Forget the Camaro, the Volt was best of show at NAIAS
Many think GM took best of show at NAIAS with the new Camaro. They're wrong.The new Camaro is going to be a hot seller for GM, but the new Camaro isn't the future for GM. Sure, the Camaro will provide a nice sales bump for GM's bottom line, but it cannot usher in the revolution in automotive technology that is now happening.
Consequently, without doubt, the Volt plug-in hybrid was best in show at NAIAS. Now GM has a path into the future, a path that can be gradually cleared by the successful launch of the Yukon hybrid and the dual mode hybrid powertrain, the same powertrain which will be converted into a plug-in hybrid powertrain. This plug-in powertrain, in turn, will help develop the lithium-ion batteries needed for the Volt concept.
Instead of one giant leap, GM's future is instead a series of flexible steps, of adaptations to emerging technologies. Now the fuel cell vehicle can no longer be an excuse not to do more today. Now the fuel cell vehicle is the reason to go hybrid crazy today because every hybrid sale helps clear the path to the Volt and to fuel cell vehicles.
Now is the time for GM to continue to shock its critics - myself included - by stepping down this path as quickly as possible. Electrify me GM. Please, electrify me!
Labels: Chevy Volt electric vehicle concept, GM, NAIAS
posted by Dahcredyns at
1:44 PM
12 Comments:
http://lawriefranceepsom.blogspot.com/
Did you see who killed the electric car? Made me wish they brought that plug in car back! Anyways - on vehicles in general i just came across this cool site www.gofar.ca which is a pretty cool venture for automotive. I was never a big Mitsubishi fan but maybe we will see some change coming from them...
Vivaciousvixen, nice link. On CNET theres a video of the new Chevy Camero soft top, just thought id tell you. Also, keep the blog up!
link:http://reviews.cnet.com/4660-11443_7-6684315.html
Great blog. Congrats for getting on the Blogs of note list. Adding you to my Blog roll if you don't mind.
the body design on that car is just.. i dont know.
hard to like.
is it just me or are you extremely disappointed the insight is going away too?
Nice pages here. Great information. Will visit again and recommend.
They just don't make cars like they used to:(
I just saw your blog on "Blogs of Note" on the Blogger.com home page. And, well, this is a great blog -- I'm glad I found it. In 2000 I was tabling for Earth Day and Georgia Power was in the booth next to us showing off an electric car. At the time, few people thought to think that charging an electric car would still require the burning of coal at some power plant.
Personally, I believe American cars need to focus more on effectiveness rather than looks. With the global warming issue growing, I'd take a hunk of crap that is good for the atmosphere any day over a sporty American car. (The only reason I am sounding pessimistic about American-made cars is due to my recent findings that foreign markets won't even sell most American cars because they don't pass environmental tests). But hey, I guess there's nothing wrong with a little flashiness here and there..
Couple things: Michael Moore has hated GM forever, so please don't take what he says as the truth. That's like listening to Exxon about global warming. The fact that GM lost heaps of money on every EV1 is the reason they quit making it. And, "foreign markets won't sell most American cars" is a pretty vague and mostly untrue statement. There are only a few countries with emissions standards too stringent for some American-made cars. It's a whole lot more complex than that.
Nonetheless, blogs like this are key to increasing people's knowledge of how to separate fact from an astounding amount of automotive fiction. Please keep it up.
My picking the Volt as best in show at NAIAS really had nothing to do with its looks, my pick was far more about the E Flex Drive of which the Volt is the first variant.
Inevitably, however, its looks are interesting for one main reason: plastic composities. The Volt has unusual lines and curves in its design because plastic composities enabled designers extreme flexibility - extreme flexibility to produce more and more aerodynamic vehicles. Also, the new plastic composites for the Volt were made from recycled water bottles, and they represent a new technology that is basically ready for use across the automotive industry.
Still, its the fact that the Volt represents a change in ideology at GM that sold me on the Volt. The Volt is an important shift in thinking. Instead of 'fuel cell and hydrogen highway or bust' GM has a much more flexible and adaptable path to the future - a more realistic path that realizes the importance of hybrid cars and plug-in hybrid cars, for example.
Let us hope that GM is sincere. If they are, it will be good for Detroit, good for GM and good for America.
Dude! it's a really cool car:
http://www.mani-bono.com/blog/2007/01/coolest-car-design-i-ever-saw_17.html
just look at the mirrors!
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