By Philippe Crowe
Can a tiger change its stripes? Can a fox change its tune?
We’re not sure, but Fox News has noted the Volt as deserving a unique distinction which in itself is something of a distinction from the network whose commentators have previously panned the Volt, repeatedly calling it “stupid” and other harsh descriptors.
Indeed, since its December 2010 launch, various Fox reporters either gave more or less straight news coverage to Chevrolet’s plug-in car, or alternately roasted it via ostensible analysis by its talking heads.
In recent months Fox has increasingly given the Volt flattering coverage as well.
This seemingly altered face on the same subject was again shown on no less than Independence Day this week, when the Volt received an interesting accolade by Marty Padgett from High Gear Media writing for Fox.
Good cop, bad cop. When Fox wasn’t giving straight news, its famous speakers aired their views with little ambiguity, as this montage of one of them reveals.
Here’s the famous running out of juice after only 25 miles in the Lincoln Tunnel story.
And then in March this year, after Fox had said so many negative things about the Volt, it let a conservative defend the car.
His article was titled, “Patriotic acts: The most important American cars of the past 25 years.” Saying this could be seen as more than a mere “car of the year” acknowledgement – it was a car of the last quarter century acknowledgment.
And rightly so, the author stated the Volt is “the single most important American car of the past 25 years.”
Noting the Volt was conceived prior to GM’s bankruptcy, following is the bulk of the write-up:
It was born into controversy: of “Government Motors,” of “killing the electric car,” of then-GM vice chairman Bob Lutz calling global warming a “crock of s—.” Lutz, who played a role in developing seven or more of the cars on this list, later changed his tune, and said that electrification was inevitable–and had a hand in the Volt’s survival through GM’s 2009 bankruptcy.
It’s been politicized as a “car designed by Congress,” and been glowingly described as a Space Shuttle for the U.S. auto industry. The Chevy Volt does have a moonshot mission: to replace the horizon of today’s cars with something that reaches further, while staying tethered to today’s expectations. It’s capable of 40 miles of pure electric driving, but carries enough gas for another 300 miles or more of extended-range power. To some that makes it superior to the electric Nissan Leaf or Ford Focus Electric, while purists disagree.
That’s the writer’s two cents, and we’ll add many would also argue that other American vehicles have had bigger impacts on the finances of their manufacturer, or that they were bigger sales success, and the author does name a few other vehicles that had a great impact.
But no one can contest the fact the Volt paves the way towards a different mindset and the production of a different breed of cars in America, in the same fashion the Prius did around 15 years ago in Japan.
The author ends by saying, “Has the market spoken? The $42,000 Volt is finally selling in decent volumes, and it took home honors as the 2011 North American Car of the Year. In time, it may be seen as an engineering triumph or as a political novelty, or both – but there’s no doubt it’s the most historically significant car of the past 25 years.”
But what do you think? Is this latest praise an unequivocal compliment, or is the piece leaving itself an out by qualifying it could either be “an engineering triumph,” or, as Fox has said in so many ways so many times before, “a political novelty?”
This entry was posted on Friday, July 6th, 2012 at 5:55 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.
+25
Jul 6th, 2012 (6:47 am)It’s about time our friends(?) at Fox wake up to reality as far as the Volt is concerned.
+20
Jul 6th, 2012 (6:52 am)I am still dismayed at how the political pundits at Fox have so badly bashed the Volt. I don’t believe in any high level conspiracy, but I do think that their vision has been narrowed by the GM bailout. The only commentator who bashed the Volt after driving it was Bolling. He just didn’t get the concept. The article says exactly what I believe: “The Chevy Volt does have a moonshot mission: to replace the horizon of today’s cars with something that reaches further, while staying tethered to today’s expectations.”
GM’s marketing still fails at telling the whole Volt story. This car is a blast to drive and it will take you anywhere you want to go very nicely!
Volt 63
+16
Jul 6th, 2012 (7:09 am)When Eric Bolling turns around his opinion and makes the statement that his previous opinions on the Volt were misinformed, then maybe I will believe that Fox has seen the light about the electrification of personal transportation………….
JMHO
C-5277
+16
Jul 6th, 2012 (7:13 am)I had to laugh a little bit yesterday. Picked up the Volt at Stingray and then while driving, flipping through the XM Channels, yep – there it is – Fox News Channel on XM. I tarnished the speakers while listening to Hannity for a little while.
I’m getting 43mpg on the way home on the hwy but have been messing with MM “recharging” and have about 93 miles electric in the initial 200 miles. Tried to simulate “pulse and glide”. Rest of the way will be in Normal mode.
I will say this – Stingray is an awesome dealership. Their building and lot are huge and having about 8 models of Corvette in the showroom helps them maintain the “Stingray” name.
+5
Jul 6th, 2012 (7:23 am)Have they started to change their tune because of GM advertising on their station? Seem a little odd given the utter bashing they have given the Volt in the past.
+21
Jul 6th, 2012 (8:18 am)The “Volt bashing” on FoxNews has been limited to a few people with large megaphones. Neil Cavuto, Eric Boling, Lou Dobbs (Cavuto’s double), and Bill O’Reilly when Lou Dobbs was on The Factor program. The guys at Fox Car Reports have almost always lived up to the networks byline of “fair and balanced.” Neil, Eric, Lou, and sometimes O’Reilly have always been obsessed with the GM “bailout” angle.
So, the guys at Fox Car Reports haven’t changed their tune, but it’s nice to hear the “single most important American car of the past 25 years” praise.
+10
Jul 6th, 2012 (8:34 am)Good thing I never watched any of these guys, (along with most of the world.) I would hope an award like Car of the year or Green car of the year would do a little bit to sway the public in favor of the Volt over a few moments of negative comments from guys on a one sided anti-gm tv channel.
“GM got government help! Let’s hope they fail and even more lose their jobs!” seems un-patriotic to me.
+7
Jul 6th, 2012 (8:58 am)GM will always have unforgiving pre-bankruptcy stock owners to contend with. I’ve always said GM should have at least given those old stock owners 1 share of new GM for 100 shares of the old. Doing so now would even carry more weight, because they didn’t get anything originally. Something for nothing is better than 1 for 100.
The other thing that should be done to wean government ownership of GM is to allow the option of getting a portion of your tax refund in the form of GM stock. The Government should also cap that portion of tax refund to a max of $2,000 per household and exclude corporations from the program.
NPNS!
Volt#671
+24
Jul 6th, 2012 (9:41 am)I have little knowledge of US politics and why bailouts are “a crime against humanity” when they make perfect sense from a 3rd persons point of view – especially when its limited and literally saves the economy and the average citizen. I don’t get the “socialism” angle, the US government funds social security, pension, hospitals, government corporations, etc… don’t they? Isn’t that socialism?
I know people in the US are for some reason very strongly viewed on this, but I simply don’t get it. There is no pure form of capitalism/socialism/feudalism/communism in existence today. (just labelling something capitalism does not make it capitalism). I think it very wise the government bailed out GM and got shares for its troubles. Then it can sell the shares – much better option than giving banks massive loans which they simply divest into other forms. The government should have bought shares in the banks to sell latter. I would call this adaptive economics.
Is it the water, education, nobility? surely there is a reason for such polarised views on this.
Perhaps someone here can enlighten me?
+13
Jul 6th, 2012 (9:56 am)Despite the ‘Drudge Report’ headline being almost opposite of the body of the story, VOLT sales are still doing well in our little corner of Southern California. We sold 3 in the month of June and we have a decent selection in stock. (I think we have 6 new and 4 used demos still in stock.)
I pushed our General Manager to order a bunch of VOLTs that were close to ‘base model’ and only a few that were ‘fully loaded’. That combined with 0% financing or Zero Down Lease programs along with the City of Riverside bumping our local rebate to $2,500… I think we will continue to move our fair share.
At least until the Cadillac dealer across the street gets their VOLTEC-powered sport coupe in another year.
+5
Jul 6th, 2012 (10:31 am)Since we are talking about anti-volt comments, remember the one from Newt Gingrich; “you can’t put a gun-rack on a Chevy Volt”? (of course several people posted videos of gun-racks on their Volts).
Well here’s a Gingrich who feels the opposite way about her Volt. (this is from the GM site, and yes I noticed she spells her name slightly different)
Saved from the Pump
The Chevy Volt is unique among electric cars because it runs on two sources of energy. You have an electric source – a battery – that allows you to drive gas-free for an EPA–estimated 35 miles. And there’s also an onboard gas generator that produces electricity so you can go farther. So if you want to drive using only electricity, you can. If you want to drive using electricity and gas, you can do that, too. Feeling all revved up? Check out what this current Chevy Volt driver has to say about her unique driving lifestyle…If there’s one aspect of driving that Lisa Gingerich hates, it’s going to the gas station. “It is dirty, smelly, and expensive!” she says. Lucky for her, she only had to make a pit stop twice in her last 1,500 miles of driving her Chevy Volt. (On average, Volt owners drive 900 miles between fill-ups with regularly charging.) In essence, going to the gas station is a chore that the Volt has almost eliminated from her list of things to do, explains Gingerich. Beyond saving her frequent visits to the dreaded pump, Gingerich is proud to be an early adopter of this driving technology. “I want this technology and innovation to work. I like being part of the solution to reducing our reliance on oil,” she says. While she acknowledges that one person not going to the gas station as often will not change the world, she says it is a start. “We have to continue to innovate.”
In the meantime, Gingerich has a lot of fun sharing her impressive driving stats with others so they can learn about the Volt’s efficiency. “I think many people assume that the Volt is all hype with limited positive results,” she says. “I love showing people my lifetime MPG, which is currently 112, but was at one point at 175. They look at my phone app or my dash and I can see the ‘wow’ on their face.”
The 2012 Chevy Volt offers an EPA-estimated 35 miles on a single charge based on 94 MPGe [electric] and 35 city, 40 MPG highway [gas]. Actual range varies with conditions.
+3
Jul 6th, 2012 (10:32 am)I am so jelous of you guys already having this car!!!! I’m also jelous you get subsities to buy it? we in OZ will have 60k + on road costs with NO subsidies.
+11
Jul 6th, 2012 (10:35 am)Hey Bonaire, congratulations on your Volt purchase!
+2
Jul 6th, 2012 (10:53 am)Fox News gets bashed a lot on this site because of their comments on the Volt, for which I also am a proud owner. Regardless of their opinions, I don’t despise them but value their comments, not because I agree with everything they say, but because they counter the left-leaning media. Keep in mind that above everything else, Fox News is a business and if these talking heads generate ratings, they generate revenue. Let’s also not forget David Letterman’s comment about the Volt’s electric range barely getting him to the end of his driveway.
Allow me to close this posting by quoting Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, “Opinions are like a**holes….everybody’s got one.”
+5
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:11 am)xiaowei1,
I’ll tell you my thoughts. I’m an American who grew up in a conservative republican household. I now am more an independent who thinks the government can have an important role at times. Hoover Dam and the Interstate system as a good example.
To answer your question though. I believe many Americans and this goes back generations have an independent spirit that goes back to our ancestors fleeing many countries where government perhaps overstepped its power. So there is and always has been a distrust of any government having any control over our freedoms or our pocketbooks. This coupled with the fact that for the last 100 years, maybe up until recently we have been very lucky, with the other European states rebuilding after the wars and with Japan rebuilding after the war America was able to thrive with little competition. We really didn’t need government help to bolster industries. We were pretty much able to easily dominate. I think many still have this mindset that if we keep taxes low and deregulate things America will return to this great prosperity. It’s just not true however. Until we are on a level playing field with these other countries that can make products much cheaper I think our economy, at least for the average person will be sluggish.
Anyways. To answer your question. In my mind people think government help is bad because they relate more government, higher taxes to a weaker economy for all. They very well may be right. However I think right now until the entire world has similar wages and costs of production, the average US citizen needs governmental help.
And by the way. There are many people in America who feel social security and Medicare shouldn’t be there either. And honestly, looking at Europe right now maybe their right, we will see! Stay Tuned!
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:18 am)Kent,
Dave made up for his error. He didn’t realize it had the range extender, once he found that out he had bob lutz on and did a very complementary segment on the car. He probably got his initial knowledge from Fox News while watching it thinking of Jokes. Just kidding.
+6
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:19 am)It’s a trap!!
+4
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:29 am)That, and when Neil Cavuto fires up just the slightest percentage of gray matter and stops blaming minorities taking out home loans for blowing up the economy and blaming plug in cars for rising divorce rates.
+2
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:35 am)John W (Tampa),
Exactly my point. If Dave can have a change of heart, so can Fox.
+7
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:42 am)Another update on my drive home (in McDonalds in the middle of Georgia). Just passed a long backup where I had to sit in stopped traffic for maybe 45 minutes. Accident into the trees which is very common along I-95 in this part of Georgia. Anyway – of all the cars around me, I was the only one not burning gas during the wait as I had “charged up” in Mountain mode earlier.
Also – found the tires were delivered at 33psi. I now have them pumped up to 38psi (40 while driving) and should raise mpg on the way home. I’ll let Stingray know to do the psi check for their deliveries.
Loving the “spaceship” dashboard. Nav is a “bit” irritating but it was installed so I’ll get used to it.
I hope this car and its offspring do well. It will be really cool to see EREVs commonly rolling all around this country in a decade or two.
+3
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:43 am)#9
Alas, I’ve lived here all my life and I don’t understand it any better than you do, LOL. +1 for your thoughts though. I totally agree.
+4
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:46 am)Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
+11
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:51 am)Kent,
It wasnt a change of heart though for Dave. He was misinformed, but once he learned the truth he called himself an idiot publicly, literally, or maybe it was a dufus. Something like that. If Hannity, O’reilly, or Cavuto ever do this with the Volt I’ll eat crow. They won’t do it. They’re egotistical immodest know it alls who pretty much say what their audience wants to hear. They only apologize or say they were wrong when they say something entirely rediculously in-factual or they offend some huge group and they start losing sponsors. I’m not just saying this about conservative hosts, liberal hosts too. But I agree, I hope they all change their tune and see the Volt for what it is. A big leap forward!
+9
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:51 am)Propaganda is all about perception.
Fox really believed the Volt was going to fail in a big way, so was content to hang it around President Obama’s neck – Obamacar, Government Motors, socialist engineering, fire death trap.
NOW, with sales picking up and more and more people realizing the genius behind the Volt’s design philosophy and execution, Fox is afraid it might actually SUCCEED and be the start of something big.
So, they are walking back the insults and associations, and carefully positioning themselves for a huge Chevy Volt success – it was actually designed by a Republican – Bob Lutz. George H. W. Bush bought one early on, to limit money sent abroad for oil. Bill O’Reilly will soon allow that the Volt doesn’t catch fire at the drop of a hat – must be incompetent Government technicians who told him that…
The rightwing echo chamber only works when it speaks with one voice. On the Chevy Volt, that voice split and faded away…
+11
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:53 am)Conservatives it seems now understand that strictly as a matter of Homeland Security, the Volt makes sense. To help the balance of commerce, the Volt makes sense as well. To stop funding the terrorists, it makes a lot of sense.
Fox, it seems, start to see the light and acknowledge the facts. Good. It’s about time.
This car is not a left-wing or right-wing debate. This car makes sense and as soon as its price goes down a little and the price of oil goes up a little more (not likely these days but the situation can change drastically in a matter of months), it will sell volumes.
+1
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:54 am)Alas, maybe not.
+3
Jul 6th, 2012 (12:10 pm)There’s a difference. Dave is a person. FOX is a corporation, and I don’t care what Romney says, corporations are not people. They are driven by profits. If that means they have to bash the Volt, they will, regardless of what’s true and the facts. There is no “heart” there or any type of ethics. It’s just dollars and cents, pushing an agenda, for more dollars and cents. This the current state of our polarized media (both ways) and may be what people outside the US see. Fortunately, most citizens can interpret this for what it is. It is unfortunate for those who cannot.
+4
Jul 6th, 2012 (12:13 pm)Has Fox News changed? It’s really hard to say. We’ll have to wait and see if that new opinion actually stays around or if it fades away. It should stay because it’s the truth, I know that Fox News has a problem telling the truth.
+9
Jul 6th, 2012 (12:27 pm)When Rush Limbaugh starts praising the Volt; that will be the ultimate “red letter day” of a news commentator changing gears to support EV technology.
Jul 6th, 2012 (12:29 pm)Apparently you missed my first post regarding Fox being a business with goals of generating revenue. Also, aren’t corporations run by people? I think my original post is getting misunderstood. Fox, on its own, may not be as “fair and balanced” as they claim, but they do balance out the “polarized media” as you state.
+3
Jul 6th, 2012 (12:35 pm)Exactly.
They already tweaked the battery chemistry for 2013 and got some improvement at the same price, and that’s BEFORE the next-gen battery with major price reduction (2014?)
As for the price of oil, the situation with Iran is still very tense, and could blow up any week – Israel could attack any time, China has long term contracts with Iran and is watching very closely, Russia is unpredictable (they are both in the Shanghai Cooperative Organisation, with Iran an “observer” – kind of like a Chinese NATO), and the U.S. might or might not jump in in a big way.
The long-predicted $200/barrel oil could easily arrive this year if the Persian Gulf blows up.
+1
Jul 6th, 2012 (12:48 pm)This article shows that the Volt is “The Official Car Of The Republican Party”: http://www.thestreet.com/story/11434371/1/the-official-car-of-the-republican-party.html
+2
Jul 6th, 2012 (12:52 pm)OT: some milestone figures today w/the Volt OnStar Data.
Surpassed 90 million miles – 90,876,501 total miles driven
Surpassed 3 million gallons of fuel saved – 3,019,152 total gallons saved
Record for Most Miles Driven in 1 day – 900,730 on 7/6/2012
After 2-1/2 months of data collection, we are starting to see an accelerated curve. As more Volts are sold, this should continue.
For the charts go to
http://www.kdawg.com
Jul 6th, 2012 (12:58 pm)Can you provide a link to the website that shows these stats? I’m looking at http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/ right now and it shows 2,994,XXX gallons saved, not the 3+ million you provided. Thanks in advance!
+1
Jul 6th, 2012 (1:03 pm)I agree with your post at 14. I don’t agree w/the phrase “change of heart” being applied towards a corporation. Shareholders own a corporation, and their motivation is $, not ethics. Corporations do unethical things all the time, as long as they are legal, and generate profits. If they are not legal, they lobby to make them legal. This is different from a person, who actually has empathy and is not run solely by the bottom line.
Regarding the polarized media, I’d rather the billion dollar media industry players take the high-road rather than try to balance anything. I don’t care about balanced, I care about the truth. If Fox has to make up lies about the Volt to balance other lies, this is not news to me, but fiction.
+1
Jul 6th, 2012 (1:14 pm)I have a program that pulls the XML data hourly from the GM server and if it has changed, stores it in a Javascript object and logs it to a spreadsheet. I make my charts from the spreadsheet. There’s not really a website where you can see the historical data (other than what I made). If you want to see the latest data, you can go here: http://voltonstardata.chevrolet.com/production/VoltTickerSummaryReport.xml
+1
Jul 6th, 2012 (4:37 pm)http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/ now shows 2,998,XXX. Based on the rate it’s moving, the chevrolet.com web site will go over the 3,000,000 gallon mark around 5:45 PM EDT. Cool!
Jul 6th, 2012 (5:35 pm)kdawg,
How can the Volt have saved 3 million gallons if it’s only traveled 90.8 million miles?
+7
Jul 6th, 2012 (6:27 pm)I transcribed the salient bit in the interview:
“I don’t see what’s so conservative about sending 35 billion dollars a year to Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela for its oil or to send 70 billion dollars a year to middle eastern OPEC countries. I don’t see how that’s conservative. We’re propping up the world oil price, which is giving Iran the resources it needs to develop nuclear weapons, indirectly it is funding Hezbollah and Hamas and terrorists that are trying to kill Americans. we’ve simply got to stop this, and the Chevy Volt is by far the best way to bring all american energy, not just renewable sources, which is terrific and great for the environment, but our coal , our nuclear, our natural gas, which we have a prodigious amount of to our automobiles. Theres no real efficient way to do it, other than by electrifying automobile…..The volt is a terrific car–the iPhone of the american car industry….it would be a huge thing for national security.”
+5
Jul 6th, 2012 (7:12 pm)Having driven the Volt twice, (not able to afford one now) I can’t even imagine what the 7% of Volt buyers are unhappy with.
+3
Jul 6th, 2012 (8:56 pm)If GM wants to appeal to the liberal leaning masses, they should make ads about saving the planet, if they want to appeal to the conservative side, more about energy independance and putting Americans back to work (building electric plants, upgrading the grid and even building refineries as the Volt still uses oil, just not nearly as much as any other vehicle)
Rollo
+1
Jul 6th, 2012 (10:12 pm)From GM’s website.
Fuel saved is based on an approved formula.
To find out the fuel saved we need to calculate the miles per gallon; Miles per gallon =[Difference in Total Miles Driven in kms (current-previous) * 0.621/ Difference in lifetime fuel used *0.264]. Fuel Avoided = (Difference in Total Miles/ Official MPG for US passenger cars) — (difference in Total Miles/ Miles per gallon).
+1
Jul 6th, 2012 (10:17 pm)From my experience the last couple months, the data used to get updated around 8am. Then it was 10am. Now it appears to be around noon. In any case, the website (GM’s that is) is setup to slowly roll up to that data point. If you don’t want to wait and want to see the current values, you can go to the link that I posted. Or if i’m on the ball, and keep my charts updated, you can go to my page, and also see the historical values.
+2
Jul 6th, 2012 (10:31 pm)I am jealous, too! There are no Volts in Puerto Rico, and if it arrives, it will cost over $50K and with no subsidies or rebates. The only good thing in my favor is the zero percent interest loan from Ally.
Raymond
+3
Jul 6th, 2012 (10:55 pm)Raymondjram,
What does it cost to ship a car from FL to PR?
+7
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:28 pm)I did some Googling. Looks like about $500 to $1000 for shipping, and then 7% for PR tax. So if you got one for $31K (maybe a used one), it would be a final cost of approx $34K.
+7
Jul 6th, 2012 (11:50 pm)For what its worth, I think this Volt-bashing went far deeper than just Fox. I heard all kinds of negative reporting From various sources unconnected with the company: in surprising, if not spooky lock step. Though I am not given to conspiracy theories as a rule, I cannot help but think that something larger was behind it all; only big oil would be big enough, in my opinion. Something nearly as big must have brought it to an end; which seemed to happen very abruptly, and everywhere at once. GM advertising? Not big enough, I think.
Could be the Volt had some powerful friends in places we don’t generally get to see; places where the energy security issue is taken very seriously indeed.
+4
Jul 7th, 2012 (4:01 am)As with the 2008 election for U.S. President. Independents will play a big part in who wins in 2012. The major Republican voice in TV is Fox. 4 out of 5 Fox reporters bash the Volt every chance they get. Independent votes are definitely moving away from Romney. Romney’s famous quote, “The Volt…an idea who’s time has not come”. Has cost him 2%-3% of the vote. I believe Fox and Romney still dislike the Volt and EV technology. And are now in damage control mode. Doing whatever it takes to initiate an image makeover.
Leadership must understand that the under age 50 segment of voters are technology savvy.
When the first Toyota cars arrived in America. Most American’s gave them a quick glance and discounted them as being too small, underpowered, and boring. 25 years later GM nearly went out of business. With the Car-Of-The-Year finalists being mostly Asian brands.
Is the flip flop in opinion on the Volt and EV going to be enough to elect a candidate from the Right? My gut says “No”. Conversely, Independents aren’t in love with the idea of Obama-Care either. We will see a great effort from the Left to address this issue. I listened to Left XM radio today (while driving my Volt). The latest push is to drive home the idea that persons earning less than $250,000 per year will not pay more (in taxes) for the new medical coverage plan. My personal concern is that the quality of doctors and demands on nursing staff will degrade under the weight of a National mandate to provide full care for millions of formally uninsured people.
+2
Jul 7th, 2012 (4:14 am)It is just the way the propaganda channel operates …start with a lie, exagerate it and keep lying about it …the incorrect story plays well to its targeted audience including the 100 yr old grandma’s [the famous quote I am paying for your Volt] the lying continues and the sheeple run with it … propaganda continues .. only strange thing in this incident that they mildly admit that Volt is good after they damaged the sales …
It is how Gop operate it and use the Fox channel, Rush Beck the hate mongers chime in and keep their audience enraged and story continues until it moves to another topic …
Fox news? has verly low journalistic standards if any so it doent matter to them as long the clueless/enraged audience accepts it and run with it. Sad but true BUT then who cares what is right or wrong..in times we live in … as long we generate $$ and keep the audience thrilled with lies …
Jul 7th, 2012 (4:27 am)“Regarding the polarized media, I’d rather the billion dollar media industry players take the high-road rather than try to balance anything. I don’t care about balanced, I care about the truth. If Fox has to make up lies about the Volt to balance other lies, this is not news to me, but fiction.”
Alas the enraged/angry audience accepts the lies and keep spreading it bolstered by the likes of Rush beck Drudge report and many others …. for the low IQ folks it is a hot topic over few beers ..what the hell they have no idea how we send billions to the mid east and chavez.
An example our roadway infra-structure needs repair ..our gas tax is constant for the last 30 years or so … However, we as consumers pay $3.5 to 4 now up from close to $1 a gallon years ago All due to oil cartels from mid-east etc …Now if the US Govt has raised gas tax to pay for the roads ..they will be booted out lead by Fox news propaganda so politicians dont even touch this with a 20′ pole. meanwhile roads wither away ..Now in FL – tolls are being raised to pay for some roadway improvements – a tax nonethless …
+6
Jul 7th, 2012 (9:24 am)Media is always at least ten years behind the technically open minded. They are pragmatic only. They chirp in a compliment finally because they are at risk of looking increasingly foolish.
At least the corrosive tenor has waned in the face of reality and the hard work of all the management, engineers and supporting contractors to GM.
Now it is time to double down and accelerate additional determination to proceed forward with as much confidence and marketing aggressiveness as is merited.
+1
Jul 7th, 2012 (9:38 am)This particular post regards an open contribution to ***ALL*** OEM’s regarding the thermal exposures to all dynamic systems of all engine and transmission designs.
This datum is to be especially shared to engineering departments.
Within all primary and secondary subprocessors, open at least 5 files in order to log and retain the thermal loading of contiguous daily usage. Keeping track of thermal ranging averages, peaks, and minimums, the contiguous exposure to all fluids needs more precise tracking. Newer exponential events in daily contiguous thermal characteristics (for greater than the median exposure as previously expected in recent engineering models) will yield new results within 18 months for areas of the market which currently experience increased fluid degradation.
While it is likely most customers may not be interested in this, some customers would want to know how to optimize all usage patterns, even to the point of daily traffic conditions incorporated into the formulations, for them to choose alternatives to routing, time of day for particular destination tasking, etc.
Savings to various systems in terms of wear and tear can be cut by as much as 70 percent based on more timely advisories from calculated contiguous thermal PIDs (Parameter ID’s, or datastream items). While final results of excessive heat exposures do not show up until 18 months (and often after it is too late to be covered by warranty), to owners, these algorithms can project and infer (within 45 days of logging the exposures) the needs to be attentive to more timely fluid changes and at least several other of the lower cost parts changes within the maintenance schedules. Most drivers would indeed appreciate knowing that they can avoid certain wear characteristics easily. It is a totally false economy to solely refer to any “cost of ownership” **one size fits all** representation within non technical aggregations and “polls”.
These enhancements can easily be downloaded into the Volt.
+6
Jul 7th, 2012 (10:19 am)“GM got government help” why don’t they say that about Toyoda Honda Nissan WV Hyundai… these companies routinely get “help” from their government and OURS…. ask these transplant factories how much US taxes they are NOT paying .. our government has been giving foreign companies more advantages than our own companies as in TAX BREAKs and elec car “incentives”… seems our “media” which makes a living advertizing for FOREIGN companies have no problem putting down American companies while never saying a bad word about their foreign advertisers.
I found this about foreign car owners too… a coworker who had three Hondas that all had major defects and who now owns a Chevy … would never say anything about the defects he was experiencing but had no problem pointing out any negative news about American cars.
I feel we are in this economic mess now mostly because of a Anti American attitude that has been created by a foreign subsidized American media… they all make a living off foreign company advertizing and will never say anything negative about their clients… that is why their extremely biased journalism is totally useless to me.
Jul 7th, 2012 (11:29 am)Don’t Fox followers mostly just watch TV? What readership numbers could we be talking about, here?
+1
Jul 7th, 2012 (3:52 pm)To big oil and Fox, and anyone else who thinks “drill baby drill” is the answer to energy independence (this is the current Republican party stump talking point). I don’t think energy independence is “don’t import from anywhere but North America”. We still heavily rely on Mexico and Canada and can’t ever break free of them unless we all conserve 50% of our current oil usage.
I’m pricing out a Solar PV system which may cut our grid usage by 50%. One thing I’m not sorry to say that I’m doing is architecting it myself rather than using a “Solar integrator”. Buying American-made panels and hardware – yes. But don’t want to pay the integrators who really were profiting on doing the drawings and paperwork that anyone can do themselves.
Bought the Volt – check. DIY Solar with USA-panels , next project. Using a qualified electrician to do the final wiring and commissioning. Fueling from home – priceless.
+1
Jul 7th, 2012 (11:29 pm)Nice numbers, but what about servicing?
I am waiting for my local GM dealer (where I bought my 2009 Equinox) to offer the Chevy Volt because when a dealer has trained its service department for a specific model, then they sell them. On the mainland, you could drive across statelines for servicing (I know because I have done this) and GM will reimburse any dealer you visit. I still remember the Federal case against GM because some of their dealers would not service a vehicle that they didn’t sell.
Unless there is a new bridge or tunnel between Florida and Puerto Rico, I cannot buy a new vehicle and get warranty service locally. So I have to wait. After the warranty expires, then I buy the factory manuals at Helm and do the servicing myself. That is what I have done to all my older vehicles (including a 1984 Olds Ciera) when the dealers don’t service them anymore.
Raymond
Jul 8th, 2012 (12:48 pm)Amazing how he is monotone stuck on subsidies, yet doesn’t mention oil companies, a Faux News ad buyer that they are, receive fantastic government subsidies. The most profitable company on Earth gets huge government subsidies, apparently to encourage buying oil? We need that?
+2
Jul 8th, 2012 (12:49 pm)Faux News, working to keep us all adicted to foreign oil. Free traders are free traitors.
+1
Jul 8th, 2012 (4:34 pm)Just had my first “real Volt day” so far.
Full Charged last night.
Drove my son to the local train station that was actually open today (Sunday) with a round trip of 42 miles electric and 2.5 miles gas using just under .1 gallon. A 250+ mpg trip.
Plugged in when I got home but won’t have much of a charge when I go to pick him up later tonight.
+3
Jul 8th, 2012 (10:13 pm)Faux News single handedly is responisble for the near demise of the goal of electricification of the auto industry. I suppose they prefer foriegn oil domination until we’re bankrupt. Faux News is a sociopathic, self-serving network owned by the foreigner Rupert Murdoch. He cares nothing for America.
Jul 8th, 2012 (10:20 pm)xiaowei1,
You can pick up and ship a used Volt. The leases come to an end soon enough. They include all the rebates factored in.
Jul 9th, 2012 (2:25 am)Hopefully within a year or two. We won’t need a dual propulsion inputs in a decade or two.
Jul 9th, 2012 (3:59 am)I would be not so critical towards FOX. In the end realy matters the number of coments not the tone. It gets people interested on Chevy Volt and understanding that it is real. Statistics show that politicans get elected not because of the tone of media but becouse of number of being mentioned in intriquing way. That is major PR trick.
Jul 9th, 2012 (5:15 am)My 1985 Honda, that’s right, 1985 got 54+mpg after the first year and still gets 40+
Today I would have expected more from cars with all the research and money spent.
And looking at all that it takes to make the Volt, it sure isn’t as environmentally friendly.
What’s the story?
How much would putting 300 watts of PV on the roof to charge the Volt while its parked add to the price? Imagine, the batteries charging while you’re shopping or at work. I might even buy one.
+1
Jul 9th, 2012 (9:25 am)Kir check the weights of todays cars. All those 5 star crash ratings don’t come without a penalty.
Jul 9th, 2012 (9:31 am)Philippe, Philippe, Philippe. You give Fox News way too much credit. There is a difference between group think and an organized conspiracy. Just like any peer group the Volt bashers will get a bit more quiet when their contemporaries start warming up to the Volt. Some of them may even be softened up and start to come around and some will stay firm with their anti-Volt stance as they have too much invested to change. But this is nothing more then what happens anywhere whether it be the playground or the Fox newsroom. It is just human nature.
Jul 10th, 2012 (8:02 am)I’ve had a test-drive at the local dealership and loved the Volt. But yesterday, I had my third Volt in-the-wild sighting and it was in black (my favorite Volt color that is not as fast as ready but stealthier). I almost changed lanes and followed the guy but decided that was kinda creepy.
I find most TV news a bit shallow. Most of the shows people have problems with are the opinion-based formats of the 24-hour news channels. I also have problems with the editorial choice that try to be more subtle but just end up preachy. I enjoy Fox mostly because they don’t suck up to democrats but I truly preferred the CNN of the Bernard Shaw days.
Today they are all dancing clowns with trained bears and mini-skirted assistants. Nothing wrong with that but it just isn’t to my taste.
+1
Jul 11th, 2012 (1:23 pm)KUD,
Truman,
Methinks you have a political ax to grind as well. The right-wing ire was focused on OWEbama’s bailout of the UAW. Try getting smarter.