Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevlar281
I'm sure certain aesthetics had to be sacrificed to make the Volt as energy efficient as possible. Yes $40,000 is a lot of money and for the record in will be out in 2010.
I'd take a GM over a Honda any day of the week and twice on Sunday. You do realize there are still parts of this country where buying American or at least buying something that is perceived as American means something right?
I'd say out of the big three GM is the only one who "gets it" and their foresight to produce an electric car shows that.
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I agree with most of what you have posted. However, perhaps it is Ford that "got it" the most:
Ford Scion Looks Beyond Bailout to Green Agenda
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/bu...l?ref=business
http://www.ajc.com/biz/content/share...f9b4a189e.html
"“One of the things that I feel very encouraged about is the president-elect and where he’d like to take this country in terms of energy, and I completely buy into his vision,” Mr. Ford said in an interview, his first since the Big Three approached Washington lawmakers about a rescue plan.
He can afford to take a longer view because Ford, unlike
G.M. and Chrysler, does not need an immediate infusion of government aid to stay in business."
"The company has enough cash on hand — $18.9 billion, as well as a $10.7 billion line of credit with private lenders — that will keep it running through 2009 without cutting development of its next generation of more fuel-efficient cars.
While Ford cannot continue to burn cash indefinitely, it is also not on the verge of bankruptcy like G.M. and Chrysler. And the health of the company presents a unique opportunity for Mr. Ford, 51, who has been chairman of the company since 1999 and served five years as its chief executive."
“One of the things we need to sort out as a country is batteries,” Mr. Ford said. “We really don’t want to trade one foreign dependency, oil, for another foreign dependency, batteries.” The main producers of batteries are Asian manufacturers."
"Mr. Ford has been Detroit’s most vocal environmentalist since becoming the first family member to run Ford since his uncle, Henry Ford II.
"Even when Ford was living off profits from its big sport utility vehicles, he was pushing to take the company in a greener direction. Ford was the first automaker to bring to market a hybrid version of an S.U.V., the Ford Escape, and it is introducing a new line of Ecoboost engines next year that will cut fuel consumption by up to 20 percent."...............
As for hybrids, there is a thread somewhere in GC about them.
If you were to compare the costs (fuel, operation, maintenance) of the same vehicle, gas vs hybrid, you would find out:
That the gas model cost less up front.
And the amount of gas savings with a hybrid would break even after (well) over 80,000 miles. And that was calculated when gas was over $3.50/gal.