It's 'un-American' to criticize the Chevy Volt.

N

Natsumi

Active Talker
PF Member
So the Michigan Governor says that it's un-american to bash the new Chevy Volt (it's a compact car running on an electric motor) It can only go 40 miles on a single charge! and this car is reportedly 40,000 dollars. I think this is rediculous. How can these hybrids and electric powered cars last? These cars are not cost effective let alone enviromentally safe..think about the batteries in these cars..Those gotta be toxic. Last time I checked that's not so environmentally-friendly

I'll keep my gas-guzzling Pontiac GTO, thank you very much.

(and correction on that..I mean 'criticize' that **** spell check didn't pick that up)
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

I agree with you on this. And the hybrid/electrical cars sound like they'd be a pain in the **** to maintain the power of.
I never knew that the battery-powered car could only run 40 miles on one charge! That's totally inefficient and totally not worth the $40,000 you would be paying for it. I can see wanting to help save the environment and the resources, but you can only go so far with that, and there are many other ways to accomplish it as well.

What's this governor's justification of saying that it's "unamerican" to criticize a car anyhow? That's a totally ridiculous statement of him to make. Not everyone is going to necessarily like the new car that just came out! And seriously, from what you're saying, the Chevy Vold sounds like a piece of junk anyways.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Panache87 said:
I agree with you on this. And the hybrid/electrical cars sound like they'd be a pain in the **** to maintain the power of.
I never knew that the battery-powered car could only run 40 miles on one charge! That's totally inefficient and totally not worth the $40,000 you would be paying for it. I can see wanting to help save the environment and the resources, but you can only go so far with that, and there are many other ways to accomplish it as well.

What's this governor's justification of saying that it's "unamerican" to criticize a car anyhow? That's a totally ridiculous statement of him to make. Not everyone is going to necessarily like the new car that just came out! And seriously, from what you're saying, the Chevy Vold sounds like a piece of junk anyways.
Click to expand...

It's just another poor marketing idea forced onto GM from the Govt. who owns 60% of them too. Not only is the Govt. has no business in leadership, they have poor marketing skills. They have no business being involved. I don't care how guilty GM is in taking the bailout money the Government should have no business in their operations of business..or ANYONE's for that matter! the only American auto maker who hasn't taken this bailout money was Ford..I tip a hat off to them..they have cars people want to buy..Even though I own a GM product.. I can say as a Japanese..I think Ford is more appealing to me than anything I've seen lately.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Natsumi said:
So the Michigan Governor says that it's un-american to bash the new Chevy Volt (it's a compact car running on an electric motor) It can only go 40 miles on a single charge! and this car is reportedly 40,000 dollars. I think this is rediculous.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what the oil industry wants to achieve: That people hate electric vehicles.

There was a documentary a while ago that documented one of the US electric cars and how the company only gave out the cars for lease, took them back and destroyed them (perfectly good cars) after their lease period. People who had leased that vehicle wanted to own it and continue driving it. And that only b/c of a change in Californian law that preferred hydrogen vehicles over electric vehicles.

Natsumi said:
How can these hybrids and electric powered cars last? These cars are not cost effective let alone enviromentally safe..think about the batteries in these cars..Those gotta be toxic. Last time I checked that's not so environmentally-friendly
Click to expand...

All batteries are toxic in some way. Regular cars use lead-acid batteries, and those cars use lithium-ion or other type of battery. Batteries can be recycled, just like most of the rest of a car.

A good hybrid car uses less gasoline, which is an advantage in itself. An electric car can be charged from a wall outlet if you're a house owner, or have access to a wall outlet where you park the car.

I think the reason why Chevy's spec is only 40 miles per charge is b/c most people don't commute any further per day. So it's meant to be a commuter vehicle.

Hydrogen, hydrogen/electric and all-electric vehicles will sooner or later replace conventional cars.

Battery research also is ongoing. Battery packs for electric cars will shrink considerably in size over the next couple of years.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Monster said:
That's exactly what the oil industry wants to achieve: That people hate electric vehicles.

There was a documentary a while ago that documented one of the US electric cars and how the company only gave out the cars for lease, took them back and destroyed them (perfectly good cars) after their lease period. People who had leased that vehicle wanted to own it and continue driving it. And that only b/c of a change in Californian law that preferred hydrogen vehicles over electric vehicles.



All batteries are toxic in some way. Regular cars use lead-acid batteries, and those cars use lithium-ion or other type of battery. Batteries can be recycled, just like most of the rest of a car.

A good hybrid car uses less gasoline, which is an advantage in itself. An electric car can be charged from a wall outlet if you're a house owner, or have access to a wall outlet where you park the car.

I think the reason why Chevy's spec is only 40 miles per charge is b/c most people don't commute any further per day. So it's meant to be a commuter vehicle.

Hydrogen, hydrogen/electric and all-electric vehicles will sooner or later replace conventional cars.

Battery research also is ongoing. Battery packs for electric cars will shrink considerably in size over the next couple of years.
Click to expand...



I don't think you're getting the point here Monster...And please..spare me the "You're Libertarian of course you'd say that" ..No....this is all large government being involved here..it's apparent that THEY WANT these hybrids/electric powered cars..they are forcing this on manufacturers..they should have no business running their corporations..Would you like large government to tell you how to run your business? I'm sure you wouldn't.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Natsumi said:
I don't think you're getting the point here Monster...And please..spare me the "You're Libertarian of course you'd say that" ..No....this is all large government being involved here..it's apparent that THEY WANT these hybrids/electric powered cars..they are forcing this on manufacturers..they should have no business running their corporations..Would you like large government to tell you how to run your business? I'm sure you wouldn't.
Click to expand...

The USA can't live in the stoneage forever ... at some point in the future, it has to concur with other countries in terms of recycling, renewable energy sources and environmental preservation.

Electric energy can be retrieved from many sources, including solar and wind power.

If the USA auto industry does not adopt electric vehicle production, Japan (and potentially Europe) will dominate that market, and more jobs will be lost in the US auto industry. It's probably as simple as that.

If the US government holds 60% of GM shares, well that's free market for you: When during the auto crisis, the automakers made a deal with the government instead of going bankrupt, it's their decision, right ... BTW, the Chevy Volt had been in planning long before the banking crisis, even before Bush Jr was elected for the first time. All started when California introduced a law promoting electric vehicles back in 1990 (cf. California Air Resources Board).

p.s.: The Chevy Volt is a hybrid vehicle and runs additional 260 miles with its internal combustion engine when the electric charge is exhausted. Lease price will be $350/month, so people won't have to shell out $41000 upfront.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Monster said:
The USA can't live in the stoneage forever ...
Click to expand...

<< That's news to me. The United States is in the stoneage? Last time I checked even in tough times like these, the U.S. is better off than most of the countries on this Earth. You just lost me with that there. :bad:
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Natsumi said:
<< That's news to me. The United States is in the stoneage? Last time I checked even in tough times like these, the U.S. is better off than most of the countries on this Earth. You just lost me with that there. :bad:
Click to expand...

That's a good one!! :rotfl:
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

*ducks*

All I'm saying is that in today's day and age there is no reason not to have enviormentally safe cars that run just like our trusty old internal combusable engines.

I don't care what they run on: Batteries, Hydrogen, Cupcake filling (lol), etc we should have of been starting to ween off of oil's teat long ago.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Kevin said:
The model t had better gas mileage then some cars now. http://www.wanttoknow.info/050711carmileageaveragempg

We ARE in the stone age.
Click to expand...

I think if my GTO can pass anyone's car on the highway and get me where I need to go that's all I care about. my left foot on the clutch is the conductor, and my right foot on the gas is the hammer.

To some people a car to them is nothing more than taking them from only Point A to Point B. To me, my car is my life. How can a hybrid have any appeal and look stylish or can anyone look "cool" in one? Most of the people who own them are a bunch of greeners who wear birkenstock sandles with those thick multi-colored socks and khaki shorts yuck lol
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

So if the car looks nice and is fast then we are not in the stone age?

What about this car:

lightning-gt-glamour.jpg


Can you look cool and go fast in that car? :plate:
 
We had looked at some hybrids & would of gotten one but the car we wanted was about 10 grand more then the normal engine version, so we passed this time around.

Ps.. Our decision was not based on gov
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Brandon said:
We had looked at some hybrids & would of gotten one but the car we wanted was about 10 grand more then the normal engine version, so we passed this time around.

Ps.. Our decision was not based on gov
Click to expand...

I've read though that you would have to drive so many X amount of miles per year for it to even pay for itself..far more miles than the average American drives also..which is another reason why they're a waste of money.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Kevin said:
The model t had better gas mileage then some cars now. http://www.wanttoknow.info/050711carmileageaveragempg

We ARE in the stone age.
Click to expand...

Indeed, compare that to the best European car mileage for high octane benzine (40 mpg) and diesel (60 mpg).

Many of my acquaintances asked me, when I got an American car: "Are you crazy? Doesn't that need a lot of fuel?" -- but luckily I have a mileage of 26 to 34 mpg per with it, depending on how I drive. (The 26 mpg being a bit reminiscient of old 80ies cars).

But at $12 per gallon fuel is pretty expensive here, so there's pressure to increase gas mileage.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Monster said:
Indeed, compare that to the best European car mileage for high octane benzine (40 mpg) and diesel (60 mpg).

Many of my acquaintances asked me, when I got an American car: "Are you crazy? Doesn't that need a lot of fuel?" -- but luckily I have a mileage of 26 to 34 mpg per with it, depending on how I drive. (The 26 mpg being a bit reminiscient of old 80ies cars).

But at $12 per gallon fuel is pretty expensive here, so there's pressure to increase gas mileage.
Click to expand...

Yeah but fuel costs over there are a lot worse too than compared to the U.S...I personally could care less about the whole hybrid trends and whatever else these greeners have up their sleeves.

I ride my motorcycle a lot more in the summer and its not because I save $$ on gas its because I like the freedom of the speed it's capable of doing and the open road. I would imagine motorcycles are popular in europe too. I love sport bikes/crotch rockets.
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Natsumi said:
I've read though that you would have to drive so many X amount of miles per year for it to even pay for itself..far more miles than the average American drives also..which is another reason why they're a waste of money.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say their a waste of money, but the price is high right now.
It's a reality new technology, the price will drop over the next 3-5 years.
We recycle and try to do as much as we can to reduce our carbon footprint, going with a hybrid is a natural move, but the price needs to drop a bit first.

btw... to me a car is just a car. I can appreciate nice cars and have worked on a few old cars when I was younger but that type of car doesn't always work best when you have a little one with ya ;)
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

Natsumi said:
I ride my motorcycle a lot more in the summer and its not because I save $$ on gas its because I like the freedom of the speed it's capable of doing and the open road. I would imagine motorcycles are popular in europe too. I love sport bikes/crotch rockets.
Click to expand...

We often have dense traffic, and often bad weather, so riding a motorcycle isn't as common anymore as it was in the 70ies when it was "en vogue" around here. But many people do like riding motorcycles here as well, some do it only on weekends and in good weather. :)
 
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.

BTW I am all for speed and a nice car and all...I drive a nice German car :D

But at the same time it is really time to work on how we as a people (everyone in the world) consumes resources. You can also make ANY car a hybrid. There are companies out there that will do the conversion. So the whole hybrids are ugly and so on is really bunk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top