Ask The Best And Brightest: Sell Me on The Chevy Volt
TTAC’s long been used to playing the “heel” of the auto journalism world, and sure enough, our skeptical approach to the Chevy Volt is already renewing accusations that TTAC “hates GM.” For the record, this accusation doesn’t fly. We have the tendency to obsess on GM because that company’s rise and fall is the most compelling story in the automotive world. To read GM’s history is to watch a person claw their way up a cliff by his bootstraps, and upon reaching the top, spend the next several decades strangling himself with the very same bootstraps. I challenge anyone who is interested in the world of cars to look away from that.
In any case, our Volt coverage has focused thus far on dispelling myths, so in the interest of seeking the truth everywhere, I thought we should take a moment to make a few Volt myths of our own. After all, despite planning to build only “10-15k” Volts next year and 60k in 2012, Automotive News [sub] says
Chevrolet is taking its message to a mass-market audience with television commercials during World Series broadcasts.And even though my personal and professional obligations to the truth make me the worst marketing candidate ever, I may just have an idea of where to start…
The Volt was conceived around a simple vision: 40 miles of gas-free driving, and gas-powered operation thereafter. The problem, as I have noted elsewhere, is everything else. Most significantly, the price and presentation of accurate mileage ratings. Though GM is in the “final throes” of getting EPA approval for a Volt-appropriate window sticker, GM’s Doug Parks admits that
it’s possible the [electric range] figure will be below the 40 mile range that GM had long advertised… [because] “We’re kind of hoping we’ll over deliver.”
Still, after several years of throwing the 40-mile range number around, backing away for marketing purposes (even if real-world range meets or exceeds it) will be a tough pill to swallow. Besides, there’s still the issue of the gas-mode (aka Charge Sustaining, or CS mode) efficiency. What’s GM’s position on that important metric?
Parks said on gasoline-only mode, the Volt is currently getting in the “mid to high 30s” on a combined city/highway driving.But it’s not clear yet what figures the EPA will assign on the vehicle’s gasoline-only range.
Manfully admitted. And that brings us to an elegant solution: if the Volt’s EV range is 35 miles (conservatively… mustn’t underdeliver), and the CS mode efficiency is (roughly) 35 MPG, the Volt is a 35 mile-per-gallon car, in which “the first gallon of gas is free.” Which must make the ideal Volt marketing taglineIt’s a 35 MPG car… but the first gallon of gas is on us**except that it’s electricity, not gas, and you have to buy it yourselfUnfortunately that manages to seem both overly honest and misleading at the same time. Although it might be more usable than my previous attempt If G.M. were honest, it would market the car as a personal donation for, and vote of confidence in, the auto bailout.Did I mention that I would be a horrible marketer? Let’s hear your quick, coherent pitch for the Volt.
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Bias or no bias, the truth about cars often is very negative. Having said that, being critical is fine, but repeatedly bringing out the same horse to beat (like the New York Times and Fox News do) often leads to accusations of bias. Just because you say you are "fair and balanced" doesn't mean you are. TTAC should look in the mirror and see that while much of the auto industry and the media has herpes, you yourself have some warts as well. OK, let's talk electric cars. All electric cars, despite mankind's best efforts are flawed. There are still severe limitations to EV, chief among them the energy density and energy capacity of battery packs. The interesting thing that no one talks about is that even if the battery capacity/density miraculously doubles tomorrow, that introduces a deal-breaking problem: the time it takes to charge the car would be more than 24 hrs! This is why The Volt, despite detractors pointing out that it has an inelegant series hybrid system and it's 30 mile E-only range, is an engineering tour de force. It is by early accounts the first Electric car that behaves like and has comparable utility to an I.C.E. car. The Nissan Leaf takes 16-20 hours to charge on a 110 V socket. Why is it worth gov't money to develop this type of vehicle? Well let me just turn the question around for a moment. If we don't invest Gov't money in this, will progress in the cause of electric motoring proceed in a swift fashion? EVs may turn out to be a red herring ala fuel cells, but EVs are indeed tantalizingly close to being an efficient alternative to I.C.E.V.'s. TTAC has pointed out the negatives ad nauseum. What are the positives? 1. Electric engines are cheaper than I.C.E's 2. Electric engines are more efficient than I.C.E.'s 3. EV's use coal, natural gas and even renewable energies as fuel. If and when EVs are used on a grand scale, the net effect would be a strategic advantage for America over oil-producing nations. On the negative side, EVs are prohibitively expensive. Computers were prohibitively expensive in the 70s. Cell phones were prohbitively expensive in the 80s. I'm not naive enough to think that EV's will scale to such a magnitude, but on the positive side, EVs as they are now are NOT outrageously expensive; there exist I.C.E's that are more expensive than the current set of EV's. Society is within striking range of a truly affordable practical EV. The truth is that we as car enthusiasts should be leading the charge in at least giving this thing a shot. Let's not sit around with hands folded at every sign of progress or be unaffected by every stab at excellence and progress ala Pitchfork. (If you've never heard of them, there's a reason why.)
Another ad idea came to mind... Show a guy filling up his 40 foot RV. Guy drives up in a Volt. RV guy walks over and says "Thank you." Gives the Volt guy a big hug. Says "I'm a GM retiree and you are helping keep the checks flowing which pay for this RV. Also you pay a huge premium to use electricity instead of gas which means your subsidizing the 75 gallons I just put in this bad boy! God Bless you!"