I remember when Congress began requiring auto makers to reduce emissions. The auto industry said it would be impossible and they would be put out of business by such drastic regulations. Kind of reminds me of how some people complain today about regulations. Anyway, lo and behold, they came up with the catalytic converter.
We need to continue to press Detroit to innovate. They won’t do it on their own. One day we’ll be able to tell the Middle East that we don’t need their oil anymore. Not because we have enough respurces here (we don’t), but because we’ll come up with a better way to get around.
The reason the Volt is in existence is because the federal government for the past 30-40 years has been requiring auto makers to increase fuel efficiency standards. IF we keep on their heels, they will eventually come up with a good solution to our dependence on foreign oil. The Volt is a good start. They will work out the bugs. That’s what my comment had to do with the article. The point is that American ingenuity always prevails.
The Volt is a good start? It’s a terribly overpriced car that isn’t even as good as past electric cars. They’ve sold like 5,000 of them.
This is an example of what government intervention brings, an overpriced, inferior product. If GM hadn’t had to sell their soul to Washington D.C., this project would have been shelved already. But they’ll keep throwing money at a car that nobody wants.
TOPOV, As usual, you have misstated the facts. All the leading Oil & Gas experts agree that the US has more proven reserves than the entire Middle East. It is just waiting to be tapped. If we got government out of the way, this country could be completely self sufficient in less than 10 years. We could tell the Mid East to eat their oil. Car companies will continue to innovate, but they have to produce something that will sell. Obviously, the Volt will not sell. It costs way too much, has limited range and is fire prone in an accident. A consumer can buy 2 Nissan Versas for the same price and it gets 40MGP.
Another huge waste of tax payer dollars. GM has only sold 6,000 volts since introduction. Why? They are ugly and not at all what the public wants. The US has over 2,000 years worth of oil in Alaska and North Dakota/Montana. This myth that we are running out of oil has been dangled in front of us by enviromental nuts since the 1800’s. If we are running out of oil why are we constantly finding larger and larger oil depostits all over the world? Why are they finding oil deposits under the ocean floor? If you believe the fossil fuel myth apparently there are millions of dinosaurs under the ocean floor that turned to oil. More and more scientists are admitting that oil is a naturally produced item created by the planet.
Dominion over the plants and animals, per the good book. Life is good at the top of the food chain. By the time we run out of excuses on why we shouldn’t drill in arctic wildernesses, or why we shouldn’t take advantage of frac’ing the natural gas near NE aquifers, we’ll all be rubbing sticks together to make a fire.
Innovation has to start somewhere. Solar panels will be exclusively made overseas since thats where the raw materials are located (or at least their owners). How much can be made by licensing technology – and who wouldn’t resist the chance to clone a good thing and rename it something similar?
Thank you Sarah for the comment. I couldn’t have said it better. Green Technology is a real bust in this country. Just look at the companies who have gone belly up at the taxpayers expense. We even gave a loan to a Finnish company to build electric cars. Hello! This idiocy must stop, but won’t until we run the Progressive Socialist environmentalists out of DC. Crony capitalism does not work here or anywhere else.
GM or as like Sarah just said, Government Motors is now just like a military contractor bidding government jobs. Lets build a few electric cars and charge way too much for them and make a few politicians happy and hope we can get a subsidy to keep us in business later from these same ideological politicians.
Problem is, WE DONT HAVE THE MONEY ANYMORE FOR THIS BS!
i think our tax dollars should pay for the come back of the AMC Pacer or maybe the Grimlin. It makes more since than the Government Motors Volt. At least they sold more than 6000 of them and they didnt catch fire when you turn the headlights on.
You want to see a fuel efficient vehicle? Look at VW’s L1 and XL1. The first one made (and the CEO drove it to the annual stockholder meeting) got 253MPG. News flash for those who love electric vehicles: that one is NOT electric. It’s a turbo-diesel and does not have the ludicrously toxic metals inherent to the batteries for the electrics.
I remember when Congress began requiring auto makers to reduce emissions. The auto industry said it would be impossible and they would be put out of business by such drastic regulations. Kind of reminds me of how some people complain today about regulations. Anyway, lo and behold, they came up with the catalytic converter.
We need to continue to press Detroit to innovate. They won’t do it on their own. One day we’ll be able to tell the Middle East that we don’t need their oil anymore. Not because we have enough respurces here (we don’t), but because we’ll come up with a better way to get around.
And this has what to do with the article?
The reason the Volt is in existence is because the federal government for the past 30-40 years has been requiring auto makers to increase fuel efficiency standards. IF we keep on their heels, they will eventually come up with a good solution to our dependence on foreign oil. The Volt is a good start. They will work out the bugs. That’s what my comment had to do with the article. The point is that American ingenuity always prevails.
I see. Maybe we should keep on the heels of the Federal Government to effectively manage their resources (our tax dollars). If we just keep on them…
I hate to be a naysayer but I believe demand will much more effectively drive innovation.
The Volt is a good start? It’s a terribly overpriced car that isn’t even as good as past electric cars. They’ve sold like 5,000 of them.
This is an example of what government intervention brings, an overpriced, inferior product. If GM hadn’t had to sell their soul to Washington D.C., this project would have been shelved already. But they’ll keep throwing money at a car that nobody wants.
GM’s own EV1 was a better car than the Volt.
TOPOV, As usual, you have misstated the facts. All the leading Oil & Gas experts agree that the US has more proven reserves than the entire Middle East. It is just waiting to be tapped. If we got government out of the way, this country could be completely self sufficient in less than 10 years. We could tell the Mid East to eat their oil. Car companies will continue to innovate, but they have to produce something that will sell. Obviously, the Volt will not sell. It costs way too much, has limited range and is fire prone in an accident. A consumer can buy 2 Nissan Versas for the same price and it gets 40MGP.
FYI – US is a net exporter of petroleum products this year. We already said we don’t need the oil.
And you can blame the EPA for all that oil being untapped.
Another huge waste of tax payer dollars. GM has only sold 6,000 volts since introduction. Why? They are ugly and not at all what the public wants. The US has over 2,000 years worth of oil in Alaska and North Dakota/Montana. This myth that we are running out of oil has been dangled in front of us by enviromental nuts since the 1800’s. If we are running out of oil why are we constantly finding larger and larger oil depostits all over the world? Why are they finding oil deposits under the ocean floor? If you believe the fossil fuel myth apparently there are millions of dinosaurs under the ocean floor that turned to oil. More and more scientists are admitting that oil is a naturally produced item created by the planet.
Dominion over the plants and animals, per the good book. Life is good at the top of the food chain. By the time we run out of excuses on why we shouldn’t drill in arctic wildernesses, or why we shouldn’t take advantage of frac’ing the natural gas near NE aquifers, we’ll all be rubbing sticks together to make a fire.
Innovation has to start somewhere. Solar panels will be exclusively made overseas since thats where the raw materials are located (or at least their owners). How much can be made by licensing technology – and who wouldn’t resist the chance to clone a good thing and rename it something similar?
And remind me who wants to buy a chevy volt? I say let the damn battery burn the car up. I will keep my SUV, No thanks Government Motors!
Thank you Sarah for the comment. I couldn’t have said it better. Green Technology is a real bust in this country. Just look at the companies who have gone belly up at the taxpayers expense. We even gave a loan to a Finnish company to build electric cars. Hello! This idiocy must stop, but won’t until we run the Progressive Socialist environmentalists out of DC. Crony capitalism does not work here or anywhere else.
GM or as like Sarah just said, Government Motors is now just like a military contractor bidding government jobs. Lets build a few electric cars and charge way too much for them and make a few politicians happy and hope we can get a subsidy to keep us in business later from these same ideological politicians.
Problem is, WE DONT HAVE THE MONEY ANYMORE FOR THIS BS!
i think our tax dollars should pay for the come back of the AMC Pacer or maybe the Grimlin. It makes more since than the Government Motors Volt. At least they sold more than 6000 of them and they didnt catch fire when you turn the headlights on.
You want to see a fuel efficient vehicle? Look at VW’s L1 and XL1. The first one made (and the CEO drove it to the annual stockholder meeting) got 253MPG. News flash for those who love electric vehicles: that one is NOT electric. It’s a turbo-diesel and does not have the ludicrously toxic metals inherent to the batteries for the electrics.
Viva real technology!
-Bartleby
BTW – a link describing the L1 and XL1:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_1-litre_car
WHOOPS!
235MPG! :)