Ronald Reagan coined a great phrase, freedom fighter

[jbfalaska]

I'm a retired Airman, as is my wife, and I have to say, every Volt owner here to me is a freedom fighter. No money to our nation's enemies. Keep it all here, generating jobs. Obama, and most of the Presidents including Bush seemed to have picked up on this theme. Not sure what happened to our Congress.

[mikeg3]

I agree with you. So does a group of retired top brass. But when I bring the topic up with our friends, mostly retired military, they listen politely and go back to their F-150's.

Even this board is lukewarm at best on this issue. The pro-Volt arguments featured here are economics first, made in USA second, latest technology third, ecology fourth, energy independence fifth, and defunding terrorism way last.

Can anyone explain the disconnect?

[saghost]

Even this board is lukewarm at best on this issue. The pro-Volt arguments featured here are economics first, made in USA second, latest technology third, ecology fourth, energy independence fifth, and defunding terrorism way last.

That's not what the poll said...

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....a-plug-in-Volt

That currently shows Patriotic/foreign oil/terrorism as the #1 reason, followed by technology, economics and the environment in that order...

[mikeg3]

Number one was "Patriotic – We need to get off the addiction to foreign oil".

That refers to made in USA and energy independence.

There was no choice in that poll about defunding terrorism.

[bonaire]

Even if we stopped buying from OPEC countries, their income is supplemented by other countries and their growing demand in the emerging markets. I think we can never defund terrorism. Which means - bring home the troops. Clear out of Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia and some of the others. I figure if they can't fix things that have been in existance for 5300 years over there by now - it's hard to change things. Bring'em home.

The problem there is if we bring them home, though, who is to say that China doesn't setup an armed force in-lay and try to "defend" their access to oil? Once we can cut our usage - then that is fine by us. The guys commuting 30 miles each way in their F-250 dualies with empty beds keep our demand high.

[Steverino]

Economics are talked about here because it's the #1 or #2 item on the Volt-basher's list of arguments besides the bailout. And the "Too Expensive" argument is simply wrong because it does not take into account the tax credit or the cost to operate and is based on the false premise that I would have bought a Cruise or used car instead.

They paint all Volt owners as tree huggers, and then bring up coal. Balance of trade, energy security and defunding terrorists never enters their discussion, even though those are some of the most cited reasons by Volt buyers, not hugging trees.

You'll never see Volt bashers claim that the Volt doesn't improve balance of trade, energy security and defunding terrorists except to say that 6,000 Volts are meaningless in the big picture in that regard. They try to minimize those pluses by not acknowledging that 1,000,000 or 6,000,000 Volts would make a HUGE difference. This argument is based on another false premise: that there will never be more than 6000 EV's (despite there being more than that already, and growing).

[mikeg3]

Even if we stopped buying from OPEC countries, their income is supplemented by other countries and their growing demand in the emerging markets. I think we can never defund terrorism. Which means - bring home the troops. Clear out of Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia and some of the others. I figure if they can't fix things that have been in existance for 5300 years over there by now - it's hard to change things. Bring'em home.

The problem there is if we bring them home, though, who is to say that China doesn't setup an armed force in-lay and try to "defend" their access to oil? Once we can cut our usage - then that is fine by us. The guys commuting 30 miles each way in their F-250 dualies with empty beds keep our demand high.

China already has at least two EV projects, one of them partnering with GM. The Coda is already in production.
India has created the Reva EV and a plethora of electric two-wheeled electric vehicles.
Both countries have better things to do with their money than to fund terror cells and rogue A-Bomb projects.

The Volt alone cannot bring oil back to $5/barrel but the international community, with each country acting in its own self-interest, can do so. The question is whether America will lead the way or whether we will keep pigging out on gas-guzzlers and continue to fund attacks on our own troops abroad and civilians at home.

[saghost]

The Volt alone cannot bring oil back to $5/barrel but the international community, with each country acting in its own self-interest, can do so.

I don't think they can, either - even if the international community was ready to cooperate to that extent (which I'm pretty sure they aren't.) I don't believe there is any oil left that can be profitably extracted at $5 per barrel - it's too deep, too hard to get to. Oil prices that low would just lead to decrease or stopping of production - not through conspiracy, but simply because the wells become uneconomical to operate.

I suppose if we eliminated oil use, the remaining stockpile might freefall to that range, but short of that sort of extreme situation, I don't think it'll ever be below ~$50 per barrel again - and my crystal ball says no one is going to act until things get much worse. I was kinda surprised that we didn't see $5 gasoline this summer, but the driving factors are still in place for it to show up soonish. A good time to have a Volt.

[frankydude]

The Volt and other EVs are a leading advantage. As an individual or a company, if you lower your expenses and give
the same goods and services, then you lead the competition. The Volt makes you lower your energy expenses significatively.
Imagine taxi cab drivers with Volts and charging stations at the waiting posts. They will smoke their competitors, or get a
significant cash flow advantage compared to their fellow taxi cab drivers, until those adapt or disappear.
Extent the reasonning to the whole country, and you get back a leading advantage compared to other countries.
China applies this principle with cheap labor costs (instead of cheap energy costs).
You can see the tangible results on the manufacturing in competing countries...
I bought a Volt, and stopped purchasing fuel. My transportation energy expenses went from $4000 per year to $400.
With that money saved, I pay off mortgages faster. This diminishes my cost of capital and brings me faster to financial independance.
Is that good? I think so.

Francois & Line
B2653 & C19249

[jbfalaska]

Oil is the only reason we're there. Plain and simple. I watched my "battle fatigues" along with the millions of others serving, turn from jungle to desert. Wonder why, just see where we patrol and position our troops. OIL is the enemy.