Chevy Volt's value is as dawn of era

I thought this article deserved its own thread. :)

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080921/COL14/809210488/1014/BUSINESS01

Great read and a classic example of how we might perceive technology today... and just how relevant or irrelevant it could be... the point being, it shouldn't deter any of us from wanting the latest and greatest 'gadget'. :D

The Volt is the tip of the spear. If it works, GM plans to rapidly adapt its powertrain for high-volume cars with mass-market prices.

If they can pull that off, they should have no problem getting back ontop.

Sorry - for me, to date, the defining vehicle of the electrified vehicle era is the Prius. The Volt might contend for the title once it's proved itself in the marketplace.

I'm also getting slightly tired of people assuming that the cost of this technology will come down, without having any vague notion about how this might be accomplished.

Sorry - for me, to date, the defining vehicle of the electrified vehicle era is the Prius. The Volt might contend for the title once it's proved itself in the marketplace.

While I agree the Volt will need to prove itself, it'll be in a class all it's own when compared to the Prius. Being driven by a pure electric motor, I'd hope it would be able to at least get out of it's own way (unlike the Prius). The Prius is a Hybrid using gasoline and smaller electric motors to move where the drivetrain of the Volt is entirely electric with a small engine acting as a generator and generator only. However, if people drive these down the road at 47mph in a 55+ to maximize their gas like they do the Prius, I'm going to hate them just as much. At least it looks cooler

I think the key to Volt's future impact is found in the E-Flex platform. Today it uses a gas/E85 ICE. It could just as easily be built with a diesel, or to run on CNG. Or hydrogen fuel cell. Point is, it's an electric car. It doesn't care what is used to produce the electricity; ergo the "flexible" in E-Flex. It will be the first in a long line of ever-expanding evolutionary vehicles.