GM to halt Volt production for five weeks

[Resurrection]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gm-...me_latest_news

[jpd80]

Last month, Volt sales in the USA was 1,023

LINK


Caprice PPV......155

[BHDOGS]

That cant be right I saw all the Australian press reviews and Joshua doweling facts on the ppv it was a guaranteed winner that would sell millions how strange

[cheap]

Let put my surprised face on and say "oh another failed electric car"

It never ceases to amaze me that electric cars seem to be small or medium sized cars. Where they compete in a market with relatively fuel efficient vehicles.

So wouldn't it make more sense to build an electric vehicle which competed against gas gusslers, such as SUV's? Or is too much of a stretch for car companies to fathom? Bigger platform means more room for batteries, more range and so on.

[Boza]

Originally Posted by cheap

Let put my surprised face on and say "oh another failed electric car"

It never ceases to amaze me that electric cars seem to be small or medium sized cars. Where they compete in a market with relatively fuel efficient vehicles.

So wouldn't it make more sense to build an electric vehicle which competed against gas gusslers, such as SUV's? Or is too much of a stretch for car companies to fathom? Bigger platform means more room for batteries, more range and so on.

There a car like that the fisker karma but I think there 100k minimum but its a large electric sports sedan

[SSD-85]

Thats because the Duracell Bunny called & said he was too busy this Easter....

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by cheap

It never ceases to amaze me that electric cars seem to be small or medium sized cars..

Tesla is coming out with an electric SUV.

[jpd80]

Most Volt users in the USA ar reporting to GM that they only need to refuel their vehicles at arond 900 miles (1440 km)
It's great technology no doubt but GM is suffering from being an early adopter of tech that's not ready for
widespread sale at reasonable cost, it's only going to be fleets and greenies that buy it.

I think Ford and Toyota have much better Plug in hybrid tech coming at much lower price and that's what will kill Volt.

[Bossxr8]

Chevy Volt, all aboard the fail train.

It was supposed to be GM's saviour, yet barely sells. They must have spent well over a billion dollars getting it to market, this thing must be costing GM some serious red ink, but thats ok cause the US Government is probably taking the debt, considering they were the ones who probably paid for the thing.

[nstg8a]

its a pity its tanking, seems to me to be the most practical hybrid/ev on the market.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

its a pity its tanking, seems to me to be the most practical hybrid/ev on the market.

Practical?
The thing is so bloody expensive, you could by nearly three Cruze diesels to one Volt.

Toyota and Ford's next gen plug in hybrids will make Volt look less flash...

[Bossxr8]

It would probably take decades to recoup the extra cost of buying a Volt over a normal small/mid sizer with fuel savings.

You probably couldn't within the life of the car.

But what price that smug sense of superiority over your earth killing non EV drivers.

[nstg8a]

by practical i meant using the actual thing, not the cost involved.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

It would probably take decades to recoup the extra cost of buying a Volt over a normal small/mid sizer with fuel savings.

You probably couldn't within the life of the car.

But what price that smug sense of superiority over your earth killing non EV drivers.

Boss, Volt was developed with funding that came via the Escrow fund set up for new GM by the government
so development is basically paid for even though GM will never admit it, they did an end run around the umpire...

Dealers in the US were caught buying Volts, registering and claiming the $7,500 government rebate
and then trying to flog them for full sticker price...no wonder they weren't selling well..

[Resurrection]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/excess...tion-fire-1300

[Resurrection]

I am surprised to see no mention of this news item on AFF. Government Motors jewel will again halt production of the Volt due to lower than expected demand.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/when-c...oduction-again

[Nikked]

...so


What does this mean for Australia...do we still get it?

[SpoolMan]

Was told by a Holden design engineer few weeks ago the Volt costs GM more money to make than they sell it for at the moment.
They see this car as being the future of GM in years to come, although it may take a lot longer than the selling forecast/strategies they have in place.

[olds]

The stupidity of the human race never ceases to amaze . Lets just plod along the same old path until there's nothing left . Because its easy or cheaper to do so.

[Franco Cozzo]

There is an Australian company which has converted a Commodore to be all electric.

Though I do like the way the Volt does it, has an engine, but is used like the ones in a train, doesn't drive the wheels, just charges the batteries and uses electric motors to push the car.

[flappist]

It has the potential to sell well despite the current situation. Maybe the resistance is more to do with its capacity and somehow they need to induce more people to look at it or they will be fluxed.

That is about as farad I would go as old henry said, go hard or go ohm.....

[2011G6E]

Make the damn things look like normal cars and more people might consider them...

Like the Prius, which outsells handily the "normal looking" Honda Civic Hybrid...a study once showed that people who drive a Prius not only want to drive one, they more importantly want to be seen to be driving one..."look at me, look at me and how green I am"...

Toyota once made a concept electric car using some super high tech batteries that had an enormous range (for an electric, something like 300km+ on the highway) charged up very quickly (but using special dedicated high-output power cables, not a home power point), and which had a motor in each wheel producing 400nm of torque!! It seated five in comfort.

Of course, they did estimate the cost to the public if they produced it would be about $300,000...this was in the late nineties...

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by Nikked

...so

What does this mean for Australia...do we still get it?

so for number of reasons:
- GM should have died a few years ago but was saved by the US taxpayer. This is their attempt to make themselves relevant in the 21st century. They won't make any money on the Volt in the near future.
- Like most thing done by GM, the noise they make about their success is exagerated. It would be better that their products did 'all the talking'. And they missed the boat with their EV1 so are now playing catchup.
- Some people are claiming that these types of cars are the future of motoring and will penetrate a sizeable portion of new car sales by 2020. Although the Volt appears to be a good car, it is too expensive and too compromised compared to a petrol powered equivalent.
- The few cars that will appear in Australia wearing Holden badges will have the Holden lovers in the media being waxlyrical and criticising Ford for 'not getting with the times' by offering models which are similarly 'environmentally friendly' (just don't mention any environmental issues associated with using lithium for the batteries).

Just a few reasons why I post about the plight of the Volt.

[burnz]

no car manufacturer make's money on EV cars,
What Is Their To Service?
no oil.
no engine.
no oil filters.
no gearbox.
no diff.
no fuel filter.
no air filters.
no spark plugs.
no injectors.
no fuel lines.
no spanners needed...

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by olds

The stupidity of the human race never ceases to amaze . Lets just plod along the same old path until there's nothing left . Because its easy or cheaper to do so.

I am just glad you did your bit for the planet and the Electric (Coal fed) car you bought is doing so well.

For the price ...... and if I was that way greenly inclined .... you would still be way better off buying a Fiesta and investing the rest into a solar substation on your roof. It would be way more effective in what ever they are trying to accomplish at this moment in time.

It is a shame ...... if these types of cars did become main stream, the price decreases with demand and the technology starts to really kick in. Bit of a catch 22 at the moment.

[Mighty Reds]

What's the price of that electric focus they sell in the USA?.

[2011G6E]

Ford Focus Electric: $39,200 base model.
Ford Escape Hybrid: $30,570

Ford Taurus base model: $26,500
Base model Mustang: $22,500...I know which I'd rather have...

Or, to look at other pricing:
Huge heavy ill-handling F150: $23,500
Frigging great monster truck F350: $29,785
Even bigger and uglier F450: $32,945

[EgoFG]

Originally Posted by burnz

no car manufacturer make's money on EV cars,
What Is Their To Service?
no oil.
no engine.
no oil filters.
no gearbox.
no diff.
no fuel filter.
no air filters.
no spark plugs.
no injectors.
no fuel lines.
no spanners needed...

GM fixed this by giving the Volt an internal combustion engine !

Volt will sell very well in Australia -
It is a holden - it is made in Australia (like all holdens)

[SpoolMan]

Originally Posted by burnz

no car manufacturer make's money on EV cars,
What Is Their To Service?
no oil.
no engine.
no oil filters.
no gearbox.
no diff.
no fuel filter.
no air filters.
no spark plugs.
no injectors.
no fuel lines.
no spanners needed...

Your correct why would a dealer push to sell one when the service departments are the biggest earners for dealerships.

[2011G6E]

There is of course the elephant in the room that no one (even the manufacturers) like to talk about...

Replacement cost of the battery pack...

Toyota has made statements about it lasting X number of years...was it something like 7 years?...but that doesn't answer the question. After the first owner buys it and decides to sell it, the car doesn't magically vanish off the face of the Earth...someone else will buy it second hand, and that person is going to have a niggling thought in the back of thier mind that they could well be the poor sap who is "lucky" enough to own it when the battery pack does what battery packs inevitably do, ie: hold less of a charge for a shorter period of time, and has to pay for a replacement.

EDIT: Just looked it up...in the USA the battery pack is warrented for 8 years/100,000km. Apparently, in the USA, they cost about $3000 for the battery pack, not including labour to fit it. No idea what it costs here...any time I've heard a Toyota talking head get asked about it in the media, they get very cagey about the costs...