chile’s.
When I got back at five minutes before the appointed time, there was a small crowd at the sign in table. The day is (still) a perfect one at 75 degrees with a perfectly blue sky.
After sign in, I was visiting with Jim Campbell for awhile describing how that only GM supports the independent technician with the finest of diagnostics software and datastreams resident within all GM vehicles, when my name was called out for the drive.
I was still partly astonished that all this was happening so quickly. I was directed right into the driver’s seat of the Volt (this wonderful metallic gray), I sat down and adjusted the seat back (but not all the way, as it has plenty of room, even for a very long legged person like me). You know that question that we all have about how quickly can we get used to a new car?
With Volt, it is not days or hours, it is seconds. Yes, seconds.
You immediately become part of the Volt, and it immediately becomes part of you.
The design of this masterpiece is so very well thought out and researched, that when I sat down, I did not feel like I was sitting down. I was so very perfectly supported that it felt like I was floating on air (not the mindset of the awe (lol), but a careful assessment of how comfortable the seat is.)
The other concern that many might wonder about is how readable the screen displays are.
The sun was shining directly inside the Volt, and, those two screens were so perfectly readable with their very high definition displays brightly backlit, that all lettering is easily read. Far far safer than anything else out there.
The drive:
No sound whatsoever. None. With the seat that is so perfectly supporting, it actually felt like I was just floating above the ground and the scenery passing by very briskly. Acceleration was the most refined power application I’d ever seen, and, there just is no comparison by a light year to anything else. You immediately become part of the Volt. The Volt immediately becomes part of you.
Impression:
Astonishment.
I next rode in the back seat and was comfortable there too. The back cargo area is very generous, and, the Volt is larger than I had expected. This is truly a masterpiece that is worth whatever GM needs to price it at.
I was a little embarrassed when I got out, because I was so astonished and impressed,
well, I had to dry my eyes repeatedly. I’m that excited for GM and America.
Congratulations GM.
Dan Petit.
Austin, Texas.
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:08 pm)Hey dan are you looking to pick up Agee votes yourself
. +1
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:10 pm)These are really fun to read.. vote placed — hope I am in the next round, and then final round so I can book my flight! Volt Test Drive – here I come — oh.. and there WILL be a huge writeup afterwards about the experience!!
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:18 pm)Good eye for detail!
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:23 pm)Wow Dan. That is awesome. I am so excited. Thanks for the wonderful description.
I can’t wait to own one of these.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:28 pm)WOW! Congratulations! What a great experience to have. Thanks for writing it up such that we could almost be there with you.
Color me green with envy (lol).
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
+2
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:32 pm)I voted for #4. Here’s why. I’m not an engineer, and I tend to look at issues with the more creative, artistic side of my brain. I’m fascinated by engineering but did poorly at math. The kind of math I understand is marketing – and I’m also even more passionate about human psychology and sociology – what makes us tick. So marketing is a big interest.
Where there are some impressive astrophysicists and engineers who contribute daily here – and a smattering of accountants, I sometimes get overwhelmed ( or a tiny bit underwhelmed ) by all the long posts of battery schematics, mathematical calculations and theories of technologies that could be, or may succeed. Sometimes it goes on and on and strays from the subject of the day quite sharply – especially toward the end posts ( where I generally live daily since I’m on the Left Coast ).
Engineers don’t sell cars. Marketers and sales professionals sell cars. Now I’ve just opened a HUGE potential debate here, but I am not trying to be controversial. I’ve said here before that EV enthusiasts, electrical engineers and heady, educated types who follow transportation trends and tech are not the largest slice of the marketing pie of anything, let alone mass-marketed human transportation.
The Mass Market tends to follow feelings, emotions, popular trends and each other – hundreds of factors involved in decision making when buying that new car or kind of car.
Detroit insiders sit and discuss the same issues we ponder here every day. It’s nice here at GM-Volt to feel like an insider. But the The Chevy Volt is not going to fly or sink based upon the latest calculations.
I liked post #4 because he mentioned some GREAT catch-phrases that aptly, SIMPLY describe WHAT THE VOLT DOES in plain-speak. That’s what Mom’s and Dads, busy working folk, middle class and blue collar people expect – being raised on TV.
Like all of us frequent participators on GM-Volt.com this author is passionate about conveying the Volt doctrine to the folks. When he says, —”Then, I heard about the Chevy Volt: an electric car plus. With a battery pack inexpensive enough to purchase, yet practical enough for daily driving: even offering a rapidly-refilled gasoline backup for long distance travel. A car which would never leave a motorist stranded on the side of the road with a depleted battery. A meaningful step towards meeting future transportation needs.”— He invents some pretty cool lines GM marketing staff have been striving to capture for some time, I’m sure. “AN ELECTRIC CAR PLUS”. Perfect!
Notice he used, “inexpensive, rapidly-refilled gasoline backup for long distance travel”. “Meaningful step”.Never leave you stranded.
—————————————————————————————————————————
If the Chevy Volt is going to sell in large enough numbers to insure Gen II, it’s words and phrases the common person can wrap their head around that’ll get them to buy. As with the Prius, the loss-leader turns a profit by economy of scale. People see them on the road, in the shopping market parking lot – they tend to let the “me too”, “if they bought it, perhaps I should look into it” mentality which results in MASS APPEAL.
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:35 pm)I wonder if DAN’S COMMENT AT 44 will get enough +++’s to turn green and stand out from the voting theme of the thread. It’d be a shame for anyone to miss it, IMHO.
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:43 pm)Way to go Phil. I expect a full report on this website and facebook about your test drive. You are driving for all of us here.
Take Care,
TED
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:44 pm)Well said. +1
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:45 pm)I hope I didn’t step on any toes. I’d like to see more talk here on how to market the Volt. Once again I have to repeat #4’s verbiage: “AN ELECTRIC CAR PLUS”…WOW! That is so GREAT!
I have been trying to capture short phrases and ways to explain how Volt works to everyman/woman. That’s just the line I was trying to find!
Anybody have some other ideas? Isn’t it sad how auto websites known for good editorials still call the Volt: “GM’s EV” ????
We have to get the word out!
RECHARGE! James
Mar 13th, 2010 (7:54 pm)I think he should repost it earlier in a later thread. It’s not everyday we get a review from someone here.
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:04 pm)Nasaman looks to be the winner! Congrats and enjoy the ride.
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:06 pm)I think I just turned Dan a shade of Irish!
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:07 pm)I thought they all did this in their own way. For example: Number 6 is the patriotic pitch: Number 5 pitched great drive and fun to drive, green creed, and community; and Number 3 pitched the economic benefits. (You’ve mentioned the others so we don’t need to go over them). Basically which one you like the best will depend on your view of what’s important . I thought they all made valid points.
Interestingly enough, if I were GM, I’d want to feature your video. (If I’m remembering correctly that yours featured the sheik getting a pie in the face). Not sure it made the deadline or even if you entered it, but to my mind anger is always a great motivating force if you can harness it, and your video managed to turn the latent (or not so latent) anger at the oil producing (or perhaps more to the point terrorist supporting) countries into a reason to buy a Volt. And you did it in a humorous way.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:17 pm)Yup, gave it a thumbs up myself. By far the best comment since Lyles well below 30k price comment. Good old Dan beat us all off the line, and that is not a bad thing. I would imagine if there are any easter eggs to be found, he would know where to find them. Congratulations Dan!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:18 pm)I can’t speak for others, but I checked and all *my* toes are intact.
I’ve assumed that most (all?) of the regulars here are already telling folks about the Volt. From my personal point of view, the words used to describe the Volt and our feelings about the Volt are very important, but the *passion* we feel about it is ineffable. It’s the non-verbal communication that takes place that truly conveys the feelings involved – that this *isn’t* “just a car”. It’s the look in a person’s eye, the smile while you talk, the body language, – all the threads in the tapestry of how we really *feel* about this vehicle, that “speak volumes” – sometimes without saying much at all.
I *know* that marketing is conventionally the means toward mass acceptance, but I *feel* like the Volt and it’s sibs are different – that it will be word-of-mouth *and* personal experiences (rides in a Volt that happen by chance), that will send the Volt viral.
I just reread this post, and realized that it’s also a pretty good fit with the process of falling in love. I don’t think that I’ll change a word (g).
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:19 pm)It’s really going to be interesting to me to see how other car companies try to spin anything the Volt does into a bad thing. Boy, I’d hate to be in marketing for those guys.
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:25 pm)How lucky can you get!?!
Thanks, Dan, for one truly well written report on your experience driving the Volt.
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:26 pm)Pie being thrown at a Sheik!!! I must have missed the link to that video. If I see that tomorrow it’s going to be hard not voting for it. Please repost if you guys know where it is.
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:30 pm)Or both.
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:34 pm)MOST EXCELLENT!
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:35 pm)Here’s the sheik video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5SQRfF8CIQ
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:36 pm)Maybe Lyle can re-post it (I don’t know how to do that).
But certainly I can now write about Volt from personal experience from now on.
What a wonderful day it’s been!
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:48 pm)I remember Basic with punched cards. If I was patient I could say Hello world in under a week!!
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:49 pm)Thank you, but congrats to Jim and Susan and the rest of GM most of all! This vehicle is
*************
**VERY TRULY**
*************
**light years**
ahead of
**EVERYTHING**
else!!
Mar 13th, 2010 (8:57 pm)We all know that, but YOU have experienced it. Yes congratulations to all of the GM team and everybody else who was involved with the VOLT!
Many Cheers
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:01 pm)So you are saying is the Volt is beyond “can’t wipe the grin off my face” and is more like “jaw dropping awesome, with tears of joy”
Oh man do I want one!
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:05 pm)Thanks for posting the video. Love it. They actually drove from the works to the show in Geneva, unlike the vaporware purveyors.
It looks like an important part of their mission, with the CEO driving and such!
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:08 pm)hi DP #44…
Thanks for the review. Won’t be long before many here at gm volt dot com are viewed as visionaries and not as EV nuts. Good to hear the interior feels roomy. Sure hope GM makes it’s way to Santa Barbara.
=D-Volt
http://garfwod.250free.com/volt_b%20bros_rawhide_clip.mp3
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:10 pm)Ah, time travel to the fourth dimension in the Volt? Really? I have got to think about that a bit. (A bit of time interlude) OK I understand. Driving an old car could be like time travel back in time. I understand that, so driving the Volt would be like driving a car of the future. That makes perfect sense. I am just a bit slow sometimes. So have they finalized the lighting yet?
Cheers to all, of all times…
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:11 pm)Sounds like this was the baseline, and it got better from there.
Be well,
Tagamet
/Malibu ad at the end of thread. Nice change. Maybe the LEAF ad ran out of juice.
No ER, No Sale!
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:11 pm)Exactly.
Before leaving, I explained to Jim and Susan that there was so much in the Volt that
I can see (from an advanced systems tech viewpoint) that almost no-one else does (right now anyway).
I really did mean that to adapt to the Volt only takes seconds, literally mere seconds to adapt to all of it! This characteristic is totally
unheard-of. This vehicle is so totally designed around you as a person, it is astonishing that you will see so immediately, you will know the decision to sign the sales order (even if you’ve never heard of the Volt before), will be made within seconds after sitting down, even before you move forward to experience this ultimate in silent refinement of power.
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:15 pm)Awesome! Hope to get a chance to vote for it tomorrow
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:16 pm)#6 I can think of one reason – the price.
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:23 pm)Here’s one for Austin from one of Austin’s finest. Home of the Volt demo drive. Think will sound good in the quiet cabin of the Volt?
http://garfwod.250free.com/Volt_SRV_Austin-drive.mp3
=D-Volt
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:34 pm)Thank you Dave K,
All I’d want in the quiet cab of the Volt is the quiet cab of the Volt except at Christmas time
when I like to play the MTC and also a Festival of Christmas in Brass.
(/and, say “hi” to Britta on the OnStar to do some consulting work for GM).
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:56 pm)I predicted a year or more ago that we would have a “sightings” area on the site.
How exciting that we will soon have a test drive impressions section!
I hope that all of the finalists provide accounts of their experiences.
Mar 13th, 2010 (9:57 pm)I had to go to work right after today’s first round voting came up. I was wondering all day how the voting was going. I had to vote for no.4 because I could relate to that person the most. It’s really great to feel like being a part of this so much needed change in transportation. I hope I get to see tomorrow’s entries before I have to leave for work. From Dan P.’s experience, it sounds like the Volt will exceed everyone’s expectations.
+1
Mar 13th, 2010 (10:25 pm)Yeah, not bad for vaporware (g), but I thought that it was Jackson that predicted that sightings section…
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
Mar 13th, 2010 (11:32 pm)Well, we “lose” an hour tonight (YAY spring!) and I have an early start tomorrow, so I’m signing off.
Night all.
Be well,
Tagamet
/waves
No ER, No Sale!
Mar 13th, 2010 (11:50 pm)So the question remains, will the Volt be back in Austin May 14-16, 2010 at the Statesman Auto Show? Will there be test drives then?
Mar 14th, 2010 (1:16 am)Bring back the PICs! This is the real deal – what we’ve all waited for.
Mar 14th, 2010 (3:44 am)#6 IS A LOCK! GO NASAMAN! IGNITE THE VOLT !!!!
GO EV!!!
Mar 14th, 2010 (6:58 am)Dan, your full story in post #44 —and this brief recap— outrank any first-person descriptions of the Volt driving experience I’ve yet seen. EXCITING, INSPIRING & BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN!!!
PS: Sincere thanks to all who voted for my story in #6 …..I promise not to let you down!
+1
Mar 14th, 2010 (7:35 am)Chevrolet seems to be setting themselves up to become a genuine article vs clone product. Remember the Genuine IBM PC from the 80s? Did IBM handle the clone market correctly? Could they have maintained a significant market share by setting a price that would have discouraged clone development in the first place. Call this wishful thinking, because I would like to see a Volt that everybody, including me, can afford. IOW Chevrolet could keep the price up now and make tons of money for a few years and then sell it to the Chinese like IBM did, or they could do the other thing.
Mar 14th, 2010 (8:03 am)Great Post Dan.
Drive carefully Nasaman.
According to Dan’s post, it appears GM’s got the Volt right. The next important step will be supporting it. This post appeared on a Camaro Facebook page:
Andrzej Oscilowicz UPDATE ON MY CAMARO. “I had written that my Camaro was damaged in a GM dealer parking lot. It needed a new door to repace the damage. GM sent 7 doors to the dealer and all were damaged. My car was in for 5 weeks”.
Not sure if GM sent the doors or a supplier, but I hope they’ve resolved the issue.
The writer mentioned that he hadn’t heard back from GM Customer Service, but a follow up post did contact him with information on his case.
Volt’s No. 1 on my list, Camaro’s No. 2 (tbd after Nov. 2010…).
Mar 14th, 2010 (8:33 am)Congrats, Nasaman!
Great job.
Be well,
Tagamet
No ER, No Sale!
Mar 14th, 2010 (8:53 am)Yes, the Volt will be back in Austin May 14th through 16th at the Convention Center sponsored by the Austin Area Dealer’s Association. I think it will be inside the convention center only, so, I don’t believe test drives will be available at that time.
Mar 14th, 2010 (1:23 pm)If I win I’ll pay everyone a hundred conferate dollars
-1
Mar 14th, 2010 (1:39 pm)Speaking for Canada (since Canadians are pretty much excluded from this contest), there’s more reason to drive a Volt than the US and more reason again in Europe.
You want to know why ? Runaway Health Care costs. They tax the heck out of gasoline up here to pay for it.
Electricity is relatively cheap but gas is over $4 a gallon up here. (that’s taking exchange and converting litres etc into US gallons.)
Our lineups to get routine surgeries are as long as ever and don’t expect to get timely operations for tumor removals. So be knowledgable when you consider Obama care.
The Volt is one of the few ways to avoid excessive government taxation. It’s even worse in Europe.
Mar 14th, 2010 (6:06 pm)Congratulations and well done to all participants.