The Electric Duds

In the auto biz there is a minimum volume needed to sustain operation of a factory.

The Corvette is (on a per-unit basis) the most profitable car on the planet, but it survives only because the Corvette plant in Kentucky is one-third the size of most car plants.

Not far away, in Louisville, Ford used to make the giant SUV called the Excursion. The Excursion was very profitable on a per-unit basis, but they only sold about 12,000 units per year, so it was more profitable to take the line at Louisville and add capacity for the very popular Super duty pickup trucks. That one line is four times the size of the Corvette plant at Bowling Green.

Back in the 70s GM made a special Vega with a Cosworth engine. It was nearly as pricey as a Corvette and didn't sell well. GM sold four times as many Cosworth Vegas as Chevy volts.

The Volt survives on government subsidies. When the subsidies end, so will the Volt. The Volt is a latter-day Edsel.

 

Volt named car of the year in europe

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/03/volt-ampera-europe-car-year/

then there is the late comer Toyota Prius C... "Prius C sold 1,201 cars in its first three days on sale. That is more than either of the best-known electric cars, Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, sold for all of February. " starting at $19,700, 500 miles cruising range city, 437 miles highway. at 56mpg this hybrid commuter is what the automotive future looks like

 

Are Europeans buying the Volt in any quantities?

 

The Chevy Vega was named car of they year when it was introduced as have several Renualts which became duds.

 

Yes.

Opel Ampera gets 7,000 pre-orders in Europe.

 

Life with an electric car.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/mitsubishi-i-ev?click=pm_latest

quote:
“…all the hazards of EVs. Once mundane tasks suddenly required planning and thought. And one slight bobble—like the charging inexplicably not working—could dash even the best laid plans.”

Taxcutter says:
A product no consumer wants. IIRC, the East German Trabant didn’t have an effective heater either.

 

I suppose if you wanted a heater, the battery could catch fire.

 

Hybrid and electric cars set sales records, causing spastic weeping among certain deranged people who engage in politically-driven vendettas against any technologies that their party masters have declared to be un-PC.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_20391536/hybrid-electric-car-sales-set-records-march

TheParty says all party members must hate anything related to green technology, so the party faithful obey. They act much like the old Soviets, who reviled standard genetics and embraced lysenkoism solely because TheParty demanded it.

 

How do you sell a car with a very weak heater?

 

That cuts both ways.

The 2010 Acura TSX Trade in Value
$21,898

2012 Chevy Volt
$31,645(WITH REBATE WE PAY FOR)

Total cost of switching to the Volt
$31,645-$21,898 = $9747

Assuming his $150 to be correct.
Thats $9747 / (150 X 12) = 5.5 years to pay off.

And that is with the rebate. Were it not for the taxpayer rebate it would pay off in 9.6 years. Once again crony capitalism is the only thing that keeps thsi green technology even close to competitive.

 

Here's a quote from Bob Lutz, conservative Republican, former vice-chair of GM, and noted climate skeptic:

 

Ford battery Focus sales in February and March: Zero.

That’s right for a sixth of the year, they didn’t sell any of these cars at all.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...tough-sell?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

quote:
“Electric vehicle sales have been slow out of the box, despite marketing hype, government incentives and the hopes of green car advocates.
Total sales last year were 17,425, which is less than 0.1 percent of the U.S. car and light truck market.”

Taxcutter says:
That’s because they are a bad deal for the consumer and taxpayer.


Quote:
“Ford Motor Co. sold about 12 Focus Electrics in December and January to fleet customers — and none in February and March…”

Taxcutter says:
Doesn’t surprise me a bit. An overpriced car that won’t go a hundred miles without a long recharge and has no heater. A bad deal for the consumer.

Obama, Reid and Pelosi were so gung-ho about forcing the automakers to produce these white elephants but even people in Frisco, Vegas, and Chicago won’t buy these turkeys.

 

Taxcutter needs to drive one. Certainly as I EV off to work or around town after an evening of filling up with made in america fuel, I don't feel my EV is a bad deal at all. As others whine about the price of gas I just shrug, not putting gasoline in my tank more than once every couple of months. And because your elected representatives have decided to encourage the purchase of these types of fuel saving vehicles, mine didn't cost any more than a median priced ICE powered car.

The thing has enough power off the line to randomly road rage people, it is quieter than any car I've ever owned or driven, it uses only made in america fuel (which employs lots of america workers), and I can laugh at those whining about fuel prices.

I am considering adding a pure EV to the family fleet, I like the gas engine on the Volt but I don't use it much.

 

Since the your fellow taxpayer paid for it that is very self centered. Like I said the only way you even come close to saving money is the rebate I and others paid for.

 

I'm curious, Windy, why aren't you whining about the much higher taxpayer subsidies to the fossil fuel corporations? The fact is, for a variety of reasons, it is in everybody's best interest to make the switch over to non-polluting vehicles and cut our dependence on foreign oil (or any oil) so this transition to electric vehicles is well worth subsidizing.

 

Because I understand economies of scale and per unit subsidies.

 

I'd like to see the same comparison of tax revenues from the same four sources. I'm sure you'll see that the fossil fuels actually pay far more in taxes than the other three sources combines - in fact I'm betting that in some cases the others are a net loss to the government.

 

Chasing rabbits (and that's what discussion of oil subsidies is in this thread) don't change the fact that people know the electrics area bad deal for the consumer and thus don't cough up the money for them.

I would consider driving an electric but 1) I drive a lot of miles and electrics just don't have the range and 2) notice I live in the midwest. A heater and defroster are imperative.

I tend to keep vehicles a long time. Multiple five-figure charges for replacement batteries wreck the economics of electrics.

 

What "tax breaks" and what "direct spending" and be specific.