What Will Become of the Chevy Volt?
Anyone interested in Electric Vehicles has seen pictures of, or heard about the General Motors Volt hybrid electric car. Many of us also witnessed the toning down of the design when GM released images of the production vehicle makeover last year. With so much focus on GM and other large automobile manufacturers in the US struggling right now to stay afloat, what will happen to these "future cars" if or when things go south? Will they be hucked completely as was done recently with the entire Saturn, Saab and Hummer lines of cars along with the PT Cruiser, Dodge Aspen, and Dodge Durango models, or will another company such as Toyota or Honda swoop in and capitalize on the technology, research, and patents? Considering each of these companies have their own research and technology, will the Volt be lost forever or just rebranded?
Today US News reported that insiders are talking about the largest bankruptcy loan in the history of the United States and possibly the world for GM and the big three. The article says that saving the large auto makers could cost over $130B but could cost even more in terms of jobs and tax revenue if nothing is done. At a time when the entire United States economy is unstable, in part due to bad decisions by the auto makers and their unions, will tough love break the country? Going the bankruptcy could mean the restructuring and de-unionification of the industry, something that could make US manufactures competitive and sustainable once again. With environmental sustainability being such a large focus these days, it is funny to think that the economic environment of GM is so polluted by unions that it can barely support itself anymore, even with subsidies and tariffs leveraged against foreign auto makers. It's a real shame and embarrassment to capitalism.
As jokes are made about GM execs flying private jets to attend a hearing to plead for public funds, ads such as the one posted above (originally found in the March 2009 National Geographic magazine) certainly aren't saving the company money. The ad I am referencing preaches about how "Green" GM is along with announcing the GM Volt... which won't be available to the public for some time to come. The ad says:
Our challenge: Nothing short of reinventing the automobile. This is how we're doing it: We are going to build the Chevy Volt, the extended-range electric vehicle designed to move over 75% of America's daily commuters without a single drop of gas.* We will offer the widest variety of hybrids, one for every need. We have clean diesels on the road today and more cars capable of running on E85 ethanol than any other automaker. We are testing the world's largest fleet of hydrogen-powered cars right now.** And we are investing in two biofuel companies that will be capable of turning waste into fuel. In short, we're reinventing the automobile. Sure it's a big challenge. But we're on our way.
I think the biggest challenge GM is facing right now is simply staying alive. While I applaud the efforts of their newest recruits, straight out of colleges across the world, I am saddened to think that they will have to live with the mistakes and reputation of previous generations of executives and union officials. What do you think will become of the Volt?
Today US News reported that insiders are talking about the largest bankruptcy loan in the history of the United States and possibly the world for GM and the big three. The article says that saving the large auto makers could cost over $130B but could cost even more in terms of jobs and tax revenue if nothing is done. At a time when the entire United States economy is unstable, in part due to bad decisions by the auto makers and their unions, will tough love break the country? Going the bankruptcy could mean the restructuring and de-unionification of the industry, something that could make US manufactures competitive and sustainable once again. With environmental sustainability being such a large focus these days, it is funny to think that the economic environment of GM is so polluted by unions that it can barely support itself anymore, even with subsidies and tariffs leveraged against foreign auto makers. It's a real shame and embarrassment to capitalism.
As jokes are made about GM execs flying private jets to attend a hearing to plead for public funds, ads such as the one posted above (originally found in the March 2009 National Geographic magazine) certainly aren't saving the company money. The ad I am referencing preaches about how "Green" GM is along with announcing the GM Volt... which won't be available to the public for some time to come. The ad says:Our challenge: Nothing short of reinventing the automobile. This is how we're doing it: We are going to build the Chevy Volt, the extended-range electric vehicle designed to move over 75% of America's daily commuters without a single drop of gas.* We will offer the widest variety of hybrids, one for every need. We have clean diesels on the road today and more cars capable of running on E85 ethanol than any other automaker. We are testing the world's largest fleet of hydrogen-powered cars right now.** And we are investing in two biofuel companies that will be capable of turning waste into fuel. In short, we're reinventing the automobile. Sure it's a big challenge. But we're on our way.
I think the biggest challenge GM is facing right now is simply staying alive. While I applaud the efforts of their newest recruits, straight out of colleges across the world, I am saddened to think that they will have to live with the mistakes and reputation of previous generations of executives and union officials. What do you think will become of the Volt?
EV Resources
EV Companies
That is not the real story.. the real story is that the Bush Administration set out to kill Tesla because previous Washington DC was owned and controlled by big oil who also owns Detroit. Tesla turned in all of its paperwork for the multiple DOE loans, WHICH HAD BEEN CREATED UINDER LAW AS EMERGENCY FUNDING TO BE DELIVERED IN 2008 AND NO LATER! And DOE buried the funding and delayed it until Tesla was financially ruined. It should have taken 3 people, 4 days to look over Tesla’s application. They have INTENTIONALLY DELAYED the DOE 136 Money and Loan Guarantee money for FIVE MONTHS in order to kill Tesla. They had the paperwork for almost half a year yet the only looked at it A FEW DAYS AGO because they were ordered to by the NEW White House according to a top former Tesla Exec. There should be a corruption investigation that ties big oil to certain Bush Executives, some of whom are STILL THERE!