Chevy Volt: Lutz's biggest blunder?
A big hit by 2021?Bob Lutz hates the Toyota Prius.
Several years ago Lutz stated that GM could have easily developed a Prius-like hybrid using just a fraction of one year's marketing budget - since Lutz believed, maybe still believes, that the Toyota Prius was only a PR gimmick, not a real product. Instead, however, GM chose the latest gas-guzzler ads to invest its money.
But that wasn't enough for Lutz. Lutz had to prove the Prius was just a PR gimmick, but how? By leapfrogging the Prius of course. Don't build something to compete with the Prius, build something far better than the Prius. Thus, the Chevy Volt was born.
Unfortunately, according to recent reports, Lutz then believed that GM would be able to sell the Volt for $25,000. Today, we know the Volt will sell for about $40,000. Yet, even at that price according to these reports, the Volt will still be sold at a loss.
Alex Taylor III of Fortune states, "The per-unit loss will be on top of the $1 billion development cost for the Volt. It is remarkable that despite GM's deteriorating finances and the fact that it lost $1 billion on an earlier electric vehicle, Lutz still managed to sell the Volt program to GM's board."
Thus, I guess it's no wonder that Lutz hates the Prius. The Volt isn't Lutz's biggest blunder. Instead, Lutz's biggest blunder has been the Prius, a vehicle that has proven Lutz wrong again and again.
Labels: Chevy Volt electric vehicle concept, Hybrid Vehicles, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:25 AM
11 Comments:
This post has been removed by the author.
I firmly believe the Volt and other Extended Range EV's are a critical step along the path to 100% EV's. It is good that a US automaker is attempting to build an ER-EV.
So in that context, Lutz' decision was a good one.
His decision NOT to make hybrids however, is where he srewed up.....
On one hand, any article about what good ole Lutz has to say makes me want to yawn and vomit all at the same time. On the other hand, what he has to say saddens me because I know that there is a hord of Americans that think like he does.
I pretty much agree with you Smurf. I also don't consider the Volt to be a blunder, except for the fact that the Volt has been an ongoing excuse not to build a Prius-contender.
I've always thought that GM should have developed their Voltecs platform more like the HSD. Make it more adaptable. And, at one time, that was a possibility.
Early on a non-plug-in Voltec was a possibility that GM was considering, although I've never heard anything more about that path other than the one time GM presented it.
They should have rolled out a Volt and 'spark' when the debuted the Volt. The 'spark' would have been the non-plug-in, which was to be followed up by the Volt.
Dahc,
I agree. There are lots of ways to configure a vehicle using the Voltec technology.
I like the idea of a non plug-in that does not necessarily have the 40 mile electric range, but still runs on an electric motor, with an IC engine to charge the battery. This vehicle would have a smaller battery, and thus a lower price tag.
Additionally, since the price tag on "version 1" was going to be so high, I think that GM should have developed this product with the Cadillac name in order to justify the higher price tag. Historically, most of the technology in GM cars started out in the Cadillac models then filtered down to the rest of the models over time.
Oh well.... What do we know...
Also, one could speculate the old, "domestic v. foreign" battle/debate. I imagine that dropping behind Toyota in almost every aspect, except, possibly, gas guzzlers, made it very difficult for GM. Going after Toyota's biggest success was the political thing to do, I suppose. Many people in this country still refuse to buy foreign.
Hey wait a minute - the VOLT WILL appeal to anyone that meets all the below points ==
1- you will have a job in one year
2- you make at least $125k a year
3- you happen to need a very expensive green car in one year
4- you dont want the better FUSION Hybrid or Priuss III (both cheaper)
5- you want to purchase from a company that may still end up in bankruptcy in year or so
6- you want the US GOVT to back your 10 yr/100k warranty
yes all of you guys and gals will just LOVE the new VOLT !
:(
Voltec will not be easy to scale as HSD. The battery requirement for a big SUV or Truck with 40 miles range would cost a fortune.
I too agree with the idea of a non-plugin Volt which is basically a series hybrid. It is a mistake to market the Volt as an electric car with range extender. The Volt's battery will have all the burden including carrying the gas engine. In a series hybrid, the gas engine would assist in hard accelerations.
Volt is trying to save 1,500 gallons of gas over the Prius with additional price tag of $20k. It will take some very rich tree huggers or the gas has to cost over $13 per gallon.
Wouldn't it make more sense to own a $22k Prius with a $15k NEV or $5k ebike with 100 miles range?
I think there are two words to describe the path of the Volt. Two-Mode. BTW, does anyone know how much it cost to develop the two mode hybrid? Another billion dollars?
Well GM was able to share the initial development costs of the two-mode with Chrysler and BMW. However, GM has had to redevelop the two-mode hybrid drive to fit in smaller vehicles. They would have to further redevelop the drive to work in a Prius-sized vehicle. So, I'm not sure GM managed the development costs of the two-mode drive very well.
I'd argue that GM's hybrid/plug-in tech has been scatter-brained, which usually isn't too cost-effective. And it still seems a hodgepodge of different ideas.
Toyota's adaptable, evolutionary, HSD was a genius approach i believe.
Nonetheless, the dual mode hybrid drive was the right approach to big gas-guzzlers, but how necessary are most big gas-guzzlers?
Inevitably, GM has done everything possible to be different than Toyota regarding hybrids. Thus far, however, it seems GM has been consistently wrong.
Indigo Incarnates
The Volt had a very special design intent. It is a very special hybrid. Instead of intermittantly burning gasoline and running on elecricity, the Volt intermittantly burns taxpayer money and runs on hype.
"The Volt had a very special design intent. It is a very special hybrid. Instead of intermittantly burning gasoline and running on elecricity, the Volt intermittantly burns taxpayer money and runs on hype."
Very well put. Damn, I might have to quote you on that somewhere. That's just too good not to reuse!
Post a Comment
<< Home