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7 Green Cars Of The Future: What We’ll Be Driving In 2025?

4.4K views 53 replies 19 participants last post by  john1701a1  
#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
By Larry E. Hall



Travel to almost any major city in the world and you’ll find a familiar sight: a sheen of brown haze that hovers over the city called smog. Much of this smog comes from cars, SUVs and pickup trucks — those mechanical gasoline or diesel powered things most of us drive everyday.

Along with the smog comes carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that scientists say is a primary cause of climate change. Added to this calamity is urban growth that is becoming the new way of life, and with it challenges to transportation. In America, city streets are already clogged, and the once “rush hour” traffic now starts at 5:00 a.m. and ends at 7:00 p.m.

But things could be on the verge of getting better. A new wave of innovation led by carmakers and automotive-tech companies promises to transform the driving experience. Don’t worry, the car won’t disappear, it will just be powered by different energies, and in some cases, take on new shapes.

Concept cars are how manufacturers work out ideas for the future. In an attempt to solve the issues of pollution and crowded streets their ideas of cars of the future are they will be smarter, nimbler and safer. They also will be self-driving, monitor the person behind the steering wheel and even communicate between themselves to avoid collisions.

Here are seven concept cars that could quite well be what we’ll be driving in 2025. There’s even one car that is currently in a vehicle sharing pilot program, and one that doesn’t have wheels and tires, but is shaped like a very large tire.

Catch a ride in a future car.


1. Volkswagen NILS





The Volkswagen NILS — an electric commuter car for the urban world of the future — was designed and engineered to offer a dynamic driving experience, while generating neither emissions nor noise. The blueprint followed a Formula 1 car with a driver in the middle. A lightweight 20-horsepower electric motor is slung out back driving the rear wheels, and the design features four freestanding 17-inch tires and wheels.

That blueprint may not qualify the NILS as a performance machine, but it is lightweight. Assembled from aluminum, polycarbonate and other lightweight materials, the car weighs just 1,015 pounds. A minimalist cabin features a seven-inch TFT display that indicates speed, range, and energy flow. A second display, which is snapped into the A-pillar, is a portable navigation and entertainment unit.

Thanks to a 40-mile range and a top speed of 80 mph, the NILS would be the ideal vehicle for most commuters, and a reflection of a new era.


2. Chevrolet EN-V 2.0




Chevrolet’s second generation EN-V 2.0 (Electric Networked-Vehicle) may look like designers crossed a ladybug with a Transformer robot, but the two-seat electric vehicle can scoot around cities at up to 25 mph for around 25 miles with energy from a lithium-ion battery. The prototype car was developed to show the possibilities for alleviating concerns surrounding traffic congestion, parking availability, air quality and affordability for tomorrow’s cities.

While the diminutive EN-V 2.0 has a standard steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedal, it also contains a full complement of cameras, lidar sensors and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) technology to make many or all of the driving decisions while the driver rides hands-free. Further, it has features that consumers demand such as climate control and personal storage space.

In 2015 the EN-V 2.0 began a vehicle sharing pilot program launched by General Motors and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Sixteen cars are in the program, and if you visit Shanghai before the end of this year, share a ride. The EN-V 2.0 opens up an exciting future vision of multi-modal transport.


3. Mercedes-Benz F 125!




While it’s difficult to predict what the automotive landscape will look like in 2025, this much is nearly certain: Mercedes will still be building luxury cars for those fortunate enough to afford them.

Designed to represent what a luxury four-passenger car could look like in 2025, the F 125! is an F-Cell plug-in hybrid. Electric power for the four motors, one in each wheel, is generated on board by the F-Cell fuel cell. The research vehicle conceptually employs a 10 kWh lithium-sulfur battery pack that can be inductively charged. Combined, the motors produce 231 horsepower and deliver all-wheel-drive traction that Mercedes is calling e4Matic.

With the use of lightweight fiber-reinforced plastic, carbon fiber, aluminum and high-strength steel, weight is kept to a minimum. The car has autonomous features, can automatically change lanes and navigate traffic jams without driver involvement. Mercedes says the F 125! can travel up to 31 miles on battery power alone, before switching to power from the fuel cell. Then the car can travel an additional 590 miles on hydrogen power before refueling is necessary.



4. Nissan PIVO 3




As you might have guessed, Nissan’s PIVO 3 concept follows PIVO 1 and 2. But unlike its forbearers, the automaker would like to produce this pint-size urban electric vehicle that seats three. The PIVO 3 may not be able to “crab walk” like its immediate predecessor, but it has some slick tricks of its own.

First, its two doors slide open like a minivan’s to allow ingress and egress in tight parking spaces. The futuristic cabin places the driver’s seat forward and to the center, flanked by two passenger seats. Power is provided by individual in-wheel electric motors, with energy provided by a Nissan Leaf-inspired lithium-ion battery pack. Rear-wheel steering allows the PIVO to practically spin on its axis, and Nissan says the roughly 10-foot-long EV can make a U-turn on a road only 13 feet wide.

But the PIVO 3’s biggest trick comes from its electronic gizmos. Drivers can call into play what Nissan calls an Automatic Valet Parking (AVP) system. The system not only finds a parking space, but the car drives off on its own to park and charges itself, and then returns when called by a smartphone. The downside is this only happens in AVP-parking lots of the future, say 2025.


5. Toyota Fun Vii



Toyota’s Fun Vii is unlike any futuristic concept car we’ve ever seen. The exterior is made of touch-screen panels that can be changed, based on the owner’s preferences, with a simple download of a smartphone app or by uploading an image to Facebook. When introduced to the media, Toyota president Akio Toyoda said, “A car must appeal to our emotions. If it’s not fun, it’s not a car.”

The fun continues inside the 13-foot long, three passenger Fun Vii, which stands for “Vehicle Interactive Internet.” Like the exterior, whatever visuals you would like to see on the inside can be wirelessly painted in real time. Then there’s the holographic “navigation concierge” lady with a cute little hat that pops out of the dashboard. She can guide you around the vehicle’s features or help find your way from one place to another. Since the car is networked with all the other cars on the road it drives itself. And if all that is not enough fun, the Fun Vii can instantly convert into a video game.

Toyota has no intention of building a production version just yet, but says the Fun Vii is an example of technologies that it could incorporate into vehicles in the future.


6. Immortus Solar Car



“Inspired by the world portrayed in post-apocalyptic movies,” the Immortus is a solar-electric concept car from Australia’s EVX Ventures, a collaboration between the electric vehicle research group at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and a group of Australian engineers who have designed and produced award-winning solar racing cars. No word as to why the car is named after a Marvel Comic’s villain.

Electricity to power the car is generated from 75 square feet of silicon photovoltaic cells on the roof. On a sunny day traveling at about 50 mph, the Immortus can be driven more than 340 miles. Drop the speed to a constant 37 mph and the range is effectively to infinity on solar power alone. The car also features a plug-in powertrain with a 10 kWh lithium-ion battery that can supply enough juice for an additional 250 miles of emissions-free driving.

The Immortus is not a small car — slightly longer and wider than a BMW 6 Series Coupe — with interior space for a driver and passenger with modest luggage capacity. However, it weighs in at just 1,212 pounds. That means the power-to-weight ratio and acceleration time are comparable to a Mazda MX-5 Miata.

The idea of a car that can run on its own power forever sounds crazy. Stay tuned.


7. Volkswagen Hover Car



Automobile companies aren’t the only folks that can design concept cars to work out ideas for the future. Volkswagen, which translates to “people’s car” in English, launched The People’s Car Project in China, which invited Chinese consumers to submit ideas for cars of the future. One of the three design winners was Wang Jia, a student and resident of Chengdu in the country’s Sichuan province. She envisioned a tall, narrow, easy-to-park, emission free two-seater shaped like a very large tire.

Jia’s inspiration for a propulsion system came from The Shanghai Maglev Train, which can hover along special rails using electromagnetic suspension. Volkswagen brought the idea to life in a short video. In the video, Jia’s parents take the tire-shaped hover car out for a spin through Chengdu. The narrator points out a number of the imaginary car’s features, including a joystick controller, autopilot, and a collision-avoidance sensor. Simon Loasby, head of design at Volkswagen Group China commented, “It was the ultimate in dreaming because a full-scale version of the car doesn’t exist.”



The Volkswagen Hover Car isn’t as farfetched as it might seem. The technology to produce the car and road infrastructure is available today. And after watching the video — you did watch it, didn’t you? — who wouldn’t want to take a spin in Jia’s Hover Car?

HybridCars.com
 

Attachments

#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
By Larry E. Hall



Travel to almost any major city in the world and you’ll find a familiar sight: a sheen of brown haze that hovers over the city called smog. Much of this smog comes from cars, SUVs and pickup trucks — those mechanical gasoline or diesel powered things most of us drive everyday.

Along with the smog comes carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that scientists say is a primary cause of climate change. Added to this calamity is urban growth that is becoming the new way of life, and with it challenges to transportation. In America, city streets are already clogged, and the once “rush hour” traffic now starts at 5:00 a.m. and ends at 7:00 p.m.

But things could be on the verge of getting better. A new wave of innovation led by carmakers and automotive-tech companies promises to transform the driving experience. Don’t worry, the car won’t disappear, it will just be powered by different energies, and in some cases, take on new shapes.

Concept cars are how manufacturers work out ideas for the future. In an attempt to solve the issues of pollution and crowded streets their ideas of cars of the future are they will be smarter, nimbler and safer. They also will be self-driving, monitor the person behind the steering wheel and even communicate between themselves to avoid collisions.

Here are seven concept cars that could quite well be what we’ll be driving in 2025. There’s even one car that is currently in a vehicle sharing pilot program, and one that doesn’t have wheels and tires, but is shaped like a very large tire.

Catch a ride in a future car.


1. Volkswagen NILS





The Volkswagen NILS — an electric commuter car for the urban world of the future — was designed and engineered to offer a dynamic driving experience, while generating neither emissions nor noise. The blueprint followed a Formula 1 car with a driver in the middle. A lightweight 20-horsepower electric motor is slung out back driving the rear wheels, and the design features four freestanding 17-inch tires and wheels.

That blueprint may not qualify the NILS as a performance machine, but it is lightweight. Assembled from aluminum, polycarbonate and other lightweight materials, the car weighs just 1,015 pounds. A minimalist cabin features a seven-inch TFT display that indicates speed, range, and energy flow. A second display, which is snapped into the A-pillar, is a portable navigation and entertainment unit.

Thanks to a 40-mile range and a top speed of 80 mph, the NILS would be the ideal vehicle for most commuters, and a reflection of a new era.


2. Chevrolet EN-V 2.0




Chevrolet’s second generation EN-V 2.0 (Electric Networked-Vehicle) may look like designers crossed a ladybug with a Transformer robot, but the two-seat electric vehicle can scoot around cities at up to 25 mph for around 25 miles with energy from a lithium-ion battery. The prototype car was developed to show the possibilities for alleviating concerns surrounding traffic congestion, parking availability, air quality and affordability for tomorrow’s cities.

While the diminutive EN-V 2.0 has a standard steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedal, it also contains a full complement of cameras, lidar sensors and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) technology to make many or all of the driving decisions while the driver rides hands-free. Further, it has features that consumers demand such as climate control and personal storage space.

In 2015 the EN-V 2.0 began a vehicle sharing pilot program launched by General Motors and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Sixteen cars are in the program, and if you visit Shanghai before the end of this year, share a ride. The EN-V 2.0 opens up an exciting future vision of multi-modal transport.


3. Mercedes-Benz F 125!




While it’s difficult to predict what the automotive landscape will look like in 2025, this much is nearly certain: Mercedes will still be building luxury cars for those fortunate enough to afford them.

Designed to represent what a luxury four-passenger car could look like in 2025, the F 125! is an F-Cell plug-in hybrid. Electric power for the four motors, one in each wheel, is generated on board by the F-Cell fuel cell. The research vehicle conceptually employs a 10 kWh lithium-sulfur battery pack that can be inductively charged. Combined, the motors produce 231 horsepower and deliver all-wheel-drive traction that Mercedes is calling e4Matic.

With the use of lightweight fiber-reinforced plastic, carbon fiber, aluminum and high-strength steel, weight is kept to a minimum. The car has autonomous features, can automatically change lanes and navigate traffic jams without driver involvement. Mercedes says the F 125! can travel up to 31 miles on battery power alone, before switching to power from the fuel cell. Then the car can travel an additional 590 miles on hydrogen power before refueling is necessary.



4. Nissan PIVO 3




As you might have guessed, Nissan’s PIVO 3 concept follows PIVO 1 and 2. But unlike its forbearers, the automaker would like to produce this pint-size urban electric vehicle that seats three. The PIVO 3 may not be able to “crab walk” like its immediate predecessor, but it has some slick tricks of its own.

First, its two doors slide open like a minivan’s to allow ingress and egress in tight parking spaces. The futuristic cabin places the driver’s seat forward and to the center, flanked by two passenger seats. Power is provided by individual in-wheel electric motors, with energy provided by a Nissan Leaf-inspired lithium-ion battery pack. Rear-wheel steering allows the PIVO to practically spin on its axis, and Nissan says the roughly 10-foot-long EV can make a U-turn on a road only 13 feet wide.

But the PIVO 3’s biggest trick comes from its electronic gizmos. Drivers can call into play what Nissan calls an Automatic Valet Parking (AVP) system. The system not only finds a parking space, but the car drives off on its own to park and charges itself, and then returns when called by a smartphone. The downside is this only happens in AVP-parking lots of the future, say 2025.


5. Toyota Fun Vii



Toyota’s Fun Vii is unlike any futuristic concept car we’ve ever seen. The exterior is made of touch-screen panels that can be changed, based on the owner’s preferences, with a simple download of a smartphone app or by uploading an image to Facebook. When introduced to the media, Toyota president Akio Toyoda said, “A car must appeal to our emotions. If it’s not fun, it’s not a car.”

The fun continues inside the 13-foot long, three passenger Fun Vii, which stands for “Vehicle Interactive Internet.” Like the exterior, whatever visuals you would like to see on the inside can be wirelessly painted in real time. Then there’s the holographic “navigation concierge” lady with a cute little hat that pops out of the dashboard. She can guide you around the vehicle’s features or help find your way from one place to another. Since the car is networked with all the other cars on the road it drives itself. And if all that is not enough fun, the Fun Vii can instantly convert into a video game.

Toyota has no intention of building a production version just yet, but says the Fun Vii is an example of technologies that it could incorporate into vehicles in the future.


6. Immortus Solar Car



“Inspired by the world portrayed in post-apocalyptic movies,” the Immortus is a solar-electric concept car from Australia’s EVX Ventures, a collaboration between the electric vehicle research group at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and a group of Australian engineers who have designed and produced award-winning solar racing cars. No word as to why the car is named after a Marvel Comic’s villain.

Electricity to power the car is generated from 75 square feet of silicon photovoltaic cells on the roof. On a sunny day traveling at about 50 mph, the Immortus can be driven more than 340 miles. Drop the speed to a constant 37 mph and the range is effectively to infinity on solar power alone. The car also features a plug-in powertrain with a 10 kWh lithium-ion battery that can supply enough juice for an additional 250 miles of emissions-free driving.

The Immortus is not a small car — slightly longer and wider than a BMW 6 Series Coupe — with interior space for a driver and passenger with modest luggage capacity. However, it weighs in at just 1,212 pounds. That means the power-to-weight ratio and acceleration time are comparable to a Mazda MX-5 Miata.

The idea of a car that can run on its own power forever sounds crazy. Stay tuned.


7. Volkswagen Hover Car



Automobile companies aren’t the only folks that can design concept cars to work out ideas for the future. Volkswagen, which translates to “people’s car” in English, launched The People’s Car Project in China, which invited Chinese consumers to submit ideas for cars of the future. One of the three design winners was Wang Jia, a student and resident of Chengdu in the country’s Sichuan province. She envisioned a tall, narrow, easy-to-park, emission free two-seater shaped like a very large tire.

Jia’s inspiration for a propulsion system came from The Shanghai Maglev Train, which can hover along special rails using electromagnetic suspension. Volkswagen brought the idea to life in a short video. In the video, Jia’s parents take the tire-shaped hover car out for a spin through Chengdu. The narrator points out a number of the imaginary car’s features, including a joystick controller, autopilot, and a collision-avoidance sensor. Simon Loasby, head of design at Volkswagen Group China commented, “It was the ultimate in dreaming because a full-scale version of the car doesn’t exist.”



The Volkswagen Hover Car isn’t as farfetched as it might seem. The technology to produce the car and road infrastructure is available today. And after watching the video — you did watch it, didn’t you? — who wouldn’t want to take a spin in Jia’s Hover Car?

HybridCars.com
 

Attachments

#4 ·
2007 A Space Odyssey

I'll never forget the first time I saw the Volt Concept. It was in a GM ad
- a two page spread in Popular Mechanics. The cutaway picture described
the EREV principal, a gas engine, turbine or fuel cell power source working
as a generator to charge a large lithium T pack battery. The electric motors
driving the wheels, not the engine. I was blown away. This made my hybrid look
old-fashioned , the car of the future!

Then, I thought GM would not, could not ever make it, no way. I mean.
the company that crushed the elecfric car make such anintelligent
solution to the limited EV conundrum?

This MUST BE VAPORWARE, lime the vehicles on this page, just
another elaborate WHAT-IF concept car...

BUT THEY MADE IT! Yay GM! And I bought one.

Visionaries can win once in a while in the mostly predictable
profit machine called the car business.
 
#5 ·
2025 is only 8 years. That's around two generations in car years.

Futurists like Seba and Kurzweil think that most new cars by 2025 will be EVs. Trump actions may slow that down a bit, however, I think it is possible. Maybe even inevitable.

Bottom line: all cars will be EV in the future. A "green" car will be normal and no different than a blue, black, red, or white one. :)

@James
We sometimes forget that Volt went from concept to production in a short four years!
 
#6 ·
Loboc : We sometimes forget that Volt went from concept to production in a short four years!

GM had been working on plug-in hybrid tech long before that. In fact, they revealed a pre-production Two-Mode plug-in Saturn Vue back in 2008. Being able to deliver the engineering does not mean the business will be able to embrace it though. The cost to produce that tech can keep it out of reach.

Watch for parts of the tech to emerge on existing vehicles as standard. When they become common like that, then the business can move on to delivering on the next part. For example, we are starting to see that with safety packages.
 
#7 ·
john1701a ,

A large parts bin for Volt was all new. This is one reason Lutz' boast of 'under $30k' turned out to be over $40k.

Volt concept appeared in 2007.
 
#10 ·
john1701a :
Loboc ,


What is causing the delay of Voltec rollout to a SUV model ?

Can you contact you friends at Toyoda and ask what is causing the delay of a full BEV from their company? For such a large company it seems like they could use some development help from Tesla to speed this up.

Better yet, maybe Hyundai can show Toyoda the way forward in the 21st century.
 
#11 ·
Does anyone else notice that whenever there are "Cars of the Future", they are almost always these tiny little electric, self driving pod-things. The assumption I guess is that no one outside of cities will drive cars. I don't think there will be as many of these pod cars as people think.

Here's one thing I like about Elon Musk...He really wants to make an Electric Pick-up. Maybe even moreso, it seems he wants no compromise, all electric, mainstream vehicles. I agree with him on that end. I would like to see a future where average people that may live in a suburb or rural area driving a generous sized electric crossover or pick-up or van or whatever. If you want a pod, by all means get a pod. But for me, I want an electric truck.
 
#13 ·
Schmeltz : Does anyone else notice that whenever there are “Cars of the Future”, they are almost always these tiny little electric, self driving pod-things.

That is the very reason I asked the SUV question.

Trying to be realistic about what people will actually buy, we need to relate it to their purchase preferences.

That is why Volt & Bolt are head-scratchers. Compact hatchbacks & wagons are clearly not what GM customers favor.
 
#14 ·
According to the recent issue of Consumer reports, SUV's have taken the lead away from Sedans as the largest market segment. It seems like almost everyone on this site wants GM to build a Plugin SUV, myself included. It should be a no compromise vehicle with available AWD and towing capable so consumers have a real choice. An while your at it, GM, offer a Plugin Pickup as well please. When the customer can choose among Plugin Sedans, SUV's, Pickup's, Minivan's, etc., only then, I believe, will the transition to EV's will really soar.
 
#15 ·
john1701a :
MotoBCT ,


GM’s ability to deliver quickly was the topic being discussed.The question was asked about Voltec rollout.Was your abrupt change of focus over to BEV offerings an indication GM is abandoning plug-in hybrid in favor of electric-only ?


If not, why no answer about a Voltec SUV ?

This is not an ability issue. Most of us already know why. GM is a for profit company and I suspect they have decided now is not the right time to introduce a Voltec SUV. I suspect it already exists in GM in some sort of form for testing purposes only.

Given the low / nonexistent profit of a Voltec SUV (at a price customers are willing to pay), GM leadership has decided till market conditions change to not bring it to market. There is much to be said for timing the market for introduction at a price a customer is willing to pay and a profit GM can accept.

They have a Volt and a Bolt which are more PHEVs than most manufacturers offer at this time.

If I were Toyota I would be concerned if the Prime will generate enough sales over the next two years.

2017 Prius Prime – This Is Not the EV You’re Looking For
https://electrek.co/2017/02/27/review-2017-prius-prime/

The Voltec technology has proven reliable and now that gasoline prices are inching upward due to states needing more tax revenue the calculations in GM may change.

Despite some wanting a Voltec SUV, there is no overwhelming want for a Voltec SUV AT THE PRICE IT WILL COST TO BUILD AND BE PROFITABLE FOR GM.

GM is not a Not-for-Profit and I applaud them for making these tough decisions despite some potential customers wanting an Voltec SUV but are not prepared to pay the retail price for one.

If you have data that shows what a customer is willing to pay for a GM Voltec SUV without heavy discounting, please share.
 
#16 ·
Here's an idea that might have some value.

Combine two apparently unrelated goals into one, and solve for forty problems at the same time.
I DO mean FORTY problems solved at the same time.
Not 39 problems, 40 and more.

Donald wants a trillion dollars for new tollways nationwide.

Many people totally oppose tollways (and, as you know, autonomy).

I oppose autonomy for dozens of reasons that few want to hear, but a big one is incompatible packaging in an accident, as bodies will be dismembered all over the place.

Here is a solution that solves for 40 serious problems, from safety to unloading old bridges from vehicular weight.

Donald could really get a more efficient tollway up and running for autonomous vehicles of a fifteen hundred pound weight class in elevated light roadways preconstructed and reliably and expeditiously placed for three lanes wide to five lanes wide for these narrow vehicles.

These elevated lanes could be connected to existing bus parking lots and into neighborhoods
NEV, neighborhood electric vehicle laws would apply to them.

Cutting traffic congestion by shorter vehicle lengths, cutting pollution electrically, and keeping the weight class of the vehicle in mind, are just the start of the advantages, but also, in the not too distant future, and Donald will greatly appreciate this one, individuals will require their own biologically-safe and personally sanitary transportation as the MCR1 resistant gene migrates to currently non-lethal bacteria and viruses.

Unfortunately, in closed busses, where flu infected people may cough and sneeze, if individual personally-sanitary environments are not available in these ways, then, as I wrote several months ago regarding the "Silent Disaster" Superbug mutations in 5 more years from MCR-1 genetic mutation we have been warned about (Austin American Statesman), MCR-1 easily transfers to entirely new kinds of now-non-lethal common bacterium and viruses, and makes them ****all****
new strains that are very resistant to antibiotics, and thus deadly.
This poses risk in a few more years to bus travelers and airline travelers, as air in aircraft is recirculated and directed right to each passenger.

(New classes of antibiotics need strong funding, and, if this is not a bipartisan realization right now, then 4 years from now, it will be too late as published in the Austin American Statesman.)

( If someone would be so kind as to get this post over to Donald's desk, that would be a good thing.)
 
#17 ·
Capt Bentley :
According to the recent issue of Consumer reports,SUV’s have taken the lead away from Sedans as the largest market segment. It seems like almost everyone on this site wants GM to build a Plugin SUV, myself included.Itshould be a no compromise vehicle with available AWD and towing capable so consumers have a real choice.An while your at it,GM,offer a Plugin Pickup as well please. When the customer can choose amongPlugin Sedans,SUV’s, Pickup’s, Minivan’s, etc., only then, I believe, will the transition to EV’s will really soar.

How much are you willing to pay for this no compromise vehicle at retail? $85K OTD. The problem is many consumers want an $85K to build plugin SUV for $65K. What do you suggest GM to do?
 
#18 ·
The Mercedes and Nissan have the doors away from the driver entry. That would make getting in and out of the vehicle a bit easier. Something to consider as the vehicle size shrinks.

Maybe by the time these vehicles arrive, we will have some Hyperloop destinations to enjoy. The nation needs to start connecting the major cities together with bullet trains or Hyperloop. That would help decrease air travel or long drives to major metro areas 200 to 400 miles away.
 
#19 ·
john1701a : hat is the very reason I asked the SUV question.

Trying to be realistic about what people will actually buy, we need to relate it to their purchase preferences.

That is why Volt & Bolt are head-scratchers. Compact hatchbacks & wagons are clearly not what GM customers favor.

I don't look at the Volt and the Bolt as "head-scratchers" as to say that they were stupid choices to make EV's. I think it was fine to make both of these cars EV's, however GM stopped there. Many of us here at this site have been requesting a larger sedan, or a crossover, or an EV pick-up for years now. Yet GM seems mostly complacent, and in no-hurry to go deeper and further into EV's.
 
#20 ·
Schmeltz : I don’t look at the Volt and the Bolt as “head-scratchers” as to say that they were stupid choices to make EV’s.I think it was fine to make both of these cars EV’s, however GM stopped there.Many of us here at this site have been requesting a larger sedan, or a crossover, or an EV pick-up for years now.Yet GM seems mostly complacent, and in no-hurry to go deeper and further into EV’s.

How much are you prepared to pay for one of these larger sedans or SUVs? Are you prepared to pay Model S or X dollars to have one? If a midsize gas crossover stickers in the 40's are you prepared to pay $55K -$65K for PHEV model with 50 AER?
 
#21 ·
john1701a :
Loboc ,


What is causing the delay of Voltec rollout to a SUV model ?
Why do you assume there is some delay?

What is Toyota's PHEV SUV offering?
 
#22 ·
Scroll down the page and see how Workhorse (http://workhorse.com/pickup/) is building the exact equivalent of the Volt.

I see no reason GM can't drop the existing Voltec drive under the hood of their popular Pickup truck, add an extra 130HP of electric rear-wheel drive, and up the battery pack to 60kWh. 80 miles AER, serious towing capacity, and more ICE power than BMW unit Workhorse is using...

If a small specialty company can do it, then GM certainly can.
 
#23 ·
john1701a : GM’s ability to deliver quickly was the topic being discussed. The question was asked about Voltec rollout. Was your abrupt change of focus over to BEV offerings an indication GM is abandoning plug-in hybrid in favor of electric-only ?
If not, why no answer about a Voltec SUV ?
John, don't you recognize your own modus operandi? Gotta look in the mirror, Jack!
 
#24 ·
Loboc : Why do you assume there is some delay?

Expectations were set and the precedent established. Not having delivered at this point is a delay. Other automakers are now moving to fill in that gap. We see the hybrid SUVs paving the way for the plug-in models.

Don't forget about audience either. GM's customer base is far more interested in SUVs than other automakers, who sell far more small & midsize cars.

Also, don't forget about the limited number of tax-credits remaining. This topic of "future" depends upon making the best of the situation at hand, rather than letting opportunity slip away.
 
#25 ·
Schmeltz : Many of us here at this site have been requesting a larger sedan, or a crossover, or an EV pick-up for years now.Yet GM seems mostly complacent, and in no-hurry to go deeper and further into EV’s.

Remember Two-Mode? Start with the largest work vehicles, then scale down with the next generation to deliver something small & sporty. Volt was the next, addressing exactly that. Now, we want the middle to be addressed... the size that is "just right" for a majority of GM customers.

Why no advancement in any foreseeable future? Why rest on their laurels after working so hard to prove the technology? There is no requirement to deliver a fast & powerful system with a huge battery-pack. Why not something between the two on the way?
 
#26 ·
ParkTalk :
Scroll down the page and see how Workhorse ( http://workhorse.com/pickup/ ) is building the exact equivalent of the Volt.


I see no reason GM can’t drop the existing Voltec drive under the hood of their popular Pickup truck, add an extra 130HP of electric rear-wheel drive, and up the battery pack to 60kWh.80 miles AER, serious towing capacity, and more ICE power than BMW unit Workhorse is using…

If a small specialty company can do it, then GM certainly can.

A commercial business owner and accounting team would not consider moving to this product without detailed testing data regarding duty cycles, fixed / variable costs, support / maintenance network etc.).

There is a reason Sprinter and Promaster have a large chunk of business customers. A revenue generating company will look at the potential depreciation schedule and volume pricing they will get per unit purchased. This company could never sale at the volume pricing currently received from the big players in the market.

AMP purchased the Workhorse name to give them market credibility but they have zero long-term commercial credibility. AMP Electric Vehicles was established in 2007 as a developmental-stage vehicle electrification company. We first experimented with adding battery-electric power to two-seat roadsters.

Seriously folks, large companies pay folks to not make foolish purchasing decisions based on the latest shiny objects.