Tom M: The Volt may very well be a better car than the leaf, but Nissan is winning the PR war.

Winning a PR war for GM is almost impossible at this moment in time. There is the bankruptcy thing. The ‘owned by government’ thing. The ‘when will there be an IPO’ thing. The list goes on.

No wonder Nissan is winning the PR war. ANY CAR COMPANY would win a PR war against GM right now (except maybe for Toyota, because of the ‘gas pedal thing’ nightmare they had).

Itching4it: Does 12,000 by March and 50,000 by October 2011 sound like Volt numbers to you?

Kinda. I thought that 12000 was 6000 in Japan and 6000 between here and Europe. In which case, it is actually lower quantities and later than the Volt, at least here in the US. And granted the 50,000 sounds higher than what GM is talking about for the Volt, but it’s also higher than what Nissan had been talking about for the Leaf until they started taking orders.

Back in March, they were talking more like this: “Although the opener of a new era, it will be interesting to see whether the Leaf will be a hit, given its steep price. Nissan itself has set its target somewhat low in Japan, with only 6,000 units aimed to be sold in the fiscal year 2010. ”
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/nissan-leaf-available-for-order-prices-from-376m-yen-18644.html

What a difference a couple months can make. Maybe it will change things for GM, too. Anyway, I think GM can turn up the production knob at Hamtramck probably just as quickly or quicker than Nissan can turn up production. The question is really one of corporate decision. Will they want to? I honestly don’t know. I keep thinking GM is going to limit production quantities to limit losses and that’s just a big mistake because the dealers will mark up the car and soak up profits GM could have made, had they priced the car higher where they wouldn’t want to limit production.

I’ll give Nissan the credit there, they’re clearing planning to make as many as they can. That’s been kind of a mixed message from GM and it’s disturbing.

Roy H: No, this makes perfect business sense. In the past GM has forced dealers to carry 100’s of extra cars which the dealers had to unload, usually by fire sale prices which they lost money on. This new policy of build only what you can sell is not a bad as you think. Very few orders will be lost by not having the vehicle on the lot in the color and options you want.

I am unsure what I am looking for when I hit a car lot. Yes the Volt has some distinct advantages over the LEAF but… the LEAF has some interesting advantages over the Volt too, and waiting SUCKS!

Tom M: YES early adopters are going to go to the dance with the first girl that will say yes

Tom M: The Volt may very well be a better car than the leaf, but Nissan is winning the PR war.

An electric car is that big of a deal — Nissan will be just fine making it.
I personally believe that GM is making it seem as complicated as possible — coolaid?

SteveF: Time will tell, but the Leaf is this mystery car that I do not trust. With GM being open and having many people drive it during the whole development process, I can trust in purchasing it.

!!!! Release date is a BIG thing! Oh, lets not do the 19641/2 Mustang analogy — must not…

Jim in PA: I think this whole release date thing is overblown,

Measuring/cutting??!! There are a few people here that believe that electric cars are hard to make.
It has been the battery that has kept electric cars from adoption. There isn’t many things more simple than an electric motor. High power electric motors in transportation? yes a few — ChooChoo!

There was a Dirty Jobs eps. where Mike was in a train refurbishing shop — they didn’t even deal with the motors — it was all about refurbing the Diesel.

Guido: Measure twice, cut once !

Good article. I for one plan to wait for a Volt. My car situation is solved for the foreseeable future so I can wait. Having an over-engineered Ver-1 of the Volt sounds sexy to me. Hope they don’t limit the torque at 0mph too much. melting, melting rubber!!! Oh, i am sure some gizmo will detect tire slip and stop me. Blasting away at lights will be FUN!

Guido: Hmmm – help me with this … you believe Statik’s “predictions” or “insights” are 95% accurate, yet you can’t list them ? Despite the fact we would both agree ( Statik, too, for that matter) that he has predicted 1) Volt was “Vaporware” – he was adamant about this in the “early years” 2) Volt would NOT launch by November 2010 3) GM was covering up problems with the range extender and 4) GM was “covering up” problems that kept it from launching this spring ( his logic was that since the prototype vehicles were on the road, they must have been ready for launch). Do the math, Dave – clearly these four major “fails” on Statik’s part must mean ( by your 95% “Statik correct” estimate ) – that Statik has been “correct” on 80 or so of his countless conspiracy theories. I guess I’ve been frequenting this site longer than you, albeit not as often – because I can’t remember a half-dozen. Just list me a half-dozen, then, of his most insightful correct conspiracy theories. Just 6 . Feel free to help him, Statik.  (Quote)

I think I get you don’t like me much, and that is ok, not everyone does.

However, I have never, ever said the Volt was vaporware and/or will not be built, I have 3,000 odd comments here (a lot less lately)…please feel free to hunt through them to prove me wrong.

I will admit that I did say that I felt there would be no Volts in the showrooms in November 2010 for sale, and I have been saying that since the beginning, and I still believe it, nothing has led me to change my mind.

Lyle might get one, some celebrities/politicians might get one, there will probably be a Barrett Jackson auction on one, but I don’t feel anyone from the rank and file here will have one. Heck, can you even order any car in October and reasonably expect to get it in November?

Remember when GM was leading us to believe they would be building over ’100,000 a year after 2010,’ then 60,000, then 10,000…now it is 4,000 for model year 2011. I’ve had that stance all along, and you have to admit the trend is not going the right way, as you say you have been here at the site along time, you know how it has gone…but I am happy to be wrong, and I said I will admit it happily here. I’m a man of my word.

/see you in November