Amazing to me that GM had the foresight to leave it a 2+2, since a third seat there would be next to useless. Not at all amazing that it’s already broken – It’s standing still but the speedo reads 10 mph…

Definately a nice car… but I can’t see something smaller than Cobalt selling for $35k+

I’m sure GM will sell many of them… but with the next-gen Prius and the new Insight hitting the market at $20,000 – $30,000 justifying that extra 5-10k is gonna be really really hard.

wow, i am actually really impressed by this car. well done GM.

This car is vital to put GM back on the map

I would consider this but I hope it’s not a 35k car….

New Insight supposedly coming in at 18k?

just think buying this car will help most people eliminate gasoline consumption from their daily commute. Not only does it have the visual value of less reliance on foreign oil, it saves the average person a whole lot of money per year.

Cool $30K-$35K for the car and another $3K-$8K for the dealer MARK-UP, and a V8 Camaro for the same price…Hmmmm Horse power 1, MPG 0…

How come the Prius doesn’t look as anywhere close to as good as this?

People bring up the entry cost of a Prius or Insight, but don’t realized most Americans would never have to fill this car up daily. Some people could potentially never buy gas in the span of a year.

2012 MY? I hope not. I don’t believe Bob Lutz will accept that either. Even the likes of Chrysler could have their own plug in by that time. Timing is everything. Oh yeah, and then there’s the price…

This just doesn’t look like a $30K – 40K car. It looks like a mix of the Scion tC with the old Dodge Stratus. The concept had such a unique look to it, this is just plain boring. Then again when the Taurus was a best seller, it looked boring and the Camry…..well, not exactly the standard bearer for excitement.

Raineman, people will justify the extra 5 – 10k just knowing that they are dong the right thing by buying American

For an American sedan it looks great, if sort of bland the way an Acura TL looks bland. If you hadn’t seen the concept car for comparison, you’d be thrilled by the production car’s styling.

The problem in the showroom is going to be that the $38,000 Volt is parked next to a $22,000 Malibu, which is about the same size and looks just as good. It’s hard for consumers to imagine saving $16,000 worth of gasoline. Or if money is no object and they want a car with cachet, they can have an entry BMW, a Volvo XC, a Highlander Hybrid… all kinds of cars with more brand aura… for the same coin.

where’s the shifter? and i agree with everyone else..too expensive for what you get..crappy color too

I agree a dark color would look better, but overall they didn’t sacrifice much from the prototype. What is the big knob thing that is recessed in the console at the bottom?? I can’t figure it out from the pictures.

“It’s hard for consumers to imagine saving $16,000 worth of gasoline.” – Not only is it hard to imagine, it’s hard to do. Well said, Tom.

“where’s the shifter?” – It looks to me like it’s a column shifter, like a sort of “three on the tree” type. What’s interesting, though, is that there seems to be a “Park” BUTTON on the lower-right of the center stack. Cool, sort of. A bit close to my passenger, though. I wouldn’t want her to get mad at me and throw it into park…

I like this interior. I can’t help but notice that the center stack resembles a giant iPod, though. Still, I’m really liking it.

The one thing that bugs me is the huge black rim around the windows. In the concept, that was transparent. This is not, and it looks weird. Maybe I’ll get used to it with time.

I’d love to see this car in yellow and in red.

“What is the big knob thing that is recessed in the console at the bottom??” – The handbrake, maybe? It could even be the shifter. Who knows? It’s different, and kind of cool.

GM plans to have them all crushed at a secret location by their 105th anniversary

^ Can GM afford cake for their b-day? i’ll see when i get to work later.

im starting to warm up to this thing pretty quick…

The hard part will be convincing drivers that they should buy this instead of a luxury car as this car is roughly the same size as competing cars in that price point. So do you buy the car with the possibility of using little to no gas or a luxury car. It is more of a statement car as opposed to an economical decision.

@MercMark
LOL

I’m not sure how hard some on here mash the fun pedal, but I don’t buy gas everyday like some here (even with my daily work schedule) or GM may think. I buy gas at the most 3-4 days at the most. At 40k this car doesn’t seem worth it for those that would be interested in the gas saving. GM has to try to bring the cost closer to 28-30k for buyers to make this a success. With Honda having a sub 20K hybrid on the market and Toyota coming with its Gen. 3 Prius most likely coming in at a lower price (with a shared Lexus they can bring it in lower). Without the suits the car does look better but not 40k worth. The interior looks pretty good, but I don’t like the video game screen in front of driver (just a bit over the top). I hope GM has over hyped this car.

You buy gas every 3-4 days? Wow! I’m on week 3 with my Cobalt, and still have 1/4th of a tank left.

Let’s do some math here.

Cobalt SS: $21,000… 25MPG
Volt: $35,000… no gas use on daily commute.

I drive about 25 miles per day. 11 to work and back… plus around the corner to burger-whatever for lunch. Currently that costs me $4. I do that… oh… 240 days out of the year. So over the 5 years I plan to keep the car… I will spend less than $5000 on fuel.

Even if prices jump to $7/gal I will spend far less than the $14,000 price difference in the two cars. So spending the extra money to buy a Hybrid doesn’t make sense to me.

I would buy this ANYDAY over a Prius or Honda’s new Insight.

RaineMan –
Why stop there with your analysis? Why don’t you consider the Kia Rio that goes for around 13K and gets about 32 mpg? It is cheaper and gets better gas mileage. By your metric, you got screwed for purchasing that Cobalt SS.

u needa understand that this car is just the first step in the evolution of cars

look past the price to 20 or 25 yrs in the future bc this is what it looks like.. metaphorically

I’m trading in my wifes Tahoe for a 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, Invoice starts at $65,784 plus I know I’ll get it for less then that, and yes Tax, Lic, bla, bla bla, fees, but come on now, that is worth it…

I completely agree with g35. You guys are really missing the point with this vehicle. It’s not at all in the same league as hybrids like the Prius/Insight. It’s an altogether new concept. Yes, this first release of a revolutionary technology may seem to be priced high but you aren’t comparing apples to apples.

But I completely understand that it all comes down to the perception that the buying public will have when the Volt is released for sale. For those who want to break away from a gasoline-dependent vehicle, the Volt makes a lot of sense. Just think of how many people will no longer need a single drop of gasoline for their daily commute (unfortunately, I live in Los Angeles and I’m not one of them). THIS IS A MONUMENTAL DEVELOPMENT in the evolution of the mass-produced automobile and you guys aren’t seeing it that way.

Anyone old enough to remember when calculators first came out? They cost well over $100 and hardly did more than add and subtract. People back then said no one would ever want to spend that kind of money for a device that does the same thing you can do on your own.

But they did. In droves, by the way.

The Volt will succeed because it offers many buyers the best of both worlds. They won’t need to buy gasoline, execpt for the longer trips that don’t make up their daily commute. They won’t have to worry about being stuck with a dead battery anywhere because the high mileage gasoline engine is ready to go for them when needed.

This is history in the making, folks. And I’m not saying that because it’s GM and American. I would be saying the same thing if it were Toyota or Honda or BMW introducing this GROUNDBREAKINGA technology to the world.

Beemer, I can think of all sorts of things like that:

VHS
CD Players
iPods
iPhones
Personal Computers
DVD Players
DVDs
Color Televisions
Flat-Panel Televisions
Color Computer Monitors
Flat-Panel Computer Monitors
HD Televisions
In-Car DVD Players
PlayStations (and any other console game)
Cars in general

Early adopters of just about any product have the problem of high price to deal with. But they accept that. I really think the Volt will do well, especially since it’s shaping up to be a nice, attractive vehicle inside and out. I’m very impressed by the interior.

Now, to me, $35,000 is still a hefty price. I’ll have to test drive it before I actually determine it’s worth $35,000 of my hard-earned money. But down the road, the price will drop. Used ones in a few years may go for $20,000, depending on how many are made. And not only that, GM will most likely place this drivetrain in a lot of other vehicles. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be seeing the Malibu and the [gulp] Cruze with the option of a Volt powerplant. Things are looking up.

I like….thats all I have to say.

need more oil for gm ur a piece of **** redneck who knows nothing about cars

Oh look it’s a 2011 Chevorlet Citation

The idea that you will drive the Volt and never use a drop of gas is a lie. Plain and simple. They asked one of the engineers at the launch to clarify that and he just changed the subject. That gasoline motor WILL fire up on you, even on short trips; like the Prius, it will come on when you want A/C, it will come on when the batteries and motor get hot; it will come on when the driveshaft torque drops too low. Besides, you don’t want that motor to sit without being run; if it sits, all the oil and coolant drains out of it, and every time it fires up it will be like a cold-start, which is where 80% of the wear on an engine comes from. By the way, did you read the part of the press materials from the launch where they said that if you drive it over 200 miles without an overnight charge, your MPG drops back down to around 30 mpg?

IT’s very goodlooking, although they cribbed heavily from the European Honda Civic hatchback. If this were $25,000 it would sell like crazy. $35k is just too much. You can roll around in an entry-level BMW for that price.

All you people are right, paying too much for new technology is just worthless (f**k you cheap plasma TVs and laptops). Early adopters—whom we have to thank for just about everything in our lives that we can afford right now—are such losers anyway. GM must be crazy trying to bring this to market and eventually bring down the price using economies of scale. Like the electric starter, automatic transmission, AC, radio, ABS, airbag, power window, and let’s not forget cup holder technology, you’d think GM would have learned it’s lesson about trying to push the technological envelope. If only we could be so lucky to all be driving brand new Model Ts right now. If only they’d listen to us brilliant LLN commenters.

Let’s say the Volt comes out at $38k. The government gives them a credit of 5-10k. The Volt sells from anywhere around 28k to 33k. Those sound likely too me. And probably certain states like California will offer their own rebates or incentives. It’s likely the Volt will be selling for around $30k, give or take a grand.

Has anybody tried to figure out how much you’d save on fuel though?

02WRXPSM- I’m sure your right on some of that, but otherwise that was pretty much a worthless rant. Why would the electric motor come on when the batteries and motor are too hot, it can’t supply any direct drive power so that the electric motor can “shut down”. And unless it’s got very little juice left, it’ll have enough driveshaft torque, which is the plan. I had read something about the gasoline motor starting and running for a minute or so to protect from cold starts- but maybe that had to do with the hybrid Tahoe, I don’t remember.

Till gm price that thing the same as the rest of their fleet models it will sit on the showroom floor.

well, I never thought I would consider buying an American car, but the Volt might be an option. I hope the price will be better than $35k. Just too much money. With Insight and Prius at lower price points, the Volt needs to be close to that in order to be a complete success IMHO.

Let’s hope GM will indeed make a nice car and prove that they can survive in this marketplace.

Is it going to be available with the 454 c.u. big block?

Okay well if your paying 5000$ dollars in gas per year, and none for this car, and you keep using none, then in 4 years you have saved 20000$ and end up paying only 15k for this car….so look in to the FUTURE, not one year

All I wanna know is the sales target and the price
If it’s approaching $35k, 100k units is a great success
Nothing over $30k, that CAN’T TURN A PROFIT, is “Saving GM”, as I heard here more than once
Mind you it will have to get like 65MPG to justify it’s $10k premium over a Prius
And then you have to ignore that it is a GM 1st year, 1st generation attempt
Then factor in that GM doesn’t have GMAC to throw you a subsidized lease……..
That’s a large leap of faith in a ship that looks, moves, and sounds like the Titanic.
DrFill

‘El Aleman’, of COURSE it looks better than a Prius … it looks better than anything Toyota and Honda produce. Just a FACT.

El Aleman: because the japenese didn’t have anything to copy when they designed it.

This is a very attractive car, in spite of the fact that the concept was (arguably) more interesting (you know it was a brick in the wind, necessitating the change right?).

And for those of you deriding the vehicle’s cost, or mileage, etc. are missing the HUGE point – which has been stated: that this will be the first mass-produced car of this type – new technology – new paradigm – from GM. It’s a brilliant stroke. And yes, the first will be expensive. It would be expensive were it from Toyota, Daimler or Ford as well. This is a landmark vehicle. Give it its due.

[Note: for those of you who said it would be hard to envision justifying the extra $16K in gas savings...I guess I could make an argument that I have a hard time justifying the extra $16K I spent on my BMW over a new Malibu. You could make that argument about anything. The people who adopt this first aren't the ones who are entirely concerned about the actual cost savings of the fuel....those buyers will come later as this powertrain is adapted and cost lowers due to mass production and market-wide adoption.]

The most weak point of this car is being Chevrolet or American maker.
I honestly think so.

“2011″ Chevrolet Volt? When did that happen, I thought this was due to be launced in 2010.

The article says that they are simulating 10 years use in 2 years thanks to an “algorithm”
a) that sure sounds fancy, but its not really all that complex; all you do is assume that a car will typically be used for less than one fifth of each day on average. Therefore if you run it for 24hours, you can simulate 10 years’ testing in just two years
b) the testing takes two years and is currently under way, so it will be complete in, lets say, a year or so. What if it fails the test? Presumably they need another 2 years to test it again…

Raineman:
“Definately a nice car… but I can’t see something smaller than Cobalt selling for $35k+. [...] I’m sure GM will sell many of them.”
Make up your mind man!

Great engineering feat for GM, worries me that its waiting on the battery development and that it will be too expensive to be a high volume seller. GM really should have a real hybrid contender right now to compete with the Prius and Insight. I think Ford will do well with the new hybrid Fusion.

The styling of the Volt looks sooooo much better than the Prius and Insight, very cool, except for one thing…that deep giant plastic black-out sill is really bugging me, why?? Such a good looking design, could be a classic, except for that detail, it looks like you wanted a bigger window but couldn’t make it so you put some black-out plastic and no one will notice…I never understood the concept car’s window design….would have been too costly to make, but for 30 to 40K the plastic sill looks cheap and is an incomplete design resolution. The inset glass cannot be helping aerodynamics, or wind noise? who wants what looks like plastic on the outside of their car. How will this look on a white car with a light interior? Since it is not coming out for another year or two can you fix that?

You guys are WAY too caught up in looks
These aren’t girls, these are economy cars
Maybe if these cars should done miniskirts so you can give them respect
Can we be A LITTLE less shallow?
These cars are 75-100% more efficient than the average family sedan
I think ALL of them look better than the Dodge Challenger
DrFill

35k for this is crazy and probably won’t even justify the fuel savings

I cant justify the price of an iPod over a far better and cheaper iRiver player, but the trendy saps do. It’s all in the marketing.

Still, this will have a bit of a tough time with the average consumer who will now have a fairly reasonable alternative in the Honda Insight, but for anyone with a bit of style they would justify the Volt over the Insight or Prius. Both the Insight and the Prius are ä$$-ugly, and from the pics the Honda screams CHEAP at the owner every minute spent inside it. Both of those are also yestertech, whereas the Volt offers style, a sleek interior, and tomorrowtech at a somewhat high but still an okay price. Given my normal driving habits the Volt would save me about 20 gallons/week (I’d still burn a few though) while still giving me a cool ride. 20 gallons is about 2k/year so there are probably cheaper tranportation alternatives, but most people do not buy the cheapest alternative in a car – many buy for other reasons, and if you don’t beleive me look at the early-adopter out-the-door prices people paid on Priuses. Some fools were popping over $40k on that crap – my own cousin paid $39k, and the best part is that he rear-ended someone hard a month later – his fault – and totalled the vehicle, and his insurance only offered less than MSRP for the vehicle, so he had to suck down a $10k dealer add-on because he is a moron. HAHA!

its till coming out in 2010 “Got Handling?” its coming out in november 2010 and being released as a 2011 car

Nobody cares what you think, ‘DrFool’ … stick to your womanly G37, homo … the Challenger looks better than 95% of what’s out, dufus. Looks are everything in a market where quality amongst all the brands is, for all intents and purposes, quite equal for anyone wanting to move on to something different every five years or less.

You entire post displays your idiocy … begone, fool.

When gas gets back to $4.50/gal, you haters will eat crow on how well this car sells.

In response to the comments about how much this car has changed compared to the concept’s styling: The concept was always really cheesy to me. This production version looks a thousand times better.

In response to the comments about the engine/mpg/electricity specifics: I think anything at this point is purely speculation. Until more facts are released about the ACTUAL production model I think it’s a waste of time arguing about what this car can and can’t do. The same can be said about the price. Wasting your time arguing about rumors.

Is it just me, or is everyone on this message board cheaper than scrooge?

i kind of want one now, and i laugh at people in priuses.

Quality amongst all brand equal? LOL. Wow. Someone needs to come out of his cave more often.

To me it’s a good looking car! Nevertheless, if this car is going to be priced about $30K to $35K, it will be competing with some of the world’s best cars! Hmmmm… BMW 3 or Chevy Volt… It will be an interesting decision to make! Yes I agree that it will depend on many factors in the future, including the economic situation in late 2010 when it’s on sale.

Impulsive
You push an S-10 up the street, and all u talk about is a car’s looks?
Who’s the fool?
All cars quality is equal?
I didn’t think you could trump your own stupidity
But with hard work and dedication……..
DrFill

Volt is good.

Ford should really study this one. THIS is what a good looking car looks like.

Read again, ‘JustCrap88′ … buy something today and within five years there is little to no difference in quality amongst competing brands and classes … FACT. You need to go back INTO your cave, POS … more FACT.

Read again, ‘Dr Fool’ … I am rungs above chimps like you in life. Keep trying though … at least your taste in feminine automobiles is above the $30k threshold. When you can get to $80k+ and something of the masculine sort, try and get back to me and maybe I’ll treat you like a member of the group. Until then, stick to pickup trucks and MINIs.

Repulsive
No one asked to be in your “group”
Do me a favor and keep me out of that mess!
Your “group” has a too much of the pennystock that is GM
Who’s your financial advisor?
Kermit D. Frog?
DrFill

You only wish you could be a part of my group. Unfortunately, middle-of-the-bell-curve folks don’t cut it. Nor do purse-carrying pansies. Nor do tasteless losers. Nor do worthless tools. You get the idea.

But there’s no harm in trying to better yourself. Good luck with that.

Repulsive
Oh I don’t need luck in bettering myself
I accomplish my goals
I have a New Year’s resulotion that wil do the trick
Stop responding to the worst poster here, Repulsive

Why don’t you beautify LLN and leave
Or at least think before you speak
DrFill

You both suck.

Now…back to cars.

You need more than luck, chump. Your history of posts shows like a wasteland of dead carcasses and no life. All coming from a fruitcake who has no taste in design and loves feminine biatchmobiles.

You are truly worthless here and provide NO value to anyone.

I, however, post FACTS. Facts about automobiles, facts about the economy, facts about investing … everything I post is of value … and all FACTS.

Nobody cares what you think … begone waste of a life.

And you, ‘Architool’, love my sausage … sucky, sucky?

“buy something today and within five years there is little to no difference in quality amongst competing brands and classes … FACT. You need to go back INTO your cave, POS … more FACT.”

What are you talking about? Were you born retarded or did the doctor drop you a couple times after you came out?

I read you’re post you goddamn sack of sht, FACT: Quality is NOT equal amongst all brands within 5 years or not you ignorant jackass.

Man, you are just an embarrassment to human kind, do everyone a favor and go kill yourself.

How is it that a stupid SOB like you managed to live so long? fkin moron.

JC
“Were you born retarded or did the doctor drop you a couple times after you came out?”
Yes, I’ll admit it
I dropped him twice
And I see the rehabilitation hasn’t worked as we had hoped….
DrFill

It looks better than the Prius and the Insight. I am not sure if I am understanding this correctly. After 40 miles the car runs on gasoline until you can recharge the battery? Can someone help me? Because my daily commute ranges from 100 – 250 miles per day.

Right the first 40 miles is electric, than it’s all gas
DRiving a car 40 miles on pure electricity will drain any battery
Which brings into question, if this car is only available with battery assistance for 40 miles, than basically after that it is a Cobalt, or any regular economy car
Prius uses Regenerative braking, and other measures, to keep the battery in the game
The battery better be more than a 40 mile wonder
It needs to be plugged in daily, but many owners will not have access to plug-in through a garage
DrFill

cdstylzz – let me answer your question completely: yes, the car will run for 40 miles on electricity only, without the internal combustion engine operating. However, after about 40 miles – with the batteries nearing depletion, the combustion engine comes on, but only to charge the battery. The combustion engine – unlike current ‘hybrids’ on the market – is not connected to the drivetrain nor does it propel the car directly. This is part of what makes the Volt unique, and is central to its substantial efficiency (equivalent 100 MPG) over the current hybrids.

DrFill – the Volt is not anything like the Cobalt once the initial (40 mile) battery charge is depleted. Furthermore, its drivetrain represents a substantial technologically advancement over the Prius that you refer to. See my post above.

And here I thought you knew something about cars….

The interior of the car doesnt match the new interior they have on other pics. This car has their old Interior, so these photos are old.

and WRONG, after 40 miles the gas kicks on to recharge the battery. not to run the car the rest of the time. Its the opposite of todays typical hybirds.

no way people will pay an upgrade of up to 10k for a chevy over a toyota or honda… pity or not, chevy in the customers reception, is WAY below toyota or, to a lesser extent, honda…

Architect
No need to get testy
The Volt, assuming it does come to market, will be an advance, but too expensive to compare to a Prius.
It would be in a class of one.
Toyota has already pre-wired the Prius to run on Lithium and Plug-In Technology, just like the Volt, when Toyota is ready to upgrade the batteries
Considering the fact that the Volt won’t be out for another 18 months, a Prius with the same technologies may be ready by then.
I wish GM well, with the Volt, and overall.
I don’t know how much of an impact a $35k car will have on the market, though.
Toyota should be able to sell 200k a year, factoring in previous owners looking to trade
Honda may have more trouble, with the Insight getting lower EPA than the Civic Hybrid, and so closely apeing the Prius design, and the interior is not in the same league.
I presume GM’s plan is if, and when, the Volt makes it to the market successfully, to move that technology into the Malibu sedan, to fight the Fusion and Camry Hybrids.
GM seems to have a plan, for once.
DrFill

DrFill – sorry…I was only trying to give you a hard time…forgot the “emoticon”

I’m a firm GM hater. I hate opportunists and mismanagement (Washington for the last 8yrs included..) But, this is a nice effort.

Get rid of the Jobs Bank and only pay executives out of profits like we small business have to.. Then give us realists an option: a small diesel or the new, GDI gas engine. Jim

LOL DrFill

‘JustCrap88′, go back and read AGAIN, and this time get your baby sister to help you understand FACT. Your stupidity and worthlessness is unparalleled. Die.

‘DrFool’, seems you’re outed … others now see your worthlessness as vividly as I saw it long ago. Don’t be offended by being confronted with FACT, accept it and move on, loser … you are nothing. Go find a board about bags and purses … you’ll fit right in.

My Lord!

They took a Prius, changed the headlights and taillights, and slapped on Volt badges!

Okay, maybe not. The thing bears a resemblance to the Prius, imho.

Follow the leader
DrFill

evanator19…please go back and read RaineMan comment again…he said about $5000 for 5 YEARS. That means $1000 per year, not your $5000 per year. Nobody that I know off drive that much, beside the 18-wheelers.

I sure hope everyone else who’s as worthless follows your exit .. the world would be a much better place.

Follow the leader, chimps.

The world would have been a better place if your mother had an abortion Impulsive, you unwitty high school reject.

Actually, pond scum, an athlete and scholar in high school proves you WRONG again … keep up with your baseless, worthless nonsense … you waste of a life. Kill yourself today.

Oh, almost forgot … go follow ‘DrFool’, the leader, to your exit. You don’t belong here, POS.