No matter how careful a car owner you are, every once in a while you may wind up getting your car towed. Something break down, you run out of charge, or maybe you didn’t realize you were parking in a snow zone. Things happen.
Electric car owners however need to be careful about how their cars are towed. With conventional gas-powered cars, the transmissions should be shifted into neutral during towing so the wheels are disconnected from the engine. Otherwise, towing the car can cause the engine or transmission components to also turn.
Many electric vehicles however do not have a neutral position in their transmissions. As a result, if a rear-wheel drive electric car gets towed from the front, the spinning of the wheels will cause the motor to spin. The heat from the friction may cause further problems, damaging the motor or other components.
Volt owners should make sure their cars are towed with the front wheels off the ground. Better yet, suggests GM, a flatbed truck should be used.
This entry was posted on Friday, February 25th, 2011 at 2:00 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:10 pm)Makes sense. We all should be used to that what with all the front drive vehicles on the road today.
-14
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:12 pm)(click to show comment)
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:13 pm)Don’t know why you wouldn’t get by with a sling truck, since there is no fundamental difference between the Volt’s rear wheels and those of any other front-drive car.
This does point out the need to think about how such scenarios may differ from the norm before the situation arises. I only hope that all such scenarios have been anticipated by GM for the Volt; there is nothing for uncovering unpleasant surprises like sending a radically new product to the field.
.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:13 pm)Since most modern cars have towing problems, almost all tow operators are using flatbeds already. The original tow trucks are kept for heavier trucks and buses that cannot travel on the flatbead.
Raymond
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:15 pm)Sorry about that first post, Raymond.
+47
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:19 pm)I miss Lyle…
The new writers have no passion for the product and its blatently obvious.
The articles are short, lack details and are not very interesting.
As mentioned by someone yesterday – they need to be posted earlier in the day.
+24
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:30 pm)I agree. I don’t even think it’s the topic that’s bad. This is certainly relevant Volt information. But the presentation is lacking.
You know, there are tons of really good writers out of work right now. Can’t the new owners hire one of them on a part-time basis?
ETA: Obviously a new writer wouldn’t be as good as Lyle. I don’t expect them to be. But they can do better than this.
+2
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:32 pm)Wait… if I park in a snow zone, how do I control how they tow my car??
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:34 pm)I don’t know. I think this is the sort of information that GM needs to communicate to municipalities. It’s should be relatively easy at the moment given the limited roll out…
+3
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:36 pm)I have a suggestion for Auto Guide: Go check out some of John’s articles over at http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com
Perhaps he could be solicited for a few contributions.
.
+2
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:39 pm)If you’re really concerned about being towed, put a notice under the windshield: “electric car, tow by front wheels or on flatbed only.” Or, you know, park legally.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:41 pm)This may be a really stupid question, but a google search didn’t turn up anything, so…What is a snow zone? And is it illegal to park there? I assumed that it’s a place that got a lot of unexpected snow. Was I wrong?
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:43 pm)As long as we’re making suggestions, and talking about formats, are there any html codes that will let us make paragraphs? I tried using “p”, but it didn’t work.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:46 pm)You could just use “enter” a couple of times to get carriage returns, until this week. This has been broken, or deliberately turned off. I don’t think the <p> tag was ever enabled here; but then, it never used to be needed.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:49 pm)I have tried both the “p” tag and “br” tag. Hitting enter does not seem to work either.
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:51 pm)They are streets in snowy areas that get high priority – like routes that need to be cleared first for police,fire,and other emergency vehicles. I believe the Signs say “Snow Route – Tow Away Zone” If you park there during a snowstorm your car gets towed so the plows can clear the road completely.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:52 pm)And as long as we are, perhaps a solution could be to institute an official process for readers to submit story ideas for posts. Not all items were written by Lyle in the old days. You could insure the “passion” by limiting such submissions to members or senior members. The managing editor(s) would have to ‘clear’ and install a good article, so in a sense we would still be at their mercy; but if the problem is writing or ideas, I think this would be a good way to go. Use your assets, Auto Guide.
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:54 pm)Oh. OK. That actually makes sense. Thank you.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:55 pm)One thing I’ve noticed is that the <blockquote> tag inserts a carriage return below the shaded text, automatically.
However, using this to set apart paragraphs would quickly make the comments very messy.
-6
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:57 pm)That would be your fault for parking your $41k car there. Tow drivers dont care, if your dumb enough to park it’s your fault.
Maybe educating the driver is more important.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:57 pm)Let me try something.
If this works, it this will be similar to my <a> work-around; but it would be far too many characters for Captain Jack:
If this all shows as a single paragraph, forget it.
EDIT
What I did was to use the blockquote tag bracketing nothing: It did print a gray line, so it’s not invisible:
<blockquote></blockquote>
This can be copied and pasted to save some key-strokes.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:59 pm)It would work for some posts. But, no, it’s not a permanent solution. For that we need them to alter the format. Which, they do not seem to be doing.
Feb 25th, 2011 (2:59 pm)I was referring to the quote in the article: “maybe you didn’t realize you were parking in a snow zone.” I can’t imagine permanently leaving a note in my windshield in case I don’t notice tow away signs.
Or maybe you were just joking…
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:04 pm)It was a somewhat gentler way to make the point than, for example, saying: “Hey, don’t park illegally, dumbass!!”
Seriously, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m going to be extremely careful how I park. Has anyone here ever parked a new car way out in a parking lot to avoid dings? Square that concern for a Volt.
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:08 pm)http://gm-volt.com/write-for-gm-volt/
Was that always there? I must have missed it. I wonder if GM’s executive team will be upset with hundreds of readers contacting them daily trying to get the latest breaking news. Lyle’s inside connections is one thing that is lacking with the current stories. Todays story I read 3-4 days ago on ABG.
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:13 pm)I’ve never noticed it. Where is it? I still don’t see it. Is it in the forums somewhere?
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:17 pm)Oh, wait. I see it now, ‘way down at the bottom in the white-on-gray mouse type.
OK, someone should give it a go. I nominate LauraM. Do I hear a second?
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:23 pm)Um, me? I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m even close to being capable of writing a blog post. Not only do I not have anything remotely resembling contacts with GM, there are lots of people here with a lot more expertise than I have. I didn’t even know what a snow zone is!
I could possibly write something about oil prices. But I’m hardly an expert in the field. Besides, that type of topic could turn political way too fast the way things are going…
+5
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:25 pm)Let’s see,
Now I have to manually put in characters to turn off green text, manually put in characters to get line feeds, picture links no longer work, and the randomly posted blog entries have no real news.
This sure has become a FUN place to post!!!!!
I have tried to go to the forums, but they are a bunch of newbies asking questions we answered long ago, like this one from today: Can I hook up the generator in my Volt to my house if the power goes out???
I completely understand why Lyle did what he did, but I sure do feel let down by all of this…. After all, I have been here most every day for the almost the past four years too!!! Plus there are no more fun llama pictures to give me a chuckle during the day…..
Or am I just getting burned out and starting to get pissy that I can’t even think about getting a Volt in my area for 9 or 10 more months?????
Sorry for the rant………………
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:27 pm)I think the green text thing has been fixed if that helps? But, other than that, I don’t think anyone’s happy about this.
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:28 pm)Don’t write about snow, then!
You do seem to have a detailed knowledge concerning trade issues and economic consequences, and you can be extremely clear and logical in your exposition. Don’t sell yourself short. You couldn’t do worse … and you don’t need access to GM to do it.
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:28 pm)I think someone who’s actually now driving Volt should write a guest post about his experience.
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:32 pm)Doesn’t the e-mail address listed there belong to Lyle? chevyvolt@gmail.com
+3
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:33 pm)Jim I,
Jim, I am right there with you. I have been here every day since this bog started, I discovered it on the third day. The last week has been a real dissapointment, and I am losing interest very quickly. I hope that they get the issues worked out quick, if they dont then they will lose a ton of traffic. I have already noticed the blog post comments decrasing signifigantly.
Laura, I agree with you as well – I am in no place to start writing blog posts here – my creativity and expertise lies elsewhere and anything I write would be very opinionated and probably political. I think there are readers here who are capable but the real surprise is that a company who specializes in this very task cant live up to the expectations we have here which were set by a neurosurgon hobbyist writing in his spare time.
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:33 pm)I’m no coding expert, but if they had a scheduled task to load finished stories at 6:00 am daily, they could start loading them into the “hopper” to be served up automatically on time.
I think this would increase the apparent isolation we experience now between management and the troops; so it’s kind of a toss up to me whether they should do it this way or not.
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:34 pm)Test post to see if green is fixed…….
EDIT:
You are right Laura, Thanks!
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:36 pm)In the past, websites I have sold – I included the email accounts to avoid any confusion in the transistion. All of my transitions have been seamless though – this one is a mess. This week im sure that there are more comments about the website than the daily topics.
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:38 pm)– guess that lets you off the hook, Laura!
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:46 pm)But that’s the sort of post that half the people here don’t want to read…And, right now would be a dangerous for that sort of thing. Besides, unlike Statik, I don’t have any inside knowledge of how the auto industry works.
Let see, oil prices are up. It’s probably temporary since the holdup is political, and not structural. But, possibly, the higher oil prices will make consumers realize that 2008 wasn’t a blip on the radar, and start buying more fuel efficient cars? On the other hand, the Saudi government is very anxious to appease the US since they definitely want our help defense-wise, and has already announced that they’re increasing production. So the higher oil prices could be over in a matter of days. Depending on how much spare capacity Saudi Arabia actually has. Which is an interesting question at this point. However, if the unrest spreads to Bahrain, we could be in real trouble.
This would probably be bad for GM given that SUVs and trucks are still command a much higher price, and margin. On other hand, they have a much lower break-even point than they used to. And if they can a)ramp up Volt production to say 200,000, b)keep prices high and c) marginal costs are low, they might be able to capitalize on higher oil prices. But, as much as I would like to see the above scenario, I think it’s very unlikely.
Also I don’t know any of the numbers, so all I can do is speculate.
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:52 pm)For which I am very thankful.
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:53 pm)#7 The problem is that it’s old news. This appeared on one of the forum threads yesterday or the day before. I mean, it they’re going to lift blog posts from the forums, they could at least have the courtesy to say so and credit the person who brought it up in the first place. This is pretty close to plagiarism IMHO.
#31 I agree. +1
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (3:55 pm)Thank you! Writing a post here would be way outside my area of expertise. And, while Lyle wrote occasional political/financial posts, the reason they worked IMHO, was because they were occasional.
Feb 25th, 2011 (4:19 pm)Well, back on topic…
These days, towing outfits better all have flatbeds- regardless of snow zones or whatever. The liability would be too great of doing it wrong. My Highlander Hybrid can’t be towed with ANY wheels on the ground. Imagine, a hundred bucks for a tow…or a few thousand bucks paid out for towing WRONG (for repairs). I don’t believe we have to worry much about the pros, who would risk losing their businesses via stupidity. With all the hybrids out there, I think Volt owners can rest easy knowing that the professional towing questions were probably taken care of years ago.
Now, for the RV crowd who like to take their smaller vehicles with them, they better be paying attention to this warning.
+2
Feb 25th, 2011 (4:28 pm)I’m guessing the front of the Volt would be dragging on the ground if lifted from the back end.
Would a tow “person” check for that before toodling off to the impound lot?
Not that I have extensive experience in parking illegally… Would cranking the wheels to one side force a tow truck to pick up from the front end?
As for the “dings” comment, I’m the guy that pulls straight up to an outer edge spot to minimize the ding potential, As a bonus, I get an extra 30 seconds of exercise walking to the store and I save 2 minutes of gas trying to fight for the “dream” spot. Of course, if I had a Volt, I wouldn’t be burning gas in search of that dream spot.
Feb 25th, 2011 (4:38 pm)I on the other hand do have a lot of experience… My first year in college I had over $700 in parking tickets at $15 each becasue the college would not grant me a parking permit even though I had to commute 30 miles to work a couple days a week.
I had an S10 at the time that was a lowrider – It was too low to tow and the tow companies had to bring a flatbed to move it. I was towed 2 times and each time had to pay an extra fee since they had to make a second trip with a flatbed, and they had to use ramps when loading it on the flatbed. So some tow companies will make sure its towable – others may just let you lose your bumpers.
Im pretty sure that a volt is low enough to be damaged if not moved on a flatbed.
Feb 25th, 2011 (5:00 pm)The parking in front of a school near my house has signs that allow parking only after school hours and below that sign is another sign that says No Parking when road is snow covered. Since those spots are used to pick-up and drop off kids they get plowed.
NPNS!
Feb 25th, 2011 (5:09 pm)Can a Volt enthusiast site be run well by a non-Volt enthusiast? That was my concern when a blog-glomerate took over. I guess we will see. Early days are not promising. I think Lyle’s passion, personality, commentary, and GM Volt contacts are hard to replicate.
At a minimum, at least fix the quadruple Photoshop postings on the home page.
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (5:20 pm)Friction? FRICTION?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME????
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (5:38 pm)#44
I read a study not too long ago that said that searching for the “dream spot” almost always took longer than just parking in the first available spot and walking. +1
Feb 25th, 2011 (6:59 pm)So far, in 50 comments, we have had only 14 commentors. I can recall days in the hundreds with that many trolls (and I don’t miss them at all, don’t get me wrong). Things are starting to look pretty grim. Just sayin’.
If it is the new owners’ intention to give this site a future, we need more meat on the table; or the bulk of the comments will continue to be about the state of the site.
Lyle, are you still reading?
+7
Feb 25th, 2011 (7:23 pm)It had to happen eventually. The VOLT has arrived and selling well. I’ve taken 15 orders and delivered 5 so far. But nobody cares any more.
I compare it to the Space Shuttle Program. I recall following and reading as many stories and articles as I could find back then. I built 3 Revell Model kits and carefully painted them to match what I saw on TV.
Now the Shuttle Program is almost over. Lindsey Lohan going to court gets more news coverage than the Space Shuttle these days.
People quickly forget how many great workers it took to get that into space. They will also forget the efforts of Lyle and all of GM getting one of the first electric cars into mass production.
Very sad.
+6
Feb 25th, 2011 (7:36 pm)Just got my first electric bill covering a full month of Volt use.
It’s been fairly cold here. Our condo is 100% electric. I have charged the Volt each day this month, sometimes twice. For a total of about 1100 miles. My son made the mistake of leaving the front door of our condo open a few times in 45 degree weather. I didn’t get angry. I figured it would reflect a very heavy electric bill. A worse case scenario. I am pleased to report that our bill is about $80 over normal for a cold month. I did a quick calculation and found that this converts to about 46mpg if gasoline had been purchased. I actually burned just 1.5 gallons of gas this month. I haven’t found any free electricity as of yet.
Now if I could only find 2 or 3 opportunity recharge locations. I plan on going downtown this coming week and using the city structure recharge parking. These spaces are located about 30 steps from the sidewalk, perfect location.
My workplace hasn’t proceeded with EV parking bays yet. It’s just a matter of time. A few higher salaried coworkers are talking about Fisker. I believe we’ll have a Model S or two as well. No Leafs on site yet.
=D-Volt
Feb 25th, 2011 (7:44 pm)I’ve been o top of this since I got my manual last October (original version). I thought I’d wait until I have my Volt and then buy a tow dolly. For now, I can pull my 2000 Jeep Cherokee “four wheels down” in neutral squared, and the Jeep only weighs about 3300 poinds.
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (7:52 pm)There is more to the towing procedure than mentioned. See Manual 10-84 to 10-86. RV towing on 10-87 to 10-88.
Notice: Incorrectly towing
a disabled vehicle may
cause damage to the vehicle.
The disabled vehicle should be
towed on a flatbed car carrier.
Use care when there is low
ground clearance and/or
special equipment.
Attempting to pull the vehicle
onto a flatbed without following
the proper steps could damage
the vehicle.
To load a vehicle onto a flatbed
carrier:
1. The vehicle must be on a flat
surface.
2. The front tires must be properly
inflated. If necessary, move a
rear tire to the front to replace a
flat or damaged tire.
3. Place the tow chain hooks (B)
into one of the torque box
openings (A) behind the front
wheels
4. Place a 1.2 m (4 ft) X 102mm
(4 in) X 102mm (4 in) wood
beam (D) under the front cradle
crossmember (C), and on top
of both tow chains (E) to ensure
the tow chains do not come into
contact with the front fascia (A).
Try to minimize the contact of
the chains with the flexible
air dam (B).
5. Ramps (B) are required for
the front fascia (C) to clear the
flatbed (A). The ramp height
should be approximately 102mm
(4 in). Lower the flatbed onto the
set of ramps.
Notice: If ramps are not used, the
front fascia will come into contact
with the flatbed and may cause
damage. Always use ramps.
6. After the front tires are on the
flatbed adjust the flatbed upward
to provide additional clearance
between the air dam, fascia,
and flatbed
7. When the fascia has enough
clearance to clear the flatbed,
lower the flatbed, and finish
pulling the vehicle onto the
flatbed.
8. Secure the vehicle to the
flatbed (B) using nonabrasive
straps (A) through all four wheel
openings and secure the straps
to the flatbed (B).
If the vehicle is parked off the
shoulder of the road, at an angle
that it cannot be pulled onto a
flatbed, a hook/chain can be placed
into either of the front torque box
openings to pull the vehicle onto
a flat surface. Make sure that the
chains do not come in contact with
the rocker panel (A) or the front
fascia (B).
Notice: When using tow straps to
move the vehicle, damage may
occur if the tow straps contact
the rear fascia. Do not let the tow
straps contact the rear fascia.
If you cannot access the front
torque box openings, wrap a tow
strap through one, or both of the
rear trailing arms (A) between the
bushing and torque tube, and pull
the vehicle onto a flat surface.
Do not wrap the tow strap around
the rear torque tube (B).
+5
Feb 25th, 2011 (9:44 pm)I think everyone here still cares about electric cars just as much as they ever have. The site was alive and well a week ago. The difference is that we now have a malfunctioning site with a blog written by a nameless anonymous writer who could obviously care less. For all we know, it may not even be the same person each day.
Yes. Now that the Volt is here, we might have lost posters anyway. But that’s not what this is about.
By the way, there are a lot of people who still care about the space shuttle. Lindsey Lohan appeals to a different admittedly larger demographic. But that’s how the world function. Most changes go unnoticed by most people. Until it actually affects them personally.
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (10:17 pm)This is the stupidest Volt post ever. It’s about a hypothetical rear wheel drive electric car, which the Volt isn’t. Does any major car-maker make a rear wheel drive electric. Besides the Volt is an EREV and has two sources of power, and as nasaman says “redundancy”. It will rarely need towing, if ever, for a breakdown. Certainly not for running out of charge! Help! Helena!
+4
Feb 25th, 2011 (10:37 pm)Lyle come back….please!!!!!
+1
Feb 25th, 2011 (10:54 pm)OT, but I was out in our plant today and saw a small engine block sitting on the floor. I asked the guys what car it was from and they said “the Chevy Volt!”. Pretty cool. I hope this application goes through. I’d love to part of the Volt build process.
Feb 26th, 2011 (1:23 am)If there’s no new news article here I’ll have one at 6 am sharp eastern standard time on my blog.
http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com/
If anyone here owns a Volt maybe you can answer the question I have put out there in my article. Everyone stop by and say hello! And Corvette Guy, I still care about the Volt, Deeply!
+1
Feb 26th, 2011 (4:54 am)This afternoon topic got towed to the “whine” country.
I don’t intend on driving my Volt to that destination.
+2
Feb 26th, 2011 (6:32 am)Hey remember about the last article I mentioned about gas spiking well here’s another clip of gas spiking like a rocket I tell you it’s insane but on the other side I’m sure it’s diffidently going to make a lot of people probably wanting to get rid of there regular gas car and go with either of one of the four options as in hybrids, plug-in hybrids, Most fuel efficient gas car, Last but not least electric cars. Plus I wouldn’t be surprised if gas is skying rocketing all over the country right now not just here in Washington state sheesh I swear in my own opinion that these are the darkest times in my life when it comes to the news. Here’s the article and the clip.
http://www.king5.com/news/Gas-prices-Insane-say-drivers-116965973.html
Feb 26th, 2011 (6:52 am)Huh odd I don’t know why the article worked at all that makes no sense at all sorry that it did not become green has the people who own this site not want links anymore? Well anyway on comment # 61 you can still get to it here’s how. Step 1. Highlight the link then right click on your mouse pad and hit copy. Step 2. Highlight the address bar and hit back space. Step 3. Right click on your mouse then hit paste and you should have it on your web address bar in no time and finally hit the enter button and presto you should be at the local news site from my state. I hope this helps everyone enjoy.
+3
Feb 26th, 2011 (8:13 am)Why on earth would an article on the Volt site list running out of charge as a reason to be towed?!? This site has really degraded quickly since it was sold.
+3
Feb 26th, 2011 (9:45 am)I literally got up early in the morning every day for years to read the good doctors posts. Today is my last time. The Volt is interesting of course, but if I wanted worthless pap and inane comments, I would read Car and Driver. EV world is my choice now……Good Night and Good Luck
Feb 26th, 2011 (11:44 am)The new commentators “Volt News” are getting used to the flow of GM Volt Dot Com. Much like a new owner of a company talking with supervisors and team leaders. After this period of adjustment the owner can choose a direction to take and add personal flare and ideas.
I agree with most here that the first week of news, interviews, comments from GM personnel, and new Volt developments is less than we normally see here. If I could offer “Volt News” some advice. I will ask for a pre-read of the daily topic before posting. Does the post display the Volt and similar EV in a good light? Does the post have true relevant meaning in this very early stage of sales and driving experiences? Does the post read well to people new to the world of EV? After reading the post do you feel excited about EV, getting off of oil burning, and driving a clean quiet high tech vehicle?
In early august 2010 I was nervous when I placed the deposit on my Volt. My wife had fallen in love with cars from Japan and didn’t like the idea of buying American again. And the price of gasoline was under $3 per gallon.
Less than a year later gas is near $4 per gallon. The Volt has won 4 prestigious awards from Best Car to Green Car of the Year. Japanese car manufactures have issued safety recalls on millions of vehicles. American’s in the Detroit area and Canada are returning to work.
Go out and buy an American made Volt. A wonderful car to drive.
No Plug, No Sale
+2
Feb 26th, 2011 (12:00 pm)You make it sound like you’d actually take your Volt somewhere that has other cars (or people). Dings??? Imagine SKATE-BOARDERS! shudder (g). I’m figuring up and down my driveway and then right back in the garage for a nice buff to get that nasty dust off.
Be well,
Tagamet
Feb 26th, 2011 (12:07 pm)Yes, that’s pretty cool! I’d even settle for being part of the process on the *buying* step. (g).
Be well,
Tagamet
Feb 26th, 2011 (12:10 pm)Looks like my last two posts were victimized by the lack of a paragraph break mentioned earlier. Inserts 7 “enters”.
Be well,
Tagamet
Feb 26th, 2011 (12:28 pm)#65 Amen brother! Preach on! +1
Feb 26th, 2011 (12:34 pm)You can always do the blockquote /blockquote trick. Jackson and LauraM are doing that.
Feb 26th, 2011 (12:37 pm)On the good news front, Volt #1756 went to status 4200 “shipped to dealer or interim point of delivery” yesterday. Pretty good timing, if I do say so myself. Gas was $3.67/gal at our local ARCO station this AM.
In addition to the other issues, does the site seem to run slower now? It seems to take a lot longer for comments to post.
Feb 26th, 2011 (1:47 pm)Hey everybody, in case you didn’t see my above comment, I’ve posted a new article on my blog as I have everyday for the past week. Ok Ok maybe they’re not great but hey, i’m not a writer!
Stop by and say Hey!
http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/volt-knows-all-at-least-more-than-i-do.html
Feb 26th, 2011 (2:18 pm)ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Well no sense complaining. Looks like time to move on.
It’s an interesting time now, with gas going up every day, it seems the Volt’s timing couldn’t be better.
Everyone’s talking about the revolutions in the Middle East and the price of gas – it’s our turn to educate re: the Chevy Volt.
There’s tons of information on blogs and sites to all four corners of the internet. Unfortunately the forums here are the only place I’m going to peruse information.
VerticalScope’s gonna have to do better to keep people coming to this site.
James
+1
Feb 26th, 2011 (3:34 pm)I agree that achievements of today, Volt and Space, are quickly forgotten, and that’s too bad. From a marketing perspective, it shows how important it is to make a big splash and to sell a lot at the time of the first introduction, as Apple has done repeatedly and gm did with the Camaro. In the case of Volt, I suppose gm corporate just didn’t have the imagination to realize what might be gained from a real national Volt introduction, or maybe not the courage or the cash to take the risks involved. In any event, here in NC the Volt is now old news, yet not even one Volt has been sold here, so it generated zero income from NC sale.
So gm now will have to sell Volt here without riding the wave of that initial burst of interest, which was very strong last Fall and now mostly faded away. Now it means selling on the basis of price and performance, traditional car measures, without the intangibles, and that’s going to be much harder.
Thanks everyone for the formatting information.
Feb 26th, 2011 (4:01 pm)Read my #21 for details.
Feb 26th, 2011 (4:22 pm)Well, I suppose you can expect that space eating function to be eliminated within a few days as well
Edit: I see your BQ’s are gone from the BQ of me quoting you.
Feb 26th, 2011 (4:57 pm)“you run out of charge” huh!… are we talking about the Volt?
I agree with CorvetteGuy: people forget very fast… it was a darn shame that the shuttle took of and ABC NBC CBS did not cover it… I think it was MS??? not sure of name but they had very good coverage … I will not be watching much of the three apathetic stations… it’s like watching a tabloid.
This site has not been the same…. they have to find someone who has a passion for the VOLT… there are many stories not being told….
What about the AMP?
Feb 26th, 2011 (5:22 pm)You’re doing a good job — thank you for taking up the cause
Feb 26th, 2011 (10:04 pm)I know this article may look pathetic but what if the tow trucker had to hitch your Volt like this if you were in a crash now think about that folks?
+1
Feb 27th, 2011 (1:29 am)I saw the writing on the wall for Lyle to bolt.
His passion for the car has been exceeded by what was obvious in his video of bringing the CAB Volt home:
He’s a family man first, a car guy second and a neurologist to pay the bills.
Lyle,
C’mon back once in a while! I’m sure the family will understand that you need your gm-volt fix too.
There’s a revolution going on here and the new owners don’t see it. GM pulled off what will be the most successful introduction into the world of getting off gas….completely. We are getting a real taste of what it’s like to drive on electrons, while keeping in touch with our love for the open road.
We want more.
With the Volt, Lyle has passionately taken hold of a group of people that scoff at fanatics, argue merits for hours, days, weeks, months, and even years and still keep a colloquial and intelligent demeanor to all contributors.
No small feat.
Do the new owners understand the significance of the Volt? Look at the Karma. It’s a series plug in!!! GM marketing pulled off a coup in hiding the genset of the Volt.Are the next generation of real world EV’s going to be modeled after the Karma or the Volt? Has this misdirection actually sent EV engineers back to the drawing boards yet again? How about the production go on the Orlando/Granite for North America in 2 years? What’s the word on the MPV5 being built on the same chassis?
When will the new battery components make it into production? Will the Volt chassis itself undergo significant changes before the new battery?
Aside from the scoop topics, when mundane topics have crept into the weekly life of gm-volt, at one time or another Lyle had managed to inject some bit of common relevance to our expectations and still satisfy our need for some intelligent prose. I just don’t see it here anymore…
What we get now is…
How to tow your Volt?
These guys have to do better than that.
I’m not ready to call them clueless yet, but…
Feb 27th, 2011 (9:38 am)crew,
I also miss the technical discussions already.
*
I think I think it would be really great for Dan A to give monitored-permissions to GM engineers to visit here at least once a week.
*
These are the things that drove the worlds attention to GM “front and center”, not most of the non-technical content as much, it seems to me.
*
Technical discussion drives the correct perception of true relentless advancing. The increased momentum for GM was based on the technical excitement of the engineers, not the statements of execs (and certainly nor the critique of what might have been considered in the past “the competition”).
*
The caution here is that past intellectual excitement only lasts so long. Maintenance of technical excitement needs the continued participation of GM engineers. This could be maintained with shared technological discourse regarding what is common between Gen1 and Gen2 for example.
*
(GM is so far ahead of all the other OEM’s regarding EREV anyway, so I doubt there to be any risk that is substantial.)
*
*
It would make sense that there may be some concern for cost-reduction discussion too soon,
(potential for cognitive dissonance toward current sales), but, I really don’t think that would be the case.
*
You want the car, but can only get it once you can afford it.
Pricing excessively relative to the cost of gasoline ought to be avoided.
*
*** Leaving some clearly understood financial room for the buyer to be able to afford the other increasing costs in their lives (due to escalating energy costs driving costs upwards for nearly everything else) would make the purchase far more clearly the “right thing to do” in addition to all the other reasons for it to be “the right thing to do”.***
Feb 27th, 2011 (9:51 am)Tagamet,
I’ve tried several times and ways to break up my post above, which turned into a monster paragraph each time.
Maybe the new programmers for Verticalscope will fix that soon. (I’m glad the topic slider works again). (Sometimes I want to post something way back to stay on that topic). A suggestion to the programmers would be to have some indicator up within and at the slider for when a significant or meritorious post was added to the bottom of a previous thread.
Feb 27th, 2011 (10:02 am)Dan Petit,
Dan, see Jackson’s post at #21 above.
Feb 27th, 2011 (10:39 am)MichaelH,
Good Sunday Morning, Micheal.
That’s one way to break up the block of text. But I think the software ought to be made to do it more easily than that, since so many contributions are made here for GM and others, the least that can be done is to make our contributions more easily made and read.
Feb 27th, 2011 (11:14 am)(//getting used to this much smaller keypad on this little netbook will take a little time. lol)
Last April 11th, 2010 when I got that -13 for the Prius runaway discussion, that vote related to the claim that cell phone towers influenced the complex unsafe condition.
There is a way to prove with 100 percent reliability and excellent test repeatability that instead of cell phone towers, another simple-yet-provable set of conditions exist. Large companies will not write or contact individuals. They are especially given to quickly dismissing any source of information that seems to “come out of nowhere”. But this method is based on a very unique discovery, and applying it over 2 years of careful testing, which primarily was composed of working out the confounding variables of the testing sequences and what the quickly-read results mean. It is a body of work which is fully copyrighted/copyrightable, because it has taken so long to perfect and the process to use the extensive resulting datum require an extended meticulous application of the knowledge, due to lives-at-risk safety concerns with any vehicle containing a DC to DC converter. The thirteen negative votes were wrong.
Feb 27th, 2011 (11:25 am)/edit time ran out.
Add to the last sentence after: “DC to DC converter…” , “…and, where these easily-testable conditions come to exist”.
Feb 27th, 2011 (11:46 am)Note: Shops have been paying me $996 per location (3 -5 techs) for 2 years, to teach this content and how it dovetails into their current diagnostic equipment in a one day seminar. If anyone is interested in software processing and analog conflicts, you can see that The Texas Department of Public Safety lists this seminar on their website under my name. This is a very important situation.
Feb 27th, 2011 (12:03 pm)One more thing. My local Honda dealership is one of my customers for this seminar. They and Honda are truly open minded when it comes to quality improvements of any kind in the servicing department. All servicing departments of all OEM’s would sincerely want this knowledge if they understood that it also applies **also*** to all other 12 volt DC circuit and motor systemic premature failures, as well as software and firmware failures. Most cars nowadays are only half serviced, because the cause problem had been so elusive. Not anymore. It”s the diagnostic “missing link” that I’ve been looking for for the last 30 years since GM’s first Computer Combustion Controlled Carburetors in 1980.
Feb 27th, 2011 (12:36 pm)How about new topics ideas.
Could costs come down by just offering a basic model?
No lcd screens, etc. Even just omitting everything possible except remote mirrors for safety and power windows, and a simple single CD stereo. Have vinyl floors that don’t grow mold and can easily be wiped clean with a damp cloth.
How about a “topics in the future”, so that we can have a few days to come up with some great content?
How about a column over to the right with the handles of current Volt owners to talk to with questions about their experiences? Sort of a “hot link”. (Latest months and ER miles and CS miles) already listed next to their handle?
Feb 27th, 2011 (12:50 pm)Excellent ideas, Dan!!!Hear that, new guys? Get passionate and get these writers moving…ASAP!
Feb 27th, 2011 (1:54 pm)Uhh-oh…. Yet another recall on the Toyota Prius!
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1171631
Feb 27th, 2011 (3:25 pm)CorvetteGuy,
The recalls are just the beginning I believe. Based on what my research easily proves. The execs ought to contact the local Austin service managers at both the dealers in town and forward the above posts to them, then, the service managers ought to invite me out to their service departments, in order for these service managers to forward their impressions up the chain of command. (Ir seemed that the local pros there at both service departments were eager to talk to me when I referred an 07 Prius back to both service departments with simple explanations and hardcopy printouts from a Genisys. (I could perform a non-exclusive contract with Toyota for in the area of mid six figures.)
These reasons are why I say that GM will again be number 1 in just 6 more fiscal quarters.
+1
Feb 27th, 2011 (3:37 pm)This new broadband stick is just incredible. (T-Mobil). I’m visiting the site from inside of my
Winnebago. (Just 40 bucks a month.)
Feb 27th, 2011 (4:01 pm)RB,
Thanks RB, I have a long way to go if I wanna come close to some of the stuff Lyle was able to do here. Time will tell if I have that amount of drive, which obviously Dr. Dennis or anyone who makes it through medical school must have.
Feb 27th, 2011 (5:29 pm)Dan,
It’s good to see your posts again! Glad the broadband is working well.
Feb 27th, 2011 (9:10 pm)Of course that’s what ought to be done, and it is something that I hope will be done; just offering a work-around to get by until it is done.
The ability to post links and pics (and smileys
) ought to be restored too …
On the positive side, green is gone (unless wanted), and I can use my original gravatar again!!!
Feb 27th, 2011 (9:33 pm)We need creativity not junk when it comes to our articles sheesh who needs a lame short article when you can get the good stuff I agree we need a good substitute like Lyle not a lame writer who does not care or just has a lack of experience in this part of the business world who agrees with me? I would have to agree with others when it comes to there comments especially comment # 6 Nick D’s comment sheesh at least bring one good writer on the website and I’ll be happy.
+2
Feb 28th, 2011 (2:37 am)I’ve written what I think is a pretty interesting post on my Blog. It’s about the Washington State EV Tax. It’ll post at 6 am EST. I’ll be sound asleep at that time! thechevyvoltblog@blogspot.com
+1
Feb 28th, 2011 (8:42 am)Yawn……
Nothing new yet?
Very disappointed in the new owners…….
Feb 28th, 2011 (8:49 am)Hey, Captain Jack, check this out:
http://www.seattlepi.com/fun/comic.asp?feature_id=Blondie
Feb 28th, 2011 (9:14 am)zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
How long is this same story going to languish? is it a week already? The part time writer who started this blog ran rings around the full timers that run it now. zzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
+1
Feb 28th, 2011 (9:59 am)New Volt related post at http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/leaf-not-volt-to-pay-washington-state.html
Feb 28th, 2011 (11:35 am)I hear you Jim. The way I see it the ownership is waiting for a solid story to run. If this is the case then waiting is best. It’s either quantity or quality. GM Volt Dot Com is more than a common Mustang or Camaro page. The Volt is an environmental, political, economical, and military related vehicle. All cylinders must fire in order. Ummmm, let me rephrase that. All lithium cells must contribute.
NPNS
+1
Feb 28th, 2011 (11:40 am)#99
Yeah, how sad.
Feb 28th, 2011 (11:54 am)… and suddenly, we’re in all italics. Let me try something:
How’s that?
EDIT:
I might’ve been the one who caused endless italics by terminating them incorrectly at #96. This is another flaw; html shouldn’t mess up all the following comments (another bug). Those of us who play html tricks will have to be especially careful from now on.
+4
Feb 28th, 2011 (12:27 pm)Last one out please turn out the lights.
+1
Feb 28th, 2011 (12:28 pm)========================================
Should they be waiting for a story to run, or be pro-active like Lyle was, and make a few calls to those that be a GM to see if there is anything new that they could print??? JMHO
+2
Feb 28th, 2011 (12:29 pm)I don’t get the feeling there is a single real person here to care about making daily posts. Thats what I was here for.. morning coffee and original volt news, straight from the source. If I’m looking for random generic (and inaccurate) articles, I can find that on google. I came here because LYLE was coming up with original posts every morning. News he gathered himself. I don’t see anyone doing that here now.. Until I see every morning that Helena was on the phone with an engineer, this site won’t provide me with what I was getting before. Maybe I’ll check back when I think of it, but the daily routine is certainly out the window. Too bad really!
+3
Feb 28th, 2011 (12:35 pm)Maybe Vertical Scope should give Statik a call? Just thinking out loud.
Feb 28th, 2011 (12:48 pm)I completely disagree. Even if there’s nothing new to report, there should be at least be a new topic for discussion. Maybe ask some Volt drivers to write a report. Or post sales figures. Or do an editorial. Or even talk about oil prices, which will effect Volt sales. (And, no, that is not me volunteering. For that article to be interesting, you need some sort of comment from GM.)
+3
Feb 28th, 2011 (12:54 pm)Me too. While I didn’t expect the person taking over to be as good as Lyle, I did expect a daily article from a consistent non-anonymous writer. I also expected the site to work properly. And, I have to admit that I was hoping that even if the person who took over wasn’t as enthusiastic it as Lyle at first, I suspect that would change given time, and information about what electric cars are, and what they could mean for a)society, and b) for each person individually.
As much as I enjoyed Lyle’s articles, and I learned a lot from them in the past couple of years, what kept me at this site was the commentators. The new owners are basically throwing it away, IMHO.
+2
Feb 28th, 2011 (12:55 pm)It’s been 3 days since a new post, there is waiting and there is waiting, are they like some journalists that wait for a story to fall in their lap or are they out talking finding the stories. Seems strange as Geneva Motor Show is about to start, must be something about Ampera to talk about the European version of Volt.
Seems to be a lack of passion and soul that Lyle brought to the articles, it feels very ‘cut & paste’, wasn’t this topic in the forum prior to this post though.
Just my observations, only reason I stop in anymore are for the forums, more news and more passion, in the meantime over to http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com
+1
Feb 28th, 2011 (12:56 pm)We should boycott this site! How many agree?
+2
Feb 28th, 2011 (1:04 pm)Maybe they think that the forums will just sort of automatically carry the site forward basically for free. With all due respect to those of you volunteer bloggers who are doing such excellent work with the forums, I don’t see that model as sustainable for very long.
I’m going to start checking John’s blog every day for sure. He is so charmingly modest about his writing ability, but modest writing ability is sure better than no writing at all, LOL.
Feb 28th, 2011 (1:07 pm)We can still post URLs here for real stories (of course, you’ll have to highlight them, then copy and paste to your browser’s address bar; since we can’t post actual links any more). Only when this comment space becomes unusable (or the site just goes away) should we consider fully transferring the community over to John at blogspot, IMO (at least long enough to re-group and find another way to communicate, if that’s more than he wants to take on).
Feb 28th, 2011 (1:10 pm)#109 Amen! +1
+1
Feb 28th, 2011 (1:15 pm)Personally, I’m really surprised. I would have thought that any professional organization could at least hire someone part time. It really shouldn’t cost that money. There are tons of already employed journalists who would be glad to take on the extra work for a very reasonable amount.
And, as far as tech support, why are there suddenly so many bugs in a previously functioning site?
Feb 28th, 2011 (1:16 pm)Say that AGAIN!! This site has plummeted in interest since Dr. Dennis returned to civilian life. Which is really too bad. Because part of the fun in making the Volt a phenomenon is bringing people into the fold… Teaching that electrification of transport can have resounding worldwide benefits. That the courageous men and women who brought us the Volt have changed the world for the better.
Ahem… VerticalScope – please hire some writers with vision and a passion for electrification of transport. Stories about towing your Volt ain’t much more than buff-book pablum. Do it right of shut the site down. Too much has been accomplished to let the impact of this fantastic automobile fade to a whimper. Stay positive. Stay enthusiastic. Tell the story of how the Chevy VOLT is changing the world! Er, just Do It!
Feb 28th, 2011 (1:16 pm)Unfortunately, I suspect Statik has moved on. I very much doubt he’s available.
Feb 28th, 2011 (1:32 pm)@ #111 LauraM: What you said pretty much sums up my feelings too. I don’t get the impression that the site’s new owners are sold out for this cause as Lyle was/is. They are virtually silent most of the time, and there isn’t a face to go with the name. Everyone who frequents this site knows Lyle, knows what he looks like, and most of all what he stands for.
I was going to give the new ownership time and a bit of a long leash to get comfortable blogging daily and getting to know all of us, (the regulars). I expect growing pains, but this is going the side of ridiculous. I’m generally disappointed by the direction here and don’t really know what to do either.
Like I said in comment #109, maybe Statik would be a good person to write some articles from time to time or even as a regular if he would agree to it. Should we start a petition?
Feb 28th, 2011 (1:40 pm)You’re probably right. Grasping at straws I guess.
Feb 28th, 2011 (2:50 pm)With all the media reaction to the increasing cost of gasoline, we likely will be paying between 300 and 600 more dollars a year for it. I don’t think that ought to be enough of a reason for sensationalistic media to scare the economy into another recession. When you think about it, 300 to 600 bucks more per year will hurt some people a lot, and lots of people some, but not really likely most of the people all that much. Media could just be motivating more money to the speculator-trolls all that much more due to excessive emphasis ~ ~ “Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!” Just how much more per year will it cost the various types of customers?
Yes, the cost isn’t really reflective of what supply currently is, until all the holding facilities are once again too full to accommodate more stock.
Feb 28th, 2011 (2:59 pm)/I’m just very expensive…pithy sarcasm doesn’t come cheap, (=
Feb 28th, 2011 (3:16 pm)Still lurking and looking for action. Nada so far.
I can get this stuff from my usual feed from Google search. And three days earlier.
I’ll lurk for a while, but, it ain’t looking good for me hanging around.
Feb 28th, 2011 (3:20 pm)Good to see you Statik. I would think a professional internet company could afford your sarcasm, but then again, maybe only in small doses! LOL! I’m not going to twist your arm, but give authorship of this blog some thought my friend. The audience here all knows you already. You’re a great writer, highly knowlegeable of the topic at hand, and would make a great choice of the person to pass the torch on to. Maybe more than anything else, you care. Just food for thought.
Feb 28th, 2011 (3:35 pm)I’m looking for some Volt owners, I’d love if it you could email me, I’d love to put together a bunch of you for some average fuel burning electric consumption charts and articles, please shoot me an email if you’d like to participate in helping others see how awesome this car is. JohnTCVB@yahoo.com
If any of you haven’t been over to my blog I’d love to have you visit, LauraM, Loboc, Shmeltz, Greenwin, I’m talking to you guys! I’m too shy to ask Statik, he’s too good a writer. I’d play him in hold em though. Maybe we’ll be at the same main event table sometime, anyways. I’m pretty proud of todays article, please check it out. And say Hi!
http://thechevyvoltblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/leaf-not-volt-to-pay-washington-state.html
+1
Feb 28th, 2011 (3:47 pm)Found Lyle!
http://extremelongevity.net/
Feb 28th, 2011 (4:22 pm)==============================
It looks like Lyle cashed his check from this site and started a new one just five days later!
You have to give the guy credit for ambition!!!!
And he is pretty much starting a new thread there every day.
We should all move over to his new site and start posting there. I am sure he could find a way to link the medical articles to the Volt. I even have an idea for him. He could write about the horrible medical effect of VES (Volt Envy Syndrome)………
Feb 28th, 2011 (4:24 pm)=D-Volt
Feb 28th, 2011 (4:43 pm)Don’t get me wrong, I have a great deal of respect for Statik. However (and I suspect he’d even agree), he’s a bit like Paprika. OK for a little seasoning, but not for the whole meal. =(
+3
Feb 28th, 2011 (5:20 pm)This site has turned into a RSS feed.
Note to new owners, buying sucessful sites won’t help. Your gonna have to care about the product, not just the advertising revenue.
Feb 28th, 2011 (5:42 pm)NEW POST IS UP
… concerning the upcoming Geneva auto show. It looks like a lengthy article with an emphasis on electric vehicles.
Feb 28th, 2011 (5:48 pm)Jim I,
At least we’ve learned a lot about setting up our own sites someday. (smile).