Posted by Josh Loposer at Mar 31st, 2009 in Green News Feeds
Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Polit-eco, GreenTech
Ouch. The news just keeps getting worse for GM. Even though the Volt has enjoyed unprecedented hype for the last 2+ years, and Jay Leno thinks its a superior ride, President Obama’s new car task force is not super impressed by the long-range hybrid. They’ve begun questioning the Volt’s commercial prospects as they take a good hard look at GM’s sustainability plan. From their report:
“GM is at least one generation behind Toyota on advanced, “green” powertrain development. In an attempt to leapfrog Toyota, GM has devoted significant resources to the Chevy Volt. While the Volt holds promise, it is currently projected to be much more expensive than its gasoline-fueled peers and will likely need substantial reductions in manufacturing cost in order to become commercially viable.
One of the biggest concerns is that GM’s ‘leapfrog’ strategy relied on selling the Volt at a loss, not exactly great for sustainability in the near term. While no official price has been set for the Volt just yet, all signs seem to indicate a price tag right at $40K. At that price, the Volt will be competing with the very sporty, very classy-looking Tesla Model S all-electric sedan. What do you think about the Volt’s commercial appeal?
[via Treehugger]
Task Force Questions the Volt’s Commercial Viability originally appeared on Green Daily on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Josh Loposer at Mar 18th, 2009 in Green News Feeds
Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Alternative Energy, Green by the Numbers
If you’re in the market for a new car, you’ve probably noticed that the number of hybrids parked on dealer lots higher than ever — even as the market for cars in general has collapsed. Much of the reason for this is the intense tongue-lashing the auto industry has received for focusing on SUVs and not the smaller, fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow. The trouble is, now that a glut of hybrids are being pumped into the market, the demand for hybrids seems to be vanishing like a mirage.
This month, Toyota celebrated the sale of its 1,000,000th hybrid — and while execs were reveling in their hybrid domination, they were also digesting the news that Prius sales were down 33% since last February. Hybrid sales across the board are down almost 2/3rds since last April. “When gas prices came down, the priority of buying a hybrid fell off quite quickly,” says Wes Brown of LA-based Iceology. In some places, car buyers are trending back towards SUVs and trucks. Still, the slate for most automakers, especially the ones who took bailout money (ahem, GM and Chrysler), is loaded to the brim with hybrids and fuel-sippers. Has the demand for hybrids really collapsed, or is it just the ailing economy? Is our fuel consciousness truly only engaged when energy prices rise?
[via AutoblogGreen]
Is Cheap Gas Killing the Hybrid Market? originally appeared on Green Daily on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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