Sobering News for the Volt - Production Shutdown

[ryansride2017]

Volt Shutdown

What a disappointment for such a long-anticipated vehicle. With those sales rates, you have to wonder why production would ever resume.

 

[wkcars]

high gas prices and $10000 tax break can't get people to buy...supply and demand and there's no demand...

 

[callbay]

Another "green" item that costs way more than it's worth.

 

[Dakota1820]

Glad they wised up. Hate to see people unemployed but this needed to happen. Also people want cars like the ekantra cruze focus and corolla and civic not a4 seater car with no room and a battery that catches fire and its a great value at 30,000 up. It shouldn't havent took a genius to figure out it was a flop.

 

[ryansride2017]

I think many people are just intimidated by the technology. They would rather jump in a 40 mpg gas burner that costs thousands less. People can't get past the higher entry price with the hope of breaking even 5 or 10 years down the road. The majority in the population are not forward-thinking enough.

 

[fdcg27]

Two weeks ago today, I paid $3.09 for unleaded regular.
Today, the same fuel is $3.79, so the dramatic turn toward higher fuel prices is a pretty recent development.
The Volt is not a cheap fuel sipper, like the Prius.
It is a fairly expensive car that has a limited market, since the number of folks who can afford one is not nearly as great as the number of people who could afford to buy a Prius or a Leaf.
Out of this limited market, the Volt has apparently failed to capture enough share, even though sucessful sales numbers for the Volt would not represent any significant share of that market.
It would be a shame to see this vehicle die, as promising as it is.
It isn't the Volt of today that matters, as with the EV-1. Rather the Volt needs to reach enough presence in the market to give birth to a less expensive and more capable second generation.
The EV-1 never got there, and it wasn't GM's fault, Michael Moore's ignorant film to the contrary.
The Volt may not get to a second generation either.

 

[cchase]

Disappointing news indeed. Slow sales don't mean it's getting killed though.

 

[Dakota1820]

Thats stupid I'm going to spend 35 on a volt vs. 20 on nice car that gets 40mpg. That's 15 grand and for 15 grand less you get a middle seat a car you can sort of work on and it won't need stupid batteries every 5 yrs or so. So if I get 40mpg I can get 11 years of service on $15,000 in gas 11 years.!!!! It takes 11 years to spend 15 grand on gas. That's driving 15,000miles a year. And most people who would look at the volt drive less than that. Also the volt gets less that advertised battery life. The guy on the fox program the 5 only got 25 miles I believe out of a whole charge. This is a big hint hint. THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS DONT WANT ELECTRIC CARS AND THE GOVT NEEDS TO STOP TRYING TO RAM THEM DOWN OUR THROATS!! thank you gm for finally making a business move that makes decent sense.

 

[morris]

i have an idea. chevy should make a new type PDA that gets on the internet and check with the power co to see what it will cost to charge the volt. so one can see what the costs are. given with the volt.

 

[Oregoonian]

Originally Posted By: morris
i have an idea. chevy should make a new type PDA that gets on the internet and check with the power co to see what it will cost to charge the volt. so one can see what the costs are. given with the volt.


Agree....IMO.... the electric car is not the future (the electricity it needs is produced mostly by COAL).

I hope the majors (Ford & GM) get serious about mass-producing a vehicle that runs on compressed natural gas....of which we have a several hundred year supply.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27

The EV-1 never got there, and it wasn't GM's fault, Michael Moore's ignorant film to the contrary.

that wasn't Michael Moore: who killed the electric car?

 

[Eddie]

A disappointing effort. The Volt was not competing with the better electric vehicles. In addition it appears to have been way over priced. GM does it again.

 

[Dakota1820]

You guys know if we use natural gas we will suddenly have a shortage of that to. We have plenty of oil and natural gas. And im all for a new idea but it needs to be a well thought out idea not a rushed electric pos. BTW first part was sarcasm. All the environmentalists will be screaming about natural gas as much as they are now

 

[Win]

Except for driving between our two houses, two Volts would cut our gasoline consumption to zero. Even at only half of the claimed all electric range, we could get by on one charge a week.

If they fire sale them, I wouldn't mind buying a couple.

I guess that's a bad pun, considering the claimed fire hazard.

 

[Turk]

Buy a SATURN instead!

 

[Shannow]

They are allegedly going to sell them down here as Holdens, at a predicted price of $58k Oz ($62kUS).

At $6US/gal, and 25.7cUS/KWhr, there's a LOT of capital to pay off, and if they become common, upward pressure on electricity prices is guaranteed.

 

[jim302]

I'm not surprised. The electric function was not practical for a lot of people (for example, apartment and many townhouse dwellers can't charge it). Traditional hybrids don't have these restrictions.

At the end of the day, cost was the real issue. >$30,000 is a lot of money for an economical car.

 

[tig1]

What would be the monthly cost to charge the Volt up assuming you ran the vehicle daily, say 30 miles? Also, how long does it take to charge it up?

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
You guys know if we use natural gas we will suddenly have a shortage of that to. We have plenty of oil and natural gas. And im all for a new idea but it needs to be a well thought out idea not a rushed electric pos. BTW first part was sarcasm. All the environmentalists will be screaming about natural gas as much as they are now


Out of the mouths of babes.
You're right.
If natural gas gains widespread acceptance as a transportation fuel, it will become more expensive, and the seemingly bountiful supply will appear much less so.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: jim302
At the end of the day, cost was the real issue. >$30,000 is a lot of money for an economical car.


Probably true. A local dealer is advertising leftover new 2011 Impalas for about $13K. The Volt would have to save a lot of gas for the premium to pay off.