[boBNunny]

This vehicle needs to come in under $30K for all but the most optionalized version. Even if it means a small loss for each car. Get your foot in the door, get people hooked, and then you can move it up to a small profit when you manufacture 100K of them. Maybe get the government to give a rebate or tax incentive for purchasing it that will push it under that cost. Year 2, you include an option for GPS as well as possibly a separate battery for any electric hookups (GPS, cigarette lighter power, etc). Finally, a guaranteed spot when desiring a trade-in for a newer model.

 

[DaV8or]

The retail price of the Volt is very much on the minds of everyone here. I think it is safe to say that everyone here would like to see this car hit the streets at under $30k. Doesn't look like that's going to happen no matter how much we wish it were so. New technology is always expensive. Off the top of my head, every new technological break through that changed the way we live was first only available to the rich. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of one. It took 20 years for the automobile itself to affordable to the masses.

The good news is, there seems to be good public support for government tax incentives for this type of technology. Right now, Obama and McCain are competing for who has the best energy plan and both of them are including EV tax credits. There is an excellent chance that government will help us buy our Volts.

Asking GM to just take a loss on this car so we can all have one is not really realistic right now when they are operating at such deficits that they could be bankrupt in the next year and a half. I know the Volt is important and could signal a new day at GM, but taking a loss on each one is more than they can bear right now I fear.

 

[Texas]

The retail price of the Volt is very much on the minds of everyone here. I think it is safe to say that everyone here would like to see this car hit the streets at under $30k. Doesn't look like that's going to happen no matter how much we wish it were so. New technology is always expensive. Off the top of my head, every new technological break through that changed the way we live was first only available to the rich. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of one. It took 20 years for the automobile itself to affordable to the masses.

The good news is, there seems to be good public support for government tax incentives for this type of technology. Right now, Obama and McCain are competing for who has the best energy plan and both of them are including EV tax credits. There is an excellent chance that government will help us buy our Volts.

Asking GM to just take a loss on this car so we can all have one is not really realistic right now when they are operating at such deficits that they could be bankrupt in the next year and a half. I know the Volt is important and could signal a new day at GM, but taking a loss on each one is more than they can bear right now I fear.

I sure hope GM's marketing machine can effectively educate people that the battery is kind of like an included tanker car of gasoline. Even some people on this site don't get it. They want it as cheap as a normal car even if the operating costs are 1/4 that of a gasoline car. It will take a while (or extremely expensive gas prices) for people to see the light. Perhaps when car magazines do their analysis they will look at the entire ownership of the vehicle. I know us American's don't think more than a year or two down the road so maybe the plug-in and BEV concept will have to take hold in Europe and Asia first. Time will tell.

 

[ned23]

This vehicle needs to come in under $30K for all but the most optionalized version. Even if it means a small loss for each car. Get your foot in the door, get people hooked, and then you can move it up to a small profit when you manufacture 100K of them. Maybe get the government to give a rebate or tax incentive for purchasing it that will push it under that cost. Year 2, you include an option for GPS as well as possibly a separate battery for any electric hookups (GPS, cigarette lighter power, etc). Finally, a guaranteed spot when desiring a trade-in for a newer model.

Even if I can't afford the first models (which is looking more and more likely) I still think it's a coup for a US company to be first here. I'll wait a few years or get an Aptera...

-----------------------------------------------
The U.S.A. - We had a great run, didn't we?

 

[Altazi]

The Government giveth. . . uhh, no they don't. . .

There is an excellent chance that government will help us buy our Volts.

Or, to be more correct, "There is an excellent chance that the government will us keep a little more of our own money if we use it to help buy our Volts."

Don't ever think that the government is GIVING you anything. They are just TAKING a little less. . .

 

[silvercorvette]

This is what I posted on the blog site

=====================================

I think the question about how much are you willing to pay is impossible to answer.

The question is like asking how much are you willing to pay for a bottle of wine. Without telling me if the wine is the stuff you buy in a supermarket with a metal twist off cap, or is it a fine premium rare vintage wine bought at a fine wine auction. The answer will vary according to quality.

I did give a answer of $70,000 because that is what I will pay for a car with all the luxury features my Lexus GS450H has. But without knowing if the Volt will have an automatic retracting rear window sun shade, memory seats with 3 memories on each side, leather seats, rear view TV back up camera, key-less starter, A/C with driver and passenger controls and all the features I expect in a car. I will pay $70,000 or more. But if it turns out to have cloth manual adjust seats, manual control A/C I doubt I will pay much more than $25,000.

==========================================

The Lexus I now drive and the Lexus I had before that is and was a hybrid. I want a Volt and I am willing to pay $70,000 or more if it has all or most of the features my Lexus now has. I don't drive that much and the cost of gas isn't a problem for me. I want a plug in because of issues of national security, I don't want to see my money I pay for gas sent to a country(s) that want to destroy us.

PS I also don't believe global warming is caused by man, it is caused by the natural ebb and flow of the sun's activity

 

[silvercorvette]

Or, to be more correct, "There is an excellent chance that the government will us keep a little more of our own money if we use it to help buy our Volts."

Don't ever think that the government is GIVING you anything. They are just TAKING a little less. . .

Exactally, I don't want the government to take anyones tax money and have them give it to someone else to buy a car. If the car is well made and does what it claims to do it will be worth the price without and tax rebates

 

[darthvader420]

Don't ever think that the government is GIVING you anything. They are just TAKING a little less. . .

Taxes pay for the roads you drive on.

The issue here should be whether the government can help make the volt more affordable. Go live in Paulville Texas if you hate taxes so much.

 

[darthvader420]

Exactally, I don't want the government to take anyones tax money and have them give it to someone else to buy a car. If the car is well made and does what it claims to do it will be worth the price without and tax rebates

The government has been subsidizing oil for eons. I see no way out of this energy crisis unless we put tax dollars behind competing technologies. It's a bit late to worry about the moral implications of income tax and government manipulation of markets!

 

[Altazi]

Taxes pay for the roads you drive on.

The issue here should be whether the government can help make the volt more affordable. Go live in Paulville Texas if you hate taxes so much.

Now, DV, did I mention ANYWHERE in my post that I hated taxes, thought taxes were too high, or ANYTHING like that? NO. I don't mind paying taxes to support needed infrastructure or anything like that. All I did was remind the readers what taxes REALLY are - OUR money. If the government "gives" someone something, that just means that they have taken it away from someone else.

Don't make an argument where there isn't one.

 

[silvercorvette]

The government has been subsidizing oil for eons. I see no way out of this energy crisis unless we put tax dollars behind competing technologies. It's a bit late to worry about the moral implications of income tax and government manipulation of markets!

The Government makes more in taxes per gallon of gas than the oil companies make in profits