LiveChat: GM VP Jon Lauckner talks Chevrolet Volt with us tonight at 6PM EST!
For all those interested in the progress of Chevrolet's pivotal 2011 Volt, take note: Autoblog is taking part in a four-way live-chat with Jon Lauckner, General Motors' Vice President Global Program Management tonight at 6:00pm EST.
The best part? You get to ask the questions. We will be joined in the chat by our esteemed colleagues over at Jalopnik and Cars.com's Kicking Tires blog, so feel free to plug in with a question about the Volt or GM's other alt-fuel initiatives in 'Comments,' and be sure to log back on to Autoblog at 6:00pm EST to join us in the live-chat!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Yikes 4:50PM (3/18/2009)
Dear GOD,
Not another vapor ware article.
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Andre 5:12PM (3/18/2009)
If you have nothing constructive to say then shut the hell up, Vaporware comments are getting played out.
Obviously DaMinority 10:10PM (3/18/2009)
Vaporware is the new pink.
GOT 7:15AM (3/19/2009)
Volt-hype is getting played out. I mean even if this car has a-lot-to-be-desired, all the "convincing" is getting old. It's asking a lot from the masses to endure this. There had better be an enormous reward...
EP 5:05PM (3/18/2009)
"You ask the questions!" translates to "We select the questions that GM wants to be asked"
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Franz 5:14PM (3/18/2009)
Sometimes photos don't do this car justice... this isn't one of those times. It'll be the best looking hybrid by a mile when it finally drops. Will it be enough? Stay tuned...
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2004m3driver 6:04PM (3/18/2009)
Not in these economic times. Maybe when people are making money again and gas is back to 5 dollars this might be a hit. It might just look really dated by then. Spending 30k plus just to save money on gas is kinda counterproductive. At least you would be in the "best looking" hybrid.
jaartsgroup 5:16PM (3/18/2009)
hmn. we should ask if they regret selling the battery techology they bought for the EV1 project, but then later sold to Chevron. Ha.
Maybe not. It is awfully nice of them to even offer to talk to you, so i doubt that'd be a nice question.
But, while we're at it...might as well ask how they justify us buying the EV malibu, when we know the EV1 was HOTTER! Even the Opel version looks more like a nice next-gen car than this late-comer watered-down grandma-mobile excuse for a hybrid. That's right. Three hyphens.
Or ask why the original volt concept was so unaerodynamic that it had a better coefficient of drag going backwards. Are their designers juts not hip to engineering and the whole concept behind fuel economy as it relationship to drag? Showing us that thing and then bringing the malibu-ev to market isnt going to pull anyone away from toyota and honda. Make a design statement for pete's sake. Do something worthwhile and beautiful. Take a risk instead of remaining mediocre. I believe the automotive words you need to be reaching for are "instant-classic", "futuristic" and "sexy" with a subtext of "wow, this is the future, and even though we dont have any "Back to the Future" hoverboards, these new chevy's are way cool, I WANT ONE" .
man the volt is ugly. no...mundane, reworked, been there saw that. I'll be shocked if they outsell civic hybrids by any margin. Prius isn't sweating either.
Oh yeah, and tell him I want a JOB!!!!! Maybe i can knock some sense into them from the inside. I have the passion, the design skills, and the time...and i'm much better at doing than bitching.
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kit 5:17PM (3/18/2009)
nothing like free publicity..
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Aprime 5:33PM (3/18/2009)
Yeah because automotive media is everything but advertising amirite
Protip: promotion/PR going hand-in-hand != journalism.
Criticism is a completely different story.
Stu L Tissimus 5:28PM (3/18/2009)
In case I forget to come back at 6, somebody ask this question.
"The general consensus among auto journalists is that the Ampera has a more interesting and more appropriately funky fascia than the Volt. Any chance of the Volt getting some design changes before launch?"
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Yar 6:00PM (3/18/2009)
Will an enlarged electric motor be available in the GM Performance Catalog?
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vvvolt 6:02PM (3/18/2009)
qdear GM:
everyone agrees that the euro volt (opel, vox etc) looks better,
can we get that style in the US,instead of the current chevy style ?
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Big Rocket 7:08PM (3/18/2009)
1) I'll second the opinions of jaartsgroup, Stu L Tissimus, and vvvolt: Why can't we get the good looks of the Opel Amptera for the Chevy Volt?
2) Is the Volt still projected for sale in 2010, or will this be delayed?
3) Will the Volt be profitable for GM, or will it be sold at a loss?
4) What are the projected sales volume for the Volt in the first year, and subsequent years? Are fleet sales planned for government agencies and rental companies?
5) How does GM plan to market and position the Volt relative to competing hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight with (much) lower MSRPs?
6) What is the expected price for the Volt after government tax rebates?
7) Will the public be buying the Volt, or will the public be allowed to lease the Volt only? Same with the batteries? If the only option is to lease, will the public be allowed to buy out the Volt (and its batteries) after the lease is over, or will this be a repeat of the EV1?
8) If a Volt owner upgrades the batteries on his own vehicle, will that void the entire warranty, or just parts of it?
9) Does the Volt need to be plugged into a special electrical outlet, especially for older households with lower amp (wattage) ratings?
10) Any official plans for a production version of the Caddy Converj based on the Volt? What about other vehicles and body styles (coupe, hatch, wagon, pickup, SUV, minivan, etc) based on the Volt?
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Curtis 8:57AM (3/19/2009)
Someone should have asked this question:
"How many years of ownership and driving will it take for the cost of this car to be made up with the cost of filling up on gas? In other words, when will you come out even?"
Everyone knows that Hybrids don't really save you money right...? right? I mean, the cost of buying it is significantly more than your average economy car, the repairs are more, to me it's really not worth that extra little savings at the pump, because you'll have to own the car for a long time before you've actually saved any money...
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Mike Litoris 11:37AM (3/27/2009)
Okay.. the jokes over. You can take the chevy badge off now and put the honda one back on.
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