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Today's topics:
* Consumer Reports: GM's Volt 'doesn't really make a lot of sense' - 8
messages, 4 authors
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.autos/t/360dc4f4d62b4736?hl=en
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TOPIC: Consumer Reports: GM's Volt 'doesn't really make a lot of sense'
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.autos/t/360dc4f4d62b4736?hl=en
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== 1 of 8 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 2 2011 1:16 pm
From: dsi1
On 3/2/2011 4:52 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> dsi1<dsi1@usenet-news.net> wrote:
>> Well I guess it's too late to find out now. The price of computer RAM
>> was about $45 a MB so you'd probably have a hard time imagining regular
>> folks owing a computer with $200,000 worth of ram and drives which would
>> cost about $10,000,000 at the time.
>
> Yup. However, at the time, the exponential growth in computer power had
> been pretty well established.
>
>> The only reason we're a digital world is that cheap RAM, data storage,
>> and a method of moving info around at high speed exists. Without that,
>> we'd probably still be using film, listening to CDs, going to Tower
>> Records, and using computers with small sized OSes with limited memory.
>
> The cheap ram and long-term storage was predicted. The cheap CPU was
> predicted. They all fell along the same growth curve that had been going
> on for some time.
>
> But a lot of the actual applications weren't so easy to predict, and that
> is what makes the future fun.
>
>> My guess is that 20 years from now, we won't be doing fill-ups at gas
>> stations and changing motor oil. I could be wrong but I hope not, for
>> our sake.
>
> I expect to be, and I expect to be driving the same 1974 car that I am
> driving today. It should be up around a million miles on the odometer by
> then. But then, I'll probably still be using film and listening to CDs
> as well, so I am clearly an outlier.
> --scott
>
Us folks interested in such things were aware of the drop in RAM and
storage space prices as well as the growth of processing power. Still,
I'm stunned at all that has happened. I never really thought about what
kind of impact all this would have on society. Who does?
== 2 of 8 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 2 2011 1:58 pm
From: tnom@mucks.net
On Wed, 2 Mar 2011 07:39:56 -0800 (PST), ben91932
<benteaches@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Since when was the Volt General Motors flagship vehicle?
> It may not be their flagship, but they are certainly banking on it as
>the future of the company.
>That car-of-the-year award didnt hurt them any...
>Ben
== 3 of 8 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 2 2011 2:00 pm
From: tnom@mucks.net
On Wed, 2 Mar 2011 07:39:56 -0800 (PST), ben91932
<benteaches@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Since when was the Volt General Motors flagship vehicle?
> It may not be their flagship, but they are certainly banking on it as
>the future of the company.
You have to be kidding. GM is not banking on the Volt as the future
of the company.
>That car-of-the-year award didnt hurt them any...
>Ben
== 4 of 8 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 2 2011 2:49 pm
From: dsi1
On 3/2/2011 11:09 AM, Roger Blake wrote:
> On 2011-03-02, dsi1<dsi1@usenet-news.net> wrote:
>> I thought it would have been obvious that I was.
>
> You said "our future."
>
That's right. Point taken. :-)
== 5 of 8 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 2 2011 3:20 pm
From: "Ed Pawlowski"
"dsi1" <dsi1@usenet-news.net> wrote in message
news:4d6eb067$0$14834$882e7ee2@usenet-news.net...
> On 3/2/2011 3:13 AM, Roger Blake wrote:
>> On 2011-03-01, dsi1<dsi1@usenet-news.net> wrote:
>>> In the scheme of things, our personal opinions don't matter much do
>>> they?
>>
>> They do at least in terms of the directions our own lives take. I can
>> assure you that I will never own an electric or hybrid car. What the
>> rest of you do is your own business, of course.
>>
>
> Is there any reason that you think that the electric car is a bad idea?
I can assure you I won't own one either, but perhaps my children or
grandchildren will. Right now, they are very expensive toys for people that
want to show they are green. One day though, they may become practical and
useable by many daily commuters. I just don't see in in my lifetime, which
I hope to be at least 20 or 30 more years.
In 1902, many people thought the horseless carriage was just a novelty and
man would never fly.
== 6 of 8 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 2 2011 3:48 pm
From: "hls"
"Vic Smith" <thismailautodeleted@comcast.net> wrote in message
> I've read the "average" driver in the U.S. drives 32 miles a day.
> There's a real big market for the Volt with folks who have 2 cars and
> buy new - if the price comes down where it's comparable to an IC and
*******
Price is comparable to an IC now...or whenever they are fully marketed.
Priced similar to a Lexus, maybe. I dont see the advantage for the
price. And the risk...It is your money, you buy whatever you want.
> Volt and see how long I could avoid the gas station with it.
****Son has a Honda Insight.. Claims to regularly get 60+ mpg, and
recently claimed near 80. The Insight is old technology.
> Of course it's still not proven.
*****
Of course it isnt.. Based on GM's past, I would definitely NOT pay $40-60K
for a new product line from them. Have been hafted by them enough
that I have learned that lesson.
== 7 of 8 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 2 2011 3:50 pm
From: "hls"
"Ed Pawlowski" <esp@snetnospam.net> wrote in message
> I can assure you I won't own one either, but perhaps my children or
> grandchildren will. Right now, they are very expensive toys for people
> that want to show they are green. One day though, they may become
> practical and useable by many daily commuters. I just don't see in in my
> lifetime, which I hope to be at least 20 or 30 more years.
>
> In 1902, many people thought the horseless carriage was just a novelty and
> man would never fly.
******
I cant say I will never own one, but I dont want one, dont see the economy
of them, and have no intention of buying one.
If push came to shove, I would much rather own a small high tech diesel
which could be powered on soybean oil.
Heck, I only stopped riding my bike a couple of years ago when some
criminal burglarized my property.
== 8 of 8 ==
Date: Wed, Mar 2 2011 5:59 pm
From: dsi1
On 3/2/2011 1:20 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> "dsi1" <dsi1@usenet-news.net> wrote in message
> news:4d6eb067$0$14834$882e7ee2@usenet-news.net...
>> On 3/2/2011 3:13 AM, Roger Blake wrote:
>>> On 2011-03-01, dsi1<dsi1@usenet-news.net> wrote:
>>>> In the scheme of things, our personal opinions don't matter much do
>>>> they?
>>>
>>> They do at least in terms of the directions our own lives take. I can
>>> assure you that I will never own an electric or hybrid car. What the
>>> rest of you do is your own business, of course.
>>>
>>
>> Is there any reason that you think that the electric car is a bad idea?
>
> I can assure you I won't own one either, but perhaps my children or
> grandchildren will. Right now, they are very expensive toys for people
> that want to show they are green. One day though, they may become
> practical and useable by many daily commuters. I just don't see in in my
> lifetime, which I hope to be at least 20 or 30 more years.
I suspect that this will move faster than you think - at least the
potential is there. It all hinges on a battery capacity that's better
than what's available today. Once that point in battery development is
reached, change will be rapid. Just a guess.
The electric car would seem to be dead simple as far as manufacturing
goes - just junk everything connected with the engine, fuel system,
ignition system, transmission, exhaust system and keep everything else.
My guess is that a electric motor is going to be lighter and simpler and
cheaper than a piston engine - a lot cheaper.
>
> In 1902, many people thought the horseless carriage was just a novelty
> and man would never fly.
If history has taught us anything, it is that technology drives change
whether we're ready for it or not. The reality of this world is that the
majority of drivers are not piston-lovin' speed-freaking gear-heads.
Most folks just want to get in a car and get to where they want to go
with a minimum of fuss - they don't give a crap about internal or
external combustion or electric or hampster power.
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