I could care less which car wins and I do not have any loyalty to any corporation. I have seen far to much to blindly believe that because they claim to care that it is true. However, there is always hope the one or two will come around and be socially and environmentally responsible :flypig:. What I do want to see is an influx of vehicles that do not use gasoline/petrol, so I welcome any vehicle that adds to that possibility. From the sounds of it the Volt will not be gas free, this is a disappointment as we have enough hybrids already and PHEVs really don't seem like a big enough step.
here's the Link, its from 2004, but it was under bush's admin. it doesn't state the amount that toyota specifically received, but it stated that 88 million would be available to the companies participating with a 1 to 1 match on funds spend with a 10 mill cap. Every car company tries to secure loan including hyundai (which was a surprise to me).... so our tax dollars at work! :focus:
Come on you guys, you have to admit there is a difference between the funds given to any car companies to incentivize hydrogen and the bailout GM received due to them running their business into the ground?
Tell me wy Toyota would qualify for any US govt funding? MR Lentz described Toyota USA yesterday to congress, it is a sales organization only, most r&d, engineering and certainly important decisions on product are made in Japan.
There is no difference when toyota received a bailout from the japanese gov't in april of last year? so it would seem that GM and Toyota are more similair in the way they operate than you think! Gm has ALREADY paid back a large section of the bail out loan and will finish by june, so our tax dollars are back in our pocket (chrysler is a totally different story!) and will be back in full in less than 6 months. So again besides perception what's the difference? Knowledge is power! oh as a side note Ford is the only Car co not to receive a bailout and seems to be thriving so both toyota and GM have run their business' into the ground
Oh how I wish someone would loan me 1 trillion for 6 months, heck I'll even take 1 billion. The interest on the money alone at 1% would put me in Bill Gates class, heck I could invite to my chateau for dinner.
Toyota does alot of assembly in the USA and does have plants. But I have to agree with you that the R&D is mostly in japan, but that's the case with Honda. I have no idea what the criteria are for the funds, but I will tell you the hydrogen research funds are going to be a lot less under this administration.
Me too. I've always been too embarrassed to wear it though. Question for Malorn: What exactly is "unbelieveable" about the Volt's battery? I drove two different EV1's well over 100 miles on their "believable" batteries. I've driven my Rav4EV 135 miles on one charge of its believeable battery. Yesterday I drove 130 miles in a Mini-E on its believable battery.
Vehicle Technologies Program: FreedomCAR and Fuel Partners Printable Version FreedomCAR and Fuel Partners The Partnership is a collaborative effort among DOE, energy companies — BP America, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Shell Hydrogen (US), and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) partners (Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation). ---- so .. how much I guess the DOE just forgot about all that money Malorn is sure has been funneled to Toyota and Honda .... ;-)
Yep. This is why it is so important to have a president who can actually *think*, and an EPA/DOE that has not been gutted into political pawns.
Speaking for myself, I still don't believe they're actually going to market the Volt. That makes the whole car, including its battery, unbelievable. So the Volt battery is bigger than the EV1 battery but the car only goes 1/3 as far? Trust GM to spend a trillion dollars to develop a car inferior to the one they actually built a decade ago.
Not me. I wager they will produce 200 cars in 2010: 30 cars to politicians in DC; 150 cars to stars and starlets in Hollywood; and 20 cars to GM execs in Detroit. Oh yeah, and one partridge in a pear tree. You guys do know that GM has only "committed" to offering the Volt in the markets noted above, right ? In short, the Volt rollout will be an order of magnitude less that the Toyota PHEV alpha testing. PR, propaganda, spin by the boatload. Cars ? Hah
It will be a very limited release (the same as the Nissan Leaf) where select regions will get it. I know Nissan will ramp up production fairly quickly since they will be both producing the batteries and the car here in the USA.. On the battery pack issue: I'm starting to think Elon Musk was right (even though he comes across as arrogant), The way the battery chemistry is set up for an EREV is far more costly and the extra added weight of the ICE makes forces the battery to be bigger than needed. I don't think the concept of the volt (er-ev) is bad, actually I think its a brilliant Idea for someone that commutes locally but still travels outside of the ev range (say a trip from boston to nyc every (once a month) month) like I do.
GM execs do not ride in compact cars. They ride in stretch limos with chauffeurs, with a bar, a TV, and a call girl in the back. Maybe they'll just crush those 20 cars right off the asembly line to get a head start.
