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GM Closing Plants & Discontinuing Volt
- Thread starter gavine
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- Electric Vehicles
seattlite2004
Active Member
GM's way is selling SUVs. Gonna be interesting to see how they deal with CARB credits so that they can sell more SUV's. Maybe they have something new(PHEV/EV) in work?
They'll just buy them (from TSLA?).
Selling 3k cars in 3/4 months doesn't yield many credits anyway.
BluestarE3
Active Member
That's too bad about the Volt. For those who don't normally drive a lot every day, they can run solely on battery. My nephew owns one and he goes for months without having to buy gasoline.
Hopefully, GM's electrification plans will be more than just empty talk and will actually be applied to their non-car product lines.
Hopefully, GM's electrification plans will be more than just empty talk and will actually be applied to their non-car product lines.
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Agreed. Fortunately, there are other PHEV's out now and the newer pure electrics are getting longer and longer ranges where hybrid is not needed for more and more people.
Mo City
Active Member
I hate to hear about people losing their jobs. That is really tough.
However, GM and the others have to put the pedal to the metal and accelerate the transformation from ICEs to EVs. They can rely on profits from SUVs and pickup trucks for several more years. Instead of inflating their short-term profit statements from these, they should think long term and invest them towards the future.
It's just a matter of time before this last line of defense crumbles too.
However, GM and the others have to put the pedal to the metal and accelerate the transformation from ICEs to EVs. They can rely on profits from SUVs and pickup trucks for several more years. Instead of inflating their short-term profit statements from these, they should think long term and invest them towards the future.
It's just a matter of time before this last line of defense crumbles too.
I agree. Many countries around the world have already announced plans to ban ICE vehicles yet most American car manufacturers still push SUVs and trucks. These manufacturers need to take their head out of the sand and start building PHEV and EV cars and trucks now if they want to still be around in 10 to 20 years.
It was the “gateway drug” to pure electric for a lot folks.
With every GM dealership lot surrounded by pickups and suv’s I don’t see their attitude towards pure electrics changing soon. They are SO imbedded in that old thinking, I don’t know if they can make the leap to the future.
A funny thought I have when I drive by a GM dealership. I can’t help but think that the pickups are lined up like that ready to do battle to keep electrics off their lots.
With every GM dealership lot surrounded by pickups and suv’s I don’t see their attitude towards pure electrics changing soon. They are SO imbedded in that old thinking, I don’t know if they can make the leap to the future.
A funny thought I have when I drive by a GM dealership. I can’t help but think that the pickups are lined up like that ready to do battle to keep electrics off their lots.
So does any EV for that matter then. With a PHEV, you're lugging-around an ICE engine that you'll hardly ever use.
The CEOs of GM and the other manufacturers need to do some careful planning and resource allocation. They could, of course, spend billions on designing and building EVs and hundreds of millions on a charging network. Or, they could spend millions on campaign contributions, planting social media and news articles, etc. and keep ICE vehicles, particularly big ones, viable for a few more years, simultaneously avoiding the short term development costs.
In the long run, say 10 years, the EV route is clearly the winner. However, these CEO's won't be there in 10 years. They'll have gotten their payments and retired, so it may very well make sense for them to just go with the payoffs and build up the profits. That's also likely the best strategy to maximize value for their shareholders (at least the ones with the sense to jump ship later).
mtndrew1
Active Member
I had a Volt from the second model year and it was very poorly made, spent a lot of time in the shop, and was bought back by GM and replaced with another Volt.
That Volt too was constantly in the shop and bought back by GM and then I gave up and changed brands.
Had it (they) been properly made I’d probably still be driving a Volt today. That said, there’s an inherent compromise of packaging and cost when you cram two entire powertrains into a single compact car.
As battery costs continue their dramatic fall and quick charging infrastructure continues its blistering growth pace PHEVs will make less and less sense. I think GM was right to pull the plug (heh) and focus on BEV. Mary is making extremely painful choices while she has other profit centers available to fund them and I think that’s quite smart.
That Volt too was constantly in the shop and bought back by GM and then I gave up and changed brands.
Had it (they) been properly made I’d probably still be driving a Volt today. That said, there’s an inherent compromise of packaging and cost when you cram two entire powertrains into a single compact car.
As battery costs continue their dramatic fall and quick charging infrastructure continues its blistering growth pace PHEVs will make less and less sense. I think GM was right to pull the plug (heh) and focus on BEV. Mary is making extremely painful choices while she has other profit centers available to fund them and I think that’s quite smart.
jgs
Active Member
Even though I'd never buy one, I can't feel good about this. Among other things the Volt was (is!) a pretty clever piece of engineering... but so were steam/sail hybrid ships, and they didn't last long.
Brando
Active Member
GM is consistent - lost market share most every year since 1962 look it up.
and gives up any niche ~8 years (except for mid-engine Corvette 50 years in planning?)
Chevy Corvair 1960-1969 [1,835,170 units] (Advertising stopped in 1967)
GM - Saturn EV1 1996-2003 did they do any Ads?
Chevy Volt 2011-2019 do they do Ads?
So perhaps 8 years is the life of the Bolt? We shall see. 2017 - 20??
and gives up any niche ~8 years (except for mid-engine Corvette 50 years in planning?)
Chevy Corvair 1960-1969 [1,835,170 units] (Advertising stopped in 1967)
GM - Saturn EV1 1996-2003 did they do any Ads?
Chevy Volt 2011-2019 do they do Ads?
So perhaps 8 years is the life of the Bolt? We shall see. 2017 - 20??
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trini0t3y
Member
Sounds like 03' deja vu - "The EV1's discontinuation remains controversial, with electric car enthusiasts, environmental interest groups and former EV1 lessees accusing GM of self-sabotaging its electric car program to avoid potential losses in spare parts sales (sales forced by government regulations), while also blaming the oil industry for conspiring to keep electric cars off the road." hmmm.....
Brando
Active Member
GM - are they "announcing Volt shut down" just to bargain for subsidizes and tax breaks? Extension of federal tax credit for electrified cars would help the Volt? Can hardly believe they never sold over 500/week or 2,000/month - WTF??
Others seem to think a hybrid small SUV more likely.
Model Y - will hybrids sell against Model Y ?
Latest 2019 Porsche 911 at over $100,000 - why not his and her Model 3 instead? interesting times
page down for spec comparison
Porsche 911 vs Tesla Model 3 - CarGurus
Others seem to think a hybrid small SUV more likely.
Model Y - will hybrids sell against Model Y ?
Latest 2019 Porsche 911 at over $100,000 - why not his and her Model 3 instead? interesting times
page down for spec comparison
Porsche 911 vs Tesla Model 3 - CarGurus
2012MS85
Member
Sad to see the Volt go the way of the Cadillac ELR (big brother to the Volt, in fancier duds)...my wife and I own and enjoy both. GM really had brilliant engineering for city driving that’s under 40 miles per day. I rarely buy any gas, and feed the Volt and ELR from my solar every day. GM failed to advertise and educate the public about their great technology. Disappointing, but c’est la vie!
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