Pretty interesting analysis of the article on the Economics forum of Reddit by a variety of posters: http://www.reddit.com/r/Economics/comments/nmp1n/chevy_volt_costing_taxpayers_up_to_250k_per/ TLDR: The article is, as barfo opines, horse shit.
Huh? I don't understand. "TLDR" stands for "Too Long, Didn't Read." It's often used as a quick summary for those not willing to wade through a wall of text. I put that TLDR on there as a courtesy in case people weren't willing to wade through the full forum discussion I linked to. I certainly read it and the original article. I would think that's rather obvious, or why would I bother commenting? Why are you being a jerk about this?
Oh, gee, a faux news clip without any numbers, just an assertion that Volt sales have been inflated by fleet sales to the government. No numbers, no credibility. barfo
You and your reddit thread don't refute the numbers in the least. Crying "bullshit" doesn't cut it. Did, or did not the government give $100M each to two of GM's divisions to fund development of the Volt? Let's start with that. The government did, hence it isn't bullshit at all.
And you have less credibility than Fox News. http://venturebeat.com/2011/05/25/us-government-volt-discount/ Govt. buys more than 100 Chevy Volts. http://articles.mcall.com/2011-11-1...ectric-cars-ppl-electric-utilities-chevy-volt $30.5M in federal grants to municipalities to buy Chevy Volts. http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/18/g...olt-is-going-flat-in-business-and-politics/2/ 20% of Volt sales (1000+) to government or government contractors.
Oh, you wound me, sir! Wow, 100 Volts. That totally supports your position. It seems that's not very accurate. Your next link says 64 Volts were bought via this program. So we'll have to assume that most of the $30.5 million went for something else. Or government contractors? You mean private enterprise? Like "General Electronic"? Even the 20% figure is just speculation in the article: Your links are weak. You've shown that government bought 180 Volts, 116 to GSA, plus 64 to federally funded utilities. 180 cars is not a significant number. I'm pretty sure government buys tens of thousands of other vehicles. barfo
You asked for links, the links have real data. The government not only bought MORE than 100 chevy volts, they bought the first 160 of them. If that isn't supporting volt production to you, then you have a problem understanding how it worked. GE's CEO works for the government, directly for Obama. In exchange for tax breaks and credits and other subsidies, it pays $0 in taxes. Chipping in to buy a few cars is the least they can do in return. It's called quid pro quo, barfo. And that $30M wasn't entirely spent on Volts says more about governments wanting the Volts, though it says Obama used stimulus money to try to coerce those municipalities to buy Volts.
http://www.freep.com/article/C4/201...p-2-300-more-Volts-sale-supplies-trail-demand I hadn't realized they were going to ramp up production to 45k next year. By way of comparison, in 1997 Toyota sold 300 Priuses in the first year, then 17k in the second. It was only in the 7th year of production when they finally sold more than 100k. There have been 2 million sold in total. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius So it seems to me the sales forecasting on this car is pretty aggressive.
If the government continues to buy the vehicles, they can project X amount of cars. The Prius grew because it made sense. The Volt is a turd, and even Chevy dealers try to direct their customers to the Cruze once they get through the doors of the dealership. Lots good, and linked, news items on the Volt at this link. http://nlpc.org/category/keywords/chevy-volt
I don't mind the look, either. Sat in one at Disney World/Epcot in December. I just don't like the look enough to blow $33k for the basic version.
I went to a car show in Canada once (a few years ago), and there were 3 of them there. They were really nice looking. Not worth the money their owners think they're worth (but most old cars aren't. As much as a 57 Nomad is bad ass, I wouldn't pay 25-40,000 for one).
Oh, never been in a Volt. I too wouldn't pay that much for a car. but that's because i just wouldn't pay that much for a car.
Given what I wrote earlier about the Prius sales in early years, it looks like sales projections were wildly off the mark. Had they projected a Prius-like introduction (17k in second year) they'd still be below expectation (1626 so far extends out to 9756 annualized) but it wouldn't be shockingly bad. Sticker shock and the exploding batteries definitely seems to be holding it back. (FWIW--it seems to have pretty similar sales to the Nissan Leaf. Fewer sold last year, but more sold in February.) Still, though, it seems a little premature to be writing this vehicle's epitaph. If gas hits $5/gallon for an extended period, it's going to be a much more attractive option.
Or, drop the price of the bare-bones Volt to $16k for the rest of the year, and charge for add-ons. Sure, it will never turn a profit at that price, but perhaps you can get some brand loyalty, and people willing to spend more on their next electric vehicle. We're looking to replace my wife's 2003 Passat, and I'd probably even pay $20k for a Volt (assuming it won't burn down our house).
