Volt Birth Watch 146: How We'll Make Money on the Volt

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Yes, it’s triple VBW day at TTAC, thanks to Beth Lowery, GM Vice President, Environment, Energy & Safety Policy. Over at the Fastlane blog, Lowery is proving that the more things change at GM, the more things don’t change. She’s still talking about perception gaps. And here’s the spin re: the Volt’s financial sustainability. [BTW: Whatever happened to GMNext?]

Electric vehicles have high up-front capital requirements. How are you going to make electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt profitably?

Introducing advanced technology is always expensive initially, especially in the early generations. It’s important to have the right incentives for customers, such as federal tax credits. Future generations of the technology will be less expensive, making it possible for us to turn a profit.

Easy!
Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Maniceightball Maniceightball on Jun 24, 2009
    In a Utopia with clean nuclear energy, maybe…but in this culture? forget it Plug-in power from a coal plant is still cleaner than your internal combustion engine, mainly because it's easier to make the chemical-to-electric conversion more efficient on that scale than it is to do chemical-to-mechanical in your car (due to space, weight, and cost constraints).
  • Stein X Leikanger Stein X Leikanger on Jun 24, 2009

    Now that Tesla got its half a billion Dolares Americanos - get ready for Carmageddon II, the spin-out. There's an alternative drive-train in your future, apparently. The Dem's are in deep, and there's no bottom.

  • Wsn Wsn on Jun 25, 2009
    maniceightball : June 24th, 2009 at 5:45 pm Plug-in power from a coal plant is still cleaner than your internal combustion engine, mainly because it’s easier to make the chemical-to-electric conversion more efficient on that scale than it is to do chemical-to-mechanical in your car (due to space, weight, and cost constraints). -------------------------------------------- That is very true. But there is another thing to consider: cost. If the $20k premium of a plug-in is used to protect the environment, that will have enormous effect. I mean, you can hire some Mexicans to plant trees in California and those trees will trap gigantic amount of carbon from air in their trunks. That's just one example of how to convert money to green. There are more effective ways.
  • Wsn Wsn on Jun 25, 2009
    Stein X Leikanger : June 24th, 2009 at 7:41 pm Now that Tesla got its half a billion Dolares Americanos - get ready for Carmageddon II, the spin-out. ------------------------------------ I have a feeling. Chairman Obama likes mafia. First Fiat, now Tesla. Very shady companies that most won't trust.
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