Chevy Volt: Hype Whore, Resource Hog?
The killer Chevy Volt at NAIAS 2008As I finished off my last day at NAIAS, I happened to walk by the Chevy Volt, and I noticed something. Like a Siren Song, the Volt continues to enchant crowds, seducing believers with dreams of a better future. Whether it's the Internet, or NAIAS, the Volt is still an amazing hype machine.
But is it all just hype? Read more....
Labels: Chevy Volt electric vehicle concept, NAIAS
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:12 AM
29 Comments:
As I finished off my last day at NAIAS, I happened to walk by the Chevy Volt, and I noticed something. Like a Siren Song, the Volt continues to enchant crowds, seducing believers with dreams of a better future. Whether it's the Internet, or NAIAS, the Volt is still an amazing hype machine.
But is it all just hype?
Last year, I was invited to attend NAIAS to experience the debut of the Chevy Volt, to speak with some of the people involved with the Volt, and to hear Bob Lutz wager his career on the Volt.
Since, I've been invited to other GM events, to test drive different hybrid cars and fuel cell vehicles, to engage GM engineers and designers - I even ate dinner with Bob Lutz, his wife, and three other journalists once - and this year I was again invited to NAIAS by GM, which I'll have a lot more to write about in the days to come.
Again, I met with engineers and designers, including the Volt's head designer, Bob Boniface and Frank Weber, the engineer in charge of not just the Volt, but the entire E Flex Drive, and I have a quote from him that I cannot wait to publish.
And, I was invited to GM's new product studio in Warren, Michigan - the first ever product design studio dedicated to just one car, the Chevy Volt.
Unfortunately, my travel plans didn't allow enough time for me to partake in the visit to the Volt design studio to witness first hand some of the design changes that the Volt has undergone since the wind tunnel began grabbing onto the Volt in an unacceptable fashion in tests last year.
Fortunately, however, I got to see the lab and some new pictures of the Volt on CNBC which ran a feature on the new design lab yesterday morning.
That made me wonder, why would GM put hundreds of engineers and tons of resources, such as a designated, one-of-a-kind studio, into the Chevy Volt if it was meant as nothing but a hype machine?
Honestly, GM didn't have that great a year last year, so would they have gone bankrupt without the hype from the Volt? How is Volt hype really helping GM's bottom line?
And, suddenly, I hear the siren singing, calling out to the disenchanted, to those losing hope and to those seeking change.
America IS in the midst of an automobile revolution and GM is not as stupid as many believe. GM knows full well that foreign oil dependency is on the verge of choking the US auto industry to death, while destroying the lives of millions of Americans with its bankrupt wake.
Yet, the question must be asked, why are we blaming GM in the first place?
Without doubt, GM has made numerous mistakes, and GM continues to make a lot of mistakes, such as not developing a Prius-fighter concurrently with its other dual mode hybrids, but it's almost too late for such a hybrid now. It's all about lithium, even for Toyota.
More interesting, let's say GM did stop making large SUVS, Toyota has proven that it would have gladly filled that void. Quite simply, there are MANY consumers for such vehicles, and that fact cannot be solely faulted to GM and other US automakers when even Toyota is outputting its largest vehicles ever even as we head into the green revolution.
Perhaps if Americans knew what the real cost of gasoline was every time they filled up their tank - dare I say they even paid the real cost of gasoline at the pump - things might be different. SUVs would have never become so popular and efficiency would have been consumer-driven.
Sadly, however, most Americans don't realize that securing foreign oil from the Middle East costs tens of billions of dollars EVERY year (not including war costs), and that these costs are NOT included in the price of gasoline. Yet, these costs must still eventually be paid for by taxes - lots and lots of taxes, or lots and lots of deficit.
Congress, on the other hand, has no such excuse. They write the check for the security costs of foreign oil. This "subsidized denial", as blogger Kevin called it on an earlier
post, is destroying America, as the subsidizers - Congress - continues to complicity go along with the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against America as they transfer blame to automakers.
Instead of CAFE, Congress should have focused on the real problem, the artificially low cost of gasoline, but it is impossible for anything boldly visionary to come out of Congress. Sadly, Congress is primarily motivated by winning power, not by creating effective legislation.
Suddenly, I hear that Siren Song again, but this time I realize it isn't the Volt that is enchanting me into some false belief, it is the song of cheap gasoline subsidized by Congress that is luring America into disaster. The Volt, on the other hand, is a buoy of hope as we near the precipice of a gas-guzzling disaster.
Maybe, just maybe, GM can produce the Volt and prove that America can save itself - despite our pathetic leaders. Besides, GM has everything to gain and everything to lose when it comes to the Volt, and the more hype the Volt creates, the more GM's survival becomes hitched to achieving the Volt.
Well said dahcredyns. I hope GM can delivery, as everyone needs the product and the economy can't afford to have them slide more. We're really on the edge of an ugly downward spiral of economic and ecologic disaster. America needs to wake-up and be a lot more austere. Our next disposable product may just be our own way-of-life.
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I don't agree with the assessment that there are buyers for SUV's out there and that is driving the reason why they exist.
Yes, Toyota will fill the void but that's like saying if I'm not the cocaine supplier of the south side, then my rival will be...so therefore I should continue selling cocaine even though I know it's wrong.
People will drive whatever you give them as options. If SUV's didn't exist today, guess what...people would adjust and move on. NO ONE needs a 6-7 passenger car...I'm sorry but that's just ludicrous.
Do you think McDonald's puts all that fat and salt in their foods because people DEMAND it? People are sheep...they will cry and bitch about things but in the end, it's the companies that ultimately give them what they end up with.
Trust me, there is no need for such large vehicles...it's purely to make money and purely motivated by greed and nothing else. People didn't need 8 passenger, 6000lb turds 100 years ago, and they certainly don't need them now.
That being said, it's both the autommakers and the buyers or consumers who are to blame.
Consumers are stupid...I firmly believe that. They are greedy, they have egos...they are ignorant (e.g. SUV's are safer than other vehicles).
I personally have no support to give to companies like GM. Their engineering has been subpar for a long time...they've made garbage vehicles for a long long long time. They have been a HUGE disservice to the general public for creating environmentally disastrous barges which cater to Bush-loving, neocon idiots when they have known all along that they could easily make efficient cars for the masses.
Shame on them. For that reason, I have no qualms about companies like this going out of business and making way for firms that actually are productive, innovative, and forward thinking...i.e. Honda?
A day late, dollar short GM...you can't be the school bully and one day turn around and start acting nice.
kp-
I think many Americans are awake, that's why the Volt has such resonance with so many. The Volt represents hope. Unfortunately, it's getting Americans to take real action that is the problem.
Still, the Volt, just like today's Prius, isn't going to change the world by itself, but it might help change the way some consumers think about cars, and that alone is a positive step forward. Plus, achieving the Volt can turn the dream into action.
Ultimately, I say keep the buzz alive, it only puts more pressure on GM to succeed.
Noz-
Tell me how you really feel!
Just kidding. You make a fantastic argument.
Still, if Americans had been paying the real cost of gas derived from foreign oil, most American consumers wouldn't have been able to afford large SUVs.
But, don't get me wrong. Automakers have a lot of skeletons in their closets. I'm just willing to give them another chance, you've had enough disappointment.
I FEEL your anger.
And it's hard to determine whom deserves the most blame: consumers, automakers, oil companies, or Congress.
Ultimately, however, I say the buck stops with Congress because they write the checks and manage the books.
Still, when all is said and done, I say a converted GM is one of the best paths forward.
seen a nice article after a long time.
iagree to what you have said.
Whether it's the Internet, or NAIAS, the Volt is still an amazing hype machine.
to my point of view it is right.
hopping to hear from you,
monish
All of us consumers are the sheep, so treating sheep as "them" is a luxury of conscience that none of us really have. That said, we're dealing with some rather disillusioned shepherds. Hype like the Volt IS MISLEADING. Sheep at the front of the herd that can see over the next hillside are making noise. I agree with Nozferatu's viewpoint, but the anger needs to be turned to something else to activate other sheep.
I really think if we got people off their couches and watching less TV, they wouldn't fall prey to the ads the shepherds feed us.
The shepherds need to be scared of the sheep to stop their trickery. The Volt hype shows we're not there yet. Maybe this blog should deal more with promoting technology that actually exists :)
What game-changing technology exists today? Who is building it and where in the world are they selling it?
Why for example, isn't Toyota selling millions of hybrid cars like the Prius? Because, as Noz has stated in the past, the technology is still too expensive. Today, there also isn't an unlimited supply of NiMH batteries.
Small cars, ethanol, clean diesel, french fry oil - NONE of them can end even foreign oil dependence, let alone petroleum dependence - NOT EVEN CLOSE.
More important, does technology even matter?
The original CAFE resulted in more fuel efficient technology and gross increases in foreign oil consumption at the same time. So, technology might not really be the answer when gas prices are kept artificially low.
What Presidential candidate is even addressing this matter - probably the most important issue for America? NOT ONE because its political suicide. Every candidate wants to lower gas prices, which will only increase consumption and foreign oil dependence.
The truth is, gas is too cheap at the gas pump. Yet, the government has kept the costs low like some drug dealer giving out free crack to build an unquenchable addiction.
Until Americans start paying the real cost of gasoline, advanced technology not so hinged to petroleum, such as plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, cellulosic ethanol - AND vehicles like the Chevy Volt - are the ONLY hope.
Vehicles like the Volt are more than hype, they are a call to action. Numerous GM fans - gas-guzzling SUV fans - are clamoring and demanding that GM build such vehicles as soon as possible - this pressure alone makes the Volt hype worthwhile.
Moreover, Toyota execs have welcomed the Volt because the competition and attention that it brings, such as new suppliers, new innovators.
Today's Volt hype is a small snowball rolling down a mountain, but it's only going to gain momentum and, as it does, it puts more and more pressure on automakers to build such vehicles while educating consumers about the need for such vehicles.
Ultimately, the psychology of the consumer needs to change and even Volt hype can be a vehicle for such therapy.
Americans will never accept paying the real cost of gasoline, and the Volt and plug-in hybrids are only going to make a difference if the US starts embracing nuclear power, its our only option.
Volt hype is methadone. It's treating a small symptom while the organism dies in denial.
Kpdriscoll:
Good points. Your idea of not watching TV brings up a great point regarding current issues with the entertainment industry. I realized that even with this stupid writer's strike going on (which I think they can all take a hike and play the violin), there's is SO MUCH GARBAGE on TV that frankly I don't notice ANY DIFFERENT AT ALL regarding what is on now (i.e. reruns, etc) and what could have been on if the stupid writers weren't striking. Which means what???
Take TV away and people will simply adapt to NOT having it. It really is that simple.
The shepherds as you say count on this stuff to keep everyone else at bay. While walking through the local mall yesterday, it's just incredible the sensory overload one gets with all the crap that is being sold and people trying to push the items. There really is a very direct psychology behind all this.
Anonymous:
What Americans don't embrace will make them extinct. That's something Americans don't have a grasp or understanding of...neither did the Romans not the Ottomans....so it's a matter of time. I give the US another 100 years TOPS.
Dahcredyns:
Good points too!
I agree with what you are saying for the most part regarding our change in thinking...that has to happen or we will disappear..no ifs, ands, or buts...I don't care what we do.
But I do disagree that we can't eliminate our dependence on oil. We can. But the problem is we think of this change as immediate. That for sure will not happen. But we haven't even given a change infrastructure a chance.
It's directly equivalent to saying that "I need to change my job but I won't look for one so I won't change it...even though I need a new one."
People in other forums...say for example in the awful website known as VWVortex, think that new technologies will fail because the infrastructure is not there. Well sure...it will if we don't even try to build one.
I'm sure the same thing was being said when there were no fuel stations around back in the day too. The difference between today and then is that back them, there was HUGE economic drive to sell people fuel and cars that ran on fuel. Now the resistance to infrastructure change is because poor old companies like ExxonMobil and Shell are too freakin cheap to spend the money to make that change.
This whole industry...political and consumer...is driven purely by greed and power. Nothing else. There is no desire to help...to improve for the goodness of improving or evolving. That will happen on the last days of the human species' dying breath...and EVEN THEN, the drive will be initiated due to how profit can be made from preventing the death.
As an engineer myself, I know first hand how little is done to make better products. Right now, we make products with at least twice to three times the efficiency, reduction in waste, etc than we currently do. We do none of that because it's "bad for business." Well, I sincerely hope that the people who do think that way bury themselves in the ground before the rest of us do.
Noz-
I absolutely believe that America could end foreign oil dependency, while making the economy stronger in the long run. That's why I'm advocating for the Volt, for a plug-in Prius, for hybrid cars - they represent change.
The Volt has turned many Prius-hating, gas-guzzling, GM-only consumers into fans of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle technology. That's change, and a small step forward.
The Volt isn't going to end foreign oil dependency, but it might inspire many American consumers to demand more from automakers, from politicians, from ourselves.
Besides, America needs a big dream, a moonshot.
Heck, ending oil dependency (not just foreign oil dependency) would be bigger than going to the moon, especially if it could be made to happen in less than two decades. Yet, such a time frame is possible if voters forced politicians to make it happen.
As a collective, however, Americans just don't have the cajones - at least not yet, but the Volt is an effective tool for conversion, and the numbers of converted are growing.
And that's a step - maybe just a baby step, but still a step forward.
Hope. And it is because of hope that I will continue to plug the Volt, pun intended of course, because hope can turn myth and dream into reality.
Some might call the Volt a distraction, I see it as an opportunity for GM to wrong its rights, or to go bankrupt trying.
As Volt myth grows, so to do expectations, and great expectations might just be GM's last hope - America's.
More people should learn about electric vehicles as a solution. "Zero emissions" is something that's going to be required by law one day (you know it will). Making the decision to go electric is far cheaper anyway, like 10 cents on the dollar vs. gas. (source: zapworld.com)
I am one of the many driving a large SUV. I'm in the construction industry and spend every day trying to come up with a way to getway from its use. The day a prius will serve my interest on the projects I work on, I will gladly make the jump.
My interest has been in watching the developent of hydrogen power. I believe that it could not only solve my personal use issue, but could also generate enough power, that it could be utilized for my diesel powered construction equipment. However, along with my interest comes my question regarding refueling.
It seems that a lot of the frustration is around the lack of refueling stations, and the fact is that we may have to remain in bed with the oil companies inorder to build up the infrastructure needed. At some time every gas station will be converted over for the alternate fuel refueling, since most stations are in fact owned by the big oil companies they would have to be involved. If they are involved we would need restrictions to prevent the record breaking profits we see them make every quarter. Are we prepared to allow government regulation or ownership of these stations to proctect the public? Or will it be more of the same?
I would love nothing more than to break the back of the opec nations and return the desert back to all of its natural glory.
Perhaps we can solve the issue by adopting the technology that has powered or fleets on the water for so many years. Just think, a small hybrid based on the nuclear propulsion, mass battery storage theory.
The chevy volt is a beauty.
I hope that this car can live up to its hype
When you figure out how to generate enough "free" electricity for 200 million vehicles and how to create a vehical to move "mountains" of food around this country give me a call I'll be in line to buy one. I've been in the oil buisness for 30 years survived 9 layoffs when oil was low. No one cried when 500,000 people lost their job in the late 80's. Oil is a commodity just like any other, when in demand it is priced accordingly, thats called capatalism, you want the alternative?. There arent any easy answers but people in this country need to wake up, the days of cheap gas, cheap trasportation and paying a high-school dropout $35/hr to work on a assembly line is over. After working in the the third world, I've seen they want a piece of the pie now, oil and food beiong the premium. US citizens need to see and smell the third world, then they will realise that using 25% of the worlds energy is not a right.
ANON 10:16AM:
I agree. We are done. This country has been the leader in destroying and pillaging natural resources in the modern era.
I can't believe that there are STILL people out there who are driving in huge cars, arrogant as ever, thinking their lives, their rights are more important than others.
I truly hope these people hit the floor hard...I have no remorse for such bastards of the world.
On top of that, you have absolute idiots like Rush Limbaugh coming on air and stating bullshit like global climate change is a liberal "religion".
Maybe his fat ass has been protecting him from the elements...layers of blubber seem to do that for other animals...why not that neofacist? Who knows.
Human stupidity and greed are destroying us...and deservedly so. I honestly don't see humans living much beyond another couple of hundred years in any significant numbers.
Noz-
I think that humans are on the verge of a great adaptation, our next evolutionary leap - or our deathbed. It's time to stop acting like animals and to start using our brains. Science could remedy the need for humans to fight over resources, but profit matters more than people. This is unacceptable and it WILL destroy us, or make life not worth living.
Dahc,
I agree...but you shouldn't put animals at such a low totem pole.
It's very hard to judge our own intelligence relative to other animals with our own points of view.
I know it sounds stupid to most but I don't think animals are at all stupid for not doing what we do. From a functional point of view, we can't touch them.
Good point. Actually, in terms of animals, we're about the bottom of the totem pole because we use our intelligence to conquer and control. To destroy. We give animals a bad name.
Talking about electric vehicles here is a very innovative electric vehicle conversion I happened to see. It didnt receive a lot of publicity but I think it has big promise since its being commercialised soon.A normal car that goes 30 miles to a charge and only costs $6-8000 to convert....I think that suits my needs:
Here's the link:
http://www.nj.com/morristown/news/index.ssf/2008/05/fdu_student_makes_his_chrysler.html
One of the best things that could happen to this country is that GM would finally go belly-up. No more gas-guzzling behemoths with criminally-deficient brakes, steering, engines, etc. etc. The list just goes on and on. The Vega: one broken promise after another and an engine that was a design nightmare; The Fiero: a car with numerous design and manufacturing faults because the designers could never figure out what they really wanted it to be; the Saturn: just one broken promise after another,-- for years, until it was finally put into productiona as just another regular GM car. I firmly believe the Volt will be just another in this long, terrible string of delusionary failures for GM.
Jake,
In the past I've shared much of your GM disdain, and there are plenty of reasons to support your feelings.
Ultimately, I'd prefer that GM change and be a better company, and I think they are trying - maybe not hard enough, but there is definitely change occurring.
One thing I am certain about, however, is that the Volt is real and it will be an impressive vehicle. Will it make cost-effective sense? That remains to be determined, and I think its possible that the Volt is ahead of its time. The technology might just be too expensive.
I've been in the labs where the Volt is being developed, I've seen the changes first hand, talked with the engineers, etc. The Volt is not vaporware.
The volt is another joke.A ploy to get their stock up..G M said in the "50s it was going to make an electric car.that would run 350 miles at speed of 75 miles an hour and charge in 20-30 minutes..Their stock went up.We were prowd of The General, but the General never made it.what a joke..don't take my world for it look in some of the old Pop mech. and pop sience mags.
The past criticisms of GM are fair. Additionally, GM has moved too slowly towards more fuel efficient technology. It was almost as if GM said, "Here's the Volt, don't bug us until 2011".
While the Volt is not enough, if cost-effective, it will be a very important car. I know for a fact the Volt will be built. There is only one question. Can it be produced for the masses cost-effectively?
And to the point of false claims to move stock. GM's stock is sinking right now, even as GM has approved final funding for the production of the Volt. The Volt isn't helping GM stick.
I know a lot of people hate or distrust GM, I'm not trying to change anyone's opinion of GM. The point is, the Volt is real. Are fans exaggerating the impact of plug-in vehicles, or the desire for plug-in vehicles? We'll soon find out.
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