Chevy Volt caught on camera

[Manedwolf]

Anything with Lucas electric parts is a special case. Those are possessed.

[mfree]

My GMC Sonoma will click over the 90K mark sometime next month... only work it's ever had is a set of brake pads.

I *may* need a clutch in the next 20k miles. *might* break the AC system open and see if something's starting to block the drainage tube also. Could also probably stand a steering box sometime this decade, it's got a touch of play and that bugs me (I grew up with rack and pinion steering in everything).

Practically? That's absofrickinlutely stellar for any make vehicle. There are winners and there are losers...

[Manedwolf]

Original concept:



Reality:



BOOOOORRRING. Dammit, GM...You build the hype, then you disappoint everyone with yet another sneaker/jellybean bland family sedan, and you wonder why you're losing marketshare!

"The majority of [the comments] are negative," Lyle Dennis, a New Jersey neurologist who runs the blog GM-Volt.com, said last week. "A lot of people are saying they're very disappointed and 'take me off the [waiting] list.' "

[K Frame]

My Subaru Outback has been, with the exception of a well-known issue, very good to me.

Right now it's 11 years old (I keep meaning to get the airbag inspected, as is recommended) and I intend to keep driving it for at least several more years.

At that time, I'll replace it with another Outback or Legacy.



"The last straw was it trying to kill me in rush  hour traffic on I66."

Yeah, but we've all tried to kill you in rush hour traffic on I66.

 


My experience with GM products comes mainly from family and friend cars, but it's not a record of happiness and joy. From the 1930s onwards my Grandfather was a confirmed Oldsmobile man. Until the 1980s, when he had three successive lemons.

[mtnbkr]

"The last straw was it trying to kill me in rush  hour traffic on I66."

Yeah, but we've all tried to kill you in rush hour traffic on I66.

 

Yeah, but normally inanimate objects leave me alone.

Chris

[Perd Hapley]

Why is anyone expecting the Volt to be some hot sports car?  It's better lookin' than the Prius.  Sheesh. 

[Boomhauer]

Why is anyone expecting the Volt to be some hot sports car?  It's better lookin' than the Prius.  Sheesh. 

Well, I'll give you that.

[Manedwolf]

Why is anyone expecting the Volt to be some hot sports car?  It's better lookin' than the Prius.  Sheesh. 

Because they're trying to sell it to people who will not pay $40,000 for a bland car?

[freedom lover]

will not pay $40,000

If gas goes over $5 per gallon and they invent batteries with a longer life then city commuters will probably be willing (whether or not they're able) to pay.

[K Frame]

"Because they're trying to sell it to people who will not pay $40,000 for a bland car?"

And your market research and hard numbers that support that supposition are... where?

I have a funny feeling that the Volt is aimed at a consumer segment that really doesn't give much of a damn about the looks of the car.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

There are tens of thousands of people on waiting lists for that car.  They all signed up before anyone knew what it looked like.

People aren't going to buy the Volt  based on how it looks.  They're going to buy it based on how it makes them look.  As with the Prius, the object is to confer planet-saving cred on the owners.  As long as the Volt is readily identifiable as a hybrid, then it should sell well.

[Perd Hapley]

I have a funny feeling that the Volt is aimed at a consumer segment that really doesn't give much of a damn about the looks of the car.

That's what I was thinking.  I could be wrong, but I expect people will buy it because they want better mileage, or they want to save the planet.

That concept looks pretty ugly, by the way.  At least the finished product is bland, rather than going for some "ooh, look at me" concept, like the Prius or Insight. 

[ArfinGreebly]

I want an electric car that looks like a 1956 Corvette.

Or maybe a Plymouth Prowler.

How about a Shelby Cobra?  Early '60s Jag XKE?

Those are all light cars.  Low drag coefficient.  Outstanding road handling.

Actually pretty.

Then you wouldn't have to worry about the price point.

Imagine.  Green cred AND looking fabulous.

[HankB]

. . . BOOOOORRRING. Dammit, GM...You build the hype, then you disappoint everyone with yet another sneaker/jellybean bland family sedan, and you wonder why you're losing marketshare!

Silly man, you think YOU know better than the guy with the $300 haircut and a corner office? Why, with people like you in charge GM might merely be breaking even, rather than turning in the great financials they have been under the stewardship of their current executives . . . 

[Manedwolf]

"Because they're trying to sell it to people who will not pay $40,000 for a bland car?"

And your market research and hard numbers that support that supposition are... where?

I have a funny feeling that the Volt is aimed at a consumer segment that really doesn't give much of a damn about the looks of the car.

And they couldn't have at least distinguished it from the Malibu at all?

It's not even going to be out till 2011. If they finish the battery. If they move as fast on styling changes at they move on everything else, it's going to look like a new old car.

GM still turns like a supertanker. Competitors turn like a speedboat.

[Perd Hapley]

Because a steam-punk, Manedwolf Limited Edition, electric econobox Veloci-Carriage will save GM and the planet at the same time. 

[Balog]

The plural of anecdote is not data. The most thorough empirical evidence I am aware of for long term falure rates is the Consumer report data. I'm sure it's not perfect, but I am unaware of anything better.

By and large, most Jap cars are more reliable than most "American" cars. Of course no maker is perfect, but the odds of gettting reamed are much lower with rice, in most cases. Note I am speaking of cars, not full size trucks which may be a bit different.

[Declaration Day]

And they couldn't have at least distinguished it from the Malibu at all?

Malibu?  The only thing the Volt shares with the Malibu is its corporate badge.  The Malibu is one of the best-looking American cars to come out in a long time.

The Volt does, however, look just like a Ford Fusion with Chevy head and tail lights.

Malibu:




Volt:



Fusion:


IMO that's a close enough design to warrant a lawsuit!

[Gewehr98]

"Dear GM,

Please re-design the Chevy Volt to incorporate more rice.

If you do, I'll buy one. 

Sincerely,

Manedwolf"

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

More rice, more style, more interest, more more excitement, more anything. 

It's prettier than a Prius, so that's something.  Maybe.

[Boomhauer]

I also wonder will Volt drivers have more smug than even Prius drivers? Will they sneer at Prius drivers when they pull up to the stoplight?


I can only hope so

[K Frame]

"And they couldn't have at least distinguished it from the Malibu at all?"

And that's so bad.... why?

By the time it hits the market, it's not going to look exactly as it looks now.

That car is the prototype. By the time it hits full production, the design engineers will have restyled the body panels.