Recent Comments:
U.S. hybrid registrations rose 38% to top 350,000 in 2007 {Autoblog Green}
Apr 21st 2008 9:08PM Ummmmm, comment 2, you realize hybrids had to start at some low number right? Zero in fact. You do realize that more and more every year will eventually result in a significant number? Look at all of the new hybrids being planned over the next few years. It started at zero. It's not next to nothing; Prius is breaking into the top 10 cars sold in the US. You see them everywhere. It is getting cheaper and better performing in the next version.
Comment 3, you do realize that carpooling with a hybrid is better than carpooling in an SUV, eh? You do realize that multiple solutions can come together to have big effects and that any one is not enough by itself.
What a stupid thing to be negative about.
VC firms bet on Th!nk {Autoblog Green}
Apr 21st 2008 8:43PM the $25K number isn't exactly the cost if they are still having you pay hundred$ every month for the right to use the battery. They need to have an option to buy the battery outright.
Silver lining: CARB creates huge new market for plug-in hybrids {Autoblog Green}
Mar 31st 2008 8:06PM This isn't totally true. The automakers will get to chose which way they satisfy the requirements. They were going to have to make 25,000 qualifying ZEV's from 2012 through 2014, now they can chose to make less than that (as low as 7,500) but will have to make multiple more plug-ins as well (as high as 66,000 if they chose the minimum 7,500 all electrics). They can still make 25,000 ZEV's if they choose; they simply have a sliding scale of other options now. It's not predestined that all automakers will definitely pick the minimum 7,500 all electrics and get the rest of their credits from plug-in hybrids. If they can make a cheap enough type III ZEV that earns credits more economically than their PHEV's, they would go with the ZEV.
Phoenix Motorcars website gets a makeover, savings calculator {Autoblog Green}
Mar 16th 2008 7:28AM If you factor in that this is targetted to replace fleet vehicles (trucks driving in cities all day long) guess what, they get an accelerated ROI. So yes it's unreasonable if you only drive 15,000 miles per year and you get decent mileage, but it's great for fleets
Bob Lutz: First-gen Volt might cost $40,000 {Autoblog Green}
Jan 26th 2008 5:27PM $40k is allot, but not at all surprising for the newness of the serial hybrid drivetrain for a commuter car and the newness of the batteries themselves (has A123 even made the 1st prototype pack yet?) along with the low initial volume this will start out in. People saying GM should make a initially sub-$30k vehicle with EV capabilities that is safe and performs well just don't understand all of the technical hurdles and their costs, especially with the batteries. At the same time, GM was really dumb for originally hinting it would be $30K or less. If they were factoring in hopeful tax credits or something, they should have said so.
With that said; I think if they make the Gen I look good (like the prototype) and include allot of options for little profit, there will be enough people buying them to get this off the ground, and they don't have to be RICH either. But definitely higher middle class for Gen I.
The question is will the batteries last and will this price go up again?
Editorial: Is Malcolm Bricklin's vision clear? {Autoblog Green}
Jan 24th 2008 9:58AM First things first, that thing is UGLY. Looks like one of those awful 1950's futuristic visions. Or a bad bat-mobile. Words cannot describe how ugly that vehicle's body is. It's not the kind of ugly like the Prius, which only some people find as ugly. All people will recognize the ugliness of this car and be repulsed by it. It's the kind of ugly that's so bad, people must be afraid to point it out, and they assume they shouldn't have to. How could anyone ever approve a design so un-aesthetically pleasing?
