Bloomberg.com has published a surprising interview with Bill Reinert, national manager for advanced vehicle technology at Toyota’s U.S. unit. He is reported to express uncertainty at what the size of the plug-in hybrid market will actually be.
He goes on to note that there is indeed much enthusiasm about plug-in hybrids right now, but is suspicious as to whether people will adopt these vehicles at the end of the day.
This articles other interviewee is Scott Miller, chief executive officer of Synovate Motoresearch, a market research company . He tells us the interesting fact that the awareness for the idea of plug-in hybrids is low. A survey is mentioned in which only 10% of respondents said they would be willing to pay a substantial premium in order to get a car with this technology.
I think this report does raise some important issues. Clearly, we here at GM-Volt.com are dedicated enthusiasts. We also know that >474,000 people voted for GM to produce the Volt on their website. Bot how can you determine exactly how many people are out there ready to buy a Volt?
To me, widespread acceptance of this car is a no-brainer, and in the future all cars will work with similar technology, and probably sans the generator, as batteries improve. New technology always has a slow initial adoption curve, but it will happen. GM is advertising the car very heavily, which is highly unusal for a car that doesnt exist yet!
It is also my hope that this site will serve to educate people about the car and let them know how great the concept is. So if you haven’t already, spread the word about it to your friends, families, and colleagues!
