Like CEO Dan Akerson, Bob Lutz considers himself to be a conservative and a member of the Republican party. His negative thoughts on global warming are well documented, and yet, he finds no reason — unlike radical GOP talking heads Bill O’Reilly, Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and friends — to make a political punching bag out of the Chevy Volt.
You’re probably thinking that he gets paid not to say such things. However, he’s also on the board of directors for the electric vehicle fleet company VIA Motors, and claims the Volt was his idea all along. Its undeniable champion, he wrote in a blog post for Forbes. Lutz also pointed out that this is exactly how the misinformed conservatives would react to the Volt’s fire incident, calling it some sort of socialist “exploding Obamamobile” and blah blah blah, rabble rabble rabble. But he calls out his fellow party members for spreading false information, such as when O’Reilly, who thinks his show is some kind of “No Spin Zone” claimed that “several have caught fire”. Let it be known, that nobody’s Volt caught fire out there in real life, compared to an artificial crash test and total lack of follow-through. Well, there was that garage incident in Connecticut where a Volt was a fire casualty, but not a fire catalyst.
But, it has to be an Obamamobile! A car for commys! Something that the socialists want to shove down all of our throats! Because after all, it made its debut when Obama was in office, right! Sure. Obama and friends must have also been there in 2006, when its development was just underway. The socialists were probably there too when former president George dubbya Bush signed off on the first wave of rescue loans.
It’s a scary time we live in, where the masses ignorantly accept what the illuminating rectangles in their living rooms are preaching to them, trusting every word, rather than doing any form of independent research for themselves. *Sigh*. But of course, it’s an election year. Everyone needs a rabble stick. Or a fighter jet.
Comments
Tune in tomorrow for another edition of: “As The Gas Prices Rise”. Nobody expects gen I Volt to sell as well as Gen II and III Prius and it’s offshoots did.
Volt out-Priuses Prius, but at a price too high for the sweetspot of Prius buyers. Lithium batteries just need to get less expensive and a bit more power-dense. If recent reports of new cathode materials pan out, and battery prices come down, PHEVs will be a very popular option. As is, the standard hybrid drivetrains available today will provide a stepping stone for buyers intent upon reducing their gasoline expenditures.
Ideally, GM would be where Toyota is with it’s hybrid line – but Toyota started ten years before GM got the message. Unfortunately, most of what is happening today in getting off fossil fuels is motivated by legislature, not mankind realizing EVs and hybrids are a superior way toward national security and independence. We would think all of us would realize we just cannot keep on adding on horsepower+weight to make the commute to and from work 5 days per week – that it doesn’t make for a better world for those who’ll follow us. This is not what motivates the majority of humans – it’s when it hits them in the pocketbook.
Gas prices draw customers to car dealers who sell hybrids like light draws mosquitoes to a campsite. Those buyers feel the pain at the pump, then their eyes are opened – yet experts have proven that Americans’ memory of gasoline price spikes is 3 months. The price goes down, people resume buying SUVs, ponycars and fullsized trucks!
If gen II Volt can supply near or better what it delivers today in EV miles, CS mode mileage and quality throughout at a pricepoint nearer $28,000 – the Spring/Summer months will bring a flock of customers knocking and perhaps long waiting periods. If the current administration can turn today’s EV/PHEV tax credt into a point-of-purchase rebate, this will also stimulate Volt sales significantly.
When is the Volt ll suppose to debut ? I read about some new battery technology, that has half the price with 400kw,I think that something like this would be my next car. Also was wondering why no super capacitors aren’t being used for say a ‘SS’ volt.This thing would smoke anything out of the hole,maybe 2 second 0 to 60.
I’m having the enjoyment of driving a Volt this week as part of program through GM. I’d driven them in parking lots, but nothing at speed until yesterday. All I can say is wow, this is a nice car. I was hesitant to believe the handling claims after seeing the curb weight in specs…but it really does corner well. Super flat.
Last night I charged in my garage using 120V and drove 33 miles into work today, 90% freeway at speeds between 70-80 mph…and still had 5 miles or range to spare. I get to work and now can charge using the 240V chargers (free) so the trip home in the warmer afternoon temps should be a piece of cake. My drive today will cost me less than $0.02/mile. I couldn’t beat that with a 250cc motorcycle.
I’ll be leasing one this summer for sure now…though I’ll admit, I’m tempted to just purchase the thing so that I can put as many miles on it as possible.
The Volt is one of those cars that makes perfect sense if you just get in and drive one. It’s far and away my favorite car to drive, and although that surprises some people they usually change their mind if they get the chance to drive one.
I am all for alternative energy solutions but I am also not going to give up my classics and muscle cars. I will pay the $$$ at the pump for a car I only drive on the weekends and to shows. A hybrid would fit very well into my 90% city driving and I am very attracted to the Volt. But I also would rather not spend that much for a car. I have waited this long so I will wait a little bit longer for that lease returned Volt in a couple of years!! =)
Does anyone have experience with the Volt in very low temps? Like below freezing?
We drove our dealer demo (early production) Volt all winter. Never had any issues, and it handled well in what snow we had in MI this year.
I call myself a conservative Republican, but my beliefs on the enviornment (as well as other things) difer from other Republicans. I don’t believe in government regulations on things like vehicles you drive, but I do believe that Americans need to consider stuff like this. You can’t think of this as some Commymobile, it is a sure fire revolution.
i love the volt and ther is sooo many possibilities with that drive train
I used to get flustered at the Chevy Volt commercials, pointing out the obvious “battery with a generator idea.” I wanted to know more about the Volt, down to the finest details.
As it turns out, even the “battery with a generator” is too hard for the public to understand, nevermind politicians.
From what it seems, drivers and owners of the Volt are more than impressed (the people that matter). Meanwhile, people like politicians just seem to look at other things.
It’s a shame.
Exploding Obamamobile? Yes, because we all who own a Volt crash it and “And after weeks of sitting in storage, the vehicle caught fire.” -USAToday.com. Oh, the misinformed.
o’reilly and friend they not the most light bull ,,,stupidity is not a disease .just ignorance what they dont no..
The whole “Volt fire” is perhaps the weakest card some people can play. To them, a Volt fire is a Volt fire, they’ll never listen to the 3 week time span.
Even poltics have to be tied into this. If Obama didn’t get elected, could the Volt still be distorted as “socialist”? I wouldn’t think so, it’s just a car that uses little to no gas. I simply can’t understand why anyone would think a car being more efficient with it’s fuel use AND being easier on someone’s wallet could be spun as “socialist” or “communist”.
To me, fuel is cost that has to be mitigated if you are to have trasportation. Some cars do it better than others, and some cars (say a tradesman’s truck) have to balance their fuel costs on what it is they are being used for.
I just can’t understand why going further on a tank of gas is somehow seen as wrong.
perhaps u forgot the Frontline episode a few years back when the Volt shut off and then could barely make it up the hill when it did, one of the engineers told the Frontline staf to “speed” up the footage to make it look like it’s moving faster, this is ridiculous, it a “pie in the sky” idea that’s hundreds of years in the future, there are no charging stations that operate fast enough to charge this cars, the batteries are absurdely expensive to replace, the resale value plummets tremendously, there are any number of cars that are half the price and look ten times better than the Volt, the car was supposed to be running on hydrogen, so much for that fantasy as well, so basically it’s a nice idea that just can’t compete with the internal combustion engine, plain and simple, oh yea and GM before the marxist obama took it over was going to cancel the Volt. end of story.
Frontline Volt was a prototype.
Next, you need to drop the idea of “charging stations”. EV’s won’t such a thing if you have an conventional outlett. The conventional electrical outlet, found in every home in North America IS the “charging station”.
On top of that, when you’re sleeping, are you driving you car? Of course you’re not. In the Volt and every other EV’s case, you simply charge them when you’re not using them. I don’t intend to drive my car for the rest of the weekend, and if it was a Volt or some other EV, I wouldn’t have to worry about your “not charging fast enough” nonsense.
Nobody knows anything about battery replacement on the Volt or any other EV, so how can you call them expensive?
in fact, PROVE TO ME that battery replacement on a contemporary EV car is prohibitively expensive. Go on, find the stats. Also, find the resale numbers for the Volt too.
Looks are subjective. Performance varries. Not all cars can do what the Volt does.
Never once was the Volt ever slated to run on hydrogen.
Also, it’ll be easy for the Volt and other EV’s to compete with ICE’s…as gas prices keep climbing.
The Volt before “marxist obama took it over” was well over 80% complete and was approved during the “theocratic fascist bush” adminstration.
You really don’t know jack.
u’ve obviously missed all the stupid commercials about the very same thing u told me to “drop” charging stations: cuz obama wants millions of electric cars on the road my 2015 hehehee oh I needed that laugh!! u have no idea what ur talkin’ bout, not a one!
The exact same can be said of the first gen Prius!
ur a blithering idiot obama zombie, why am I wasting my time??? for one thing it’s the magazines that do the math and the research on these idiotic tinker toys and the batts’ that will eventually need replacing and the price is anywhere from 4 to 8grand depending on the hybrid, gas was 1.70 when obama took over and now it’s 4.00 a gallon here in NY, and the muscle car/SUV’s are still here cuz there’s a demand for them, not for the Volt, and since u don’t do any research at all, the majority of the Volts sold were bought by the gov’t, so the gov’t is buying up it’s own stock of these cars, how the hell are u supposed to make money like that???!! the volt is going to be cancelled eventually, nobody is going to buy a plug in car when it’s so cramped and underpowered and has the potential for burning down ur house or burning down itself. and sleeping when a huge battery being charged in my home would keep me up all night! I don’t leave my laptop charging without me watching it so it doesn’t catch fire, cells, laptops also can burn up, the heat buildup overwhelms the the batt it happens, and I wouldn’t risk it for anything.
Seriously? Here is some data, from Fox Noise no less, to give everyone a little idea on how good we really got it here in the US. Let’s see how many of you will actually read to the bottom of the article!!
http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/interactive/2012/02/28/at-pump-recent-history-gas-prices/
Anyone who complains about the price of gas has the right to NOT BUY IT. Your decision. It is still a free country and I CHOOSE to drive what I do so I pay the price at the pump every time I fill up. AND I DON’T COMPLAIN. And if the price goes up and I can’t afford it anymore, guess what? I will buy a more fuel efficient car or drive less! Quit b$*chin’ people!
We have it good here is the USA, thanks to a lot of people over the centuries who gave their lives so we could have the right to do and say what we want. Cheap gas is NOT a right guaranteed by the constitution. Free speech is. However, I don’t have to *listen* to you. ;^)
um well, let’s see, how can I put this nicely?, I can’t, the Volt is the Vega of the 21st century, more so than any other boring hybrid, it’s only a matter of time before it’s cancelled from the GM obama motors lineup since 1. it’s not profitable, 2. it costs too much money, 3. no one in their right mind isgoing to spend all that money for that poor performance. and 4. people don’t have jobs!! end of story.
Youre points 1 and 2 mean the same thing.
1. This car is not a volume car so it doesnt really matter if GM loses money on it. And just because there losing money on each individual unit of the volt there recouping that money by selling cruze and malibu throught the exposure of the volt. I have seen this scenario first hand, someone comes to look at a volt, leaves with a cruze. Not to mention that the money lost on the first gen volt, which will be little or even nonexistent, is money well spent, because they now have a head start in the electric car market, which no matter who you ask will be the car market of the future. The question is not if every average american will be driving an electric like they are now driving an ICE, but when, whether it is 10, 25, 50, or even 100 years away. But its coming and its good GM has a head start.
2. Its costs will go down over time. Just like the Prius did.
3. The volts performance is on par with other vehicles in its class. And even if it was bad, alot of people dont care about performance.
4. I hate this argument because it is absolutely stupid and makes me wondor if the person using it is sane / adult / educated / not brainwashed. Why? Becuase even in 2008, the worst recession since the Great Depression, with what a over 10% unemployment rate, we bought more cars than any other region, not just country in world, other than Aisa, becaus of China. By the way their population 4 times our so even though they should be buying 400% more cars than us, there only buying about 25% more than us. Oh and right now, with a over 8% unemployment rate we are buying cars at a rate of about 15 million annualy. And based on current proection, in a few years, we will be the nuber one auto market again. So wake up, look at the facts, and you see were buying cars. And even if we werent that would affect the whole industry not just the volt. So thats why this the most stupid argument about why a car is not being sold.
funny u mentioned the prius, and u know what Toyota says about that car? they’re loosing money on it hand over fist the only reason that it sells at all is that Toyotoa makes u the diff on the BIG SUV’s, gee who’d think of that… the Tundra’s the Big 4WD’s r the cash cows for Toyota, that and they’re not at the mercy of some insane union demands like GM is, meanwhile in my Jeep SRT8 in last years’ blizzard I managed to drive around a poor guy in a prius, stuck up to his sideview mirrors, I’d take a 4WD over any prius or variations there of…
Seriously? Youre comparing the performance of a prius to a SRT8 AWD?
Do you know what market the prius is targeted at? Not in places there are common blizzards but places like L.A where you can literally count the number of times it rains on your fingers.
You dont buy a prius so you can have fun in the snow.
of course not, I’m comparing prices for 43K I have an awsum AWD and performance combo the SRTJeep nothing less than a Corvette wrapped in a Jeep body, and it’s ridiculously fun driving in the snow, try that in a ‘vette, I’d be damned if I’d pay sooooo much money for so little performance and possibilities of burning down my house, garage or burn up on the freeway, come back and talk to me when the volt or something similar costs 20K or so.
1.) Everyone knows GM is losing money on each unit sold. So did the first gen Prius when it was subsidized by the Japanese government.
2.) Cost is subjective. Somepeople on think the Tesla Roadster is the best thing ever, even against oter EV’s. But they never mention it’s $100K price tag.
Also, the cost will come down over time.
3.) Poor performance? It’s not and never was a sports car.
It does have a superior combinded range and than a Nissan Leaf, and the near endless user posts on Volt related forums attest to mileage well in excess of 200mpg equivilents.
4.) The Chevrolet Volt did not cause the recession of 2008. The greed of bankers, and the unchecked desires of consumers who live beyond their means did.
u obama zombies are something else, the greedy bankers, CEO’s and such other nonsense that has nothing to do with this topic. u want’ to talk greed? how about all the Solyndra type green energy copanies that failed miserably sucking the life’s blood from the taxpayers to the tune of 100’s of billions of dollars, nobody’s more greedy than the lunatic obama fringe whackjobs with “pie in the sky” dreams of renewable energy that doesn’ t exist. then only thing that works for certain is the internal combustion engine, and each hybrid needs it. the Leaf?? the leaf is a joke of a golf cart, no one can use it practically unless u want to putter around the golf course in an enclosed space, so please spare me the comparisons. bottom line is Americans want BIG and Powerful, the volt zero to sixty times are a joke and the absurd price of this obama failure is laughable. I saw the volt here in Brooklyn, it’s a city car for Sunset Park workers, me and my friends had a good laugh seeing it, more gov’t failures at taxpapyers’s expense. shame.
Hehe, and Solyndra is *completely* on topic. Right. Okay. And I am sure you really need one of those BIG and Powerful vehicles in New York.
yea cuz we New Yorkers only drive in the city, not outside of it, right sure yea silly me what was I thinkin’, meanwhile in the sane part of town, exactly where to city people that live in apts gonna charge this stupid car?? hmm?? I guess a really looooooooooooooooooooong extention cord stickin’ our ur 20th floor window will have 2 do!
John – take a breath. You’re the only here that sounds like a “fringe whackjob”.
I bet the Horse & Buggy guys said the same thing when poor Mr. Otto and Mr. Ford were putting a combustion engine on a horse cart.
Im a conservative so dont start the obama zombie b.s.
Solyndra took 100s of billion of dollars? The Auto bailout was 39 billion, and I find it hard to believe that Solyndra is bigger than both GM and Chrysler combined.
Are you a socialist / communist? Because if you arent than you shouldnt be bothered by the solyndra failure. Why? Because if youve ever invested any money or been in the stock market or really participated in any form of business, then you will know that every business descision will not be successful, that is the beauty of capitalism. Sometimes you lose, but hopefully you win most of the time. Solyndra is an example of a investment that didnt work out as you hoped. But thats okay becuase your other descisions paid off.
You buy the volt to save money on energy costs not to race with your friends. So leave the 0-60 times out of it.
hahaah!!! am I a socialist/communist???!! are u kiddin’? or r u really that braindead, my very argument is pro free market u leftwing loonie toon and don’t tell me ur not, u don’t dump billions of dollars in2 an electric car market that doesnt’ exist for all intents and purposes, in this economy nobody’s is buying a 43K car since millions of people are out of work, or under employed. forcing people in2 silly little electric tinker toys that just aren’t practical, and notice the $7500 “incentive” GM needs to give to sell this idiotic car, if the public wanted this machine, u don’t need to bribe the masses to get in2 one, u couldn’t make enough of ’em the demand would be soooooo high. ur sinking quicker than the volt is.
you sir are apparently on the wrong site. i would appreciate it if you if you were more polite and had a more open mind please and thank you
and u wonder why I won’t buy GM anymore
Strange how when a troll or hater shows up – so does the number of posts in an ordinary thread.
From the sound of JO-hn, he may be a punk kid who’se folks listen to Limbaugh and FAUX News all day long. If he’s truly trying to make a case against the Volt or GM for that matter without any real facts, and truly made up ones – this guy doesn’t deserve the energy it takes to press the keys on this keyboard.
Not one of this guy’s points is researched. He starts out shooting blanks out of the gate by quoting a Frontline show that highlighted a prototype Volt shell that didn’t even have anything near a pre-production or production drivetrain – basically it was a show queen, and empty body with mechanicals that made it roll. His comments are inane, and he touts his SRT8 Jeep ( $43,000-48,000 in 2010 ). I own a Prius and soon to own a Volt. I get around great in snow – where I use my 4X4 that gets 20 mpg ( V-6 ).
I’m a conservative and am so tired of these blowhards. I am, however, proud of my country and his 1st Amendment rights to be a neanderthal.
spoken like a true obama zombie, here we go Limbaugh and Foxx news, what’s the matter zombie? hate the truth, that’s why Rush is on the air for 25yrs and Foxx has the hightest ratings ever, compared with the leftwing loonies reading of the teleprompters at cbs, nbc and abc and of course now, nobody in the country believes anything they have to say, so nice try and if u were a conservative u wouldn’t say idiotic things like that, nice try lefty heh
and for the record the SRT8 Jeep only costs 48K if u pack in things like rear seat DVDCD and sunroof/ sat radio, which is about 4 grand worth of stuff I don’t need. thanx.
Maybe we should all just walk away and stop feeding this crazy fire. No sense arguing with someone like this. I do wonder though, if someone hates GM and electric cars so much, why are then even on this site?
Next topic! =)
who said I hate GM, I wouldn’t buy anything from them now under the obama motors moniker but hey, I’ve got an 87 Buick Grand National which can equal if not beat anything GM has to offer now, and of course run circles around that silly volt which is costing GM millions of dollars which it can’t afford to loose in these times, the Camaro is nice, but the SRT8 CHallenger for ex, is better built, the seats are amazingly comfortable, doesn’t look like some quido mobile, it has a sophisticated look , the quaility of materials is amazing the shifter feels so good in ur hand, unlike Camaro’s big ball of a shifter u have to have a sasquatch hand to wrap completely ’round it, the visibility is terrible, so it needs work and GM should be working on bettering what they have not adding this unecessary hybrid technology, we don’t need “electric” cars, Fisker is on it’s way out, Tesla is on it’s way out, imagine spending 100k on a car that isn’t viable, and doen’t work! it’s a shame that the environmental whackjobs have infiltrated the car market at all, oil is natural, it’s made by the earth, it’s not an evil creature, and we’ve got tons of it here in the states, and once that pig marxist obama is outta here we’ll be energy independant on our own, and everybody know it
” oil is natural, it’s made by the earth, it’s not an evil creature, and we’ve got tons of it here in the states,”
And guess what? You’re gonna run out.
Really, simple, logic. You can’t expect them to last forever, or even just in your lifetime. Oil is finite and the demand is everywhere. At the rate China is going, it’s not impossible for them to buy the US’s reserves for it’s own use, they have money.
You need to drop this false idea that being concerned with sustainable resource use IS NOT a left vs. right issue. It’s not even a core enviromental issue (they’d say no to all oil).
No, “sustainable resource use” should make you aware of oil being finite and that it should be managed properly. It also means we’re running out of oil and IT WILL THREATEN your livelyhood. Your SRT will mark you wasteful, and it will be deemed a non-essential craft.
Basically, when the oil is running very low, your SRT is going to be the first to get hit.
Don’t belive me? Fine. Sit back and tell China and India to slow down.
hehe bullshit leftwing mantras, where do u people go to learn such nonsense??
IT WILL THREATEN your livelyhood. Your SRT will mark you wasteful, and it will be deemed a non-essential craft.???? this dopey statement doesn’t even make sense
by the time we “run out of it” there’ll be tons of different viable energy sources that actually work and affordable, in America alone, right now, there’s more oil than saudi arabia, and we need to drill for it since it will release us from this “grip” the arabs and the leftwing loonies in the country have on us with this oil situation, and everybody knows it, including the leftwing enironmental nazi’s, but u can’t control people when they have tons of something that will give them freedom, freedom to drive a big suv if they want or a little putt putt tinker toy if that’s what they like, but u don’t get to shove down our throats stupid cars that basically haven’t been perfected or for that matter really even INVENTED yet! they’re still too unstable and costly. why should the public pay for obama motors incentives for a car nobody needs?? if people really loved these cars u don’t need to bribe them to buy them, end of story. and my SRT8 Jeep and all muscle cars/trucks like it will be running well in2 the next 500years with all he oil we have here that only recently technology has found and can get to, I not going to deny myself the simple pleasures of life cuz some whacko leftists is against it…meanwhile ur electric cars will be heating up and burning up u garage and homes that’s a helluva risk to take for stupid “green” technology that doesn’t work or live up to the hype