Gen 1 GM Volt Plug-In Hybrid (2011-2015)

[DaveinOlyWA]

hard to say with just still pix as opposed to the video of the Nissan plant, but ya, does seem strange that there are people in EVERY scene

 

[ColinSummers]

When I was at the Volt plant I watched the robots weld a body together, posted in this video on my blog.

I believe there is less automation, and on the 'net I bet you could find some comparison of man hours in an American car vs. a Japanese one, but a lot of what I saw was steps where the manpower was reduced, not eliminated. So a single person puts the entire instrument panel in the Volt (and the other GM cars assembled at that plant). It is on an arm that makes it seem weightless, it slides in through a door (removed) and click into place with one push in the (exact right) direction. As I watched them do that I imagined that it used to take eight people to do that same job a decade or so ago.

 

[johnr]

The Chevy Volt featured on MotorWeek - you can watch the entire 27 minute episode here - http://video.pbs.org/program/1215243671/

 

[lne937s]

An ad for a revitalized GM with the tagline "Look at GM Today"

Touts how far one of their futuristic new cars can go without the gasoline engine powering the wheels. neutral

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR5gXwRMKQc&feature=player_embedded

 

[wsbca]

Tagline for a Chevy Volt advertisement heard this morning on NPR:

"It's more car[,] than electric!"

Sigh. Way to go, GM...grudgingly stumbling into the future by clinging fiercely to the past, you EV1-crushing big-oil-beholden wimps.

 

[lne937s]

Rattner on Volt:

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/steven-rattner-dishes-on-the-chevrolet-volt/?hpw

Manufacturing cost more than what GM sells if for before dealer markup (does not include development cost or advertising cost). As such, GM is losing billions on this car...

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

What, no posts on this thread today? Isn't today the day Volts start rolling off the line?

Or are EV enthusiasts so irritated by their secret transmission trick to give them the time of day any more?

 

[mwalsh]

What, no posts on this thread today? Isn't today the day Volts start rolling off the line?

Meh.

 

[LakeLeaf]

Manufacturing cost more than what GM sells if for before dealer markup (does not include development cost or advertising cost). As such, GM is losing billions on this car...

A billion dollars is still a lot of money, despite how fast uncle Obama spends it. Don't think GM is losing quite that much on the Volt.

 

[Smidge204]

So I just had a thought: The charge port on the Volt is right in front of the driver side door, right? Is that the only one?

Because if you pull up to a curbside charging bollard, that means you'll have to drag the cable around the car to plug it in, and leave the cord/your butt sticking out in traffic. If the charging cable isn't long enough then it's going to end up sitting on top of the car. :|
=Smidge=

 

[mwalsh]

Because if you pull up to a curbside charging bollard, that means you'll have to drag the cable around the car to plug it in,

:lol: Good point.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

And the i-Miev has it on the righthand rear panel. (DC Quick charge on the left side)

I hope this gets homogenized someday.

 

[evnow]

Volts have started leaving the plant to dealerships. They will be delivered starting as early as this week. Apparently some 300 cars have already been manufactured for delivery.

So as I had guessed a few months back, 2010 will indeed see more Volts than Leafs in customer hands.

http://www.freep.com/article/20101213/BUSINESS01/101213046/1002/business

 

[AndyH]

Cool - All loaded up! Maybe they're on their way to Mesa for 'warm weather testing' like their stablemates?

Photo: JT. from Burbank EV1 Vigil

Man...talk about 'full circle'...

 

[kmp647]

Pohanka Chevrolet in Chantilly Va just got their first Volt

Red with black leather

Nice looking car

 

[lne937s]

http://www.freep.com/article/20101215/BUSINESS0101/101215006/1318/Volt-delivered-to-first-customer

Bought by a guy in New Jersey who owned a Prius, making him a "geek" according to GM's CEO:

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/12/13/gm-ceo-toyota-prius-is-a-geek-mobile-that-i-wouldnt-be-caug/1#comments

 

[TomT]

My neighbor three houses down has a confirmed delivery of his Volt in two weeks. It'll be interesting as we plan to swap cars from time to time.

 

[planet4ever]

Ever since GM announced that it would essentially match Nissan's lease deal I have been puzzled as to how they could do that with an MSRP that was more than $8,000 higher. A big part of the explanation came out on gm-volt yesterday. Like Nissan they take the $7,500 off the top, but unlike Nissan they add it back in to the residual value to give a "Contract Residual Value" (i.e. what you have to pay to keep the car) that is more than $25K even for the base trim level.

 

[palmermd]

Ever since GM announced that it would essentially match Nissan's lease deal I have been puzzled as to how they could do that with an MSRP that was more than $8,000 higher. A big part of the explanation came out on gm-volt yesterday. Like Nissan they take the $7,500 off the top, but unlike Nissan they add it back in to the residual value to give a "Contract Residual Value" (i.e. what you have to pay to keep the car) that is more than $25K even for the base trim level.

By that formula it seems they want to have the cars back in their possession in three years.

 

[LEAFfan]

Ever since GM announced that it would essentially match Nissan's lease deal I have been puzzled as to how they could do that with an MSRP that was more than $8,000 higher. A big part of the explanation came out on gm-volt yesterday. Like Nissan they take the $7,500 off the top, but unlike Nissan they add it back in to the residual value to give a "Contract Residual Value" (i.e. what you have to pay to keep the car) that is more than $25K even for the base trim level.

Wow! Thanks for that clarification. I was kind of curious how they could do it too. For the LEAF, I received a quote for the residual around $15K .