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Originally posted by summers73
GM's downfall benefits America.
Chess, not checkers.
No, it doesn't. The fall of a company with that many employees benefits no one, and if you think so then your mind is warped and there's nothing more I can really say to you.
No, it doesn't. The fall of a company with that many employees benefits no one, and if you think so then your mind is warped and there's nothing more I can really say to you.
If you want to continue playing checkers instead of chess, be my guest.
Disregarding the preposterous price tag of the Volt (as compelling a reason as any as to why I'm inclined to consider it DOA), the atrocious finishes for the much-hyped Cruze in the current issues of both Motor Trend & Automobile Magazine (6th out of 8 in one magazine and 4th out of 6 in the other) is proof positive that GM is as incompetent as ever in workmanship despite billions of $$$$ from Obama.
it is priced out of range for most americans, even with the taxpayer funded rebate, i will agree with that.
i saw a good observation on more bad news for the greenieweenies:
Yesterday, I picked up my new VW Gold TDI (diesel) in Atlanta, which is 145 miles away. On the way home I got 56.3 MPG. The VW Polo TDI is a bit smaller, and may be available here in year or so. It may get another 20% or more MPG. So mileage, highway mileage, at least, could be 60-65 MPG. New transmissions that have been announced - ZF Corporation products, for example - will claim to improve mileage another 15%. Lighter weight materials - lightweight steel - will improve things further.
And these are the improvements and advances on our doorstep.
Longer term, questions arise from the efficacy of electrical components in regard to improving fuel efficiency because of the serious amount of extra weight of batteries and components - 400 lbs., or more, of batteries alone in some hybrids.
Then there is the simple inescapable problem of more complications per car simply because there's more stuff that can go wrong with a hybrid car.
As people begin to realize there's not enough Lithium for worldwide automobile electrification/hybridization other types of batteries will be required - even Bill Gates, a major investor in battery technology - recently stated that the magical levels of technology improvements in battery performance don't seem to be happening.
Then there is the question of wasting a very rare resource on lugging people around, but, also, the environmental questions of its mining and production.
If lithium fades from the market over time will other-technology retrofit batteries provide the power-per-pound that the original batteries did? Or will you be stuck with a $40,000 hunk of wasted money? (let me inject here, what about the lithium mining issues for the greenieweenies?)
Astounding levels of hype has always existed in the fields of new technology. Unfortunately, too many of these unproven, and many ultimately unworkable technologies and being pushed to the fore by non-market forces. Vast amounts of wasted money and time occur as this happens.
And too many that have taken up, or have been convinced, of these causes as a religion become disappointed and desperate.
I see the OP chooses to take the low hanging fruit rather than respond to the points that have been brought up about differences in car size, battery weight and longevity, product evolution, or the facts that Nissan is partially government owned and the Japanese automakers all got bailouts from their own government. Let's not even get to the sheer unlikeliness that the federal government was dictating the design of a car which began long before the bailouts ever occurred.
I see the OP chooses to take the low hanging fruit rather than respond to the points that have been brought up about differences in car size, battery weight and longevity, product evolution, or the facts that Nissan is partially government owned and the Japanese automakers all got bailouts from their own government. Let's not even get to the sheer unlikeliness that the federal government was dictating the design of a car which began long before the bailouts ever occurred.
And it's not like Chevy was putting out absolute jaw-dropping cars before the bailout. I much prefer Ford over Chevy.
The Volt underperforms and that, by itself, is a sign that everything the government does must, necessarily, fail. In other words, private industry is far superior to anything government.
Call me crazy, but wasn't it the PRIVATE car industry that managed to tank in the first place?
The Volt underperforms and that, by itself, is a sign that everything the government does must, necessarily, fail. In other words, private industry is far superior to anything government.
Call me crazy, but wasn't it the PRIVATE car industry that managed to tank in the first place?
Pardon my lack of knowledge of electric cars but isn't the volt a much larger car than a Prius or a Leaf?
The Volt is an entirely different kind of vehicle - plug-in hybrid, with the Prius being a hybrid and the Leaf being pure electrical. Overall "greenness" (whatever that means) becomes dependent on usage pattern.
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