Setting of for a Dissapointment?
The GM Volt has really been a litany of mistakes. The initial launch, which must have been years ago now, paraded an all-American example of brute style. The car was butch. You’d almost imagine rappers flocking to the plug-in.
It’s very hard to see the resemblance. Massive amounts of the original design appeal has been shaved off, apparently for aerodynamics.
Personally, I think they just should have tried to push style over substance. That is, after all, what Americans do best. And now we have this nonsense of 230mpg. The EPA has come out with a bemused acclimation. They don’t know, there’s no way to measure it, the standards just don’t exist for plug-ins.
Part of the problem with major OEMs has been that they’re either too loud or too cautious. In GMs case its both. Time frames, style, price and soon, capability will all disappoint. Why didn’t they just get everything else right and bring a PHEV-15 to the market - that’s 15 miles of battery (the Volt will apparently have 40). That would do. It would at least get the concept on the road and into the showrooms.
Someone has to start. Look at the G-Whiz. Fair enough, I have more than an interest in that one but the facts are there. REVA have had cars on the road, even if they do look weird an remain confined to the cities but at least that’s a start.
Maybe it’s just the way our culture works. The EV or the plug-in hybrid won’t be legitimate until some company releases a car that matches its combustion-engine counterpart in every respect except that it doesn’t take a liquid fuel. So far, Nissan stand the best chance. They’ve got the production line capacity but it will still take years to drive down the costs.
For that reason GM should have paid more attention. They should have done everything they could to avoid disappointment, even if that meant sacrificing much of the range. The Prius, after all, is just a highly efficient car. The Volt could have been a cool looking but very novel vehicle. Instead they’ve tried to build a car for everyone and that’s what a PHEV-40 can be. The concept of a range extended vehicle is just so tantalising because it smuggles the EV in without anyone really noticing.
But people have noticed GM because they haven’t shut up about it FOR YEARS. I know someone in the US EV industry who is sceptical about GMs ability to bring the car to market within 3-5 years. That seems pessimistic but it does reference their approach quite well - promise the world, take so long to deliver it that even the biggest fans will be going over the ‘perfect car’ with a tooth comb to reveal its flaws.
The American public would have been a lot more forgiving if a cool looking but crap car had hit the market. Sure they’re used to that kind of carry on anyway.
