Volt at Minneapolis International Auto Show

[jhknight56072]

Disappointment. I made the trip to the Minneapolis to the Auto Show Saturday for fun. Secretly I had hoped to find a Volt to sit in at least, or better yet to drive. There was only one, on a turntable, BUT after seeing a Veridian Joule Volt on a turntable decided there is one BIG glaring reason this country driver isn't going to consider this otherwise great idea; the low low front spoiler that appears to be 3 inches or less from the ground. As a commuter of country roads where there are frequently dead animals in the middle of the road to straddle, and deep snow, and other debris, would imagine that spoiler to have a very short life.

[Slapshot28]

Don't let that stop you. The front air dam is made out of a pliable material, and designed to run over stuff (including dead animals). I drove mine all winter with no problem.

[Clintonfitz]

Disappointment. I made the trip to the Minneapolis to the Auto Show Saturday for fun. Secretly I had hoped to find a Volt to sit in at least, or better yet to drive. There was only one, on a turntable, BUT after seeing a Veridian Joule Volt on a turntable decided there is one BIG glaring reason this country driver isn't going to consider this otherwise great idea; the low low front spoiler that appears to be 3 inches or less from the ground. As a commuter of country roads where there are frequently dead animals in the middle of the road to straddle, and deep snow, and other debris, would imagine that spoiler to have a very short life.

Keep in mind that GM is working on a higher air dam that will be available in the near future, even to existing Volt owners.
It is flexible like rubber, so don't worry too much about damaging it. You may have to replace it a tiny bit more often, but this shouldn't be a huge issue. Also being a country driver, we have considered this feature of the Volt. However, this does not seem to be a big issue. If you'd like some more information and various experiences by existing Volt owners from this standpoint, do some forum searches at the upper right hand corner of this page.

[thatsanicepicture]

It was the same situation at the Cleveland Auto Show. You can't even touch it!?!?! What's up with that? We are right around the corner from GM home offices and Cleveland is a huge contributor to the GM supply system. When the concept came out we didn't even get a picture of it in Cleveland. When the production style was shown we got to see the plastic mock up of the drive system with some pictures of the concept. Now this crock. GM has been 'dis'n" us for some time here and I'm sick of it. I'm looking at the new Jeep electric.

[c_harnett]

There was an Ampera prototype or preproduction on static display at a Katie Melua concert in Europe. Opel is sponsoring her tour and I think she's a spokesperson of some sort for Opel (maybe for the Ampera itself). I was able to sit in it and take a good look around (leather interior).

I wasn't attending the Katie Melua concert or looking for an Ampera... I just happened to be riding by the Lisbon venue on a city bus, saw the vehicle and jumped out to take a look at it.