Originally Posted by bigaudiofa

One word

Hydrogen


http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/


I am getting so sick and tired of this big push for these stupid electric cars. I know I am not going to sit on the side of the road for 4 hours while I wait for a battery to charge, nor do I want a hybrid. In todays age we get in the car; we fill up in a few minutes and continue.

I would write a paper on the overall problems electric cars have, from the simple "oh bunny your having the baby now!" Well I can not leave I just plugged the car in to charge!!!"

To the bigger one such as the already huge demand of normal day to day usage of the power grid, now want every american to charge a car at night.

Originally Posted by Bloomberg News

Toyota Prius Wagon Sales in 10 Weeks Top GM Volt’s 2011 Total

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) scored a victory in 2011 as U.S. deliveries of its Prius v wagon in 10 weeks topped sales of General Motors Co. (GM)’s Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid that was available all year.

Toyota sold 8,399 of the hybrid wagon, which didn’t arrive at U.S. dealerships until the last week of October, said Carly Schaffner, a spokeswoman for the company. GM delivered 7,671 rechargeable Volts in 2011 and 7,997 in the model’s first 13 months on the market. The Japanese automaker hadn’t distinguished Prius v sales from those of the original one.

“Prius v is off to a great start,” Jim Lentz, president of Toyota’s U.S. sales unit, said in an e-mail this week. The hybrid wagon starts at $26,400, Toyota said on its website. The Volt starts at $39,145 and is eligible for as much as $7,500 in federal tax credits.

Toyota, the largest gasoline-electric auto seller, wants to deliver more than 220,000 vehicles bearing the Prius name this year to U.S. customers, a 60 percent increase from 2011. That’s to be fueled by a four-car “family” consisting of the original hatchback, the v, the Prius c subcompact arriving in March, and a plug-in Prius that goes about 15 miles on battery power.

GM missed its goal of selling 10,000 Volts last year. A slow production increase kept dealers for the Detroit-based company in short supply until December, and a federal investigation of three fires that occurred after Volt crash tests lowered demand for the car, according to Bandon, Oregon- based CNW Marketing Research Inc.


Powertrain Choices

Comparing the plug-in Volt with the hybrid wagon is “ridiculous,” said Rob Peterson, a GM spokesman.
“Consumers cross-shop vehicles with comparable technologies or functionality, not a new name plate,” Peterson said by e-mail. “Comparing Volt to Prius v is apples and oranges.”

The range of alternative-power autos available to U.S. drivers is mushrooming as manufacturers offer vehicles powered wholly or in part by electricity, bio-fuels, natural gas and even hydrogen. That number will jump this year with new offerings required to meet clean air rules in California.

Bloomberg News tracked sales of 37 such vehicles in 2011, up from only two in 2000. Offerings include the Prius, the Volt, Nissan Motor Co. (7201)’s Leaf and Honda Motor Co.’s FCX Clarity fuel- cell sedan leased in California.

Hybrid sales accounted for only 2.2 percent of U.S. auto sales last year, down from 2.4 percent in 2010, according to researcher LMC Automotive. The decline was a result of reduced production of the Prius, which accounts for half of all hybrid sales, after Japan’s natural disasters cut the supply of parts, said Lentz, who is based at Toyota’s U.S. sales office in Torrance, California.


Hybrids Slip

The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami temporarily halted Prius assembly in Japan, leaving U.S. dealers with little inventory of the car for months. Overall Prius sales fell 3.2 percent last year to 136,463.
Toyota dealers in the U.S. also sold 9,241 hybrid midsize Camry cars, 37 percent fewer than in 2010, according to Autodata Corp., and the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker said it delivered 14,381 Lexus CT200h gas-electric compact luxury wagons in the model’s first calendar year.

Nissan sold 9,674 Leaf all-electric cars in the U.S. last year, missing its target of 10,000 to 12,000. The company said production lost to the tsunami limited availability. The Leaf averages about 73 miles per charge, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Prius v wagon, larger and heavier than a standard Prius, averages 42 miles per gallon of gasoline in combined city and highway driving, compared with 50 mpg for the main version. The Volt, capable of going 35 miles on battery power, has two U.S. fuel-economy ratings: 94 mpg-equivalent when both its lithium-ion pack and gasoline engine are used, and a combined 37 mpg when powered solely by gasoline.

Originally Posted by Detroit News

JANUARY 18, 2012 AT 6:17 PM
GM CEO agrees to testify at Volt hearing in D.C.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson agreed Wednesday to testify next week before a House panel investigating the government's handling of an investigation into fire risks in the Chevrolet Volt.

A panel of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hear testimony from Akerson and the government's top auto safety regulator, David Strickland, who heads the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"Dan has agreed to testify at the hearing, and he looks forward to doing it," GM spokesman Greg Martin said.

The Volt has become a lightning rod for criticism from many Republicans and right-leaning blogs, even as the company says it has drawn thousands of new prospective buyers that haven't visited a GM dealership in years.

This will be Akerson's first testimony on Capitol Hill since taking the reins of the Detroit automaker in September 2010.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a letter sent to House members Monday that its subcommittee overseeing bailouts will hold a hearing Jan. 25.

The hearing is titled "Volt Vehicle Fire: What did NHTSA know and when did they know it?"

Strickland said last week the White House was informed in September of the June fire, but officials didn't ask the agency to keep the information secret. NHTSA didn't publicly disclose the fire until Nov. 12, when Bloomberg News first reported it occurred.

After an initial investigation concluded that damage to the Volt battery was the cause of the June fire that occurred three weeks after the government crash test, NHTSA briefed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, according to letters Strickland sent to three House Republicans.

NHTSA opened a formal defect investigation Nov. 25, after a second Volt battery pack caught fire seven days after another government test.

GM, which received a $49.5 billion government bailout, is still 26 percent owned by the Treasury Department.

Republicans have asked GM and the Obama administration to answer detailed questions about why they didn't disclose the fire in a crash-tested Volt for several months, and whether politics was behind any decision to delay the disclosure.

A spokesman for Issa, Ali Ahmad, said Friday the committee would demand that NHTSA turn over records.

"NHTSA has stalled on responding to the committee's inquiry for six weeks and inexplicably refused to provide any documents. The committee expects full compliance with its request and will consider compulsory methods if NHTSA does not immediately change its position," Ahmad said.

Earlier this month, GM agreed to a safety fix, including strengthening the steel battery containment system and adding new sensors. NHTSA has pronounced itself satisfied with GM's fix, but hasn't yet closed its investigation. The agency could do so as early as later this week. It plans to release a report on its findings.

GM stopped short of issuing a formal safety recall to address the issue and is allowing dealers to sell unrepaired Volts. GM hopes to get parts to dealers in "the February time frame," the company said last week.

GM had its best-ever sales month for the Volt in December, selling 1,529, including nearly 1,000 to retail customers. But it fell short of its 2011 goal of 10,000 sales, selling 7,671 for the year.

GM hasn't restarted production at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant since its holiday shutdown in December. The company hasn't given a precise timetable on when it will start assembling Volts again.

Originally Posted by ntran18

Do you think GM will drop the price to ~$33k once the federal $7500 subsidy exipires? If it is struggling to sell while subsidized... How will GM sell any without it?

Originally Posted by mmarshall

That $7500 has nothing to do with GM, or how much it actually costs GM to produce the car. It is strictly a Government-to-car-buyer tax-credit.

GM is struggling to sell the car because, IMO, at its current price, tax-refund or not, the car is simply too expensive for a Cruze-platform Chevy compact with long-range electronics and lousy ergonomics inside to boot.

Right now, I myself am looking at the Buick Verano, another Cruze-platform GM compact, which, IMO, puts the Volt to shame in virtually everything but gas-mileage. It has an enormously better interior, far better ergonomics, gobs of sound-insulation, a superb paint-job, high-quality materials (especially compared to the usual low GM standards), and impressive build-quality. It sells for only 23-29K, depending on options, whereas a Volt with options/dealer-markup, even after the tax-credit, will go for probably 40K or more.