June 2009: According to this Wired article titled Chevrolet Volt Charges On Despite Bankruptcy:
GM has made the Volt the centerpiece of its push to build smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles and it has spent nearly $1 billion developing the car.Gotta hope that the Volt is worth the investment.. we Americans seem to be on the hook for it as our government pledged another $30 billion yesterday to keep GM afloat.
"... of the people, by the people, for the people."
ReplyDeleteWe now 'own' GM. Let's get behind the Volt so we can make $ome dollar$ !
Only in the minds of GM execs would the car pictured above be considered "smaller" - that things' a tank! :)
ReplyDeleteVery funny Sarah.. what were they thinking :)
ReplyDeleteWhat's better for the environment, continuing to drive a clunker that might not have the best gas mileage or emissions, maybe driving for 10 years or more. Or is it buying a volt, which cost billions in research, along with the environmental impact that research had, as well as the environmental impact it has in finding all of the resources, such as metal, copper and rare earth's for the batteries, along with the pollutants from the factory(s) during the cars manufacture. Really, the longer I drive my car, the more environmentally friendly I am. Of course, it isn't about the environment at all. It is about control.
ReplyDelete@jrchaard - LOL, I was hoping it used ethanol.
ReplyDeleteThe 'billion dollars' is not just for the Volt but for the technology that will be incorporated in GM's future line-up. It costs a lot to create the first of most new things. Note that Toyota once sold the Prius at a tremendous loss for years. Now the Toyota's hybrid research is paying off and they've got an easier transition path toward plug-in hybrids. This sort of technology is simply where the major car manufacturers must eventually go.
ReplyDelete@Argon - R&D is definitely expensive. I do hope that they will eventually see a good return on their investment even though the $41k price tag is a bit high for me.
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