Lutz on Tesla ...

[bonnie]

You're buying a Hummer?

It would have been funnier if you'd said 'your buying a Hummer?'. Just sayin'.

And yes, ckessel, the cookies are very very tempting.

 

[ckessel]

It would have been funnier if you'd said 'your buying a Hummer?'. Just sayin'.

Your making my I twitch.

 

[bonnie]

It will be better tomorrow. I promise.

Soooo ... back on topic. That Lutz guy!

 

[vfx]

Maybe the grammar forum?

You HAVE to look the other way ... 1).

But this one needs to have a special place in a car forum. I know I have tons of sloppy posts (especially those after 10PM) but we need a "+1" type feedback for breaks for brakes. Aauugg!

 

[vfx]

I want video of Lutz in my passenger seat.

 

[brianman]

It would have been funnier if you'd said 'your buying a Hummer?'. Just sayin'.

I figure my previous post upset you enough. I didn't want to push it.

 

[Teo_atawki]

The concept that GM or any other major auto producer could outdo Tesla has a major problem. They all have dealer networks. They have to make cars the dealers want to sell. A car with the much simpler drivetrain and fewer moving parts of a pure EV will be much cheaper to service. Since somewhere between 35 and 50% of dealerships' profits come from service, to get dealerships on board with selling it means the car must have a much higher margin, which drives up the consumer cost.

 

[vfx]

T... Since somewhere between 35 and 50% of dealerships' profits come from service, ....

I thought is was more...

 

[dsm363]

I want video of Lutz in my passenger seat.

Make it happen. That would be awesome.

 

[Todd Burch]

Two thoughts:

Basing the quality of a car company on individual experiences is not a good idea...good or bad. ALL car companies have lemons. All car companies have models that go their service entire life without issues.

Comparing Tesla and GM...positively or negatively...is way premature at this point. This is a topic that should be explored in a decade.

 

[FlasherZ]

Lutz may be a "car guy" but he also has legacy in GM, and it's only natural to defend legacy. I realize that for PR / competitive reasons Lutz has to say things that are over-the-top to help differentiate GM, but the attitude for me is classic "Innovator's Dilemma/Solution" behavior -- incrementalism. Lutz's speak of "that's fine, they're just a small luxury car maker" is akin to Maxtor / Seagate / Conner / WD / Quantum / Hitachi looking at SanDisk way back when and saying "that's fine, they just make small flash memory cards for cameras".

Now, each of my home PC's - laptop, desktop, server - each has a flash-based SSD and I've limited my usage of those old mechanical hard-drive dinosaurs to those areas where they still hold onto the market: very high volume, cheap, little-accessed information storage. Those old-world manufacturers are fighting to hang onto market space as the competitors eat their lunch.

For those who live in the bay area and commute down to San Jose / Milpitas, did you notice who is moving into the rest of the old Quantum/Maxtor buildings on Murphy Ranch Rd.? That's right - SanDisk.

 

[FalconNinetyD]

Link: Bob Lutz and his Volt-like truck visit Jay Lenos Garage

VIA has a deal where they buy GM trucks directly from GM, remove the transmission, and replace it with a generator and a 400 HP electric motor. The transmission (painted red so it never leaks out to a customer) is shipped back to GM and reused for another VIA truck (they need the transmission installed at GM so they can test the vehicle).

At VIA the gas tank is shrunk and mostly replaced with a large A123 battery pack. Much of the vehicle's electronics and the full dashboard is replaced as well. The user interface is literally an iPad built into the dash.

What you end up with is a plug-in hybrid with significant electric range and the full capability of the original truck, but much higher fuel economy.

Basically, yes, this is a "Volt" version of a truck. They are aiming at fleet operators as their main customers.

 

[Robert.Boston]

For those who live in the bay area and commute down to San Jose / Milpitas, did you notice who is moving into the rest of the old Quantum/Maxtor buildings on Murphy Ranch Rd.? That's right - SanDisk.

That's just too perfect. It's one thing to have your lunch eaten, but eaten at your desk?!?

 

[ElSupreme]

This SanDisk talk has brought up my memory of 'hybrid' HDDs. Some SSD space and some traditional disc space in a single 3.5" drive. I have a feeling in 15 years the Volt and Karma will look equally awkward.

 

[TEG]

HDDs have, in a way, been "hyrbid" for a long time. With RAM cache front end for performance reasons.

 

[dhrivnak]

Wow way off topic here

 

[VolkerP]

This SanDisk talk has brought up my memory of 'hybrid' HDDs. Some SSD space and some traditional disc space in a single 3.5" drive. I have a feeling in 15 years the Volt and Karma will look equally awkward.

Or DVD/VHS combo decks.

We are dead on topic. In a wider sense, this thread is how emerging technology (EVs) is seen/judged/mistaken/ignored by the established players and the interim solutions they think that are necessary to cope with it. And Bob is one hell of them.

 

[jeffhre]

I've given up on the loose vs. lose thing, but since brakes are automotive related and this is an automotive related forum it seemed reasonable. We have people going to great lengths to distinguish other automotive terminology (chargers, inverters, batteries vs. cells vs. packs, etc). Hell, someone spent a bunch of posts trying to convince me of a nuance on "degrade" vs "damage".

Umm, were you referring to chargers or EVSE's?

 

[jeffhre]

While we're on the subject of Lutz, let's not forget that his pet project at GM was the Pontiac/Saturn convertibles, designed by none other than ..... Franz von Holzhausen.

When Lutz left the car business before his last stint at GM, he was CEO of Exide battery and tried to get them to build a battery powered car as a demonstration project. Result: he was told "we are a battery company." In 2007 Lutz said" if some little start-up on the West Coast can do it, we can d--- well build an EV. Result: Volt.

As Doug_G wrote, Lutz is now on the board of Via Motors. A company that is only making electrified trucks for fleet customers who are sensitive to reductions in operating costs, as an entry to electrifying heavy duty vehicles.

Question, Bonnie, does this sound like a "not sure he could fully let go of 'but that's the way it's always been done' thinking" kind of guy?

 

[jeffhre]

Sorry PhatCat, forgot to say, yea, good point.

So, uhh... Yes, very good point!