After reading yet one more screed last week against President Obama, “Government Motors,” and the Chevrolet Volt – replete with out-of-context snippets to support a preconceived premise demonizing the subjects at hand – I wish to make a proposal.
Can we just move on from pasting the image of the Chevy Volt to the center of the rhetorical dartboard with Obama’s picture also pinned up behind it?
I was prompted to this notion after interviewing two other writers on Thursday whose sentences were grabbed to make points they actually disagree with. Also my own name and that of HybridCars.com which I run were culled into the verbal whirlwind whipped up by a political blogger bent on proving “the very ugly truth” about the sitting president.
Using the Volt to make an inductive leap against the allegedly failed bailout, she cited my June news brief, “Volt Records Second-Best Sales Month While Leaf Still Looks Withered.” My piece was written, she said, “with all of the jubilation one could expect from someone whose job is to push the sales of ‘auto alternatives for the 21st century.’”
Hey, can you leave me out of your drama-laden surface analysis please? Read the straightforward report again if you think it sounds like jubilation. My job is actually to be a journalist who covers this industry. Please focus your displeasure with Obama appropriately, and leave out harmless bystanders. Thanks!
It’s actually pretty funny to be called out like this on one level, but sadly this tendency to mis-characterize Volt facts to paint “ugly” pictures about Obama – while so 2011 – is recurring as we draw closer to November.
Entities including Fox and Herman Cain whose video lambastes “Obama’s Baby” are back at it just when it looked like Volt/GM/Obama attacks were simmering down.
So watch out if you even think of getting in the way by saying anything positive about the Volt.
But since my job is to report facts, I’ll take a chance anyway, and will even concede critics are correct: The Volt has certainly benefited from political favor…
From both parties!
Take for example the $7,500 federal tax subsidies for plug-in cars initiated by President George W. Bush about whom Fox News ran a syndicated opinion piece last year saying Bush is the “Father of the Modern Electric Car.”
Whether that’s true, what’s certain is GM dreamed up the Volt well before Obama was in office and the auto industry bailouts he carried through.
In January 2006, after viewing the Tesla Roadster at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Bob Lutz inspired also by GM engineer Jon Lauckner led a meeting of GM brass and engineers centered around the question, “Tesla can do this, and we can’t?” The gathering ended with a mandate to develop a plug-in electric car that would debut at the 2007 Detroit show. It would be a “unique and profound concept vehicle that delivered eye-popping reduction in petroleum consumption.”
One year later, the Volt Concept was the star of the 2007 show and has garnered more press than any new vehicle in GM’s hundred-plus year history.
But the production Volt has since become a gleam in Obama’s eye too, even as in 2009 he approved the bailouts begun under TARP by Bush, and Obama also envisioned an unlikely goal of one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
Alas, some of his dream was based on early sales projections by GM, but GM did not specifically validate Obama’s million EV goal. And since the end of 2011, GM has shied away from making definitive sales projections.
Unfortunately, the Volt has since been given Obama Poster Boy status from some folks with an axe to grind even though it has benefited from two parties.
How sad that this car has been so misrepresented, given it has been called one of the most innovative projects to come out of American industry, and is even being exported from Detroit and selling out in Europe as the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera and Chevy Volt.
If Americans could envision and create momentum for what is at stake they might love it even more than a new iPad. The Volt threatens to embark on a road away from oil dependence, not to mention pollution reduction and “national security,” as Bush argued, and “energy security” as is more often said these days.
Yes, like it or not, we have inherited this experiment called the Volt, which is leading a tiny segment of the North American market known as plug-in electric vehicles. Obama loves them, but so did Bush. The segment is growing at a triple digit rate, but true enough – more needs to be proved, technology needs to mature, manufacturing economies of scale would sure help, and accurate consumer information with less issue-obscuring chatter needs to be disseminated, among other goals.
Nonetheless, the electrified vehicle experiment is playing out, and while not taking the world by storm, the Volt is cultivating fans while prompting varying efforts to copy it here and in Europe and China.
Its technology was intended to leapfrog the Toyota Prius and could be a homegrown solution in the U.S. where what it promises is so needed considering we consume gads more oil than we produce.
Here’s a thought I’ve heard some conservatives who like the Volt repeat:
“You will never see a tanker arrive from the Middle East loaded with electricity.”
Energy security is a solid argument given the Volt goes 25-50 miles on domestically produced electricity. Every dollar not spent on foreign oil is (usually) a dollar not spent bolstering regimes which are hostile to the U.S. and its interests around the world. One has to consider the ultimate cost of importing so much of our energy. Fighting wars is a messy, expensive and tragic business.
But if you disagree, you have that right. Freedom of speech is the First Amendment for a reason; it is part of what has made this country great, and I’m all for freedoms responsibly enjoyed. The problem I have is with fuzzy logic meant to lure people to fallacious conclusions that the Volt is complicit in millions or even billions in misappropriated taxpayer dollars.
The actual cost of the Volt was around $1 billion. Auto industry history is littered with examples of blown money on this scale that went nowhere.
More importantly, the Volt does not equal the bailout. They are loosely related but ultimately quite separate issues. The Volt is but one car GM is marketing that involves risk and sales are picking up though by no means to mainstream levels. It’s also paying back in other ways and its intangible value to GM a “halo” car is inestimable, as – now former GM Vice Chairman – Bob Lutz recently said.
“The Chevy Volt single-handedly reversed GM’s declining reputation for innovation and technological excellence,” Lutz said.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons why they keep the Corvette (halo car) around too – which the Volt recently surpassed in sales. GM is now spending plenty to redesign it into the C7 enthusiasts are frothing over, and the critics for some reason do not object to.
So, do you want some more facts?
Like it or not, the Volt is selling better than ever. True, the Volt has not paid for itself yet in showroom sales. So what? That happened for years with the Prius which now 12 years later is being considered its own separate sub-brand and was the third-highest global selling nameplate last quarter.
Want some more random facts?
How about this: Even Bush Sr. purchased a Volt recently for his son, Neil.
Another one is Fox News gave fair time in March this year to conservative media mogul Lee Spieckerman, who asked certain pundits to back off the rhetoric against the Volt, citing its value for energy security.
Bottom line is the Volt is a solution. Is it an idea whose time has not yet come? Or is it ready now?
A laundry list of accolades and Consumer Reports documenting it as number one in owner satisfaction with a 93-percent approval rating is a pretty good indicator, but if you disagree that’s fine.
Some are still on the fence as it’s new technology. Some don’t fully understand it, others don’t buy the “first” of any new technology on principle, or are otherwise holding back in wait-and-see mode. And at around $40,000-plus, it costs $11,000 more than the average new car – but it’s so inexpensive to operate, based on 15,000 miles per year driving, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance showed it rapidly closes the price differential from cars costing much less.
There are many other reasons why the Volt is considered viable now, and it probably would be best if people could just back off and let it be.
You can also take it from Edward Niedermeyer whose New York Times article was taken out of context in the “ugly truth” piece, who sent me this excerpt Friday from his latest Volt article from the Truth About Cars which he helps run:
The basic problem with the Volt isn’t that it’s a bad car that nobody could ever want; it is, in fact, quite an engineering achievement and a rather impressive drive. And if GM had said all along that it would serve as an “anti-Corvette,” selling in low volumes at a high price, nobody could now accuse it of failure. Instead, GM fueled totally unrealistic expectations for Volt, equating it with a symbol of its rebirth even before collapsing into bailout. The Obama administration simply took GM’s hype at face value, and saw it as a way to protect against the (flawed) environmentalist argument that GM deserved to die because of “SUV addiction” alone. And between corporate sales/image hype and political hype, the Volt’s expectations were driven to ever more unrealistic heights, from which they are now tumbling… and as a result, the Volt has become the most politicized car since the Corvair. But at this point, the real waste would be if GM did cave to the Volt’s political critics instead of continuing to develop what is a promising, if not yet fully mature, technology.
Or take it from Lyle Dennis, a forward-thinking neurologist who founded GM-Volt.com which I took over writing for last year, and whose words from a pro-Volt article he wrote in 2010 were misused this week in the aforementioned anti-Volt piece. He has spent years and his own money supporting the Volt for what it can do for this country, and even now is running InsideEVs, and sees the need for what electrification can do:
The Volt is pure and simple a brilliantly designed and executed vehicle that has so far allowed 65 million out of 100 million miles to be driven on electricity collectively across its fleet. The car was designed by Bob Lutz and Jon Lauckner as a clever way to bring electric driving to the masses by eliminating range anxiety. The fact that GM had to be bailed out is unfortunate but irrelevant. New technology always costs more in the beginning and prices come down with economies of scale. This will prove true for electric cars. Blogs about Volt conspiracy theories and links to Obama politics are sad, tired, and at this point quite boring.
And by the way, that makes three managing editors whose work was grabbed and distorted by a freelance writer who glommed together what passes for political news.
On behalf of Internet media, my apologies. We do not all work that way; some of us yet try to uphold standards, and I still don’t expect you to only take my word for it about the Volt.
As I consistently write, it is a qualified decision to buy – or even approve of the Volt. Talk to anyone else you trust who actually knows about it first hand if you want, then decide for yourself what you think about it.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 23rd, 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.
+7
Jul 23rd, 2012 (7:18 am)Thank you Jeff for a nice, comprehensive posting.
Bob Lutz has quipped that the website The Truth About Cars seldom has any.
Herman Cain is only worthy to be an object of humor. To wit, if one Google’s “Michelle Bachmann corn dog”, one can see what old Herman is looking for from a running mate. Ha.
+14
Jul 23rd, 2012 (8:01 am)We are basically in an age when good is called evil and evil is called good. So it is no surprise, however unfortunate, that the Volt is so unfairly attacked. But lies don’t last forever and I am seeing a lot more knowledge and real interest in the Volt with the people I talk to about it. A car this good and the technology it represents will win out in the end.
+4
Jul 23rd, 2012 (8:14 am)Thanks for the link to Patricia Campion’s article about the “ugly truth”. I left a counter-point argument and I think others should leave comments there, pointing out her many errors.
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (8:35 am)In my mind, selecting the Volt as a topic to attack the Obama administration is akin to selecting Sarah Palin as a running mate. While on the surface they may appear as attractive choices based on some strategy, the reality is they are tells of poor decision making and poor logic.
Certainly the Volt or other electrics are not beyond reproach; but to ignore their benefits, to ignore the importance of American leading technology, and to ignore the importance of American industry by attacking a car that has won so many independent awards from around the world and reducing gasoline consumption so significantly is pandering in the worst way. Not only is it pandering but it is historically blind and IMO ignorant of future risks as well. It is evident of misplaced machiavellian politics.
There are certainly more intellectually sound ways to warn against excessive support for a single technology and better ways to argue against the Obama administration.
+18
Jul 23rd, 2012 (8:41 am)Well done, Jeff! On behalf of all Conservative Volt fans, I thank you.
-17
Jul 23rd, 2012 (8:52 am)(click to show comment)
+3
Jul 23rd, 2012 (8:53 am)Jeff, It is easy for me to sit here and tell you to not take it personal, but that is exactly what you have to do. However if you do feel the need to blow off some steam and vent then here, among your Volt friends is the appropriate place to do so! As the purveyor of this fine sight I would imagine you have the opportunity quite often to give your opinion on the Volt to both friendly and not so friendly commentators, writers, etc. When dealing with the not so friendly count to 3, or 10, or 5000… Whatever it takes to be able to respond in a cool, calm, just the facts manner.
Again, easy for me to say…
-2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:09 am)Ah, such irony. The very first post of an article complaining about the miss-representation of the Volt has to include an unsolicited, unrelated attack on Michelle Bachmann. Just like the Volt, some think she is great, some think she is terrible and some use ridiculous unsubstantiated attacks against her (like oh I don’t know – a corn dog eating image) to try and discredit her.
Pot meet kettle…
For the record she is my congresswoman. While I don’t have a problem with her being a congresswoman, 1 of 435, there is no way I supported her Presidential ambitions. Nothing wrong with having a couple right wing kooks to balance out some of the left wing kooks (and vice versa) when it comes to the House of Representatives. When it comes to the Senate and the executive suite it is time to get a bit more serious.
+16
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:17 am)Excellent report Jeff…factual venting I call it..and very well done. As a Canadian, I often post comments on Volt news, and immediately get called an “Obama lover” to which I say..I am Canadian, so not likely…peewee herman could be running and some idiot will still try to paint it as a political view….lets talk about the car”
to which there is almost NEVER a reply…
as a totally different topic. (and not stealing news)
Chris Weber (6’11″ tall NBA player) Fits into a volt..hows that for leg and head room?
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120719/AUTO0103/207190341
+7
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:22 am)Wow, put a sticky on this article! Jeff, your writing is a breath of fresh air in a an era of smoke filled airwaves burning with frustration over the economy.
Unfortunately, the election is in full gear. You cannot expect EV enlightenment from some talk show hosts until the current administration is out of office. However, the GM Volt success speaks for itself and is the best transportation solution for the majority of drivers who want to reduce their daily use of gasoline.
+13
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:23 am)Only had my Volt 24 hours and had to dispel myths. I was told “The Volt is not a good car”, “The battery is no good.” I said it has an 8 year warranty to which the reply was “so it will die immediately after 8 years.”. The really sad part is this person was getting their information from a Chevy dealership (one I specifically chose not to do business with due to past experience). So not only are there critics in the online media world, GM has critics within their own ranks.
+6
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:24 am)Thanks for commenting Lou. I am tired of aspects of this too. I wrote this and made it pretty long because shorter rebuttals have been coming out from a lot of other writers since last year to these same Obama/GM/Volt attacks and I wanted to set the record straight. At least honest-minded people will have a document they can refer to (including reader comments that will follow).
I am not “happy” I am getting quoted when the spirit of my work was misrepresented, and hybridcars.com’s reason for being is misrepresented and impugned by an off-handed attack.
RE: “Of course, Jeff Cobb of Hybrid Cars heralded this “second-best sales month” with all of the jubilation one could expect from someone whose job is to push the sales of “auto alternatives for the 21st century.”
My plain Volt comparison to Leaf report was not a fanboy piece but little discernment or care was exercised in a mad rush to condemn the president’s allegedly favorite car and taxpayer boondoggle by this writer.
I would be happy to be quoted if it was not distorted.
If you disagree Lyle’s quote was misused, here it is:
Her lead in: However, left out of all three of these glowing reports was GM’s pitiable admission in December 2010 that the Volt is a profit lemon.
Quoting Lyle, GM-Volt, 2010: “According to multiple GM executives there is little or no profit being made on each Volt at a present cost of around $40,000. Furthermore, the $700 million of development that went into the car has to be recouped.”
So his words were her lead-in for why the Volt is a total loser and part of the very ugly truth on Obama’s record.
For his part, Lyle responded last week to me with the fresh quote in my article you can read above. It’s a fact he did not intend his words to be used to support anti-Volt/Obama/GM rancor.
So, yes, I’d consider that qualifies as “misused.”
This piece is not about me or Lyle though. My lead in reference to slights perceived is to show what caliber of intellectual honesty and sense of fair play is held by some who persist in this line of attack against the Volt. It shows anyone is perceived fair game to people so bent on tearing it down at all costs.
This was an attempt to show the nature of the broad move of hatred toward the Volt that has continued to this day. While I admit I was tweaked, the principle went deeper and this is really all about the Volt and what it is up against. That was not as much taking a slight personally as much as noting a far broader issue at hand.
Thanks for reading.
Regards,
Jeff
+3
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:37 am)People who promote hatred of ANY KIND have been judged accordingly.
NPNS!
Volt#671
+5
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:53 am)@ronr64
My joke was about Herman, not so much Michelle. I’m just having a little fun with it. You can’t make this stuff up
+15
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:54 am)Thanks to all the people who’ve made positive comments.
It has been a challenge being thrown into the seat of writing about the world’s most politicized car.
Picking and choosing the right words is not always an easy task to represent the truth and appropriate spirit of the truth.
I do try, even if far from perfectly, to uphold principles. I hate to see principles trod upon and so I said something.
+5
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:58 am)Since Obama has this super power, this anti-Midas touch, he should endorse everything he want’s the right to relinquish. If they respond to his endorsements blindly (as they have so far), it would be amusing to watch them lambast their own agendas (which has already happened with the healthcare reform).
+13
Jul 23rd, 2012 (10:35 am)Is it wrong to just say +1?
This hits close to home for myself as well (as I just got ‘ringered’ about two weeks ago, and a 20 minutes of conversation I volunteered my time for, ended up as a 2 sentence misquoted slam).
Anywhoo, I really enjoyed the diatribe. I know I am perhaps a little biased, but I feel you are doing good work here (and around the interwebs) and are reporting on plug-ins in the fairest light possible for someone who also has to be mindful of his audience at the same time. Its a slippery slope sometimes, but your work here proves you can do it.
+14
Jul 23rd, 2012 (10:56 am)“The actual cost of the Volt was around $1 billion. Auto industry history is littered with examples of blown money on this scale that went nowhere.”
GM invested around $1 billion in the EV1. Lutz et al had a heckofatime convincing GM to do it again.
I don’t consider any of this R&D funding ‘blown’. R&D is expensive and sometimes fruitless.
Without the experience of EV1 and hydrogen-powered (electric) CUVs, GM wouldn’t have been able to pull off the project called Voltec (E-Flex). Some of the things developed for Volt will have application in other vehicles, such as electric A/C, power steering and power brakes.
I’m glad GM decided to do this research and hand us the amazing Volt.
+16
Jul 23rd, 2012 (10:56 am)I think people like Patricia Campion have a mental condition, similar to autism, but which is characterized by great difficulty in imagining, predicting, or planning about more than 3 months into the future:
http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-government-motors-and-the-very-ugly-truth
Kind of a short-term tunnel vision, a “next-quarter” mentality that leaves them blind to the future.
Global warming won’t be a problem in the next three months – therefore, it’s not a problem.
Peak Oil won’t be a problem in the next three months – therefore, it’s not a problem.
The Chevy Volt won’t be a huge seller in the next three months – therefore, it’s a big flop and waste of money.
It did say she grew up in Detroit – maybe this is another auto-immune condition, perhaps triggered by diesel particulates in the developing brain…
I’ll try not to laugh at these people when I read their screeds in the future – maybe medical science can cure them one day.
+7
Jul 23rd, 2012 (11:02 am)I just look at the facts.
Today – 48.8 miles AER followed by 45 mpg for my 70 mile drive to the NJ transit station.
Plugged into their Solar PV array free charging station and I’ll repeat that drive heading home.
140 miles and will use .8 gallon of gas and only pay for 13.3kWh. What car goes 140 miles for $5.00? Prius doesn’t. Volt does. And, the $5.00 is due to my .17/kWh electric bill.
I don’t do this drive much – but when I did it more often, it was 3 round trips and a full 17 gallon refill for my Mazda (27mpg) at $60.00.
+4
Jul 23rd, 2012 (11:06 am)OT:
New record for most Volt Miles in 1 day. Over 1.5 million miles yesterday! Also a record for EV miles with over 1 million!
I updated my charts if you want to see the spikes
+4
Jul 23rd, 2012 (11:08 am)Truman,
Don’t forget another symptom… goldfish memory.
+7
Jul 23rd, 2012 (11:23 am)That’s true – GM learned a lot from the EV1 program, including the inspiration for an onboard-generator.
Naysayers will whine that the EV1 was a failure, maybe the Volt and Volt 2 will be “failures” (in sales volumes), and then when Volt 3 is a huge success, they will say that’s because GM finally “got it right”.
“GM finally got the technology and price right, and the market rewarded them. If they had done this in the FIRST place, they could have skipped all those other failures.”
Thank the heavens for the visionaries that support the crucial “failures”.
+4
Jul 23rd, 2012 (11:29 am)Jeff,
Too bad you had to explain yourself (#12), but I knew someone would not get it. Reading this (your original discussion), I knew it was not your regular writing. To me at least, it was obvious that you were addressing this to an outside audience who might regularly peruse your articles for tidbits they could use to claim that a PROponent was actually against the Volt.
I agree that Truman has the right perspective as well. I am convinced that some people’s brains are broken, preventing them from ever digesting facts that contradict a preestablished opinion. All people are subject to this when under duress (per the Vincennes Iranian airliner incident). Coincidentally, those crewmen all felt that they were under attack. Apparently/Obviously, paranoia is a determinant factor in clouding judgment.
+1
Jul 23rd, 2012 (11:33 am)Cool as an iPad? Don’t tarnish the Volt’s reputation. The Volt has gotten by on brilliant engineering and improving the automobile as we know it today. It’s been an uphill battle for GM and the Volt.
The iPad? I’s gotten by on hype, as in: every 10th commercial is for some Apple product. And brilliant engineering by dumbing down the current laptop as we know it today. As in: do you want a real keyboard for any decent e-mail use? Extra. You want to share photos on your big screen TV? That’s extra. You want to expand your current memory? That’s impossible.
Sure, they’re fun and easy to use as they claim on the commercials, but we’ve set them up at work to do view company PDF files, but the software feature set makes them complicated and cumbersome to use as a PC. Perhaps more so.
I can rant more, but I’ll stop there.
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (11:58 am)Very good article Jeff!!!
Thank you.
I just heard another very ignorant 5 min put down blurb by a talk show last Friday .. Quin and Rose show here in Pgh… a totally biased and ignorant rant that only showed that he obviously has a preconcieved notion that is not swayed by the truth.
I’m seeing less of these ignorant blurbs as 10′s of thousands of real world owners proclaim the truth.
Along with the longest list of awards given to any car.. the Volt was voted as the best engineered car on the road today… at a cost of half that of many lesser cars.
+1
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:09 pm)Thanks, lol. You don’t need to defend the Volt against me …
RE: “Don’t tarnish the Volt’s reputation. The Volt has gotten by on brilliant engineering and improving the automobile as we know it today. It’s been an uphill battle for GM and the Volt.”
BTW, I have a Macbook Pro and have resisted the iPad for my own use, but it was a single keyword that could register what many others, besides yourself, may feel is a cool product.
Shall we change it to “iPod” which is what others have said in years past?
+3
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:12 pm)Thanks PJK. And let’s drive that trend of ignorance fading in the light of reality all the way home …
-1
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:12 pm)#7
I agree. +1
I don’t give a damn what those jerks say, and I try my best not to pay any attention to them.
+3
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:22 pm)#18
Saturday I went to a Volt event at GM’s advanced powertrain technology facility in Torrance, CA. I live nearby and had driven by it hundreds of times, but I had no idea what a large and high tech facility it actually is. This is where electric and fuel cell powertain components for vehicles from the EV1 to the Volt to the BEV Spark, have been developed. So your comment really seemed timely to me. +1
I was so impressed by this highly advanced “skunk works” that I am more excited than ever about the future of what is coming along behind the Volt. The next few years really are going to be thrilling times in the automotive world, and particularly for GM.
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:25 pm)#26
True that! +1
+6
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:43 pm)Some of my 2013 Volt Pics as promised.
I notice my charging cord is black where I have seen others as orange.
I also took a pic of the 4 operating modes.
I’m at 250+MPG right now. Only used 0.2 gal of gas and that was at the dealer to test the hold mode feature.
+3
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:48 pm)Truman,
I have found these same people never learned or want to play Chess for some reason.
NPNS!
Volt#671
+5
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:50 pm)They do deserve to be ignored agreed. FWIW, just trying to get people to think outside of the Fox.
+4
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:50 pm)Money talks the best in many cases. Annual fuel savings at the again currently increasing cost of gas is the thing that no one can argue against.
Volt, with this in mind, ought to be in a loan class by itself, where annual savings are not just in fuel, but in the restriction of accumulated heat wear pattern hours on the engine as is now (in non-electrified vehicles), showing up in service bays all over the Southwest from last Summer’s 90 days above 100 degrees. That is a quarter of the year with record breaking heat as applied, for example, to the transmission fluid causing premature failures at upwards of $2800 and more.
Critics of Volt are not technical. Not a single one. If they were at all technical, they would not be critics in the first place. Many people just need something to argue against, and be loud in doing so, in an attempt to substitute volume for credibility.
When GM says that this is the future for the company, there are far, far many other entire sets of advantages in GM doing these things which critics are sadly unable to co-process.
But it is certainly the wrong tree critics are barking up, just to see what responses they may get:…..
…. ***Clarifications of even more long term durability advantages of the wise directions GM has taken, as I explained above with the suppression of heat wear patterns on major systems due to electrification.***
+8
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:55 pm)Last week I passed my 19 month mark of owning my Volt. With my short commute and a couple of long trips, my lifetime mileage is “only” 116. Bummer. While the pundits blog away and the election draws near, thousands of Volt owners smugly woosh by gas stations and wonder what the price of gas is these days.
Thousands of owners, 100 million miles and still, unbelievably high Customer Satisfaction ratings! GM has a huge hit on their hands. I don’t think they realize it yet; they seem to be too cautious.
I’ve been to several Volt and EV meet-ups and still have not seen a car that suits my needs better than my Volt. Given the choice today with a year and a half of hindsight, I’d still buy my Volt. Love it!!
Volt 63
+4
Jul 23rd, 2012 (12:59 pm)LOL, did you just coin that?
+5
Jul 23rd, 2012 (1:03 pm)What I find amusing about the “Volt is Obama’s Car” approach is that it’s very likely to backfire. As the Volt becomes remembered as the advent of a new technological age everyone is going to be reminded what a great job Obama did, even if he didn’t do it! Ditto in spades for “Obamacare”.
I think FDR would be most pleased if Social Security was called Roosevelt Security. Not to mention that, if Sartre is right, Obama may become immortal.
+5
Jul 23rd, 2012 (1:05 pm)Congrats. I missed your finally getting your car. Enjoy those extra three miles!!!! (That’s jealously talking — LOL).
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (1:42 pm)#36
You’ve got that right! +1
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (1:47 pm)#38
God send that it shall be true. +1
I think that it’s fascinating how the President himself has embraced the meant to be pejorative moniker “Obamacare”. Last week I heard him say something like “I’m fine with calling it ‘Obamacare’ because I do care.” Smart IMHO but it must take a lot of intestinal fortitude to do it.
+1
Jul 23rd, 2012 (2:52 pm)Jeff, please don’t use any Apple comparison since those products are made in China by Foxcom.
I will always prefer comparing the Chevy Volt with the IBM Personal Computer as the most technological, financial, and engineering breakthrough of the decade. Every PC, smartphone and tablet made in the world has a direct connection to what IBM did when it was developing and selling the PC. Even today everyone uses a device that inherits an idea and a product from IBM and may not see the connection. I do, since I have worked with IBM systems since 1972, I know the history behind the Personal Computer, and I know most of the history after that because I lived it as a engineer and as a user.
So if the IBM Personal Computer was such a milestone in history, the Chevy Volt is the next best thing. As many other computer manufacturers copied IBM’s ideas and became a participant in computing history (Apple included), the Volt will be “copied” (Karma is one) and make other companies participant in the electrification of the personal transportation.
And you know that the “soul” of any computing device is its software. GM knows this and used IBM’s Rational products to develop, test, debug, and update the software in the Chevy Volt. IBM is part of the Volt’s history and part of America’s leadership in technology leadership.
Use the PC!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjjASGV36mw
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/rational/announce/volt/
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4215735/IBM-tells-story-behind-Chevy-Volt-design
Raymond
+3
Jul 23rd, 2012 (3:12 pm)Kdawg, thanks for posting the photos! Your 2013 Volt looks great.
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (3:24 pm)“Think outside the Fox” — there’s a bumpersticker waiting to happen
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (4:14 pm)The good news is that people only read blogs that echo their own views. So the folks who would read a volt bashing website will not have their minds altered by the comments.
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (4:17 pm)Like George Washington, I cannot tell a lie. Saw the bumper sticker with that phrase just yesterday in Pennsylvania heading back from a mountain bike ride in Delaware.
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (4:44 pm)I actually had a Chevy Salesman tell me the exact same thing last week. The local salesman stopped in my business to drop off a check for the dealership. We started talking cars and I asked about the Volt. He told me flat out, “Don’t buy one. They aren’t there yet.” I asked a couple simple questions about the 2013 and he did not know about the longer range and the fact that the roof was now body color. With salesmen like this it is no wonder that he told me that “they have only sold 3 at the dealership and one of them had to have the battery replaced after 6 months.”
Jul 23rd, 2012 (5:06 pm)But Fox is so warm and fuzzy and they take anybody (as long as they agree to be socialist).
I actually watch Fox local news because of the entertainment value. They are not so dry and have fun with the news. And the co-anchors are better looking. (It *is* TV.)
Cavuto, not so much.
Jul 23rd, 2012 (5:11 pm)#48
I watched the Grand Prix on Fox yesterday. It killed me to do it, but whatcha gonna do? I guess I have to give them credit for doing it. I wonder what the ratings are like? Not so great I bet.
+5
Jul 23rd, 2012 (5:14 pm)evil conservative,
It truly is sad. Fortunately, my salesman was very upbeat about the Volt. I stated some facts/history I knew, and he admitted I knew more than he did, but I was glad that he did instead of trying to pretend. He also said he was honestly jealous.
At the other dealership, they stated other incorrect things, such as “If you only do city driving the Volt is not the car for you, it’s more for people that do a lot of highway driving.”. Really? They couldn’t be more wrong. This shows how these people don’t understand how the technology works.
(oh, forgot to mention, before I even haggled a bit, he gave me GM preferred pricing which was about ~$1,300 below MSRP. And they actually went over Kelly Blue Book on my trade in. Suffice it to say, I will be going back to this dealer again)
Jul 23rd, 2012 (5:20 pm)Bill Engvall says “here’s your sign”…
The Volt’s apparently for smart people.
+5
Jul 23rd, 2012 (5:44 pm)I do not have figures, but the Volt/Ampera is probably the #1 selling car exported from America in Europe today. And I’ll wager that it will soon be the #1 American car exported to and sold in Europe in the last 50 years.
Volt haters, you’d better check your credentials as patriots of the country you claim to love.
Jul 23rd, 2012 (6:33 pm)stuart22,
I noticed on my window sticker that the US/Canadian content was 45%, Japan was 18%, Korea was 17%.
The electric drive unit comes from Japan, but the only thing I can think of coming from Korea would be battery cells. However I thought those were coming from Holland, MI now? So not sure of the details.
+2
Jul 23rd, 2012 (7:12 pm)The truth will eventually be obvious to all. The pundits will move on. The Volt is a great car.
Jul 23rd, 2012 (7:37 pm)#52
You ca’t say it better than that! +1
Jul 23rd, 2012 (7:39 pm)#54
Well that’s a pretty good summary of today’s thread IMHO. +1
Jul 23rd, 2012 (8:36 pm)Maybe so, but my comment was not about content origin, it was about exportation of a US made product which is an impressive thing given the sorry state of our economy and our chronic trade deficit.
+5
Jul 23rd, 2012 (9:14 pm)One thing that will maybe get peoples attention is how well the volt is doing from an overall quality and performance basis compared to the leaf. This should put a shine on the volt’s image and help more people learn about how great the Volt is.
I just read about Leaf owners in Arizona losing 30% of the cars range over a one year period (73 mile range x 0.7 is now a 51 mile range).
The Volts liquid cooled (over engineered) battery system is not suffering like this as far as I know.
I know it is not a competition between the leaf and the volt but I get tired of hearing about poor US products compared to the superior Japanese products. The volt is a shining example of a great US product that is unmatched by its rivals.
Jul 24th, 2012 (1:58 am)This is just so messed up I wish more people could understand about the Volt and not ignore it and just take a test drive if so more people would probably agree with the car.
But no I’ve never driven one if only I had a driver’s license I would drive it trust me I would.
No lies, jokes or buts.
Note) I’m an adult in his mid 20′s just to let you know.
So no I’m not a kid but I do have mild to moderate symptoms of Autism.
But the real case is my medication as in seizure pills if I were approved to be taken off of them unlike others with the disability I might still be able to understand better then others with it.
What I’m saying is that I can read but yeah I would also need to focus on the road of what’s happening as in were the cars are coming from left, right, in front of you or even behind you this would probably be the most challenging thing while driving on a road but at least I can walk on my own from crosswalk to crosswalk with no ease of problem on my own.
The Volt is a true marvel of engineering of it’s own!
Chevy Runs Deep!
Jul 24th, 2012 (4:27 am)Once people start reaching 100,000 miles in their Volts, maybe people will realize, yes, it’s a real car. As a Mad Men fan, I would be salivating to think of the ads for this car. I’d direct it at republicans, which is actually easy. I’d show soldiers off fighting in the middle east, explaining how we fight a country who’s developing nukes funded by oil, the cities in Dubai with the tallest building in the world that is funded by oil, the fact that 87 days worth of oil production from Saudi Arabia produces enough oil value to buy 100% of Apple at current market cap. Oil IS our national security. Then I’d discuss how the technology of the Volt combined with domestic oil production would mean we would be oil net exporters. Oh well. I’m sure whatever they’re doing now is fine, snicker.
PS Yes I see that that would alienate every other car GM makes.
Jul 24th, 2012 (5:43 am)You could include the cap on the world economy imposed by oil supply/demand.
Jul 26th, 2012 (2:53 pm)This is exactly the kind of mentality which makes Volt bashers spin their negative propaganda. As long as this mentality persists in this society there will continue to be folks who will try to bring down the Volt by exaggerating facts or making false statements. The attitude I’m talking about specifically, is this one which more and more appear to have in this day & age where by they think they have an excellent understanding on a subject or product in question and they feel qualified to criticize it. Those who are unfamiliar with the product will believe those false critics because they’ll feel that “they seem to know what their talking about”, however those who are the real experts on the subject can tell right away that these so called critics haven’t a clue what their talking about. Their attempts at attacking the product only expose their true ignorance for what it is. Unfortunately the majority will be fooled, and that’s what’s happening currently with the Volt.
How does this iPad example relate to this? Well, as soon as you said “dumbing down the current laptop” I knew right away you’re cluelessness on the subject, as that’s not what the iPad is, rather it is more like a beefed-up PDA, if you were to make a comparison. You could look at it as a dumbed down laptop, as relative to your usage scenarios, but that’s not the reality based on how it’s used in the world. You don’t ask why you can’t expand the memory or keyboard on your watch or your TV remote control, so why would you ask it for the iPad? It’s like saying that the Volt is just an overpriced Prius with a beefed-up battery. Most folks visiting this site could tell right away that the person making such comment simply doesn’t get the Volt, however since this isn’t also a site about personal mobile devices, they may not get that about your iPad comment. By the way, this isn’t meant to criticize your lack of expertise about something – it really is ok to not be an expert in a particular area. Everyone, myself included, is not an expert on a lot of things. But to you and all Volt nay-sayers please don’t pretend that you are an expert just because you spent a few hours on it, or heard someone else say something about it and it “seemed like they knew what they were talking about”.
Jul 27th, 2012 (8:15 am)That attitude by anti-American right wingers is exactly what led me to look at a Volt. Now all I need is an Obama 2012 bumper sticker for my Volt #00728.
Jul 28th, 2012 (10:02 pm)Look, you will always have detractors on most subjects of national importance. I hear bad press from both sides of the political isle, both unfortunately most of the bad press is coming from the so-called conservatives. But who these people are does not matter as long as GM does not lose heart in this battle! Keep up the good work, GM! And this is from a “true” conservative and one that has fought for this country.
For those of you who think wars will end when we no longer need oil from overseas, I am afraid you know much less of the politics of the world than you think you do. I only wish it were so.