Now that the "new GM" has risen, some of the old ideas are starting to resurface in the media. One of the freshest ideas is here again, coming off the lips of GM CEO Fritz Henderson.
The Chevy Volt, GM's all-electric passenger car slated to hits the streets sometime in 2011, will get "230 miles per gallon" according to the automaker's CEO. That's great -- but why mention the MPG figure for an electric car?
That's because there is a small gasoline engine in the vehicle as well for backup purposes. The 230 MPG figure is based on city driving, and is intended to take some of the fire away from that of Toyota Motor Corp.'s (NYSE: TM) Prius hybrid. The GM figure is being touted as having four times as many miles per gallon of gas.
I guess putting a figure like MPG on a new technology can rally the public around it. Everyone knows their car's MPG -- but a car with 230 MPG? I gotta check that out! Thanks, Marketing 101.
GM is also touting the combined 100 MPG figure of the Volt in combined city-highway driving. The automaker reached an understanding with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to come up with those two numbers, which still are not 100% authorized by the EPA.
GM's Volt will reportedly cost in the area of $40,000, while the Prius comes in today at just $22,000. Would a quadrupling of fuel efficiency cause you to spend almost 100% more for a passenger car with unproven technology? That will be GM's bet.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-11-2009 @ 12:10PM
Chris said...
1) The picture on this bears almost no resemblance to the actual Chevy Volt production model. 2) Even if there was no cost associated and the volt was $0 per mile operating cost. Assuming 12,000 miles per year on a prius at 45 MPG (which is low I believe) is only 267 gallons a year of gas, assuming $3 a gallon avg price is $801 a year. If we assume $5 a gallon it is $1,335. In order to "break even" cost wise it would take 22 years at 12k a year for $3 a gallon avg and 13.5 years at $5 a gallon average. That isn't including the cost of electricity to charge.
8-11-2009 @ 5:28PM
ecolamp said...
Give up on the break even analysis........Henry Ford didn't build his comapany to get his money back he built it to become what is is today........
You can't get to the future by trying to get your money back today......getting to the future requires faith and commitment to an end result....regardless what discomfort we might feel in the short-term