By Neil Munro
The White House’s green technology revolution is sitting in an auto lot in Butler, Pa., and nobody is buying.
“Nobody comes in to ask, nobody comes in to look. The American people are smarter than the government. They’re not buying that car,” said Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, who owns the auto lot where one of General Motors’ combined electric-and-gasoline powered Volt autos sits unwanted, unsold and unused.
The Chevy Volt would cost its buyer almost $40,000 “even after a $7,500 federal check and that’s more than twice the price of a comparable Chevy Cruze, Kelly told The Daily Caller. “I just pay interest on it, insure it, and in another week or month, we’ll scrape snow off it.” (SEE ALSO: Obama to go around Congress on “regular basis” to “heal the economy.”
His lonely Volt, however, isn’t truly alone. There are 3,370 Volts sitting in auto lots around the country, up from 2,600 on Oct. 3, according to cars.com, one of the nation’s largest automotive classified sites.
The Chevy Volt was to be a centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s green technology industrial revolution, and of his 2012 re-election campaign.
It, and similar green technology products, were expected to employ up to two million people by 2010, according to Obama’s economic advisers. The electric car boosters at the Department of Energy, for example, predicted production of up to 120,000 Volts per year from 2012 onwards, according to a Feb. 2011 update of the DOE’s ambitious report, “One Million Electric Vehicles By 2015.”
The car is the “flagship model of the government-industrial complex,” said Patrick Michaels, a senior research fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute. But sales data shows “this thing is not selling like they thought it would.”
It’s an awesome vehicle. Just too expensive. Gee, I wonder if the economy wasn’t ruined by the elite fat cats if more people could afford to buy such a great car. No one, least of all the Right, asks these kinds of questions. And GM is the one that made it at that price- not Obama, or any other Democrat that I know of.
The reason it’s so expensive is because of all the things that used to run off of a belt system like AC, and power steering, etc., had to be redesigned, developed, and custom made. Plus the battery pack itself is $8,000. The reason no one is buying them though is not because of the price, it is more to do with the value. What good is it to spend $40,000 on a car that if you drive 500 miles in one day only 40 of them are on battery power, the other 460 miles on gasoline. As it is, it is a much better value to buy a cheaper vehicle, for about 1/3 of the cost, and do the 500 miles on gasoline, with a saving of about $25,000!!! It’s a no-brainer.
And you are right that Obama did not make it that price. But, he has been a major force behind pushing electric vehicles.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/07/obama-pushes-electric-cars-battery-power-this-week-/1
“Obama has promised to bring 1 million plug-in hybrids to American roads by 2015. The administration has pledged $2.4 billion in federal grants to develop next-generation electric vehicles and batteries.”
So he may not be directly responsible for the Volt, but he is pushing the environleftalist green agenda that involves electric vehicles. So you can’t entirely divorce him from it.
Who in their right mind would buy one? A farmer? Would us gas all day. Suburbanite? Same. Useless product from Government Motors and I own GM. Not anymore. Going Ford in the next four years after I put on 250,000 miles on my real GM, not Government M!
RNH, Why would the Elite Fat Cats want to ruin the Econ…. The “fat Cats” get richer in good or in a bad Econ… but they get much richer in a good one… IF greedy is what they are then it is in their best intrest to have a good ECON…
Please remember that the 99%ers don’t make enoulgh to buy a $40k car. Of course GM doesent mind making them because there is no risk to them since thy are geting a big fat subsidy form Uncle Sam. who is creating an artificial market.
RNH you again cover you ignorance of buisness and reality with snide quips that lack any intelectual truth…
So easy to be a simplistic naysayer, Doubting Thomas this and that. Personal bias and prejudice shining bright. Facts is facts. You can deny them, but only shows you for what you are. Don’t call me an ingrate- why not call GM and try to make them feel bad…? Oh, wait, that would make too much sense I guess. Sorry about that. Oh and of course it’s the governments fault actually! Doh!
Dear RNH,
Why should I call GM and complain. They have produced the Volt because it is a no loss situation for them…. They Get fed money to produce and sell them and show a small loss on their taxes that geves them a bigger tax break and the only people getting hurt are the idiots that buy a car that is a money pit. They the big Corperation gets richer while we get poorer. Tough break for them.
“Facts are facts.” Your words RNH. Please exlain your “Facts” in more detail. I, as others, wold love to see your “facts.”
As stated above, Joe; I’d draw you pictures if I could if that would help. To clarify for those wo need it: the title of this little piece’o’propaganda should be just the opposite (imagine that?!)- Economy Drains Power From Volt Sales. Funny how some propaganda works that way…put the truth right there for all to see, only backwards. It was prefected by the Nazis, of course, but who knows, the Romans may have been good at it too, although they didn’t have a mass media then, which made it much harder.
That’s very clever. But you are forgetting one thing. The Volt did not come about from market research, or the desires of the consumer. Even if the economy was booming I doubt very much that there would be a large demand for this product because of the same reason I postulated before. It’s a matter of value. Why buy a car that will only give you 40 miles out of a single charge for $40,000? The only reason anyone would buy one of these is if they feel good about themselves for being green, and don’t care about the practical aspects of owning a tiny little car that they will be driving around for less than 40 miles a day, for $40,000 that they couldn’t haul anything bigger than a paperweight around in. You probably know some people like that, but normal people have families, and stuff they would like to move around like boats, and trailers, ATV’s, snowmobiles, and campers. And for $40,000 dollars they are going to buy something a little more powerful than a golf cart!
And then there is the myth of it actually being green. Where does the power to charge the battery come from? if it’s a coal fired or gas fired power plant there is probably more CO2 produced to charge the battery than there is to drive that same car 40 miles on an internal combustion engine. It’s a sham, a useless sham. So what is the point of it?
Tell it to the professionals at GM, not me. You smarter than them? Perhaps, but I doubt it. Nobody predicted accurately anyway the near collapse of the entire world’s economy in 2008. True? True… Where are your facts re: the C02 to charge the battery vs. 40 miles of ICE propulsion. Come on Neil. You can find it, either way. You find anything else you want/need.
Here is some news. I’m pretty sure I thought the BEST study was going to be a scam, and said so in my comments at the time. So it looks like I am correct……… again!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2055191/Scientists-said-climate-change-sceptics-proved-wrong-accused-hiding-truth-colleague.html
“It was hailed as the scientific study that ended the global warming debate once and for all – the research that, in the words of its director, ‘proved you should not be a sceptic, at least not any longer’.
Professor Richard Muller, of Berkeley University in California, and his colleagues from the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures project team (BEST) claimed to have shown that the planet has warmed by almost a degree centigrade since 1950 and is warming continually.”
“The Washington Post said the BEST study had ‘settled the climate change debate’ and showed that anyone who remained a sceptic was committing a ‘cynical fraud’.
But today The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a leading member of Prof Muller’s team has accused him of trying to mislead the public by hiding the fact that BEST’s research shows global warming has stopped.
Prof Judith Curry, who chairs the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at America’s prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology, said that Prof Muller’s claim that he has proven global warming sceptics wrong was also a ‘huge mistake’, with no scientific basis.”
Nice read Neil. Appreciate it. Us “deniers” should probably start eating the neanderthal Caveman” diet as well as listen to this Rob guy, eh?? Keep it up my friend.
Yes, just another lie from a liberal. I had a feeling about this BEST group because Muller was said to be a critic of the consensus, not of AGW itself. So they set him up as someone that was supposed to be unbiased, but turns out to be an AGW Brownshirt! No surprise there.
Isn’t it fun? They have finally created a disposable car.
When you drive it off the lot, it has zero resale value.
The battery costs around $10K to replace every few years, depending on how the battery is abused. 8 hour charging is normal, but a quick charge is only 2–3 hours, which eats the battery life, but, hey!
I wouldn’t call it fun. I would call it funny though.
See my challenge to you above. P.S. I don’t know the answer in advance. I’m not setting you up. I rarely do that anyway. You guys are good enough at setting yourselves up for me to bother.
Mr. Higley and others, isn’t what RH stated progress? , As Obama and Secretary Chu tell you this is the wave of the future! Do they drive/own this type car? NO. Why not? Oops, that’s right, they have the limo’s at 5 MPG. Forgot. Darn I’m stupid! Only WE should buy these “cars” if that’s what you call them. Typical!
Well, maybe they would Joe, if they weren’t required to be transported safely in a very heavy armored limo. See how logic works? It’s pretty neat, you should try it sometime.
http://www.teslamotors.com/models/
Cold fusion is in the news again. Wouldn’t that be a bummer to sites and people like these who love fossil fuels? We’d still need petroluem but wow what a world-changer that would be. One can dream I guess.
I quess Al Gore could afford one. Plus he has all that energy charging his mansion so he has numerous “charging stations” I assume? Why does he get driven around in a GMC Suburban? Simply curious. Oh I forgot, only do what he says, not what he does. Where’s his Tesla???
Poor bias blinded JOe. Did you not read my previous post? Al Gore like many of his ilk receive death threats daily. From people that blindly hate him for various reasons. Gee, that sounds oddly familiar. Sure is ironic coming from you…. (Neil- please help Joe out with that definition??…)
“cold fusion” is a scam by an alleged con artist called Rossi. Need I say more?
Sure… it must be a scam… unlike the phenomenon of high gas prices… or their tax write-offs, or their subsidies, or their stangle-hold on the world’s economy and military….. right? Right?!
Tell us about ethanol et al would you? How about Solyndra as well as others? Subsidies? Give us all a break.
U tell me. U asked. I don’t believe in ethanol. Subsidies? Sometimes necessary, but often abused by both Right and Left. Human nature, etc. Solution? Better regulated and less politically motivated. Easier said than done? Perhaps.
We agree on this statement you just made. Ban all subsidies.
Didn’t way that… but you did. Thanks for your valuable and original input.
say
Check you spell check or should I say Buzzshaw?
ohooohhh, good one…. my sides….. splitting…… can’t…….. stop……. laughing…….. (how about you spell check, or something… psst Neil might help you)
Typical response. In fact I was looking forward to your asinine comback. Life never changes with a “Progressive” does it?
“nope” “I” “guess” “not”…..
Can’t you do better? “I” “guess” “not.” Typical.
U got me “Red” Joe. You sure did. Now where did you hide “black” Joe?
Is there a “black Joe?” Will let my side partner decide, right David? Little note to my black friend which you, HOOD, would never comprehend. There is a “black joe” on this site. You bring it up because you are a racist. Your statements back it.
Now look who’s calling someone racist… wow…. check one of your other posts, there Joe. You people cannot help but be hypocrites, you even fall into self-made traps, but then again that is basically what hypocrisy is I guess. Clueless.
I’m “Black Joe.”
You stated “You people.” You prove my point well don’t you?
yeah- you Joe people are all alike, and you look alike too! (well sort of)
In other words you ar black like me?
Blue actually… now. Don’t you get that? You were Red for awhile too. Are you also an Indian, and/or part Smurf?
R. N. Hood. “Mitakuye Oyasin.” You will never understand will you.
True that Joe. I will never understand illogic and irrational gibberish.
I looked up your enigmatically posted “title” above. Still don’t know what you meant by it. It at least is real, and not actually the usual gibberish. It helps to be more fully understandable on these sites, not that I really care what you have to say at this point. But seriously… it would help. Or not- probably.
It was very interesting acutally. Something new, and positive. Everyone should look it up (Neil).
New to me anyway.
Lakota, “We are All One.” Never forget that White Man.
Wow. You seem to have forgotten it already. Peace.
You have no idea do you. Typical white man.
Apparently I don’t, oh wise native man. Educate me.
The reasons why smart people do not buy Electric or Hybrid cars are: Batteries are expensive, short lived, efficiency isn’t 100 % and the electricity is not free. Going electric you won’t decrease Air Pollution because 50 % of the electricity is produced by burning COAL. By the way a Jetta Diesel, TDI for $23000 makes 40MPG.
The reasons why smart people do not buy Electric or Hybrid cars are: Batteries are expensive, short lived, efficiency isn’t 100 % and the electricity is not free. Going electric you won’t decrease Air Pollution because, 50 % of the electricity is produced by burning COAL. By the way a Jetta Diesel, TDI for $23000 makes 40MPG. With a full tank of Chevy Volt, driving non-stop, you make 37MPG, plus $3 or more, the price of electricity you charged 16.0-kW-hr lithium-ion, the hefty $10000 of the 750-pound battery pack.
Using Chevy Volt, in the Electric Mode Only, Charging and Discharging the battery pack every day, is going to cost you $1000 in electricity, plus $3000 in the battery amortization, with a TOTAL of $4000 per year.