Chev Volt - 10K Cars only in 2011! WTF!!!

[GHook93]

The big question is WHY only 10K models. The PAID to be on wait list is currently at 54K people. These are people who had to pay a few thousand dollars to wait in line. And its still 3 months away from launching. That is 5x what they are going to produce. Amazing!!! I hope after the first 10K get bought up day one, they decide to increase production rapidly!

GM starting slow with the Chevrolet Volt - Jul. 7, 2010

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Because it costs more to build tha they are going to sell it for, and they want to limit their losses.

 

[Douger]

Because it's made in Murka.
Epic failure.

 

[GHook93]

Because it costs more to build tha they are going to sell it for, and they want to limit their losses.

You have a link to that. I saw on the news, that the Volt's profit margin per car will be similar to their other GM vehicles. What they said also is that, due to the significant amount of resources contributed to R & D and design, it will take quite a few cars sold to make a profit!

I personally pray this will happen!
(1) GM Volt TAKES off, better than anyone dreamed! The 10K are already sold, and 45K of 2011 60K are already sold. I see GM bumping Volt production from 60K in 2011 to 200K.
(2) 2011 - I see Tesla (who is in trouble at the moment, after a huge boost in stock sales), finally going into production on their Model S. Getting it to public by 2012. With the demand created by the Volt, I think the Model S takes off.
(3) 2012 - With the Volt success. Mitsubshi, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chysler, Kia etc start flooding the markets with their electric cars. Volt becomes the highest selling car in America.
(4) 2012 - With the BP oil spill have disaster effects, with oil countries like Venezuela and Iran causing problem, the President will innitiate programs to keep demand for the electric car hight. First, he will raise the electric car tax credit from $7,500 to $10,000 (possibly $12,500). With gas prices starting to dip, the government will raise the gas tax to keep gas prices high!
(5) 2015 - The Break Through Electric Car! Finally the all electric car that gets 500 miles per charge and fully charges in less than 15 mins hits the streets.
(6) 2020 - Electric Car tips the 50% mark on the street.
(7) 2025 - Electric Cars tip the 90% mark ont he street
(8) 2030 - Gas cars of a think of the past!

 

[saveliberty]

We had a waiting list of almost a year on the Pontiac Solstice when they first came out. It took over a year for them to add a third shift. Don't hold your breath.

Quick question. Ever used a favorite battery toy a lot? How did you feel about the battery replacement costs?

Until you change the American public driving habits, these type of vehicles will have limited appeal and little or no cost effectiveness for the owner or manufacturer in my opinion.

 

[Defiant1]

This vehicle is going to cause a lot of divorces. If most women are like my wife they are going to get pissed at all the old batteries thrown in the backyard.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Because it costs more to build tha they are going to sell it for, and they want to limit their losses.

You have a link to that. I saw on the news, that the Volt's profit margin per car will be similar to their other GM vehicles. What they said also is that, due to the significant amount of resources contributed to R & D and design, it will take quite a few cars sold to make a profit!

I personally pray this will happen!
(1) GM Volt TAKES off, better than anyone dreamed! The 10K are already sold, and 45K of 2011 60K are already sold. I see GM bumping Volt production from 60K in 2011 to 200K.
(2) 2011 - I see Tesla (who is in trouble at the moment, after a huge boost in stock sales), finally going into production on their Model S. Getting it to public by 2012. With the demand created by the Volt, I think the Model S takes off.
(3) 2012 - With the Volt success. Mitsubshi, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chysler, Kia etc start flooding the markets with their electric cars. Volt becomes the highest selling car in America.
(4) 2012 - With the BP oil spill have disaster effects, with oil countries like Venezuela and Iran causing problem, the President will innitiate programs to keep demand for the electric car hight. First, he will raise the electric car tax credit from $7,500 to $10,000 (possibly $12,500). With gas prices starting to dip, the government will raise the gas tax to keep gas prices high!
(5) 2015 - The Break Through Electric Car! Finally the all electric car that gets 500 miles per charge and fully charges in less than 15 mins hits the streets.
(6) 2020 - Electric Car tips the 50% mark on the street.
(7) 2025 - Electric Cars tip the 90% mark ont he street
(8) 2030 - Gas cars of a think of the past!

I was being facetious, so I do not have a link. I could probably make one up if you insist though.

What I am hearing about the Volt does not impress me. You have to remember that this is essentially a Civic Hybrid or a Prius that you can pug in, it will not eliminate gas tanks. It is also expected to cost around $20,000.00 more than either of those cars, at least at first. The only way it will be able to compete on the market is with heavy subsides, something which is entirely possible considering we own GM and have no say in its operation.

 

[saveliberty]

Who Killed the Electric Car? - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I guess the first thing to watch for is, do they let you buy them this time.

 

[Care4all]

limited supply is a marketing tool for new products with proprietary features....it creates buzz... with waiting lists, it brings the value of the car up, if the demand is there for it and building, while the supply is short.

and no, I don't have a link for such....I just have used 'this', as a marketing tool.

 

[Old Rocks]

This vehicle is going to cause a lot of divorces. If most women are like my wife they are going to get pissed at all the old batteries thrown in the backyard.

Get your brains out of a Cracker Jacks box? Many of the EV 95 batteries, NiMH, have over 150,000 miles on them and are still going strong. And the Nickel in them means that they will be recycled, as will the Lithium batteries.

 

[Old Rocks]

limited supply is a marketing tool for new products with proprietary features....it creates buzz... with waiting lists, it brings the value of the car up, if the demand is there for it and building, while the supply is short.

and no, I don't have a link for such....I just have used 'this', as a marketing tool.

I think you are right. However, in this case, it will definately backfire.

Warren Buffet has put major money into this company.

Warren Buffett's Electric Car Hits Chinese Market

SHANGHAI, China — Battery maker turned car company BYD Co. has launched China's first homegrown hybrid vehicle for the retail market, seeking an edge over its crisis-stricken international rivals.

BYD presented the vehicle, known as the F3DM, in a ceremony in the southern city of Shenzhen, where local officials have pledged to buy some of the cars in support of the project.

The vehicle can run up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) on its electric engine, and when it runs low on power shifts to a back up gasoline engine. Its battery can fully charge in nine hours from a regular electrical outlet, or much faster at BYD's own charging stations, the company said in a statement.

The car will sell for 149,800 yuan ($22,000), about the same as many Chinese-made mid-sized cars, it said.

Although the car is just now hitting the market, BYD claims to have leapfrogged larger automakers to be the first company to commercialize plug-in hybrid technology, which allows the batteries of the F3DM _ DM stands for duel mode _ to be recharged without any special infrastructure.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

limited supply is a marketing tool for new products with proprietary features....it creates buzz... with waiting lists, it brings the value of the car up, if the demand is there for it and building, while the supply is short.

and no, I don't have a link for such....I just have used 'this', as a marketing tool.

I think you are right. However, in this case, it will definately backfire.

Warren Buffet has put major money into this company.

Warren Buffett's Electric Car Hits Chinese Market

SHANGHAI, China — Battery maker turned car company BYD Co. has launched China's first homegrown hybrid vehicle for the retail market, seeking an edge over its crisis-stricken international rivals.

BYD presented the vehicle, known as the F3DM, in a ceremony in the southern city of Shenzhen, where local officials have pledged to buy some of the cars in support of the project.

The vehicle can run up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) on its electric engine, and when it runs low on power shifts to a back up gasoline engine. Its battery can fully charge in nine hours from a regular electrical outlet, or much faster at BYD's own charging stations, the company said in a statement.

The car will sell for 149,800 yuan ($22,000), about the same as many Chinese-made mid-sized cars, it said.

Although the car is just now hitting the market, BYD claims to have leapfrogged larger automakers to be the first company to commercialize plug-in hybrid technology, which allows the batteries of the F3DM _ DM stands for duel mode _ to be recharged without any special infrastructure.

For a guy who talks like he is on the cutting edge, and who keeps throwing out numbers that are still years away, I marvel at how you are actually so far behind the curve in research. XeF2 has the potential to solve our energy needs on a scale that is mind blowing if a manufacturing process makes it economical enough. Imagine being able to power a car with a battery you could change easier than the ones in cars now.

Two- and three-dimensional extended solids and metallization of compressed XeF2 : Nature Chemistry : Nature Publishing Group

 

[Old Rocks]

Very interesting. Now who is working on this, and how does it translate into a battery? Another point, they are speaking of pressures of 50 GPa. That is rather extreme, a third of that at the bottom of the earth's mantle.

And the electric cars that I posted on are in existance right now. This looks like something that will take years to work with, and then you have to figure out the manufacturing process. Some things look very good in the lab, such as the very large capacitors, seem singulary difficult to manufacture on a large scale.

Two- and three-dimensional extended solids and metallization of compressed XeF2 : Nature Chemistry : Nature Publishing Group

The application of pressure, internal or external, transforms molecular solids into extended solids with more itinerant electrons to soften repulsive interatomic interactions in a tight space. Examples include insulator-to-metal transitions in O2, Xe and I2, as well as molecular-to-non-molecular transitions in CO2 and N2. Here, we present new discoveries of novel two- and three-dimensional extended non-molecular phases of solid XeF2 and their metallization. At ∼50 GPa, the transparent linear insulating XeF2 transforms into a reddish two-dimensional graphite-like hexagonal layered structure of semiconducting XeF4. Above 70 GPa, it further transforms into a black three-dimensional fluorite-like structure of the first observed metallic XeF8 polyhedron. These simultaneously occurring molecular-to-non-molecular and insulator-to-metal transitions of XeF2 arise from the pressure-induced delocalization of non-bonded lone-pair electrons to sp3d2 hybridization in two-dimensional XeF4 and to p3d5 in three-dimensional XeF8 through the chemical bonding of all eight valence electrons in Xe and, thereby, fulfilling the octet rule at high pressures.

 

[saveliberty]

I wonder if there will be after market batteries. For sure, the manufacturers replacements will be very expensive.

 

[Mad Scientist]

The big question is WHY only 10K models. The PAID to be on wait list is currently at 54K people. These are people who had to pay a few thousand dollars to wait in line. And its still 3 months away from launching. That is 5x what they are going to produce. Amazing!!! I hope after the first 10K get bought up day one, they decide to increase production rapidly!

Only suckers buy technology when it's new. The smart ones wait for the bugs to be ironed out and the price to drop.

 

[GHook93]

The big question is WHY only 10K models. The PAID to be on wait list is currently at 54K people. These are people who had to pay a few thousand dollars to wait in line. And its still 3 months away from launching. That is 5x what they are going to produce. Amazing!!! I hope after the first 10K get bought up day one, they decide to increase production rapidly!

Only suckers buy technology when it's new. The smart ones wait for the bugs to be ironed out and the price to drop.

The Iphone worked great right from the start!

 

[B. Kidd]

The big question is WHY only 10K models. The PAID to be on wait list is currently at 54K people. These are people who had to pay a few thousand dollars to wait in line. And its still 3 months away from launching. That is 5x what they are going to produce. Amazing!!! I hope after the first 10K get bought up day one, they decide to increase production rapidly!

Only suckers buy technology when it's new. The smart ones wait for the bugs to be ironed out and the price to drop.

Also, there's no infrastructure in place to get a recharge if you need it.
After they hit the market, lookout for Volt owners slinking around with 100 ft. extension cords looking to steal your electricity.
That reminds me, I need to buy some 'rocksalt'.

 

[Old Rocks]

The big question is WHY only 10K models. The PAID to be on wait list is currently at 54K people. These are people who had to pay a few thousand dollars to wait in line. And its still 3 months away from launching. That is 5x what they are going to produce. Amazing!!! I hope after the first 10K get bought up day one, they decide to increase production rapidly!

Only suckers buy technology when it's new. The smart ones wait for the bugs to be ironed out and the price to drop.

Also, there's no infrastructure in place to get a recharge if you need it.
After they hit the market, lookout for Volt owners slinking around with 100 ft. extension cords looking to steal your electricity.
That reminds me, I need to buy some 'rocksalt'.

Hmmm....... Your mother dropped you on your head when you were a baby? The Volt is a hybrid.

 

[B. Kidd]

Only suckers buy technology when it's new. The smart ones wait for the bugs to be ironed out and the price to drop.

Also, there's no infrastructure in place to get a recharge if you need it.
After they hit the market, lookout for Volt owners slinking around with 100 ft. extension cords looking to steal your electricity.
That reminds me, I need to buy some 'rocksalt'.

Hmmm....... Your mother dropped you on your head when you were a baby? The Volt is a hybrid.

Never said it wasn't a hybrid.
It's supposed to run up to 40 miles on an electric charge alone. I expect a certain snooty entitlement attitude from original volt owners to try to avoid gassin' up as much as possible.

 

[Old Rocks]

There are a number of plug in Priuses out there right now. Are you seeing any of that kind of thing?

What is it about the idea of a car for which you can provide the energy that people like you find so offensive?