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Friday NY Times rare gem: “G.M.’s Electric Lemon” (Chevy Volt)

By: barrypopik (Diary)  |  July 30th, 2010 at 08:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

From the diaries, by Erick

“Government Motors” and its new Chevy Volt is an epic fail. Taxpayer money bought a bankrupt business, which then proceeded to build cars that no one wants to buy. Friday’s New York Times offers a rare opinion that actually makes sense:

G.M.’s Electric Lemon
By EDWARD NIEDERMEYER
Published: July 29, 2010
(…)
For starters, G.M.’s vision turned into a car that costs $41,000 before relevant tax breaks … but after billions of dollars of government loans and grants for the Volt’s development and production. And instead of the sleek coupe of 2007, it looks suspiciously similar to a Toyota Prius. It also requires premium gasoline, seats only four people (the battery runs down the center of the car, preventing a rear bench) and has less head and leg room than the $17,000 Chevrolet Cruze, which is more or less the non-electric version of the Volt.

$41,000! $41,000!! Is there a market for a $41,000 car that’s too small for the average American family? is there a market for a car that’s essentially the same as those selling at 1/3rd the cost?

In short, the Volt appears to be exactly the kind of green-at-all-costs car that some opponents of the bailout feared the government might order G.M. to build. Unfortunately for this theory, G.M. was already committed to the Volt when it entered bankruptcy. And though President Obama’s task force reported in 2009 that the Volt “will likely be too expensive to be commercially successful in the short term,” it didn’t cancel the project.

How can Obama force people to buy this turkey? Make energy costs (gasoline) necessarily skyrocket. Have the EPA outlaw all other vehicles. That’ll do it. Don’t you love government? Are other countries laughing at us yet?

So the future of General Motors (and the $50 billion taxpayer investment in it) now depends on a vehicle that costs $41,000 but offers the performance and interior space of a $15,000 economy car.

Ding! Ding! Ding! That’s the problem in a nutshell.

Quantifying just how much taxpayer money will have been wasted on the hastily developed Volt is no easy feat. Start with the $50 billion bailout (without which none of this would have been necessary), add $240 million in Energy Department grants doled out to G.M. last summer, $150 million in federal money to the Volt’s Korean battery supplier, up to $1.5 billion in tax breaks for purchasers and other consumer incentives, and some significant portion of the $14 billion loan G.M. got in 2008 for “retooling” its plants, and you’ve got some idea of how much taxpayer cash is built into every Volt.

Remember how Barbara Walters and Joy Behar on The View grilled President Obama about this auto bailout fiasco yesterday? No?

If G.M. were honest, it would market the car as a personal donation for, and vote of confidence in, the auto bailout. Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of cross-branding that will make the Volt a runaway success.

Nice job, Edward Niedermeyer. His website is The Truth About Cars.

From PluginCars.com:

In Marketing Volt, GM Uses “It’s a Real Car” Defense, Potentially Hurting Rest of Plug-in Industry
Nick Chambers · 11 hours ago
The comparison is inevitable: Nissan LEAF versus Chevrolet Volt. As the only two mass market plug-in cars available for the first two years of the coming global wave of plug-in releases, the companies have found themselves locked in what seems to be a rather reluctant marketing battle—waging a delicate war of words as they try to woo customers.
(…)
COMMENTS
abasile · 10 hours ago
Too bad we are all shareholders in Government Motors. In my opinion, that was one bailout we didn’t need. At this point, while I hope for success for both the Volt and the LEAF, I think that Nissan’s simpler, battery-only approach will do better in the market. Paying an extra $8,000+ and losing one seat just wouldn’t cut it for my family.

Or most families. No one at Government Motors could figure that out?

From the Detroit Free Press:

Posted: July 29, 2010
Limbaugh rips GM, Chevy Volt
He questions range of electric vehicle
BY JUSTIN HYDE
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
WASHINGTON — Radio host Rush Limbaugh tore into General Motors on Wednesday over the Chevrolet Volt, while saying he had taken advertising money from GM last year during its rescue by the Obama administration.
(…)
Limbaugh spent much of the first part of his show criticizing the Volt and the $41,000 price GM revealed on Tuesday, questioning why the U.S. government needed to add a $7,500 tax credit.

“Obama and the government are admitting nobody wants this,” Limbaugh said, repeatedly referring to GM as “Obama Motors.”
(…)
Ahead of Obama’s visit Friday to GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the Volt is built, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Volt was symbolic of the auto industry’s comeback.

Don’t even try to spin this disaster, Gibbsie.

Today’s “Freep” tries some spin as well:

Posted: July 30, 2010
Visiting Obama deserves credit for saving GM, Chrysler
BY TOM WALSH
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
President Barack Obama comes to Detroit today, looking for love in the factories of America’s hardest-hit big city.

Beset by a sputtering jobless economic recovery, Obama will tout the federal rescues of General Motors and Chrysler as bold moves that staved off another Great Depression and saved thousands of jobs.
(…)
Sorry, but the auto rescue critics are all wet. This was much more than a handout to weather a slump. Obama’s auto task force totally reshaped a bloated and dysfunctional industry, forcing sacrifices from all, into something that now looks sensible and sustainable.

Rush Limbaugh must have sent his Obama kneepads to this guy instead of Joy Behar. Government Motors was never sensible and is not sustainable. The Volt is an overpriced lemon–and that’s today’s New York Times talking!

SUMMARY
Haven’t we said all along that the auto bailouts were a disaster? Doesn’t most of America agree when polled about it?

What kind of government goes ahead and does this anyway?

Message to Obama: Stop in at American Coney Island and be sure that every camera snaps you eating a real Michigan “Coney Island hot dog.” Be upbeat. There will be TelePrompters at GM, so no worries. Step in a Chevy Volt. Ooh! Aah! Big smile. Say “built right here in America!” Get out and stand next to the Volt and in front of the large American flag. Works every time.

Note to NY Times: Your headline is probably an insult to lemons.

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COMMENTS

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  • bk

    http://www.edmunds.com/nissan/leaf/2011/review.html

    They were mostly very positive, but this caught my eye. I’m guessing the Volt situation is similar, where the buyer and the taxpayer each need to fork over an additional grand on top of the original $33K and $7,500.

    Pricing for the 2011 Nissan Leaf is expected to be surprisingly affordable once government tax credits are applied. Available as a traditional purchase or three-year lease, the Leaf will be priced at $32,780 without delivery fees. A federal tax credit will bring the price down $7,500, to $25,280. Residents of certain states are also eligible for additional credits. Of course, buyers will need to consider the cost of installing a home charging station, which Nissan estimates will cost $2,200 before a 50 percent tax credit. Annual costs for electricity will likely be a fraction of what it would otherwise cost for gasoline.

    Of course what is NOT being mentioned in any discussions is:
    - However the paltry sales might be, they are sure to tumble when the buyers start paying 100% of the cost instead of 80% while the taxpayers pick up the other 20%. Top sales will likely be in Hollywood, where it will replace the Prius as the car that an assistant parks a block away from an event so that the star’s limo can drop them off there.
    - Obama has stated (and his actions appear to back it up) that he wants to drive electricity costs sky-high. It’s already a lie to say the car is green when your electric provider is supplying the juice for it rather than your local gas station, but add to that that the cost of ownership will rise steeply as the price of electricity rises.

    From the same Edmunds review is the issue Rush often harps on.

    Most people’s concern will likely be the vehicle’s range. In our experience with other prototype electric cars, a 100-mile range is indeed sufficient for most daily-use driving such as commuting and errand-running. One problem, however, is the lack of an electric-car recharging infrastructure. This can lead to “range anxiety,” or the nervous state you start to feel as the car’s battery starts running low. If you’re nowhere near home or a recharging station, you run the risk of running out of power and becoming stranded.

    In places like Texas, you’d fear driving them because you know they’d lose in a battle against an F-150 or a Suburban on the highway. It’s hard to see it being little more than a glorified golf cart for running local errands – who’d want to risk whatever few loved ones they could fit in it? Speaking of which, given his height and her width, would Mr and Mrs Obama even fit into the front seat of a Volt or a Leaf? I’m willing to bet if they do for a photo op today, that it will be a specially doctored-up one and not the one that the public will be able to buy.

    • bk

      What WILL happen in the event of severe wrecks? The least of your concerns in a normal car is that you’ll end up with battery acid on you, but here you’ll be sitting atop a LOT of chemicals. What happens if these batteries get smashed into pieces? What happens if it occurs during a rainstorm?

      This is from the Wikipedia description of what makes up lithium-ion batteries. Judge for yourself what any risks might be.

      The three primary functional components of a lithium-ion battery are the anode, cathode, and electrolyte. The anode of a conventional lithium-ion cell is made from carbon, the cathode is a metal oxide, and the electrolyte is a lithium salt in an organic solvent.[8]

      The most commercially popular anode material is graphite. The cathode is generally one of three materials: a layered oxide (such as lithium cobalt oxide), a polyanion (such as lithium iron phosphate), or a spinel (such as lithium manganese oxide).[9]

      The electrolyte is typically a mixture of organic carbonates such as ethylene carbonate or diethyl carbonate containing complexes of lithium ions.[10] These non-aqueous electrolytes generally use non-coordinating anion salts such as lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), lithium hexafluoroarsenate monohydrate (LiAsF6), lithium perchlorate (LiClO4), lithium tetrafluoroborate (LiBF4), and lithium triflate (LiCF3SO3).

      Depending on materials choices, the voltage, capacity, life, and safety of a lithium-ion battery can change dramatically. Recently, novel architectures using nanotechnology have been employed to improve performance.

      Pure lithium is very reactive. It reacts vigorously with water to form lithium hydroxide and hydrogen gas is liberated. Thus a non-aqueous electrolyte is typically used, and a sealed container rigidly excludes water from the battery pack.

      This is from the MSDS on lithium hydroxide. Maybe there couldn’t be enough produced or in such a form that we need to worry about any of this. Maybe lithium ions used in car batteries can’t be converted to lithium hydroxide like pure lithium can. I don’t know. Do you?

      3. Hazards Identification

      Emergency Overview
      ————————–
      POISON! DANGER! CORROSIVE. MAY BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED OR INHALED. CAUSES BURNS TO ANY AREA OF CONTACT.

      SAF-T-DATA(tm) Ratings (Provided here for your convenience)
      ——————————————————————–
      Health Rating: 3 – Severe (Poison)
      Flammability Rating: 0 – None
      Reactivity Rating: 2 – Moderate
      Contact Rating: 4 – Extreme (Corrosive)
      Lab Protective Equip: GOGGLES & SHIELD; LAB COAT & APRON; VENT HOOD; PROPER GLOVES
      Storage Color Code: White (Corrosive)
      ——————————————————————–

      Potential Health Effects
      ———————————-

      Inhalation:
      Corrosive. Extremely destructive to tissues of the mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract. Symptoms may include burning sensation, coughing, wheezing, laryngitis, shortness of breath, headache, nausea and vomiting. Inhalation may be fatal as a result of spasm inflammation and edema of the larynx and bronchi, chemical pneumonitis and pulmonary edema.

      Ingestion:
      Corrosive. Swallowing can cause severe burns of the mouth, throat, and stomach, leading to death. Can cause sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea. In severe cases, lithium can cause apathy, sluggishness, drowsiness, slurred speech, blurred vision, irregular eye movements, weakness, incoordination, lethargy, heart effects, brain effects, ringing in the ears, tremors and muscle twitching, central nervous system damage, kidney effects, thyroid changes, coma, pulmonary edema, and renal failure.

      Skin Contact:
      Dermal contact with alkaline corrosives may produce pain, redness, severe irritation or full thickness burns.

      Eye Contact:
      Corrosive. Contact can cause blurred vision, redness, pain and severe tissue burns.

      Chronic Exposure:
      Prolonged skin contact causes dermatitis, deep burns and scarring. Chronic exposure may damage the liver or kidneys, and may cause central nervous system depression.

      Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions:
      Persons with pre-existing skin disorders or eye problems or impaired respiratory function may be more susceptible to the effects of the substance.

      • http://www.barrypopik.com barrypopik

        I live in the very liberal Austin area, so you never know. But even liberals aren’t this stupid with their own money.

        This car looks like it’s unsafe for even a simple I35 drive from Austin to San Antonio.

        • texasgalt

          Of course you realize there is no simple drive anywhere on I-35. :-)

        • http://www.veronicaestrada.com Veronica

          they don’t want to be spent into the poorhouse.

          to look hip, not stupid.

          and this was EXCEEDINGLY stupid.

          so much so, I want to curse and spit fire.

          • cactusjack

            and I remember , also from later experience in changing a car battery, if two batteries impact at speed physics can take over and a massive explosion results. Or, one gets doused with corrosive acid on the skin. But in the big scheme of things, it is a small price to pay. As we pass theburned out hulks of Volts on the roadside which were immolated in massive explosions, we nonethelss can bravely face forward, keep motoring, (or is it whirring?) and hail Obama’s enlightened leadership which is leading us to Broad Horizons of Social Justice and Fraternal Equility.

      • throwback59

        called a “Leaf?”

      • itdiehard

        will have carry special equipment to fight fires in these toxic cars. All hidden cost aren’t disclosed in the environmental impact studies with these cars.

      • JoeG

        The battery is in the middle of the car. If the crash is severe enough to break the battery, the occupants are dead.

        Additionally, it really isn’t a comparison you want to make vs. gasoline. I’ll take electrolyte burns over being doused in burning gasoline.

        All of these lines were trotted out against the Prius and the other hybrids. They turned out false. There is plenty to rip on GM about this car. Just don’t make up stuff.

        • itdiehard

          equipment is need to handle these type of vehicles. At the cost of the local communities. This is why trucks hauling hazardous equipment can’t travel where ever they like.

        • Wine Country Dog

          in many areas are required to roll special haz-mat trucks whenever a Prius or other electric car crash is reported. This places an extra burden on our emergency services so the smug Prius drivers can boast about how they are saving money, when in fact they are transferring the cost to the government. No wonder all the Prius drivers had 0bama stickers on their cars in 2008.

          The simple fact is that electric cars are not mission-capable for most Americans.
          -Energy density of the batteries are far lower than a tank of gas
          -Electricity still has to be generated somewhere, pollution generated and usually something has to be burned, there are transmission losses in the power grid, and if you charge up the batteries and just let it sit for a couple of weeks, the batteries begin to lose their charge. Gas doesn’t. Yes, eventually gasoline will turn to varnish but we’re talking about months, not days.
          -The California power grid would collapse if even 10% of the cars in CA were electric.

          There are many more reasons why electric cars, except for mission specific cars in metro environments, will be an epic fail. One of the chief reasons is that the rare earth elements required for the electric car batteries are found only in China where they are mined under very poorly controlled conditions. We would be transferring our dependency on Canadian oil (we get more oil from Canada than from Saudi Arabia) to China. If we do that we may as well just sign over everything else to China since they will have complete economic control over the US. This could be one of 0bama’s goals.

          BTW 0bama drove a Dolt for 10 feet on a factory concrete floor and proclaimed that it had a nice ride. So now he must think he is a qualified automotive engineer as well as an economics guru and a health care savant.

          God help us.
          Woof

  • NeoKong

    But after that I can’t see a market.
    Does GM realize the primo pimped out car that someone could buy for $ 41,000…?
    You can buy a Lexus or a Mercedes for that much money.
    Why would someone spend that much money on a car you have to charge overnight versus a car that takes two minutes to fill at a gas station ?
    Electricity ain’t exactly too cheap either.
    Nothing exists yet that can compete with the ease of gasoline.
    If my Chevy Volt runs out of power on the side of the road I cannot walk a mile to the nearest electric plant and get a gallon of electricity.

    Hey look…. I like the environment , squirrels and dolphins and all that green nature stuff and everything. Who doesn’t ? But the thought of driving a super expensive car that kinda’ sucks doesn’t appeal too me.
    Show me a good practical car that has a little muscle to it and now you got my attention.
    Other than that I’ll be gassing up the Expedition.
    Sorry GM.

    • JoeG

      “If my Chevy Volt runs out of power on the side of the road I cannot walk a mile to the nearest electric plant and get a gallon of electricity.”

      The Volt will run on either electricity or gasoline. GM just screwed it up and made it $8K more than Nissan did. The Nissan only runs on electricity.

      • romeg

        purchase a trailer mounted diesel powered generator that you can tow with your Leaf and drive from Key West to Anchorage while averaging around 60 mpg.

        Of course, for about HALF the price of a Volt, you can buy a VW Jedda TDI that gets 41 mpg hwy, purchase 100 shares of AAPL with the difference and have yourself a real nice package.

  • Gmac

    has very limited capacity and at best a very limited range of 50 miles because its tethered to a charging system.

    This of course is a government funded project that was destined to fail before the first electron was sent to the monitor’s screen.

    The worst thing that can possibly happen to one of these vehicles that I can see is a short circuit after a crash. The fire would be violent and near impossible to extinguish.

    • tngal

      Ffrom our county paper this week:

      Rep Lincoln Davis will activate” the first parking area solar array in the Southeastern United States” Aug 4th. .

  • RedBeard

    Sure, this isn’t all on Obama, although he has put the problem on steroids. But it certainly is the result of top-down government meddling in private industry, and pushing the car companies to develop this sort of white elephant.

    Central planning! Five Year Plans! Yippee!

    Are there any fault lines running up just to the west of D.C.? Having the whole swamp float out to sea would solve a lot of problems.
    .

    • http://theminorityreportblog.com Repair_Man_Jack

      That’s the question that really drives this administration.

      • itdiehard

        It doesn’t matter.

  • renny

    and can’t now run GM.

    No one on the right is surprised.

    When the gov’t cannot run health care, the left will be surprised.

    Which side is more intelligent?

    • bk

      just that they run it period.

      Actually if it’s run poorly that’s probably a plus, as then they can argue that all the problems are because not enough money is being spent on it.

  • Read Chesterton

    as the Volt displaces it as the most ridiculed production automobile in the world.

    Let’s hear it for the Obamobile!

    • tngal

      Actually looked at buying the yugo when it came out. $5550 if I recall. Didn’t get it but it was cheap. Poor yugo. Always maligned and misunderstood.

    • fortcollins

      Comparing the Volt to the Yugo isn’t entirely fair. The Yugo actually was sold in several countries, and a few of them remain on the roads today. (Rush Limbaugh’s wonderful parody set to the tune of “In the Ghetto” is perhaps the Yugo’s best epitaph.)

      A better comparison is the Trabant. Like the Government Motors Volt, the Trabant was produced by a factory directed by central planning. Like the Volt, the Trabant was horribly overpriced, despite government subsidies, and required long waiting lists for purchase.

      A few differences exist, naturally. The Trabant had a delightfully underpowered, pollutant-spewing two-stroke engine, with a gravity-feed fuel supply that turned the car into something of a mobile bomb in collisions. The plasticized recycled fiber body was an added bonus.

      nothing like central planning to assure production of an unwanted object. Ahhh, Government Motors: An Amerikan Revolution.

      • izoneguy

        It will probably be remembered as the DOLT……

        GM has a lousy track record when it comes to electrical systems.
        My parents owned a fair number of Chevys & GM vehicles….
        The electrical systems were always causing problems.
        I owned some Chevy vans for our company and the electrical systems were the major cause of breakdowns. I finally went to Toyota vans for the company. Never a problem with the Toyotas. I know own a Nissan Quest Van and it has been rock-solid.

        The VOLT sounds like a disaster in the making. I guess GM will find enough Obama lovers for their experiment. Just the fact that they are using Obama’s 10 feet drive as a marketing ploy, tells me all I need to know!!!!!

        Hell, I may buy one so I can get a huge government settlement when the class-action lawsuits begin. On the other hand, GM is so protected now that I doubt anything will ever be ruled against them. Nice to be a part of the gangsta government I guess.

        • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

          .

          • izoneguy

            Krauthammer: “The Chevy Volt Is A Disaster”

            http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/07/31/krauthammer_the_chevy_volt_is_a_disaster.html

            Charles Krauthammer: “The only people who are going to buy it are going to be very rich people who are going to park it outside their townhouse for ostentatious show of how virtuous they are while they drive around in their Cadillac Escalade.”

            “This is a classic example of what happens when the political and ideological desires of an administration are imposed on a private company…It’s not how many jobs you create or even save, it’s can you sell a product in the market that will make a profit? Otherwise, it’s a farce.”

          • 6eorge Jetson


                          Click to see full size image

  • gwalt

    Gibbs fielded a GM question about Limbaugh and at the end of his assault stated that he doesn’t think Limbaugh doesn’t drive an F-150 so he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

    Uh—-Baghdad Bob—Ford makes the F-150. They didn’t take bailout money. This isn’t even a case of pot meet kettle. It’s stupid meet yourself.

    • gwalt

      Sorry—one too many doesn’t(s)—-you knew what I meant.

    • http://theminorityreportblog.com Repair_Man_Jack

      It would so damage his social pretensions. What a pillow-biting little twit.

  • JSobieski

    and looks to be a far better car. Also, since the electric option is but one option for the Focus, this is much more of a commercial product then say the Volt which will never generate a profit for GM.

    I am considering the electric version of the Focus for a second car and for the novelty—love getting gizmos.

    http://www.plugincars.com/ford-focus-electric/review

  • nessa

    …I’d investigate the options.

    Ford 2011 Shelby GT500: $48,645
    Only 7k more and you’ve got a supercharged 5.4 liter V8. It might prove to be a little more ballsy than the Volt.

    Ford F150 SVT Raptor $41,995
    For another grand you get the new 6.2-liter Boss V8 engine recently developed by the automaker, deliver 400 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque.

    Ford Taurus SHO: $37,770
    3.5-liter

    • nessa
      • izoneguy

        The VOLT will probably only live if the Federal government buys them for it’s vehicle fleet.

        Cars under $40,000 –

        http://www.lotpro.com/prices/2010/all/30000/40000

        I think I will buy this one.

        http://www.lotpro.com/cars/2010/infiniti/g37_coupe

  • romeg

    car what they managed to do for the U.S. built Diesel powered car: Making it TOO expensive, TOO unreliable and TOO impractical for even the truly dedicated Greenies. Only this time they are doing it with MY money, not theirs. As Mr. T might say “I pity the fool that buys one of these things.”

    In order to overcome the resistance in the marketplace, the Government will, as you suggest, have to resort to the most extreme contortions of the entity’s balance sheet to hide its costs and reduce its price and/or distortions of public policy or even MORE heavily subsidize it in order to get this turkey to fly.

    But, HEY! Up to 40 miles with Zero Emissions, right?

  • coloradoredgirl

    As with most liberal ideas, there is no thorough thought process. The purpose of having these inefficient, expensive ‘electric’ cars is b/c of the outcry for less carbon emissions and reliance on oil from the evil oil companies. However, how do we get the bulk of our electricity? COAL! Coal one of the many industries Pres BO said he wants to eliminate. The bulk of our electricity is not hydroelectric, natural gas, petroleum or other renewables: http://www.americaspower.org/The-Facts/ . Heaven forbid if you live somewhere like California that has rolling blackouts. For those of us in Colorado, like my family, I cannot imagine driving the Chevy Volt up to the mountains for a ski weekend. Imagine the Volt in a 90 minute drive, with no traffic and no bad weather, with skis on top going through a mountain pass. This vehicle will be a flop, and then there will be another request for a bailout.

    • Common_Cents

      We need tremendous nuclear development but nooooooo. We could dump the toxic waste into afghan and Iranian caves or drop it onto the north Korea presidential mansion

  • JamesLBurns

    Nobody but wealthy image conscious people will buy the Volt. Some quick math. From what I can gather, the Volt gets 40 miles on 8 kWh of electricity (although it’s a 16 kWh battery, it apparenly only uses 8kWh). And in gas mode it gets 50 mpg.

    I drive about 60 miles a day for work. So each day I’d use my 8kWh of electricity and an additional 0.4 gallons of gas. Or per week it’s 40 kWh and 2 gallons. At my current rate of $.166/kWh and $3.00/gallon, that’s $12.64 per week. If I bought a car that gets 35 mpg, I’d use 8.57 gallons of gas per week at a cost of $25.71.

    So the Volt saves me a whopping $13.07 per week. But even with the $7,500 tax credit, the Volt is going to cost me about $17,200 more than my 35 mpg car (Ford Fiesta gets 29/38mpg and costs $16,300 for a reasonably equiped car). With that price premium it will be 1,316 weeks, or 25 years before the fuel savings will have paid for the Volt’s price premium. And this ignores the time value of my $17,200 that could be used for something more productive.

    Of course, given this math, it means that the $7,500 tax credit is going to the very people that the Democrats demonize for not paying their fair share.

    The up side, with return on investment numbers like this, they actually make solar and wind investments look good.

    • itrytobenice

      The interest on your $17,200 invested at 4%, which is a nice, safe investment rate, would be $13.23 per week. So not only would you *never* get back your investment, you’ll continue to lose money forever.

      And I have a feeling your insurance company is not going to charge the same premium for your $41,000 socially acceptable status symbol as they would for your $15,000 economy car.

      • http://theminorityreportblog.com Repair_Man_Jack
  • itrytobenice

    When the battery runs dead, it’ll still fit in the back of my pickup, just like the 4-wheeler. :-)

    • itrytobenice

      the 4 wheeler will go over terrain that would strand the Volt. And the pickup will go everywhere the Volt will go. And it has a range of 600 miles on a tank of fuel.

      So I guess I’ll save my $40 grand or buy a new boat. :-)

  • http://theminorityreportblog.com Repair_Man_Jack

    It’s a small generator that you carry in the back of the VOlt along with the spare tire. It recharges the battery enough for you to make it 50 miles to hlep.
    It’s called the the Chevy Re-Volt.

    Thank you, thank you. I’m here all week. Keeping puttin’ bread in the jar.

    • lucky364

      Reminds me of my aunt. Her third husband passed away and at the funeral she was introducing some of the guests to the previous two. Yep, all three buried right next to each other. Anywho, the first two hubbies were named Peter. The introduction went like this. ” Here’s Pete. And over here is RE-Pete. Folks didn’t know if they should be appalled or laugh their silly butts off. I laughed my silly butt off.

  • http://www.veronicaestrada.com Veronica

    Great post, Barry.

    Passing this out to my friends. We’re all hurting.

    Gonna secure those GOP votes.

  • teresakoch

    And the batteries don’t last as long as conventional ones, either.

  • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

    n/t

  • jazzycmk

    …to buying an electric car once the prices come down and the technological kinks are worked out.

    But they’re simply not there yet.

    If you put two cars side by side and they look the same and offer all the same features and are comparably priced with the only difference being that one runs on traditional gas and the other is all electric, many people would opt for the electric car.

    But why am I even going to consider an electric car right now when I would have to use a shoehorn to get myself in and out of it, plus having to worry about the range of the charge in the back of my mind if I take a trip of any length?

    Free market would have eventually put a good electric product out there. Obama & Co, by forcing the issue, are actually hurting the electric car’s future by putting out a bad product that will define the electric car in the minds of many and will take years to overcome.

  • Common_Cents

    Nothing wrong with electric cars competing, but let them on their own merit, not Obamageddon trying to pick “winners”

  • oblio

    provides for taxpayers to help pay for someone else’s car ?

    • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

      Which is why car insurance, gas, and maintenance should also be covered by ObamaGov as well.

      • JSobieski

        The right to drive a car outside of your private property is however a privilege.

        • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

          Kagan’s take on the commerce clasue.

    • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

      according to Rep. John Conyers

      http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/watercooler/2010/mar/23/conyers-makes-constitutional-law-citing-good-and-w/

      • cactusjack

        the first paragraph of the “living, breathing document” Article and in between two of the “emanting penumbra” subsections.

  • Common_Cents

    Fleet reloads are bailing out GM and Chrysler. Watch for your govt agencies rolling around in new chevys soon. Auto rental companies also reloaded since they went light during the credit crunch. The 2nd half of the year for GM and Chrysler ought to be very tough. How many cars can Obama buy? Maybe a car will be a birthright, courtesy of Obamageddon, but will just finance it for you and tack it on your IRS file.