Here's a great suggestion for you GM, STOP making gas cars!!!!!!
I don't want anymore gas cars.

Like I said to Doug, people like us that want plugins make up about 1% of car buyers, perhaps even less than that. If GM sold nothing but plugins tomorrow, people wouldn't buy GM products, because people like gas cars.

We need extremely high priced gas to get people to consider electrics. High priced gas won't come until the economy is back in shape. The economy won't get back in shape until people start seeing more job offers. We won't be seeing more jobs until we see a recovery of our nations manufacturing industry. And that's what companies like GM are working on right now.

Like I said to Doug, people like us that want plugins make up about 1% of car buyers, perhaps even less than that. If GM sold nothing but plugins tomorrow, people wouldn't buy GM products, because people like gas cars.

We need extremely high priced gas to get people to consider electrics. High priced gas won't come until the economy is back in shape. The economy won't get back in shape until people start seeing more job offers. We won't be seeing more jobs until we see a recovery of our nations manufacturing industry. And that's what companies like GM are working on right now.

I don't disagree that it is absurd to assert that GM should just stop making gas cars immediately or in the near future. This is just nonsense but so is any assertion about the size of any potential plugin market. Once somebody actually mass produces a plugin then we can talk meaningfully about the market for plugins. In the low volume $100,000+ sportscar market Tesla has already shown plugins are more acceptable in that segment than pundits predicted prior to their arrival.

I think the main factor affecting demand for plug-ins (or any hybrid) is and will be the cost premium. The 3-5K premium on the Toyota hybrids dampens demand. If the Volt cost 20K it would be a no-brainer and demand would be enormous. At 35-40K most folks think "Hmmm, do I really want to pay that much for a car? If I buy the 20K gas car that extra 15-20K can buy a lot of gasoline.". Most folks aren't thinking "I'll pay almost any amount to get an electric car."

Most of my friends and people I talk too are not buying a new car, not just because they can't get financing (they can) or because they don't want too, most just don't want to get caught up into the oil company's gouging again. So they are just waiting for something different.

Also the cost of a new car is so expensive and that's another reason I think they're not buying and IMO the reason that hybrids are not selling as fast as you would think is because they cost a grand or two more than their counter part

NO PLUG, NO SALE, JGTVWOTR, DBNGCMEMEV, (my house) =D~~~(my volt)-------------------------STOP THE BAILOUTS----------------------

Here's a great suggestion for you GM, STOP making gas cars!!!!!!
I don't want anymore gas cars.

I fail to see the "great" part of that suggestion. I doubt GM or any other car company would either.

The infrastructure and technology are not mature enough to market completely electric vehicles to everyone. For quite some time to come, pure electrics will be a niche market, with E-REVs being a larger market shared with hybrids, then eventually becoming mainstream.


Until someone can hop in their electric car and drive across the country with only intermittant stops (like current cars to fill up the tank), they will not be mainstream.


Even saying that, if I had a Civic or something as a long range vehicle, I wouldn't mind having a ~100 mile EV such as an Aptera 2e for local commuting.

The infrastructure and technology are not mature enough to market completely electric vehicles to everyone. For quite some time to come, pure electrics will be a niche market, with E-REVs being a larger market shared with hybrids, then eventually becoming mainstream.


Until someone can hop in their electric car and drive across the country with only intermittant stops (like current cars to fill up the tank), they will not be mainstream.


Even saying that, if I had a Civic or something as a long range vehicle, I wouldn't mind having a ~100 mile EV such as an Aptera 2e for local commuting.






Better Place is fully funded and working hard to prove you wrong. ;)

Realistically, any change is going to take 10 years to become mainstream. Even EREVs will take a long time to ramp up. The production volumes needed to get the cost acceptable are huge. Thus, it will take time to get to those levels.

Do you suggest anything will become mainstream in a hurry? What do you consider mainstream? One million units produced a year?

Here's a great suggestion for you GM, STOP making gas cars!!!!!!
I don't want anymore gas cars.

If you can figure out a way to build about 20 million batteries a year, then we can talk.

Better Place is fully funded and working hard to prove you wrong. ;)

Realistically, any change is going to take 10 years to become mainstream. Even EREVs will take a long time to ramp up. The production volumes needed to get the cost acceptable are huge. Thus, it will take time to get to those levels.

Do you suggest anything will become mainstream in a hurry? What do you consider mainstream? One million units produced a year?

Don't get be wrong about Better Place. It's entirely feasible. It's the timeframe we would differ on.

However, on topic 'stop producing gas powered cars', is decades away. As hybrids, E-REVs and even EVs get to the market, their market share will continue to grow, but it will take time for them to take the majority of that market.

It WILL happen, again, we just differ on the timeframe. When a vehicle like the Volt is affordable, say around $20k, and there are no waiting lists for them, I will consider them 'mainstream'.

I HOPE it will happen quickly, but my pragmatic side dictates that it will take a long time. Gas/diesel will be powering vehicles for a very long time to come, however the overall ratio of fossil fuel to non fossil fuel vehicles will shift continually.