In a nutshell, he's a BBC journalist who writes about environmental awareness and then tries to practice what he preaches and report the results. he's had several journal campaigns, i guess you'd call them, but this is his new one: exploring energy reduction alternatives across the US. He started in Muskegon (talk about obscure) and is now in Detroit. While in the Motor City, he is of course, exploring the car industry that it is known for, and this article is on GM's new electrical offering, the Volt.
Which immediately sounds like a crappy car. It's expected to retail in the $40-50,000 range, which right there takes it out of the regular market. My little Hyundai was $12,000, for comparison. The Toyota Prius hybrid runs in the $20's (and has been on the market for HOW long, now?)
Even at $40k, GM is expected to LOSE money on this model. The batteries it runs on run in the tens of thousands of dollars alone -- and that's before you get around to the frame, the wheels, and the upholstery. Which, as GM begs Congress on its knees for cash transfusions every other week in please-I'll-suck-your-dick mode, means it can't possibly afford to market this disaster. Which won't be competitive with the cheaper existing hybrids that are already out there and have had a decade or so to work out all their bugs. Dear god.
On top of that, those heinously expensive batteries pack a whopping FORTY MILES OF CHARGE. Then you gotta plug it back in. Forty miles. i'll drive that in a day. That won't get me to the next major city. And allthough it has a back up gas engine, it's not really a hybrid. That gas engine only charges the batteries. it doesn't propel the car. Which makes this piece of crap entirely worthless. What is GM thinking? Hybrid technology is not new. They can't afford to be this far behind the game!
No, let's talk about the plugging it back in part. It runs on plain old house current. It takes hours -- like all night -- to recharge. As NPR noted on their analysis of this sucker the other morning, that's great if you have nowhere to go all night. No 3am medical emergencies. No last-minute dash to the grocery store. AND AN OUTLET HANDY. I.e.. a garage to park in. To the many who live in apartments, and park on the street outside or in a common parking lot, well, ya may be screwed. And sure,sometimes there are external outlets on buildings. You could rig up an extension cord, and hope neighborhood kids and other hooligans don't find it amusing to unplug your chariot int he wee hours, leaving you with a dead battery and a dreaded call to the make to the boss. You can hope bad weather and lightning strikes on your local transformer don't wreak havoc on you too. You can hope all your neighbors don't get the bright idea to buy a Volt, too, and blow your apartment complex's fusebox. Nor does GM mention exactly what recharging your car every night might do for your electrib bill. Nor does not using gas in your car but plugging it into the wall necessarily cut any fossil fuel consumption down the line -- most electric companies generate their customers' power from coal plants anyway!
Frustrating! Such a lack of real vision, I think. i would almost be just as glad to see such a company go down in flames and be consigned to the dustbin of bankruptcy and obscurity. Certainly their R&D and marketing are bankrupt. There have been some comments that the US should have some sentimental attachment to the Big Three, and that as historical world leaders in automobile manufacturing we have a duty to not let your domestic auto industry go under. I say fuck 'em. They shoulda had a clue. Then they wouldn't be in this mess. As a member of the proverbial Nation of Tinkerers, I am embarrassed to see such piss-poor efforts out of these jokers. They need to yank the bankroll out from under these losers and let GM roll into the grave it has dug for itself.
Any thoughts? Other views? I'm curious. [/i] _________________ An apple a day....
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:02 pm Post subject:
Idiots.
I think a lot of the inanity that surrounds the US auto industry is endemic of a lot of modern-day American businesses. Corporate bigwigs have forsaken quality, craftsmanship, innovation, service, foresight, and careful decision-making to make a quick buck and line their already saturated deep pockets. The top 3 automakers (as well as the energy industry and a whole host of other industries) should've been at the forefront of green technology-- promoting and advancing alternative fuel research and investing in a local workforce that would've been able to afford these vehicles. Instead they churned out one SUV and muscle car after other, made using cheap labor from third world countries and cheap parts that break down or explode after a few thousand miles. So gas prices soar, SUV sales plummet, and the Big 3 find themselves in this financial quagmire.
So now GM comes out with this costly, inefficient Volt shit in their bid to corner the green vehicle market and re-energize and re-invent themselves?? It's a little too late, bitches! If they can't adapt to the times then they deserve to fail. I only feel sorry for the workers who would suffer greatly should GM shut down.
Total agreement here. Now I hear that GM is going to the gov't sobbing that they need ANOTHER cash transfusion or they will be kaput in 30 days! Otra vez....
Honey, if the last few billion didn't shift your bottom line, then what's a little more gonna do? Serious. Why throw good money after bad?
And, you know what? It's likely that GM's workers and former workers would lose out anyway! I just heard that a court ruled in a recent bankruptcy case that the company in question could legally renege on its obligations to pay health and life insurance to its retirees! Thousands of people are going to lose out on benefits they were promised, entitled to, and probably PAID FOR during their employment period, with the stroke of a pen. If GM can't keep itself solvent, i would suspect that that would be the route they would take as well, especially if others are doing it and getting away from it.
it's odd that this crisis, which started with bad real estate speculation, will probably lead to major health care reform, because the exorbitant burden of health insurance is mainly borne by employers in the US, and will be the first thing they throw up their hands at and stop paying. It was fine when only 40 million people had no coverage, because we have a population of 300 million, and that was a small percentage. But what happens if that percentage starts to steadily rise because people lose their jobs or employers cancel their coverage? Insurance companies will be brought to their knees without that massive premium revenue to fund them. Doctors and hospitals will have to fight to get paid -- more than they already do. State Medicaid funds will be stretched to breaking as too many people start qualifying for it. Who'da thunk it? Clinton couldn't get anyone to look cross-eyed at his universal health care plan because times were too damn good back then. Now the tables are turned.....
And by the way, i hear Prop 8 is under judicial review in California.... any news? _________________ An apple a day....
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:50 pm Post subject:
Uriel wrote:
And by the way, i hear Prop 8 is under judicial review in California.... any news?
The Court grilled both sides of the issue last Thursday. They have 90 days to hand down their ruling. If you ask me, it doesn't look good for Prop 8 opponents. It seemed like the Court was leaning towards upholding the proposition based on "majority vote".
And if that isn't enough, Ken Starr, that asshole representing Prop 8 backers wants all those gay marriages that occurred within the short timeframe invalidated. Hater.
It would be hard to invalidate something that was legal when it occurred. Seems to me like there would be precedent for those in gay marriages. Look at congressional superfunds. They exist to clean up pollution caused by entities who either no longer exist to be held accountable or polluted areas under circumstances that did not make them culpable at the time. Seems like those gay spouses would also find protection under grandfather laws, if any relevant ones exist in California. And it's only a matter of time before somebody finds the right angle to argue the case, like Roe vs. Wade and the 4th Amendment.
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