Consumer Reports: GM's Volt 'doesn't really make a lot of sense'

On 01/03/2011 6:14 AM, Jim_Higgins wrote:
> On 3/1/11 7:47 AM, C. E. White wrote:
>> Consumer Reports: GM's Volt 'doesn't really make a lot of sense'
>>
>> David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
>>
>> Washington - Consumer Reports offered a harsh initial review of the
>> Chevrolet Volt, questioning whether General Motors Co.'s flagship vehicle
>> makes economic "sense."The extended-range plug-in electric vehicle is
>> on the
>> cover of the April issue - the influential magazine's annual survey of
>> vehicles - but the GM vehicle comes in for criticism.
>>
>> "When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn't really
>> make a
>> lot of sense. The Volt isn't particularly efficient as an electric
>> vehicle
>> and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel
>> economy," said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports
>> auto
>> testing center at a meeting with reporters here. "This is going to be a
>> tough sell to the average consumer."
>>
>> The magazine said in its testing in Connecticut during a harsh winter,
>> its
>> Volt is getting 25 to 27 miles on electric power alone.
>>
>> GM spokesman Greg Martin noted that it's been an extremely harsh winter -
>> and as a Volt driver he said he's getting 29-33 miles on electric
>> range. But
>> he noted that in more moderate recent weather, the range jumped to 40
>> miles
>> on electric range or higher.
>>
>> Champion believes a hybrid, such as the Toyota Prius, may make more sense
>> for some trips.
>>
>> "If you drive about 70 miles, a Prius will actually get you more miles
>> per
>> gallon than the Volt does," Champion said.
>>
>> But GM has noted that most Americans can avoid using gasoline for most
>> regular commuting with the Volt, while its gasoline engine can allow the
>> freedom to travel farther, if needed.
>>
>> The magazine has put about 2,500 miles on its Volt. It paid $48,700,
>> including a $5,000 markup by a Chevy dealer.
>>
>> Champion noted the Volt is about twice as expensive as a Prius.
>>
>> He was said the five hour time to recharge the Volt was "annoying" and
>> was
>> also critical of the power of the Volt heating system.
>>
>> "You have seat heaters, which keep your body warm, but your feet get cold
>> and your hands get cold," Champion said.
>>
>> Consumer Reports will release a full road test of the Volt later this
>> year
>> and will update it.
>>
>> Champion praised the heater on the all-electric Nissan Leaf - which
>> Consumer
>> Reports borrowed from the Japanese automaker -- but said it also got very
>> short ranges in very cold weather.
>>
>> On one commute, his range in a Leaf was at 43 miles when he turned
>> onto an
>> eight-mile stretch of highway, but it fell from 43 to 16 miles after
>> eight
>> miles at 70 mph.
>>
>> "If it keeps on going down at this rate, will I get to work," Champion
>> said.
>>
>> Champion said in an interview he thinks the Volt "will sell the quantity
>> that they want to sell to the people that really want it."
>>
>> Despite his criticism of the Volt, Champion praised its acceleration and
>> acknowledged that under certain driving cycles, consumers could mostly
>> avoid
>> using gasoline. The magazine noted the Volt is nicely equipped and has a
>> "taut yet supple ride."
>>
>> But he said there are a lot of trade-offs.
>>
>> "They are going to live with the compromises the vehicle delivers,"
>> Champion
>> said. "When you look at it from a purely logical point of view, it
>> doesn't
>> make an awful lot of sense."
>>
>> Before Consumer Reports decides whether to recommend the Volt, it
>> needs data
>> from at least 100 subscribers who own one, and a year of reliability
>> data.
>>
>>
>>
>> From The Detroit News:
>> http://detnews.com/article/20110228/AUTO01/102280401/Consumer-Reports--GM's-Volt-'doesn't-really-make-a-lot-of-sense'
>>
>>
>>
>
> Volt, aka "Short Circuit"

And a truly "jolting" experience for the new shareholders...every body
went up in the last few months but GM went down....

You can bailout turkeys, but they still be turkeys. I figure you and I
didn't, but wonder how many in the group actually bought GM shares?

--
Socialism is a great ideal as long as someone else pays for it. And when
no one is left to pay for it, they all can share nothing.

"dsi1" wrote in message
...

On 3/1/2011 12:57 PM, hls wrote:
>>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message news:4d6d70be$0$8113>
>> 20 years ago I wouldn't have believed that our future was going to
>> be
>> almost totally digital.
>
> I guess I would have.. Digital was the only intelligent course of
> technology.

Well I guess it's too late to find out now. The price of computer RAM
was about $45 a MB so you'd probably have a hard time imagining
regular
folks owing a computer with $200,000 worth of ram and drives which
would
cost about $10,000,000 at the time.
--------
I recall paying $100 MB at one point. 9 chips per meg....
-------

The only reason we're a digital world is that cheap RAM, data storage,
and a method of moving info around at high speed exists. Without that,
we'd probably still be using film, listening to CDs, going to Tower
Records, and using computers with small sized OSes with limited
memory.
------------
Who would ever need more than 640k?
----------

My guess is that 20 years from now, we won't be doing fill-ups at gas
stations and changing motor oil. I could be wrong but I hope not, for
our sake.
----------
We'll be plugging our all electric cars into an over extended analog
electrical distribution system that still has 50% of power generated
via burning coal, negating the "carbon" savings of burning fossil
fuels.
----------
> I used to be involved in radiocommunications, and digital coded
> pulse
> transmission seemed to be a no brainer.
>
> With technology, however, robustness can falter. That is not to say
> that
> the problems wont be solved, but that there can be painful interim
> situations.
>
> For every additional component, whether integrated onto a chip or
> hard
> wired into a board, the statistical possibility of failure
> increases.
>
> We seem to be focused upon the trip. Is there a goal here
> somewhere??
>