1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Chevy Volt a Failure - GM to Layoff 1,300

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L), Mar 2, 2012.

Page 133 of 243
  1. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    That damned PT Barnum huckster Elon Musk is at it again...I'm sure somehow this defrauds the guvmint.

    http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-capital-raise-to-repay-us-debt-20130515,0,1518525.story
     
    TigerVols, May 20, 2013
    #1585
  2. BenPoquette

    BenPoquette Active Member

    I wondered about what kind of noise it makes when operating in battery mode. I can't imagine a city full of silent cars tooling around. Seems kind of dangerous.

    I am the most anti-environmentalism person I know. I think global warming is a hoax and think we should be drilling, mining oil shale and building the Keystone Pipeline. That being said, if these cars cost about half of what they do now I would be getting one for my wife. As things stand I am thinking of putting her on a moped :D
     
    BenPoquette, May 20, 2013
    #1586
  3. Justin_Rice

    Justin_Rice Well-Known Member

    It's a one speed transmission. Notably the Volt always "runs on electric." The gas motor is a generator, not a power train. When the battery drains, the gas motor provides power to keep it moving; it doesn't directly push the car along.
     
    Justin_Rice, May 20, 2013
    #1587
  4. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    There is a lot of money riding on the failure of this electric car. Shale oil is very interesting because there is a price point for it where it is just not profitable anymore. We could always take oil from shale, but until the price of gas rose above $2.50 a gallon, there was no real incentive to go get it and refine it.

    If the electric car drops the demand for shale below $2.50, those shale fields will go the way of Jimmy Carter's corn fields of the 1970s, which were doomed once the price of oil dropped.
     
    93Devil, May 20, 2013
    #1588
  5. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Didn't the price point drop, though, as technology improved for getting oil from shale?
     
    old_tony, May 20, 2013
    #1589
  6. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Interesting stuff. Thanks.
     
    old_tony, May 20, 2013
    #1590
  7. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    It should have. I just remember the magic number used to be $2.50. This was back in 2008 or so.
     
    93Devil, May 20, 2013
    #1591
  8. BenPoquette

    BenPoquette Active Member

    That's actually very smart. I think the biggest problem with this technology and the whole electric car business overall is that it has been politicized. One side wants the government to pump all kinds of money in and the other wants the market to figure things out. I would love to see what would happen if innovation was allowed to run wild and there wasn't a political stake in certain electric cars. Again, not taking a side here, just thinking out loud.
     
    BenPoquette, May 21, 2013
    #1592
  9. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    If money is involved, politics is involved.

    And there is a ton of money involved in this.
     
    93Devil, May 21, 2013
    #1593
  10. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    The biggest problems with EVs, as they exist, are the obvious problems. 1) Despite heavy subsidization -- billions of dollars subsidized by taxpayer money to develop the technology (indeed there has been a ton of money -- waste money -- involved, here), and on top of it taxpayer credits to try to bring down the cost, the cars don't make good economic sense to people who can do the basic math in their heads. You can get a comparable gas-powered vehicle for a lot less money, and you don't save enough in gasoline anywhere fast enough for the cars to make good economic sense for most consumers. 2) The car comes with drawbacks and inconveniences that it is hard to overcome. Limited range on electric and you have to plan and recharge for hours to even get that range out of the cars.

    Those obvious points aren't just conjecture. GM, and Nissan to a lesser extent, have received oodles of good press and have spent a ton to market the cars. There have been no supply problems. The demand simply isn't there. In the case of the Volt, when you cut out government purchases (which are suspect, because the government nationalized GM for a period of time), fleet sales and 2-year giveaway leases that they counted as sales to try to goose their sales numbers last year, the purchases based on simple consumer demand have been paltry. Paltry in the U.S. Non-existent outside of the U.S.
     
    The Big Ragu, May 21, 2013
    #1594
  11. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    There are a lot of car companies putting a lot of R&D into something with no demand.
     
    93Devil, May 21, 2013
    #1595
  12. OTD

    OTD Well-Known Member

    They have done this. I got a tax credit in 2010 for buying my Jetta diesel. I think it was around a $1,500 credit. It was the last year the credit was available for those cars.
     
    OTD, May 22, 2013
    #1596
Page 133 of 243
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page