Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GM, Tesla Motors
60 Minutes on "The Race For The Electric Car"
Want to watch Lesley Stahl and Elon Musk tool around in a Tesla Roadster? If you missed the duo on 60 Minutes last night, you can still catch it online. The stalwart CBS reporter takes a 12-minute look at "The Race for the Electric Car." The piece starts out by talking the need for new battery technology, but then becomes a sort of personaity profile.
This happens when Stahl chats with Bob Lutz and his role in bringing the Volt to life. While he tells her he doesn't want to repeat his "global warming is a 'total crock of sh*t'" comment on the family news show (maybe all the flak had an effect), he does admit his personal carbon footprint isn't exactly small. With two helicopters and two jets in his family, not to mention all of his cars, Lutz is still a tempting target for mainstream news editors to use as a poster boy for GM's greenwashing. Still, in the rest of the piece we get to see people handbuilding Tesla Roadsters, an Aptera driving down the road and a clip of the Fisker Karma. Oh, and Bob Lutz kind of gloating over what's happenend to Tesla.
Watch the video after the break.
[Source: CBS]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Noz 7:54PM (10/06/2008)
Bob Lutz is a douche.....
I don't think anyone who's not inherently environmentally conscious should be at the helm of a project that reflects such endeavors.
He's not the right person for such a job and even if he succeeds, you can bet that someone who has a real passion, understanding, and caring for such issues would have done 10 X a better job than he.
Anyone who thinks global climate change doesn't exist deserves to be locked up at this point.
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tankd0g 10:25PM (10/06/2008)
Anyone who thinks the Volt project will do anything to help the environment has been fooled by Bob Lutz. Mission accomplished. It's about helping the bottom line and that's it. If only it were legal to simply stuff the seats of an Aveo with pot and sell it as the hippy special....
Noz 6:52PM (10/07/2008)
Indeed...the Volt is simpy a distraction for the dumb and stupified GM fan base. While they make more crap.
Lutz...is an ahole.
Yanquetino 8:06PM (10/06/2008)
My jaw dropped when Lesley Stahl reported that Musk "launched Tesla five years ago." Shameless.
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Ignatius 11:35PM (10/06/2008)
She might have meant that the company Tesla launched 5 years ago... as it was started in 2003.
Yanquetino 11:50PM (10/06/2008)
Naw, Ignatius, that's not my point. "Edison" Musk is NOT the one who "launched Tesla"! Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning did --and Musk very well knows it! It is disgusting that someone with enough money can even manage to rewrite history.
greendeth 8:23PM (10/06/2008)
"Anyone who thinks global climate change doesn't exist deserves to be locked up at this point."
So much for the scientific method. Personal choice. The First Amendment. The Fourth Amendment. Civil liberties. Habeus Corpus. Presumption of innocence. Equal protection. And the right to think freely.
The purported "green movement" is now so steeped in the cult of religious fascism they are likely to be rounding up disbelievers (and Gypsies, Jews and homosexuals) and forcing them to wear green stars. For a movement purported to help humanity - they look and sound just like the Third Reich - aka Social Democrats.
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Mike!!ekiM 10:35PM (10/06/2008)
"Religious Fascism" is better then ACTUAL FASCISM, where by Business Buys the TV, Print and fake "scientific" institutions to screw over the public, and democracy.
The reason the right wing wacko's hate Al Gore is because they can't BUY him. The future of his children and future generations comes before a Buck. I guess he must be a Commie.
SkiD666 2:58PM (10/07/2008)
A quote from Grist.org in an interview with Richard A. Muller.
"If [Al Gore] reaches more people and convinces the world that global warming is real, even if he does it through exaggeration and distortion -- which he does, but he's very effective at it -- then let him fly any plane he wants."
So even environmentalists know that Al Gore is distorting facts.
Tony Belding 8:24PM (10/06/2008)
Yeah, Bob Lutz is a douche. . . assuming that by "douche" you mean somebody who thinks for himself and speaks his mind. That's something I don't see too often these days.
Personally, I think he's perfect for the job of bringing the Volt to market.
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Ignatius 8:40AM (10/07/2008)
It doesn't really paint a great picture for a man trying to change his ways when you can see him standing atop a HUMMER over a pile of crushed EV1s with his middle finger in the air saying, "Global warming is a crock of shit!"
state 8:31PM (10/06/2008)
"Lutz is still a tempting target for mainstream news editors to use as a poster boy for GM's greenwashing"
Greenwashing??? Sebastian, clueless as usual.
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state 8:34PM (10/06/2008)
If you want to see and understand hypocrisy, look at Al Gore's lifestyle for the ultimate hypocrite.
Huge home (16,000 sq ft), multiple cars, and jets all over the world in private jets getting huge fees to speak about global warming. Gore and Clinton were in the "closet" when it came to global warming until after they left office.
Mr. Lutz is in good company.
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Mike!!ekiM 10:53PM (10/06/2008)
This will be an interesting race, between GM and Silicon Valley. If these guys don't give up until After version 3.0 then we should have a viable Electric Car economy.
GM has a history of giving up at version 1.0.
We will see...
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Sir Vix 12:51AM (10/07/2008)
I think GM and the Volt will be fine, they'll become profitable again, if not as strong as they once were. For all those who hate bob lutz, how many of you can say you headed a company who spent and risked billions to develop what is presumably the electric car. Even with his jets, he's done a lore more for green tech than someone who whines on autobloggreen and drives a prius! Some of you don't want to admit that being rich can be much more environmentally friendly than being poor because of the impact that you can make along with having material wealth if you so choose. But unfortunately it doesn't fit your beliefs. Shame, it fits mine! Maybe in 20 years i'll be selling you your power for cheaper than the utility companies, and i'll do it with a for-profit wind farm that i went into building as a venture capitalist. Maybe i'll do nothing with my life. GOTTA KEEP YOU IN SUSPENSE!!!
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Ignatius 8:41AM (10/07/2008)
They've only invested approximately $1 billion in the EV1, I'd assume the Volt would be even less now.
MikeInNC 8:40AM (10/07/2008)
@Sir Vix x 2 !!
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JDred 11:11AM (10/07/2008)
greendth and Sir Vix hit the point perfectly!
Sorry Mike but Fascism is Fascism be it green or otherwise. Freedom of choice is not an option in the greenies world. You're quick to condemn Lutz as a hypocrite but conveniently overlook Gore who is an even bigger hypocrite. Instead of listening to those who are actually working to develop alternatives when they say "In time it will work, but not now" People like you would rather listen to idealists that have no background or knowledge of the subject except for a paragraph that they read somewhere.
I'd love to see a practical EV that can replace my car. I look forward to less maintenance and repairs. But it isn't going to happen anytime soon. But in the meantime, I'm not going to stomp my feet and try to force everyone else to start using things that don't work everywhere(Cold climates really screw up batteries and biofuels) and are hideously expensive!
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UH2L 12:05PM (10/07/2008)
We'll see how many problems the Tesla has when it comes out. I have a feeling that they haven't done sufficient durability testing because they're used to high tech standards where you just replace things when they go bad and software bugs are no big deal. But it depends on what kind of automotive expertise they brought in to help. People hold cars to much higher standards than they do electronic gadgets.
And who cares about whether you like Lutz or not or what he believes in. If GM successfully comes out with the Volt, it will be revolutionary, (and a lot more practical and less expensive than a Tesla).
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Chris M 4:42AM (10/09/2008)
When they come out?? Apparently you didn't realize that Tesla Motors started production last spring, and have been busy delivering cars to their customers for months now. Also, they've done a lot of durability testing, driving thousands of miles in their engineering prototypes and validation prototypes, including endurance runs on rough Belgian Block roads. That testing revealed the need to strengthen certain components, which increased the weight and reduced the range a bit. No, Tesla did not skimp on testing!