Chevy Volt a Failure - GM to Layoff 1,300

I thought the Impala was an underrated car. Could have gotten one fully loaded at a nice price but the Mrs. wanted an SUV for the kiddos and all the antique crap she buys.

 

The Bolt isn't new. I want to say they introduced it 2 years ago. The major difference is that the Bolt is a pure EV. The Volt was a plug-in hybrid. The range on just electric was really minimal with the Volt. About 50 miles. The car never made any sense, except for someone evangelical about owning one of them ... and that was putting aside that even with all of the subsidization (we all pay for) and the incentives they were down to offering to clear the vehicles, the price was still way higher than what a comparable gas-powered vehicle would cost.

The Bolt has seen slumping sales lately, for what it is worth. I think it is going to be that much harder for GM to compete in that marketplace, too, as more car makers are offering EVs. I just think it is going to continue to be a niche market overall -- unless something changes dramatically with oil prices. These cars are way more expensive than comparable gas-powered vehicles, and the savings in gas don't come anywhere close to paying for it over the life of the car. And that is with all of the subsidization that has made all of us pay for part of the car for anyone who wants one in the U.S. There are some people who will buy EVs for other reasons, but I don't think there are enough of them to overcome the financial negatives. With increased competition, and the novelty of them wearing off as the people who would get one already having gotten one, I think it is going to take a major change in energy costs for it to be a profitable kind of car for anyone to sell. And if we ever get to that, it is probably going to mean we are all paying way more for cars, which is going to be a serious negative for people.

 

II am always wary of things like that Motley Fool thing you linked to. There is a difference between what you plan to do, and what you are doing, which the Elon Musk stuff on this thread should have taught people. GM makes EVs using the same lithium cells that make these cars prohibitively expensive and unprofitable. That is all it is going to be doing in the immediate future. The rest was Mary Barra making vague proclamations about a future that doesn't exist. I'll believe they can somehow make battery technology cheaper and sell cars profitability. ... when it actually happens. EVs have been around since the late 1800s. There is a reason gas-powered cars are still what most people drive.

That can conceivably change. But if it does, it is likely to be an energy source related to a technology none of us really know about right now. That is why the subsidization our government got into the business of was such a waste. It funneled capital away from potentially viable areas that could possibly enhance our quality of life, to the areas hand-picked by some politicians. It's corrupt or naive or both. But it's not productive economically.