Last Friday the federal Volt battery investigation was closed even as GM and officials from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration are preparing to face a formal congressional hearing this week.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing titled, “Volt Vehicle Fire: What did NHTSA know and when did they know it?” is scheduled for Jan. 25.
It will be chaired by Darrell Issa, R-CA, and aims to investigate potential fire risks associated with extensively damaged Volts, and whether officials have – and still are – withholding vital information.
The first post-crash test fire happened this June after NHTSA stored a Volt without its battery being discharged, yet the public did not hear of it until November.
NHTSA administrator David Strickland said that the White House was informed in September, but Republicans have repeatedly asked GM and NHTSA why the delay?
GM has said the first-of-its-kind June fire was not something it felt was a significant safety threat, but did set about assessing and trying to repeat it. Successive attempts failed until November when stand-alone batteries were abused enough to show GM and NHTSA how sparks and flames could happen.
Alleging improprieties, Issa spokesman Ali Ahmad said on Friday that the House committee will demand NHTSA turn over all records related to the Volt’s safety.
“NHTSA has stalled on responding to the committee’s inquiry for six weeks and inexplicably refused to provide any documents,” he said. “The committee expects full compliance with its request and will consider compulsory methods if NHTSA does not immediately change its position.”
While these allegations are specific, observers have otherwise noted the Volt and GM have been a target by opponents to automotive electrification in general and GM in particular.
In part because the now profitable post-bankruptcy GM – recently also acknowledged as the world’s largest automaker – has not yet paid back all the money it received from the federal government as Chrysler did, it has not received much mercy from a variety of critics.
To answer the latest inquiry, GM CEO Dan Akerson will testify before the House committee as will NHTSA’s Strickland.
With perhaps fortuitous timing, on Friday NHTSA officially ended its investigation into issues the House is yet riled about and issued a press release highlighting the outcome:
Opened on November 25, the agency’s investigation has concluded that no discernible defect trend exists and that the vehicle modifications recently developed by General Motors reduce the potential for battery intrusion resulting from side impacts.
NHTSA remains unaware of any real-world crashes that have resulted in a battery-related fire involving the Chevy Volt or any other electric vehicle. NHTSA continues to believe that electric vehicles show great promise as a safe and fuel-efficient option for American drivers.
For its part, GM said NHTSA’s findings were consistent with its own testing and assessments – some of which were done alongside NHTSA investigators.
As a result of the highly publicized concerns, GM announced on Jan 5 it would offer structural enhancements – not due to any implied threat by NHTSA, but GM has said it is entirely a proactive gesture to allay concerns.
“The voluntary action that GM is taking is intended to make a safe vehicle even safer,” GM said. “In fact, the Volt has earned top safety ratings from key 3rd party organizations and is a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.”
The company added it is proud of the Volt’s technological innovations and said it appreciates Volt customers who stood by the car.
“Our overriding commitment will always be to provide our customers with the best ownership experience and peace of mind in the industry and we’re focused on delivering that every day,” GM said.
In recent months, GM as been vindicated in several previous attempts to smear its extended-range electric vehicle.
Its newly won ranking as world’s largest automaker and latest handling of the Volt battery fiasco will undoubtedly embolden GM to hold its head up when scrutinized by the House inquisition.
GM’s reclaiming of its formerly held #1 spot came at the close of calendar year 2011 in which it edged out Toyota and Volkswagen. GM’s global sales of 9.03 million vehicles in 2011 topped Volkswagen’s reported 8.16 million and Toyota’s estimated at 7.9 million.
As were others in the Japanese auto industry, Toyota was set back last March when that country was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami.
But GM also has been on the rise, rolling out well regarded new economical models and saw its 2011 sales increase by 7.6 percent. Its U.S. sales led the way for Chevrolet with total vehicle deliveries of 1,775,812, up more than 13 percent.
As for the Volt itself, GM ended the year again cresting higher with 1,529 sold in December, nearly 1,000 to retail customers. It did miss its first year goal of 10,000 North American sales, with 7,671 total, but overall GM is now playing from a greater place of strength than it has in many years.
We shall see how it and NHTSA face allegations about its halo car this week.
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+19
Jan 23rd, 2012 (6:14 am)It’s clearly political, so, which Representatives are on the committee?
Once that is known, interested citizens can write some letters and make some calls so their representation is aware of their opinion on this matter.
We hired these bozos. We can fire them as well.
+18
Jan 23rd, 2012 (6:49 am)To the Office of the Honorable(?) Darrell Issa and Congressional spokesman Ali Ahmad:
OK kids, it’s bedtime! You’ve had some ill-conceived daytime nightmares so now let’s sleep it off!!!
+22
Jan 23rd, 2012 (7:42 am)Which side of his republican mouth is Rep Issa pushing for more stifling regulatory practice, grow government, and waste resources? There have been ZERO, ZERO, ZERO real world EV fires (Volt or otherwise) with many, many millions of miles traveled combined. There cannot be a coverup of NOTHING. Quit wasting time and taxpayer money on NOTHING unless there is some evidence or data that indicates there is an issue to even coverup.
It would be irresponsible for the NHSTA to make any public statements or action immediately following a fire in their crashed car yard. The fire occurred 2 weeks after the car was tested for crash safety, not latent fire issues btw. They first have to isolate the fire in the yard and then in the vehicle. Then they have to do a review and determine possible causes. A fire in June and a formal investigation into potential safety concerns in November seems pretty expedient to me especially since there had been no real world incidents to merit concern.
This is such an obvious, misguided political grandstanding gesture aimed at trying to capitalize on the marketed distaste for GM’s government support and inaccurate tying of the Volt to Obama. It is sickening and an insult to intelligent thought.
+8
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:31 am)Wiki on Darrell Issa. Interesting stuff. Lying about Nixon… discharged from the army.. stealing cars.. concealed weapons…multiple arrests…etc..
And this is the guy trying to say people are not being honest? And that the Volt is not safe?
—————
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa
—————-
This was also noteworthy: “his net worth has been estimated at almost $450 million, making him the wealthiest member of Congress”
+5
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:34 am)More Wiki from Issa… truth is stranger than fiction!
——————-
1982 factory fire
Issa soon turned Steal Stopper around, to the point that it was supplying Ford with thousands of car alarms and negotiating a similar deal with Toyota. But early in the morning of September 7, 1982, the offices and factory of Quantum and Steal Stopper in the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights, caught fire. The fire took three hours to put out; the buildings and almost all inventory within were destroyed.[4]
The Ohio state fire marshal never determined a cause for the blaze. The initial theory was that it was electrical, but the insurance company came to doubt the theory when a fire analysis report it commissioned outlined evidence that the fire could be arson. It had exhibited two distinct areas of origin, both with “suspicious burn patterns” but without any “accidental source of heating power.”[4] Investigators believed that a stack of cardboard boxes, which had burned in a manner inconsistent with an accidental fire, may have had a flammable liquid spread on them. The black smoke and blue flames generated by the fire strongly suggested the use of a hydrocarbon-based accelerant, and the report said the same mix of four distinct hydrocarbons had been found in samples of burned material taken from different locations in the ruins.[4] Adkins, still employed by Steal Stopper, told the insurance investigators that prior to the blaze Issa had removed not only the company’s Apple II personal computer but all hardware, software and manuals for it, as well as diskettes containing all the company’s customer records and financial information. He said that silkscreens used by Steal Stopper in the production of its circuit boards had also been placed in a fireproof box. Insurance investigators determined that a short time before the fire, Issa had more than quadrupled Steal Stopper’s fire insurance coverage; they were also concerned that they could not determine the source of his initial investment in the company.[4]
When questioned about the fire by Ryan Lizza in a 2011 New Yorker article, Issa dismissed some of the actions Adkins described. He had removed the computer from the building, he said, so that his lawyer could help him install new accounting software and had increased Quantum’s insurance coverage on his agent’s suggestion because Quantum was storing inventory for several of its customers. He suggested the real beneficiary was Pied Piper, a small bug-zapper maker who lost inventory in the fire and whose own facilities burned down several years later (one of the owners of that now-defunct company told Lizza he believed Issa had started the fire to destroy evidence that he had defrauded Pied Piper). According to Issa, the fire was as damaging as it had been due to the incompetence of the firefighters, who failed to discover at first that it was being fed by natural gas from an overhead heater that had ruptured, which might have caused the blue flames attributed to arson. Had it been turned off earlier, most of what was lost could have been saved.[4]
Quantum received $25,000 from the insurance company, but, according to Issa, Steal Stopper was refused reimbursement for inventory. A $175,000 suit against the insurance company brought by Issa was later settled for $20,000. In 2011, Issa said that the denial of inventory claims was not a result of doubt as to the cause of the fire but because the remaining inventory had been stolen by Adkins after the fire to start his own business elsewhere. Adkins acknowledged taking the inventory on the understanding that it was to have been scrapped. His brother later sold the merchandise back to Issa, who paid with a check he stopped before it could be cashed. Issa was able to get the company running again from a new location within a month.[4]
+4
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:36 am)So now what? CONgress is going to require NHTSA to file reports on every anomaly they encounter? And of course this added bureaucratic step will somehow be beneficial to the American taxpayer. CONgress should be required to prove how this extra paperwork would benefit Americans.
+2
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:52 am)And more Issa regarding anti-EV involvement
——————-
“Issa has claimed to support efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but voted against a bill to cut them.[32] Issa believes that “the science community does not agree to the extent of the problem or the critical threshold of when this problem is truly catastrophic.”[33]”
Industry insiders on his oversight team
In February 2011, the Watchdog Institute, an independent nonprofit reporting center based at San Diego State University, published an investigation alleging that as leader of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Issa built a team that included staff members with close connections to industries that could benefit from his investigations.[42] For instance, several had ties to big oil billionaire brothers, David and Charles Koch, whose companies could benefit from changes in regulations. The Huffington Post also published the Institute’s investigation.[43]
+12
Jan 23rd, 2012 (9:08 am)Enter, the Supreme Court decision to allow unlimited PAC money from foreign sources. Ali Ahmad might be able to introduce more on that topic, esp. from anti electrification interests who sell crude. The plot thickens, the stage is set, the popcorn popper, butter, and kernels are ever ready.
Nothing could possibly get more absurdly entertaining than this. Television has nothing comparable to this for a transparent soap opera. But the public is just not naive nor uninformed anymore, as some of these interests might otherwise hope. The informed public, (greatly due, in part, to this valuable site of technical contribution), as well as the quickly-increasing proportion of very aware, and technically-perceptive conservative voters, will not be swayed. (It is a good thing that IBM has designed safety breech detection systems in Volt, in case of underhanded tampering attempts to cause damage/discredit. (AHEM!!))
The media is behind the Volt as never before. The awards listing is in itself a record of unification of the technical scrutiny of the World.
Issa et. al. are only fooling themselves (as he clearly “believes his own stuff”,) and is grasping at straws. (Possibly setting up PAC scam money collection activities to shake down the oil producers, which ought to be within the radar of Federal agencies if only to be openly disclosed.)
Let them **all** make even bigger fools of themselves if they so choose.
The rest of us have serious work to do every day to **earn** an **HONEST** living.
+6
Jan 23rd, 2012 (9:10 am)The public does not seem to understand that GM has paid off the money owed just like Chrysler did. The money that the public seem so concerned about is in GM stocks. The US government is a GM stock holder. As it is now, if the Government were to sell it’s shares, they would lose a great deal of money, but the stock will go up again and maybe the Government will recoup most of it. No matter what happens, the way it has gone will be the least costly.
What I don’t like is Ford is coming out clean as a whistle on this and even brags about not taking any money, but that’s not true.
http://www.streetinsider.com/Insiders+Blog/Ford+%28F%29+Owes+the+Govt+Billions+in+Taxpayer+Money/7077548.html
http://jalopnik.com/5704575/ford-bmw-toyota-took-secret-government-money
+7
Jan 23rd, 2012 (9:44 am)Don’t forget how much tax dollars the goverment collected from those employed workers vs. having to pay them unemployment.
+3
Jan 23rd, 2012 (9:45 am)To those who are upset over government spending for technological revolutions in transportation should look at the history of the first transcontinental railroad and the Panama Canal.
+5
Jan 23rd, 2012 (9:50 am)I smell a rat. Congress is expected to recommend that all EVs tow their batteries in a trailer; to ensure the safety of the vehicles occupants…”just kidding”. This is such bulls**t; just let NHTSA do their job.
+7
Jan 23rd, 2012 (9:56 am)Anyone who has watched the movie, “The Aviator” has seen this played out in history before. You just need to replace bought-out politician of that time, Owen Brewster, with Darrel Issa of this time. Replace Howard Hughes with GM. Then just hold the same type of ‘government hearing.’
At that time, Pan Am was seeking to hold a monopoly on international air travel. Hughes, aiming to enter this market with TWA, and compete directly with Pan Am, faced fierce scrutiny from Pan Am and their lapdog, Owen Brewster, who had received numerous ‘perks’ from Pan Am. Brewster headed up a much-ballyhooed government hearing as a way to bring heat on Hughes.
But Hughes wasn’t going down without a fight, and used the floor at this very public event to grill Brewster about his own shady involvement with Hughes’ competition, Pan Am. Hughes made an example out of Brewster at that hearing, and the event became an epic failure for Brewster, and, in turn,, for Pan Am’s efforts to stifle the international air travel market.
In short, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Read the post above about Darrel Issa and fire insurance fraud. Why would he, of all people want to be investigating ‘suspicious fires’?
Are the Koch Brothers the modern day Pan Am?
I hope GM and the NHTSA go into that hearing locked and loaded with these kinds of questions.
+5
Jan 23rd, 2012 (10:05 am)Has anyone checked what vehicles these Reps own (not the Congress-assigned ones), and posted info on the fire hazards those vehicles have or have actually caused fires? That will be interesting data to shove into their faces at the hearings. If they drive risky vehicles, why don’t they chase those fire incidents? The Volt is safer than any other gasoline vehicle, since its own fuel tank is smaller and placed at the safest place in the vehicle, and the large battery is also safer than the passengers. If passenger safety is the first issue, why worry about battery safety?
Besides, every gasoline vehicle has a poisonous lead-acid battery up front for over a hundred years and very little safety issues have been reported, yet many front-end collisions have happened where that lead-acid battery had ruptured, spilling acid and lead particles out on the roads. Lithium batteries are newer, but there have been more fire issues with laptops (especially Dell and Sony), yet the only news were replacements, and we still have cellphones that have heated up (including the favorite Apple iPhone), but no “hearings” on this either? The Reps carry more fire risks in their pockets that in all the Volts together!
If these Congress hearing want to be productive, then they must accept first that gasoline fires are more common and deadlier than battery fires, then work to prevent all fires in vehicles. I hope that will force the issue to reduce gasoline consumption, and be in favor of more EVs.
Raymond
+2
Jan 23rd, 2012 (10:35 am)Just wait ’til Newt becomes the head honcho…
http://www.myperfectautomobile.com/uncategorized/candidates-green-profiles-newt-gingrich.html
+10
Jan 23rd, 2012 (10:44 am)My thoughts on this…
It’s unfortunate that GM is taking heat on a topic that really wasn’t a result of anything they did wrong. And the consequence is a hit on sales of a vehicle that is already difficult to sell in some places. Further, people like Darrell Issa love using electric vehicles as a political football. In reality, there will always be people like Issa. The Volt could be the cure for Cancer, and people like him would complain that it doesn’t come in cherry flavor. (And this is coming from a conservative person too.) One of things that always attracted me to the electric vehicles was the fact that they run on 100% American Made fuel. Forget if it’s coal powered, or nuclear powered, or even ferry dust powered. Bottom line is the fuel the car runs on is American made. Many of my conservative brethren ignore this reality, and that’s a shame. But as I said here before, we won’t convert everyone over night. This is a long, good fight, but the rewards are great. I think GM should stick with it. Keep working on the car. Find ways to make it less expensive and hopefully in time we’ll see the fruits of their labor. Just stick at it GM.
+2
Jan 23rd, 2012 (10:45 am)I actually think it’s moved beyond the safety of the vehicle (which was a no brainer for most), but onto withholding information. I think that is going to be the method of attack, that “the NHTSA is in bed w/the Obama administration, trying everything they can to push the Volt to be a sucess even though everyone knows it’s a dud, AKA, Solyndra” yadda.. yadda … yadda.
+1
Jan 23rd, 2012 (10:56 am)“As a result of the highly publicized concerns, GM announced on Jan 5 it would offer structural enhancements – not due to any implied threat by NHTSA, but GM has said it is entirely a proactive gesture to allay concerns. “The voluntary action that GM is taking is intended to make a safe vehicle even safer,” GM said. “In fact, the Volt has earned top safety ratings from key 3rd party organizations and is a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.”
I had to take my Volt in to the dealer today to fix a flat tire. I inquired about the battery reinforcement, or structural enhancement, and was told that my model of Volt was not the subject of any recall and there are no planned fixes. Now, I’m not concerned about any fire issues, but I thought ALL Volts are going to be “recalled” for this structural enhancement?
+4
Jan 23rd, 2012 (11:06 am)I think this will difficult position to take with GM given they have hired people back to work, they are the worlds largest automaker, have good products on the road/in development and healthy. The only thing left is the government selling their shares, hopefully with a gain. GM by almost all indicators was worth saving from an American industry standpoint.
+2
Jan 23rd, 2012 (11:57 am)#15
Amen. +1
+1
Jan 23rd, 2012 (12:01 pm)Good little article. Newt would be more positive on the Volt and other EV’s than the other three R contenders. I liked the quote, “his record and reputation on the range of green issues is clearer than any other candidate in the 2012 race, Democrat or Republican.” Agree or disagree clearer is good.
+5
Jan 23rd, 2012 (12:08 pm)#18
Absolutely! +1
If GM had been allowed to collapse and take several hundred thousand jobs with it at that critical point in time, the economy would have gone down even worse that it did, and sucked us all down with it. The President had no chance IMHO.
This is all just the cheapest of political theater. If the American people believe this garbage, we are all doomed, again IMHO. But I refuse to believe that they will. I confidently predict that this is all destined to disappear without a ripple. I agree with Dan that Issa, et al, are just going to make fools of themselves, not for the first time, LOL.
Thanks NHTSA for finally putting this to rest. Not a moment too soon.
+2
Jan 23rd, 2012 (12:12 pm)#4
Tue that. +1
Today it’s embarrassing to be from CA. No wonder Tom Duggan used to call it “The Nut State”, LOL.
I don’t live in his district, and I damned sure wouldn’t have voted for him if I did, but as a Californian I’ll still take it upon myself to apologize for inflicting him on the rest of the nation. Sorry guys.
+5
Jan 23rd, 2012 (12:54 pm)Posted Dec 27th 2011 2:23PM
If you want to know exactly what Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney thinks about the Chevrolet Volt, listen to his laugh before he answers a question about the car posed to him during a radio interview on WRKO in Boston recently. Romney was asked what he thought about the car, and he responded with a dismissive-sounding laugh by labeling the plug-in hybrid an “idea whose time has not come.” He later explained that his attitude is proved correct by the Volt’s low sales numbers. Whatever the reason, he clearly does not approve of the car.
Romney’s criticism should play well with the conservative base that dislikes the Volt, but it’s not probably going to help him win Michigan, where the Volt was designed and is built. Local media outlets are already dinging the former Governor of Massachusetts and Michigan native son for criticizing the breakthrough hybrid. As a United Auto Workers leader at the Volt plant said on a recent conference call, “It’s not an idea that is ahead of its time. It’s behind its time. It should have been here [years ago] so we wouldn’t be dependent on foreign oil.” Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) tweeted her disapproval: “My blood is boiling: Romney attacks the Volt, a FANTASTIC U.S. car made in his home state by American workers”
__________________________________________
Lou Dobbs (Bill O’Reilly Show) ~ January 2012
Bush is not responsible, Obama is…
What are we to do except laugh at this madness…
At $32,500, it doesn’t work. It doesn’t go fast or go far on electricity. It catches on fire…
They (GM) wants to find them before they (Volts) catch on fire…
http://www.thehopeforamerica.com/play.php?id=10149
+3
Jan 23rd, 2012 (1:12 pm)Let us move on. 2012 is here and GM must deliver. Put them on the lot and let’s see if they sell. If they don’t increase sales sufficiently, GM may have to consider the Volt a niche car and sell it like they do the Corvette.
+4
Jan 23rd, 2012 (1:42 pm)Absolutely. Must do. Especially in Canada where gas is > 5$ a US gallon and we have an instant rebate on the car (not a tax credit)
Define ‘sufficently’. Early years of Toyota Prius sales (in thousands):
Year World sales Japan
1997 0.3 0.3
1998 17.7 17.7
1999 15.2 15.2
2000 19.0 12.5
So it took 4 years to go from 300 cars (1997) to 19,000 cars. The Volt at around 8,000 for the first year is actually a very good start and my belief is that they do not meet demand in every market right now. For most people, the car is non-existent.
+1
Jan 23rd, 2012 (1:59 pm)The website for the House Oversight and Government Reform committee shows on its calendar that it will be held by the “Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs”.
The “About Us” page shows:
“The Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending
◦Republicans ■Chair: Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-04)
■Vice Chair: Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (NY-25)
■Connie Mack (FL-14)
■Raul Labrador (ID-1)
■Scott DesJarlais (TN-4)
■Frank Guinta (NH-1)
■Mike Kelly (PA-3)
◦Democrats ■Dennis Kucinich, Ohio, Ranking Member
■Jim Cooper, Tennessee
■Jackie Speier, California
■Bruce Braley, Iowa”
It’s scheduled for two hours: http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=1&extmode=view&extid=366
+1
Jan 23rd, 2012 (2:25 pm)Those were definitely some great scenes in the movie. I’ve always been a fan and totally fascinated w/ HFB1 (Hughes flying boat).
Hughes made a fool of Brewster.
Hopefully Akerson will do the same to Issa. (but I doubt it)
-15
Jan 23rd, 2012 (3:06 pm)(click to show comment)
+4
Jan 23rd, 2012 (3:08 pm)Good point.
Often I hear people spout how we should be thankful to businesses because they create jobs, but I rarely hear people talk about how CONSUMERS and EMPLOYEES help busuiness create jobs by BUYING and CREATING the products the businesses sell. It is all a big circle and if businesses did not have CONSUMERS and EMPLOYEES there would be no businesses.
+1
Jan 23rd, 2012 (3:42 pm)BLIND GUY,
shhhhhh! Don’t give them any ideas.
+4
Jan 23rd, 2012 (4:48 pm)voltair,
Why I am not surprised to see Rep. Mike Kelly on this Congressional committee?
+1
Jan 23rd, 2012 (5:02 pm)Now this would be an outstanding theme song to the new Amazing Chevy Volt Extended Range Electric Vehicle! ……….assuming Chevrolet can get the rights from The Oak Ridge Boys for the song!
“My Volt Is American Made,
Born And Bread In The USA,
From Its 100 Mile Top Speed to Unlimited Range’
My Volt Is American Made!”
Nuff Said!
-3
Jan 23rd, 2012 (5:55 pm)Whatever of reason, there doesn’t seem to be much inventory movement, based on the counts from my local dealers…
11/27, 12/11, 12/18, 12/26, 1/01, 1/08, 1/15, 1/22, city
2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, Amery
9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, Annandale
4, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, Anoka
7, 6, 6, 7, 6, 12, 12, 12, Bloomington
4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3, Brooklyn Center
3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, Buffalo
1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, Cokato
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, Eden Prairie
1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, Faribault
1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, Forest Lake
3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, Fridley
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, Hastings
2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, Hudson
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, Lakeville
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, Maplewood
0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, Monticello
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, New Prague
2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, North Branch
2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, Princeton
5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1, Rogers
3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, Roseville
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, Shakopee
1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, Wayzata
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, White Bear Lake
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, Zumbrota
+4
Jan 23rd, 2012 (6:04 pm)No, its your belief that needs realignment. So you think Volts are going begging in EVERY market ?This is not the case in Canada. Last time I checked with the largest GM dealer in Montreal, which was a couple of days ago, all Volts they had were spoken for. The market for the Volt in Canada is not satisfied. Electricity here is dirt cheap and gas is expensive – the perfect combination for a flourishing EV market.
+3
Jan 23rd, 2012 (6:13 pm)Hello GM. We hear this every day. With apologies to Steve Earle, is anybody out there listening?
+2
Jan 23rd, 2012 (6:14 pm)Nothing surprising about these mean sob on this pannel that Issa guy is the most political sob you will see ..They dont want to pay attention to the millions of jobs created by GM.Chrysler and look at the car industry now ..Bouncing back and GM has become the largest car manufacturer again … sorry to use this word but it is appropriate for them in this instance.
Lot of stuff one can add here but these sob deserrve to be booted out of the office come election time. Alas we are the fools who keep electing these idiots, unpatriotic and unconcerned what is good for US and its citizens.
+1
Jan 23rd, 2012 (6:20 pm)Does he drive a Volt?
Raymond
+3
Jan 23rd, 2012 (6:41 pm)Raymondjram,
Probably not, but I bet he wouldn’t refuse to take one for a test drive. Maybe GM should loan one to each of the presidential campaigns from now until the conventions.
Jan 23rd, 2012 (7:27 pm)I absolutely agree with you about where the “investigation” will focus but do not believe it was ever actually about a safety concern from rep Issa’s perspective. That was just a means to an end for him. Now that the means has evaporated as a non-issue, they should retreat from this approach to the “end”.
Jan 23rd, 2012 (7:40 pm)Great Idea Michael totally agree!!
I’m not sure I agree w/ this idea that Newt is more pro EV.
If you are a more middle of the line Repub like me. I will choose Romney for sure.
After all he does have a past of thinking in a more “open minded way”. than Gingrich.
Gingrich is old hat.
He will lose to Obama.
Hopefully the Republican party as a majority will have enough common sense to put Romney up.
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:08 pm)MichaelH,
That really is a great idea, Micheal. Maybe the local sale reps could take the lead here and take a Volt out at lunchtime and ask if the campaigners would like a ride or a test drive.
You sales reps ought to be paying really close attention to Micheal’s idea here!!!!
If they (the campaigners) don’t know what it is like, then they have no right to say they don’t like it.
If they decline an opportunity to get a ride or a drive in a Volt, it will prove that they are not open minded to even obtain proper experience to know what they are talking about, compared to what many thousands are now talking about in the most positive of terms.
-4
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:21 pm)OK. Every market except Montreal. If Volts are not reaching customers who desperately want them and languishing on lots elsewhere, you’d think a competent GM sales organization would do something about that.
And, speaking of languishing on lots elsewhere:
…
john1701a, I keep tabs on some, too. That dealer with 12 does not appear to have sold a single Volt since before Christmas. BeechBoy should run down here and pick one up. I’m sure that dealer would be most grateful.
-8
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:23 pm)Hey, you guys can pound fact-based posts into invisibility with downvotes but it just makes you look like EV-lovin’ versions of Darrell Issa. Denying reality will get you nowhere.
+5
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:37 pm)john1701a,
Charlie H,
Don’t get your ego’s bloated too high.
We will see about Pip sales.
My guess from reading Priuschat is they think it’s too much money for a puny little 4.4 kwh battery.
The Pip may fall flat on it’s face in the sales dept compared to the regular Prius.
At least w/ the Volt you are getting a real EV. As opposed to an expensive add on feature in the form of a puny little battery.
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:40 pm)Oh… and only a 60 MPH top speed in EV mode.
+1
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:44 pm)Oh, and only 13 miles EV range after the EPA gets done.
And how much range at cold temps??
My guess is close to zero.
-7
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:47 pm)I make no promises about the PiP. It may sell very poorly. If it does, so what?
First, Toyota has put millions of fuel-stingy vehicles on the roads. Two million Priuses. Compared to the midsize cars they replace, this fleet of Priuses has made it possible for Americans to save a billion, maybe two billion, gallons of gas.
Second, how much money did Toyota put into developing the PiP? As these things go, practically nothing. They already have the base Prius and the development consisted of super-sizing the battery and rebalancing other components and changing software parameters to get what they think might be the optimal PiP setup. Then they’re built just like regular Priuses, on a regular Prius line, with a different options package. I’t like making a Cruze LTZ instead of a Cruze LS. If they don’t sell out, Toyota is out very little money. If they sell well, Toyota can ramp production if they like. If batteries come down in price, Toyota can open the spigot a little more.
-9
Jan 23rd, 2012 (8:51 pm)Oh, my! Except… who cares? From here to the city center, nobody’s going over 60, anyway, unless they’re speeding. This morning, nobody was doing over 20.
And the Volt is, what? An improvement over that? This past week, no Volt was going anywhere around here without also running the engine.
Jan 24th, 2012 (6:54 am)However, the article that started this train of thought said that Newt was favorable to EVs. There are other recent articles that quote Romney as saying, “the Volt is a car whose time has not come.” Not very positive. Check this out on the forum. Lyle first noted it. You can check Lyle’s posts or just search for “Romney.”
Jan 24th, 2012 (8:51 am)The topic is battery beliefs… and you are attempting to create a false one. How smart is that?
You know quite well that current Prius drive up to 46 MPH with just the electric motor in temperatures below freezing. The bigger battery-pack with the plug-in will offer faster speeds… well above what’s needed for coping with the stop & slow traffic we routinely have to deal with from the snow.
It’s funny how no one wanted to address the effects of winter, back when the belief was still that a 40-mile range would always be available from Volt regardless of temperature.
Jan 24th, 2012 (9:47 am)Romney probably looked at the Volts YTD sales and then put 2 and 2 together. I must admit, I like politicians that actually look at reality and can do math.
+3
Jan 24th, 2012 (4:47 pm)Charlie,
Here’s some math for you.
EV’s of numerous types, including the Volt, are selling by the thousands.
I don’t know what kind of ‘math’ Romney uses, but Volts selling by the thousands doesn’t equate to ‘Nobody wants them.’
EV’s are out of the box now, and there’s no putting them back in.
These are real-world vehicles, with real-world ranges, that solve a major real-world problem.
They’re selling by the thousands, and that number will only grow exponentially.
Get used to it.
Jan 24th, 2012 (5:21 pm)I see some truth there. Certainly, since every Volt is accompanied by a $7500 kickback, a real politiican would rush to embrace it.
+1
Jan 24th, 2012 (5:29 pm)It’s called a “tax break”, not a kickback.
“Kickbacks” are something that corrupt politicians and right-wing pundits get from oil tyrants, so that they’ll try to crush anything that threatens Big Oil.
Besides, I thought all right-wingers were FOR tax breaks?
Oh… I forgot… My apologies.
That only applies when the tax breaks go exclusively to the top 1 percent.
+1
Jan 25th, 2012 (7:32 pm)In that case, Romney should have been able to determine that Volt sales were largely supply limited, not demand limited. If Romney can’t distinguish between supply and demand, he doesn’t deserve to be POTUS. But I will still vote for Romney to stop Obama’s deficit spending.