Vegas Free-for-All - The Chevy Volt

The Chevy Volt - Revisited

baccarat7

Dec 6, 2011
11:14pm

Quote

Originally posted by: INdianapaddler
Speaking of political rants...our beloved Don Diego, he who does not even acknowledge himself, started this thread with, among other things, the following statement: "Well...at least President Obama's wisdom in purchasing GM common stock at $34/share with taxpayer money so that GM could, in turn, repay some of the taxpayer money loaned to GM earlier...has been proven this year... or not!"

Forget the convoluted logic. That is definetely a political rant, and forbidden as well, but beloved DD gets a pass time and again, usually by including a disclaimer that he is in no way trying to start a political thread, God forbid! Yet PJ, Malliber and other liberals on this board are called out everytime they respond.

What a hoot!

You'd think they'd get the message already after all the deleted posts. i wonder if some off these guys go to bed thinking about politics and first thing on thier mind is politics when they wake up.

Don

Dec 6, 2011
11:32pm

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Quote

Originally posted by: pjstroh
GM just made 1.8 Billion in profit their latest quarter... and are close to 10 billion for the year. I've been listening to right wingers preach for 2 years how GM will be back in bankruptcy by the end of Obama's first term. Somebody forgot to send that memo to GM.

And as for the auto industry investing in America and creating jobs....Here's just a few of their latest developments. Horrible how they're building all those factories and hiring all those people ain't it?

<list of links unrelated to the Volt?>

For the record:
__The topic of this thread is the Chevy Volt. It is not addressed in pjstroh's post.
__DonDiego would like to see any enterprise succeed. He has not forecast a GM bankruptcy. GM stock trades at $21.50 today; it has $20.40 in cash per share. The company is profitable; even if it were not it is unlikely to burn through $32-billion quickly.
__DonDiego appreciates those individuals and corporations which invest in America. He hopes these investments are successful.
__DonDiego opposes Government bailouts of Wall Street or Detroit or Main Street.
__DonDiego opposes the Government choosing winners and losers in the marketplace; it is unfair to the losers.
__63,110 Edsels were sold in its first year; it was a colossal failure. The Volt will sell fewer than 8,000 it's first year.

pjstroh

Dec 7, 2011
3:14am

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Quote

Originally posted by: baccarat7

You'd think they'd get the message already after all the deleted posts. i wonder if some off these guys go to bed thinking about politics and first thing on thier mind is politics when they wake up.

Just to clarify..the first thing on my mind when I wake up is squeezing one out. THen I think about politics.

arcimedes

Dec 7, 2011
3:15am

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Some folks don't seem to realize that the volt is a gas-electric hybrid. The overall range of a volt is about 400 miles. Now, using the gas may defeat the purpose, but if folks are without power to charge it up they can certainly get around.

"I love the argument that electric cars should now be abandoned because there is a developmental flaw that caused harm. Is that the metric by which we abandon technology? Did we abandon nuclear power after 3 mile island? Did we abandon deep well oil drilling after the biggest oil spill in US history 2 years ago?"

First a strawman and then poor analogies. I don't think anyone thinks one quality issue is a reason to abandon the technology. However, the entire idea of battery driven vehicles is questionable with today's battery technology. That might change in the future (and I hope it does), but trying to peddle an expensive small car when it gets 25-40 miles per charge (in warm weather) is certainly not a business I'd like to be in.

pjstroh

Dec 7, 2011
3:39am

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Quote

Originally posted by: DonDiego
__The topic of this thread is the Chevy Volt. It is not addressed in pjstroh's post.

Well lets be fair. Don Diego's original post was a combination of criticizing the Chevy Volt and the giant waste of tax dollars given to GM. And I have addressed both issues.

I invite DOn Diego to reread my post regarding the Volt's score on Consumer Reports owner satisfaction survey...as well as its 5 star highway safety rating.

But if Don Diego wants me to keep my talking points strictly to the Volt then I will oblige. Here's a few tidbits that have not been addressed thus far in this thread:

- Only 10K Volts were manufactured in 2011. It was scheduled for a modest release in its first year. Perhaps someone can explain to me how GM is going to sell 50K Volts when they only manufactured 10K. In 2012 Chevrolet is planning 30K Volts to be manufactured.

- Oh, but who the hell is going to buy such a piece of junk, you ask? Hmmm. Well it just so happens that GM has a waiting list of over 50K people already signed up. You can see it here.
VOLT Waiting List - 50K Strong and growing For all you folks keeping score at home...the waiting list is bigger than their schedueld production volume. What a colossal failure.

Don

Dec 7, 2011
4:25am

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Quote

Originally posted by: arcimedes
"I love the argument that electric cars should now be abandoned because there is a developmental flaw that caused harm. Is that the metric by which we abandon technology?"

DonDiego is glad that he never made such an argument. DonDiego certainly hopes electric cars are not abandoned. DonDiego would be happy to purchase an electric automobile with sufficient range, capacity, and a reasonable price, . . . and not requiring a Government (i.e. taxpayer-supplied) subsidy.
DonDiego does note, however, that when such a vehicle is being powered by its battery in the USA it is, in fact, using the energy provided by a power plant the most likely fuel for which is coal. Also manufacture of the current electric vehicles, especially the batteries, uses significantly more energy that a conventionally powered vehicle.
DonDiego hopes the vehicles can be improved and become successful.

Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
"Did we abandon nuclear power after 3 mile island?"

Umm, . . . yeah, . . . pretty much.
"According to the [International Atomic Energy Agency], the Three Mile Island accident [of March 1979] was a significant turning point in the global development of nuclear power. From 1963–1979, the number of reactors under construction globally increased every year except 1971 and 1978. However, following the event, the number of reactors under construction in the U.S. declined every year from 1980-1998. Many similar Babcock and Wilcox reactors on order were canceled; in total, 51 American nuclear reactors were canceled from 1980–1984."
Ref: Three Mile Island

Quote
Originally posted by: arcimedes
"Did we abandon deep well oil drilling after the biggest oil spill in US history 2 years ago?"

Umm, . . . undecided.
The 6-month Gulf of Mexico drilling moratorium certainly cost the owners, operators, employees, support personnel and Gulf Shore communities a lot.
The future impact of this incident are difficult to estimate; lots of folks already opposed offshore drilling.

hoops2

Dec 7, 2011
5:10am

Block User

"Just to clarify..the first thing on my mind when I wake up is squeezing one out. THen I think about politics."

While this statement is not inflamatory it certainly qualifies as TMI

Dan Svatass

Dec 7, 2011
6:57am

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Quote

Originally posted by: chefantwon
why doesn't anyone get upset at all of the car salesmen that suddenly were out of a job when we bailed out GM?

What are you talking about?

You think that rescuing the auto industry destroyed car sales jobs? You think that?

Incredible.

chefantwon

Dec 7, 2011
11:52am

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Quote

Originally posted by: Chilcoot

Quote
Originally posted by: chefantwon
why doesn't anyone get upset at all of the car salesmen that suddenly were out of a job when we bailed out GM?

What are you talking about?

You think that rescuing the auto industry destroyed car sales jobs? You think that?

Incredible.

Who mandated under what conditions the automakers got said bailout money?

Of course since the Feds don't have a clue of running any businesses that actually makes money, it is to be expected.

JM2300

Dec 7, 2011
12:32pm

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: pjstroh

Quote
Originally posted by: DonDiego
__The topic of this thread is the Chevy Volt. It is not addressed in pjstroh's post.

I think your figures are off pj. First off the Volt hasn't been a sales success.
Secondly Chevy plans on making 60K volts in 2012, not 30K. To me it wouldn't make sense to produce 30K when there's a waiting list of 50K and that's why I looked it up. Car manufacturers with an attitude of "let's make the bastards wait" doesn't sound like a good business model.
Anyway, recently I had the pleasure of seeing my first Volt and I asked the owner how he liked it and so far was very happy with it. I saw it in the parking lot of this attraction.