As
General Motors finally caved this morning, waved the white flag and filed for bankruptcy, those following electric cars immediately wondered what this all would mean for the long-awaited
Volt. For
years now, GM has steadfastly affirmed that it was moving forward with
production regardless of what else was going on within the company and the economy at large. According to
Technology Review, a GM spokesperson confirmed again this morning that "the filing will have no impact on the company's plans to start selling the Volt at the end of next year." That said, we have to wonder how much such a statement really means; reports have stated that the US government may up holding as much as 60 percent of the company, and if the primary goal is to bring the outfit back to profitability as soon as possible, Obama and Company may not feel that pouring even more into the high-priced Volt is a good idea. In related news, we hear
Tesla is still taking orders...
Update: GM has pushed out
an official statement that (in a few words) also suggests that the Volt is still on track.
posted June 1st 2009 1:11PM
All of the makers are down and GM has been near or at the top with reliability.
Yes, they did have acceptable reliability the past couple years. While all of the makers are effected negatively by the downturn, they arent bankrupt or begging for money. Its too little too late. They made huge, overpriced(because of the uaw), unreliable cars for so long it burned into everyone's heads. "Oh crap, we're failing guys, I guess we better finally start to look at what people want"
@Dave
1. Public libraries are not at fault, the parents are. Why don't we lay blame where it is due.
2. My kid has never brought home condoms. Ever. Where the hell do you live?
3. Agreed on the prisons.
4. So what, we don't repair them? What is the alternative? Hummers for all? Then we don't have to worry..
5. Light rail is pretty much a joke.
6. There are just as many conservative pork projects as there are liberal pork projects. They just take a different form. How about a war that served no purpose. F8ck the cost. How many of our troops have died and for what? Just in case you are curious, I was active duty for the first one and if daddy would have finished the job, well..
If you are that angry, there are options. Canada is nice this time of year. I hear Mexico is warm.. Hell, there is contract work in the middle east. It's really warm over there. Leave the US if you are so unhappy.
@Ron,
Since when are the rich (or according to new definition, families that make over 250K a year) not part of the common good? How many people have you employed lately Ron? How many families have you provided with health insurance, salaries, and benefits? Do you really think that the public school system is providing good education? Actually, those kids serving fries that you are referring to, are coming straight from your mighty public high school graduations.
Yeah, sure liberals want a clean environment. Especially with the leadership of Al Gore who has the carbon footprint of Burma. They also want to fight corruption and change Washington. Especially when half of their nominations don't pay their taxes. But best of all, they don't want to shove or mandate any kind of preferences down people's throats like religion. Nope, they would rather throw everything and the kitchen sink to causes like gay marriage (even when the people of a state according to the constitution and the laws in power, reject it in a democratic manner).
Talk about liberties right. Tell me what loan to get, what car to drive, what house to buy, what's good for me to eat, what education to pursue, what financial class to belong to and then just pet my ego and tell me I'm good for the humanity. What a f*cking joke. How about you let me do me and you do you. Take your restrictions and laws that keep punishing success and promote mediocrity out of the way and we will see who serves fries first to who, the one who needs the government to establish their daily lives and do the thinking for them or the one who advances society and feeds mouths with his success everyday.
(Well, maybe this wasn't just at Ron :)...more of an overall thing.
Stick to the gadgets(or whatever it is you attempt to cover) and stay away from politics and the automotive industry, engadget. Those are both areas that always show great lack of knowledge with posts. If there was a story here, autoblog could cover it.
I'm actually enjoying these comments. Some of them are plain old stupid, but some of them show real intelligence.
I admit some of the comments are okay, but the original misguided stance coming from the engadget writer set this up to be worse than a seemingly silly Apple vs Microsoft flamewar.
Timoh wrote @ Jun 1st 2009 2:52PM
google is your friend. Use it. EPA ratings are estimated, they don't test those numbers with a light foot either. [snip]
I did use Google. EPA numbers are usually MORE optimistic. That's why they changed their measuring criteria two years ago.
My point is, if you look up numbers that people actually can get with their cars, they CAN get well abov the rating, and the also CAN get well below the rating.
This story says it all...BIGGEST INDUSTRIAL BANKRUPTCY EVER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!!!
http://www.newsy.com/videos/gm_refuels_with_bankruptcy
The American dream is dead...just like GM.
That's a damn SEXY car (much better than the UGLY ASS prius, which already sells like cupcases, EVEN THOUGH IT'S SO FACKING UGLY).
Also the general all-electric drivetrain (with a gasoline charger) is a much better/simpler design.
Modern day hybrids are what they are - they are an in-between solution. This is it, we need more cars like the Volt, not more of the overcomplex hybrid bullshit. And they seriously need to start designing cars that people actually want and like to look at.
Not the ugly (but practical in very few instances) trucks, not the wacko-design Prious. But normal SEXY CARS.
There's no way I'm buying this piece of Sh%^ car.
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I don't see how people have this standpoint of "Buying American." This viewpoint basically equates to the same fanboyism people show towards Apple, Microsoft, Nintendo, or whatever else we see huge flame wars for on this site under every post. Buy from whatever company offers you the best deal, best quality, for the money.The country the product is made in should be irrelevant. If the competitors cant, won't, or just doesn't make the effort to compete and listen to customer feedback, fuck em, let them sink. That's the way of the free market. Fuck brand loyalty.
Hopefully this will help turn things around for GM. I found another good article about what is gonna happen with their cars at http://www.autotropolis.com/autotropolis-columns/krome-on-cars/.
I wish this topic was still active, it would be so easy to school you all.
Will GM's bankruptcy affect a site like this for truck and auto parts ?