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Originally Posted by djplong
You're forgetting some of the reasons surrounding this. Just to be a little more complete...
The Volt is in the $40,000 range - much cheaper than the Fiskers and Teslas. ...and the Model S Tesla is far under $100K.
The Volt has an image problem because of testing that was reported as showing batteries catching fire. What the press buried at the end of of articles, if they included the facts at all, was that the batteries caught fire THREE WEEKS after the accidents when the cars were stored in their wrecked condition without any coolant. Any idiot would know to disconnect systems after the accident. But they kept these cars in 'laboratory conditions' and that's when it happened.
The last knock on the Volt was that the Nissan Leaf EV was outselling it. Now, that's no longer true. The latest figures have the Volt outselling the Leaf.
The Volt has basically had to re-launch itself and is doing surprisingly well, given what it's been up against.
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When I first questioned Volt sales you said it was caused by lack of inventory. Now that there's inventory running over, you attribute it to the press. Leaf sales lag today because of depleted inventory both here and in Japan. If you want a Leaf, you have to wait to get it. Leaf sales to date are over 50% higher than Volt sales and they still have approximately 10,000 people on a waiting list. Nobody has to wait for a Volt.
If you look objectively at the Volt vs the Leaf as EV's hits clear why the Volt is losing in the marketplace. The Volt's range as all electric is 40 miles according to independent testing. The Leaf's is 73 miles making it an excellent commuter car. The Volt costs approximately $44,500 comported to the Leaf's $35,000 when comparably equipped. Both receive the $7,500 incentive. The Volt has now been complicated by the addition of a gasoline engine. If you wish a gas engine your better choice is the Ford Fusion Hybrid ranked by US News as the best Mid-size sedan available in 2012. It's MSRP is less than $30,000.
Despite receiving approximately $1 billion in US taxpayer subsidies, the Chevy Volt fails miserably in head-to-head comparisons with the Leaf or the Fusion Hybrid. An honest slogan would be, "Get less by paying more."
The Volt is GM's answer to the Edsel. It's time to do what Ford did with the Edsel - kill it.