From an interview with the Volt's chief engineer: "The early concept, a low-riding, sleek silver hatchback, was uncomfortable to sit in and not very functional, Farah said. The new five-door hatchback version more resembles a normal car, a little larger than a Honda Civic." [more]
Yeah. I read that when the article first came out. Couldn't help thinking it would eventually look something like this:
The Volt could do more damage to the hybrid market than any other factor you can imagine. When this GM POS has extensive problems, hybrids in general will get a bad rep. GM .... please find another way to make money. Automobiles are clearly not your thing. ... Brad
I know you don't yet have your Prius, so I'm hoping you'll find the seats more to your liking once you've had the car for some time. We all have our little quirks and preferences -- I'm not a big fan of the GM seats. All the same, I've had cars with seats that I've liked much better than my current Prius's seats (a VW and a Nissan come to mind). Even so, I've been very pleased with the comfort and "performance" of the seats over some long drives (up to 8 hours at a time). I just hope they don't try to duplicate the Prius, because they'll never get it to be as good. Let's hope they come out with a winner of a car that is different.
I'm not as concerned as you on this point. Toyota's been making functional hybrids for ten years now. Honda's been doing it a tad longer. There are marginally successful hybrid versions of the Tahoe, Vue, and others (if by successful you use the parameters "no major recalls"). If the Volt really is a lump of bad engineering, if the batteries tend to explode, if the appearance is so bad no one wants it, or if the price is so high no one can afford it then I think the blame is squarely and solely on GM. If anything, I think it would make the other manufacturers and models more appealing.
In hindsight, the following things should be clear: 1) The original concept car was nothing more than a studio project available for a PR stunt. 2) The Volt was presented as a PR stunt. Note that the chief engineer was convinced that he would be wasting his time .....until it became clear that every other GM plan was headed for greater failures. 3) GM was enjoying the media attention, until the destruction of the GM SUV future took place.....and the PR stunt was the only option left for future survival. 4) It is sad that GM now has to go overseas to get the best engineer available.
Better seats? Best to hope it simply gets off the drawing board When a company pushes hydrogen, AND a non-existant car? THAT's what you call a ticket to bankruptcy.
