The Chevy Volt will take center stage in a new production by The Global Learning Series, focusing on General Motors in an episode titled ‘Understanding Environmental Stewardship.” In the episode, the educational public television program will explore the widespread introduction of electric cars. It will also look at the roll leaders in the green car segment are playing in onboard connectivity, including everything from navigation and communications, to diagnostics and smart phone integration.
“We are honored to partner with Chevrolet who is leading the charge in The Green Movement in America, with its flagship Chevrolet Volt! The company is truly achieving global technology leadership status in this area,” said John McGuire, President, CEO and Executive Producer for “The Global Learning Series.”
Shot everywhere from GM’s battery lab to the Volt assembly plant, the new episode will be distributed soon to local public broadcasting and cable channels, as well as some online outlets.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 at 9:53 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
+8
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:10 am)A quick Google look up says: “GTS Education is a family owned and privately operated television production company that is on the very cutting edge of the documentary television industry.” . . . “Our award winning programs range from, “THE GLOBAL LEARNING SERIES” for Public Television, to programming which has been broadcast on CNN, Discovery Channel, The Patient Channel in national syndication, and internationally on the U.S. Government Voice of America network.”
Good press. I think.
+6
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:10 am)Tony Posawatz is one of the heroes that should go down in American history for saving GM.
This show should be very interesting and I am looking forward to watching it.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:11 am)Do we know when it will air ?
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:13 am)I meant : next week, next month, next quarter ?
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:13 am)Another try of the ‘a’ thing to get my comment in black.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:15 am)Good video. Way to go, GM.
+2
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:17 am)The link above was interesting.
If anyone can find a schedule, I hope they will post it here!
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:23 am)I can’t find it anywhere. I’ve tried public tv, the Discovery Channel, the Global Learning Series website. Zero, nada, zip.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:24 am)Tall Pete, all of your comments are in black.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:29 am)I’m starting to think this is the entire episode.
-30
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:32 am)(click to show comment)
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:34 am)An example of “good environmental stewarship” that MANY PEOPLE could implement immediately would be car-pooling.
Car-pooling has actually been in decline for the last decade.
Sharing a ride is greener than buying any “green” car. And it’s a lot less expensive.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:41 am)Remember, your comment will be in black if you start with a “Reply” or a “Quote.”
+5
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:48 am)Volt’s green enough for me. The point for #11 and #12 is that the Volt will reduce our energy dependence on foreign oil. Car pooling isn’t an option for me (variable schedule in multiple locations). I’ve got 204,500 on the odometer of my 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid, that I bought because it was greener (40+ mpg compared to 30 with a 1999 Cavalier Z24).
The development of the Volt may have even played a role in getting Toyota, Ford and others to come out with improved electric, hybrid and PHEV product offerings. We’re all winners there.
+13
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:55 am)Even better… car-pool in a Chevy Volt (room for 4).
+3
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:04 am)Worker Bee,
Carpooling is alive and well here in Northern Virginia. Take a look at slugging.
http://www.slug-lines.com
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:11 am)All auto companies should be required to create a sustainable model that accounts for every impact on the environment. There are too many vehicles on the road now. An important program could be the retro fitting of existing cars to electric.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:13 am)-1 for #11 +1 for +12, LOL Credit where credit is due.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:19 am)This sounds like the finest and classiest way to teach electrification.
There is so much to teach regarding technologies of all kinds.
I hope that it will be a ***really long*** series, in fact.
This would really bring back a lot of credibility to commercial ([HD air] esp.) television, and,
of course, I think that the PBS broadcasters are the leaders in meaningful content like this.
This really needs to be a very long and continuous ongoing series, so that the stage might be set for
more breathtaking public education such as we find here at this site. I know techs would never be able to get enough of this. Relentless continuity is key, so that the public will commit to consistent learning at a certain day and time of day as fascinating as this is.
My favorite here was the little electrified Datsun that blew away the monster rail dragster.
(While racing isn’t what the Volt is designed for, still, that little video did say a lot about how electrification will open so many doors for so many people.)
+2
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:20 am)Absolutely, #12. Carpooling requires very little effort other than a phone call or implementation of something like a “carpooling.com” (kind of like roommate.com).
I say conservation is not being properly taught or implemented. Outlawing Incandecent lights is not enough. Funny story about incandecent. A local brewery here in PA, called Victory Brew Pub, has a nice 46″ LCD screen showing the Solar PV array that they installed on the roof and its output. They state “Victory is going green”. Well, what do you think they use for overhead lighting? 75 watt incandecent light bulbs. Presumably for dimming at night. They could replace all with CFL bulbs which use 13 watts over 75 watts and NOT have to install the Solar panels to go green. Dozens of them. Yeah, going green actually should be done “smartly” and not for self-congratulatory reasons.
Carpooling works in cities and areas which demand pooling to get to work in under 2-hours. DC, San Jose and similar. Carpooling will not work until we look at our neighbors and co-workers and invite them into our lives in order to benefit society. Too many families are self-contained and self-sufficient and carpooling is “last on their minds”. Our culture is really not ready for carpooling until gas hits $5.00 a gallon. Which it will very soon. But what will people do? Buy a gas-efficient car and drive individually into work. That’s where the problem lies – in a complex society where people just don’t have the time to “get together and work together”.
+5
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:22 am)You know what we need?
“The Biggest Loser – resource edition”. TV show where a family does an energy review and finds overusage and cuts back on energy consumption from electricity, gas, propane and gasoline usage. Until we learn to lean out our energy consumption like we learn to lean out our food consumption, we’re just a few years to decades away from overconsuming our way into a huge problem.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:23 am)Worker Bee,
Carpooling won’t work much unless gas prices gets uncomfortably high. The big debate is about where the ‘uncomfortably high’ amount is regarding driving amount and the economy–is it $4/gal like before or higher now? Say, $4.50 or $5?
Glad the American car co’s at least have higher-mileage vehicles this time around–the Volt, Cruze, new Focus, higher-mileage trucks, etc.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:34 am)Well, the Volt, Eco Cruise and e-assist are the first steps in the right direction but when I think of GM as a whole, they are definately not on my top ten list of environmental stewards JMO.
+3
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:51 am)Nice video production. The video could be updated with Volt owners reporting on their usage and decreased fuel consumption.
Nothing beats a test drive to enjoy the sumptuous ride, extreme quiet, snappy handling and incredible torque that every Volt driver experiences.
+3
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:04 pm)Being green is all well and good, but:
The predominant message behind the Volt needs to be energy and economic security with ‘greeness’ a secondary priority. In the first place, these are real and more immediate concerns: we send far too much money overseas for the energy we need; to countries far too willing to turn off the flow for political reasons (i.e. USA = The Great Satan).
By majoring on ‘greeness’ the Volt is aligned with a partisan political viewpoint in this country. This cuts off EVs from at least 30% of Americans (probably closer to 50%). It also makes EVs a prime target in political discourse; and subject to official resistance on the whim of a majority change.
Besides, can we really talk about the green benefit of electric cars in a country where burning coal is the single largest method of producing electricity? (Yes, I know that it is greener to apply a modern coal plant for energy production than to burn gasoline in millions of automobiles; but I wonder if this figures much into majority opinion? You must know something which many do not in order to see this). I really wonder if ‘greeness’ isn’t 50% motivated by an effort to get the Warmers on board. The real, immediate issue is that coal doesn’t have to be imported.
The proper focus for ‘greeness,’ in my opinion, is to focus on the greening of electricity production (and remember, it has to be practical, and economically sustainable first, or who will pay for it?). At least, it should receive as much attention as EVs.
BTW, the only place which shouldn’t be green is the comment texts of this site! If you see green text, put <a></a> at the beginning of your comment. You likely won’t see green if you are using IE 8 or 9, but others will.
.
+4
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:04 pm)“We are honored to partner with Chevrolet who is leading the charge in The Green Movement in America, with its flagship Chevrolet Volt! The company is truly achieving global technology leadership status in this area,” said John McGuire, President, CEO and Executive Producer for “The Global Learning Series.”
What a difference a Volt can make!
http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/volt-battery-temperature-temperature.html
+3
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:07 pm)#23
I hear you, but every little bit does help, LOL. The marketplace is going to force everybody to be “greener”.
+2
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:15 pm)Clarification:
The health issues of pollution are real and demonstrable regardless of what you may think about human-caused climate change. Mitigating pollution in urban areas (where concentrated vehicle pollution is an issue) is a noble and worthy goal of vehicle electrification.
And then, there’s noise pollution …
.
+7
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:17 pm)BTW, gmconnects.com reports Volt #1756 at status “4B00″ today, “bayed and waiting for transportation”.
The antics of Col. Kahdafi, et al, today are certainly helping me to get over any doubts I may have had about spending so !@#$%^ much money on a Volt, LOL. It’s starting to look like pretty good timing.
+3
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:18 pm)#28
You got that right! +1
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:20 pm)This is what I’m talking about. The Volt offers transportation insurance in a unique way; surely this is worth a certain “premium.”
.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:45 pm)Well…..
A lot of you are posting in “Green”, so you’re ALL Green!!!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
/St. Pattys day preparation goin on here! I’ll drink to that! Gimme some Irish brew and Corned beef!!!
Feb 23rd, 2011 (12:52 pm)Yup, that’s him all right …
.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:02 pm)For those of you who skipped over my long-winded #25:
Do a short test and see if this will work for you.
.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:13 pm)The Volts a “Transformer”!
It starts as an EV and Transforms into a “Hybrid”.
Now I say “Hybrid” instead of an ICE car because at any given time, the ICE can drive the car concurrently with the electric motors AND can dip into the batt pack for more “Oooomph….”.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:17 pm)#32 Captain Jack Sparrow
I’m guessing you’re out of jury duty?
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:20 pm)#36
LOL. +1
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:20 pm)I hope you’re right.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:21 pm)Or, once again, start your post by hitting “reply” or “quote” or do a partial quote or put a URL link at the beginning.
If you look over the last three days, every post that starts with one of these has the comment in black. The posts that are green using Firefox are those that just start typing or making a quote without using the “quote” function.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:23 pm)No & Yes.
Nope not in Jury Duty
But yes, I have to go back next week for 2 more weeks then deliberate.
Apparently the “Courts” do not have session this whole week.
/sup wit dat?
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:23 pm)Great. Thanks. Testing one, two, three…
+2
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:25 pm)And gmconnects.com reports Volt #1761 at status 3800 today, order produced and vehicle is being prepared for shipping.” Wohoo!
MichaelH
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:26 pm)I don’t know. Maybe it’s the furloughs? Does California still have those?
+2
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:29 pm)Believe me, when gas hits $6 a gallon people won’t care about the politics. They’ll care about their pocketbooks. There’s a reason the Prius is more mainstream right now than it was when it first came out. And it’s not just about being “green.”
+2
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:31 pm)Laura M,
I ran out of time yesterday, but your comment about droughts, crop failures, etc., reminded me of one of my favorite Kingston Trio songs from the late 50s/early 60s, “The Merry Minuet”.
As best I can remember some of the lyrics were:
“They’re rioting in Africa, they’re starving in Spain,
There’s hurricanes in Florida and Texas needs rain.”
“The whole world is festering with unhappy souls,
The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles,
italians hate Yougoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch,
And I don’t like anybody very much.”
“They’re rioting in Africa, there’s strife in Iran,
“What nature doesn’t do to us,
Will be done by our fellow man.”
It seems like nothing much has changed in 50+ years of my life, LOL.
There’s another verse about “Man’s been endowed with a mushroom shaped cloud.”, but hopefully it won’t come to that.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:32 pm)The district I am on is local County. Now that you mention it, I think they do have furloughs still.
That’s prolly it.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:37 pm)#42
You go MichaelH! +1
My good friend has a nephew in Chama. We are thinking to visit soon. Maybe I can figure out a way to drop by and have lunch with you and compare Volt notes. I haven’t decided whether to drive the Volt or fly. My younger son made several trips to Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimmarron, so I am thinking maybe to drive by there and check it out too.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:39 pm)Damn right. +1 As much as it pains me to say it, Toyota just saw the handwriting on the wall WAY before the competition. With the notable exception of Honda of course, but Toyota then just beat them at their own game.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:43 pm)That would be great. Assuming you use the same username on the forum, I’ll send you a PM with more of my information. We are not quite as far north as Chama, but that is the right end of the state.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:43 pm)Well, with the weakening of the US defense umbrella, the world, in general, is about to become a much more dangerous place.
It’s not ideal. The world is a better place with a “policeman.” At least, IMHO. Even if the US tended to go overboard in many instances. However, we can’t afford to be the world’s policeman anymore. And the sooner we face that fact, the better things will be for us in the long term.
That said, the upcoming food shortages are not about people hating each other. That’s the weather. And the fact that a lot of the ground water we’ve been using for agriculture is a non-renewable resource. Not to mention escalating demand as people in developing countries become wealthier and eat more meat…
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:44 pm)Speaking of Honda, what do they have coming? They’ve been pretty quiet.
I say they beef up that electric motor and slap a clutch where ICE meets electric motor in the IMA and call it done. Give it an EV range of 20miles and viola, a PHEV Honda.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:46 pm)bolding mine
But that’s how it’s been promoted, and how many (non-owners) look at it.
In other words, market forces will trump ideology — as well it should. If the most vocal extremes of either political bent would just shut up and let the market (at least) educate, we would be better off. Note that I did not say that this would lead to an “ideal” situation, just a better one.
.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:54 pm)This works because the name is invisibly bracketed by various html formatting tags which include <a>:
<strong><a href=”#comment-267933″>MichaelH</a></strong>:
(note the bolded part in the string above).
The url is supposed to print in green, so it also contains <a> tags (this is why we frequently see green text interrupted by black only after a url is posted).
Yes, you can always use a quote or reply; but if you want to post a new idea without these, it’s not that hard to insert the <a></a> at the beginning.
Or, once again, the new site owners can just fix this.
.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (1:59 pm)That’s 7 xtra chars I have to hit maaaaannnn….
Feb 23rd, 2011 (2:01 pm)Breaking:
Oil tops $100 a barrel:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/9514585
.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (2:04 pm)I just got a PM from Helena, responding to my PM, that says, “they are working on it.”
BTW, I understand why it works, and why yours works for a fresh comment. I was just trying to promote others using reply and quote so I wouldn’t have to wade through those really long green posts.
BTW #2, I still can only use the quote function by highlighting some text first and then clicking on “Quote.” This isn’t too bad, because that also worked before and it is how I tended to use “quote.” I wish that “Quote” worked that way on the forum. You can only quote the whole comment on a “quote and reply” on the forum.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (2:08 pm)Of course, people pay much more attention to their finances than they do to ideology! Although, the market’s already been distorted with heavy oil subsidies. And the government’s refusal to charge for externalities.
But, at some point, those who refused to consider an electric car for ideological reasons will be put at a disadvantage because they’ll be stuck with an ICE car, and there will be waitlists and surcharges for anything remotely fuel efficient.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (2:12 pm)So will you vote to “fry him”??????????
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW: The easiest way to stay off a jury is when they ask you if you have any opinion about the case, just say “I always thought that if they are here, they are probably guilty….” The defense will immediately ask that you be removed.
And here is a thought for the day:
If you ever have to go to trial, you are being judged by 12 people that were too stupid to get out of jury duty……………
+2
Feb 23rd, 2011 (2:15 pm)It works intermittently for me; and I do still get the “quote is having trouble at the moment” popup every now and then.
BTW: I also am attempting to educate
.
.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (2:26 pm)#50
As you no doubt know by now, I totally agree with that. +1
That too. When the food shortages get intense enough however, people will grow to hate each other as they battle for scarce resources, IMHO. And water too, come to that, as even the Pentagon has said.
Anyway, it was just a song, and meant to be funny in its way. But it is interesting to see how history repeats itself, even in our short lifetimes.
Maybe buying a Volt is a tiny gesture toward helping with all of the issues which you so correctly point out.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (2:33 pm)~~~Or~~~
During Voi Dire, when the judge says “What say ye?” (to the attorneys), just holler out
“Guilty, by God!!!”
It helps to bring your own rope, too …
.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (2:54 pm)You’re right. It’s not hard to get out of jury duty. In a civil trial–just complain about how all these frivolous lawsuits are destroying our society.
But not everyone wants to get out of it. Before my mother retired, she loved Jury duty. She got paid her regular salary, and she hated working. I would imagine it’s the same situation for a lot of other people who work for the government. Or who just hate their jobs.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (3:05 pm)It’s true. Every generation has it’s issues. And they are similar. We all have to keep on confronting them over and over again. I guess it comes down to human nature.
I absolutely agree that hungry people are much more likely to resort to violence. Lack of grain is was a major impetus for the French revolution. And, more recently, a major contributor to the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. For most of history, the world has been a very dangerous place. It’s gotten much safer in the past century or so. A lot of that is because more people are well fed. But, unfortunately, it seems that even well fed people will find reasons to kill each other…
Technology has consistently been the answer to these problems. And, hopefully, will continue to do so. The Volt is part of that.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (3:30 pm)
Feb 23rd, 2011 (3:32 pm)just to close the bold tag, parently there were two open tags…
Feb 23rd, 2011 (3:43 pm)Test just to check the “quote function.” Seems to work.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (4:02 pm)Not in my experience as a Financial Advisor. The majority of people I met had an opinion on almost everything but no financial plan. Probably because opinions are much easier and much less painful to have than a fin’l plan.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (4:05 pm)Make me wanna holler, sang MG
Feb 23rd, 2011 (4:14 pm)Oh, great. Everybody go back and look at the previous comments in this thread; all carriage returns have been stripped out, and many of them are in all bold.
I’m not sure how much more of this we can take.
I’m off for awhile.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (4:20 pm)Let me rephrase that. Most people respond to economic incentives.
That doesn’t mean they are good at planning ahead. Most people are horrible at saving. And having a financial plan would require people to realize. No. I can’t afford this house, car, TV, etc., and still save for retirement.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (4:33 pm)But it’s not in green/a> and somebody is doing something. “Stay tuned.”
+4
Feb 23rd, 2011 (4:41 pm)The formatting is gone. And it looks like smileys and links to any pictures have also been killed……….
It amazes me that Lyle started this from scratch and ran this for years with very few problems, but a company that specializes in hosting specialty web sites is having so much trouble!!!!
Note to Helena: We really are trying to work with you, but it is time to put a few people on this and get it working properly, don’t you think?????
Now I will submit this and see if it nuked the formatting.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (4:46 pm)Formatting seems to work (I missed a < in mine), but smilies are history.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (5:05 pm)Try putting in something with carriage returns.
With apologies to Kermit The Frog; “it’s not easy readin’ green.” It’s not worse than having your formatting trashed, though.
Could be that as a self-taught blogger, Lyle found a style which, while working well, isn’t what most professional coders are used to. Could be they’ve decided to rip out his code and start all d***ed over. Sigh. Could be a long week …
.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (5:07 pm)I have to say that Lyle used to be more professional than these so called professionists… how hard is to fix a freakin’ closing tag?
Feb 23rd, 2011 (5:11 pm)At least they do to prices, which is one of mankind’s greatest gifts to itself, IMO. On the other hand, there’s the US Tax Code’s ridiculous complexity…
Feb 23rd, 2011 (5:12 pm)#70
You mean I can’t afford my Volt at $44K? Awwwwwwwwwwwww!!! Last year I learned that a person’s world can end tomorrow, and often does. All my life I have operated pretty much on the principle delayed gratification. At a certain age, it starts to seem pretty inapplicable, LOL. To hell with it!
Feb 23rd, 2011 (5:14 pm)#69
Yeah, it’s pretty irritating.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (5:37 pm)I could afford a Volt, and I want a Volt, badly. But before the Volt came I never envisioned myself paying 38 grand for a car, at least not with my current income level. I can’t wait for the day when I can pick up a used one for around 15 grand. I really hope GM can get the price down and down soon. I don’t think starting it out at 41k is a bad jumping off point.
Interesting article on the Volt Batteries aluminum cooling plates at my friends blog http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com/
Feb 23rd, 2011 (6:03 pm)#79
Me neither, LOL. I dunno what came over me, it’s totally out of character. Although we did pay $24K for our Impala SS in 1995, and we were happy to do it, it was such a cool car. So it’s probably about the same in 2011 dollars. Anyway, same answer as above. To hell with it, I’m gonna do it anyway.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (6:41 pm)At least it’s working with Wi-Fi. Couldn’t enter text on the iPhone with 3G.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (7:56 pm)Good point. It’s okay to have a bit of fun. Especially when we see growing agitation in the Middle East. Was there ever any doubt that pirates, Middle East turmoil, oil rig explosions, debates over drilling in Alaska, and rhetoric from rogue leaders would push oil to $100 per barrel?
I have a growing number of coworkers, neighbors, and acquaintances asking how I’m doing with the mpg on the Volt. I replied to one this morning, “I’ve gone over 1400 miles on 2.2 gallons of gasoline”. First he laughed (like it was a joke). Then he looked at me and stated, “Man, that’s great!”. I replied with encouraging words regarding lower prices for EREV vehicles in the future. And the ability for everyone to get off oil.
BTW: Very good video clip lead to today’s post. Now it’s up to We The People to embrace battery vehicles.
No Plug No Sale
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (8:34 pm)The Volt marketing must have hit some kind of milestone or threashold. I had several conversations today w/Joe-the-plumber type people, and they all brought up the Volt; like it is some new thing, like an Iphone, that just sprang out of no where. They were a bit surprised when I could answer their questions in detail and corrected them on a few assumptions. Maybe people are finally getting it.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (8:42 pm)sorry, just playing w/the html code.
+2
Feb 23rd, 2011 (9:21 pm)Me too. Which is why it is so astonishing to me the amount of people in their late forties with a) no savings whatsoever, b)home equity loans on top of their mortgages c) credit card debt, and d)an S class Mercedes Benz.
I don’t know anything about your personal finances. But you don’t seem like the conspicuous consumption type. And, to me, buying a Volt is different than buying a regular luxury car. Admittedly, that might be me letting my own personal tastes affect my financial judgment…
Feb 23rd, 2011 (9:27 pm)
Feb 23rd, 2011 (9:37 pm)My previous comment posted before i was ready. And the edit function didn’t seem to work..
But I wanted to add, you have a point. I’ve delayed gratification so much that I’ve probably missed a lot of what life is supposed to offer. It’s just really difficult for me to get that nagging voice out of my head…
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:18 pm)Heck, the nightly news will report the doggone program, it’ll be hard not to hear about it.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (10:38 pm)It is actually possible to save and have fun in life. I was raised w/the philosophy it’s not how much you make it’s how much you spend. It’s funny how the people I know that make the most $, have the most $ problems. The newspapers will always say Gen X or Gen Y are not savers, and that the Boomers are not savers either. I think the last generation of savers were the Traditionalists and thats because they were around during the Great Depression. You would hope that the current economic downturn will have some effect on the Millennials, and they will be better savers.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:11 pm)Oh. I agree. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to have fun. I’m a very good saver. I’ve never been into the standard conspicuous consumption items, which helps. As does making a very good salary. (Probably more than I deserve.)
My comment was more about the general idea of delayed gratification. Which, in my case, translated into spending too much time working. That’s the part I regret. And the worst part is I have no idea how to stop. Or if I even can at this point.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:20 pm)This seems to be my day for double replies, but…
Empirically speaking, savings rate tend to be much more about government policies than cultural differences. Human nature is a constant. But credit is much much more readily available in the US than anywhere else in the world, so people take advantage. We also have the highest cost of education, which leads many students to take on exorbitant loans that are impossible to discharge in bankruptcy.
Admittedly, I know a lot of people who have credit card debt who really shouldn’t. But many other people take it on because it’s the only way to make ends meet between a)student loans, b)rent, c)car payment, and d)health insurance. If you look at the numbers, most younger professionals aren’t doing nearly as well in terms of income vs. basic costs of living as our parents did. And we spend a lot less on discretionary items.
The cost of necessities has gone up considerably. While the cost of non necessities has gone down considerably. But that doesn’t mean that this generation, or even the boomer generation is profligate.
+1
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:25 pm)Are you close to retirement? At least it appears you take some time to visit here. And hopefully you will be splurging a bit on yourself if you buy a Volt. I work hard too, but I also “party” hard, meaning I enjoy my personal time to the fullest (usually in the form of travel). I know people who are “retired”, but they really aren’t. They will never retire from work, whatever it is they are doing. I also work with some 70 years olds that never say the “R”-word. Even a couple of 80 years olds that passed away while still employed at my company. That won’t be me, but I plan to be “busy” all of my life.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:37 pm)Not even close. I’m 32.
I also hate doing nothing. Relaxing isn’t fun for me. I need to do something at all times, or I’ll go crazy. Which is why I spend my dead time at work here. And probably how I got myself into a job with ridiculous hours. I do get a lot of vacation time though….
I’ll work it out though. Truthfully, I’m extremely fortunate. Much more so than most people. So I really shouldn’t complain.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:42 pm)I think a lot of 18 ~ 35 year-olds assume a lot of “discrectionary” items are necessities. Cable TV (with HD), unlimited texting & data plans, designer clothes, etc. And I’m really worried about the Millennials as they are also the “personality” generation where they define their worth by the number of Facebook friends they have. Image is a big concern, and most believe they should have a starting salary of 70K out of college. With those kinds of attitudes, I can already smell the smoke from the plastic credit cards.
Feb 23rd, 2011 (11:59 pm)Actually, for the most part, those things have gone down considerably in price. Electronics are much cheaper than they used to be. Especially once you adjust for inflation.
By necessities, I meant rent, college (and graduate) education, and medical insurance. Those are things you really can’t live without. Well, I suppose you don’t need to go to college, but without a college degree, good luck getting any kind of decent job…And the price of all three has increased exponentially over the past 50 years. Especially relative to income.
I’ve also met a lot of spoiled Millennials. But that’s because most of the people I meet are relatively well off…
Feb 24th, 2011 (12:07 am)It seems our new hosts have finally resolved the green & bold text problems –thanks Helena, et al!
Feb 24th, 2011 (12:24 am)===============================
Yes, but now formatting of text, smileys, and inserted pictures don’t work……
Have these people never heard of testing code before releasing it out to the end users???
I really don’t mean to sound crabby, but this is really poor support of a system that used to run really well!
JMHO
Feb 24th, 2011 (12:27 am)It is an improvement. But we can’t write paragraphs…
Feb 24th, 2011 (12:31 am)And this was a good one…..
Here is a direct link: http://www.gananoque.com/llama/llama_mcdonalds_gord.jpg
+1
Feb 24th, 2011 (3:51 am)Way to go GM now were talking! Now how long is it 30 minutes or 60? Also I do wish to see this on other stations as well such as the History Channel, A&E, Discovery Channel, and even the National Geographic Channel, Plus GM should either sell this documentary at there auto dealer stores and even major retail stores such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, the local library for rental use and so on to truly get those people to buy the product even if it’s on DVD and Blu-Ray to educate them why electric cars are so great! Yes maybe not everybody wants a Volt but it may make them think twice if they ever want to buy an electric car. Who agrees with me on this subject!
+1
Feb 24th, 2011 (4:20 am)Also I do wish that GM puts a future article on this for a TV schedule so we know and when to watch it. Agree?
+1
Feb 24th, 2011 (8:07 am)OIL $103.78 this morning on Middle East concerns.
Feb 24th, 2011 (9:10 am)Have you guys seen this? New Nissan electric sport car: ESFLOW
http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/nissan/47595/
Feb 24th, 2011 (10:06 am)http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/thank-you-to-dreamers-and-achievers.html
Feb 24th, 2011 (11:05 am)#82
Amen brother! Thanks. +1
Feb 24th, 2011 (11:06 am)#83
We live in hopes. +1
Feb 24th, 2011 (11:09 am)#85
Go for it! +1
Yeah, I’m fairly boring. House paid off, no credit card debt, at least some money in the bank, and drive a Cobalt, LOL. Of course there are a few expensive toys lurking in the back of the garage, but we wont go there……….
Feb 24th, 2011 (11:13 am)#92
Sounds like me, LOL. +1 I could quit working today and get along OK, but I would have to give up my expensive hobbies. No way!
+1
Feb 24th, 2011 (11:16 am)Well there may not be a new thread, but all of your comments are outstanding. They are the most important and interesting part of the blog anyway. GM-Volt.com bloggers rule! Way to go! +1 to all. Have a great day, you deserve it.
“Lead, follow or get out of the way!”
Feb 24th, 2011 (11:18 am)#102
Yeah, wait for it. Knowledge is power. Thanks. +1
Feb 24th, 2011 (11:23 am)New topic now up.
Feb 24th, 2011 (4:19 pm)I go for jury duty in a week. My policy has always been: Bring in the guilty person, and we’ll give them a fair trial (and then hang them).
Be well,
Tagamet