Anyone think that something like this will freak out the middle and working class folks being forced to get EVs?
Bet that Chevy Volt sounded like a good idea at first. pic.twitter.com/q57U0gZowU
— Rob O'Donnell (@odonnell_r) August 25, 2022
A couple things. First, that price is not out of line. It’s kind of in the middle of what the battery packs cost. Second, let’s not forget that the Volt is not an EV, but, a plugin hybrid which has an 8.9 gallon tank. Third, and this is very concerning, they car only has 70K miles. That’s going to cause a lot of consternation in the used market. Who would want to buy, say, an EV coming off lease with 30-36K miles for a hefty price, then look at almost paying for the car again a few years later? And, remember, all those articles about people saving money by going to an EV are talking about keeping the vehicle for 8-10 years. Me, I’ll put on 8-10K a year. Most aren’t me and drive 12-15K a year.
Automakers like GM and Ford were giddy about electric vehicles (EVs) at the Detroit Auto Show back in January 2018, with plans to plow billions of dollars into building zero-emission cars. Fiat Chrysler, on the other hand, signaled they would sit out the transition. “I don’t know of a [business] that is making money selling electric vehicles unless you are selling them at the very, very high end of the spectrum,” Sergio Marchionne, the company’s then-CEO, told attendees at a press conference, according to The Detroit News. Rather than plow money into a rapid electric transition, he said, Fiat Chrysler would remain “technology neutral.”
Marchionne died later that year, and the company—now renamed Stellantis—eventually came around on EVs, rolling out new electrification pledges and concept vehicles. But with California’s move this week to rapidly phase out sales of new gasoline cars in the coming years and ban them by 2035, the business’s prior foot-dragging may have cost them, especially when it comes to meeting near-term targets to sell at least 35% zero-emission vehicles in the state by 2026.
So, essentially, one company was mentioned as being reticent, probably understanding what their customers were looking for and could afford. And, yes, the profit level for these will be a lot higher for the manufacturers and dealers. GM and Ford, especially their dealers, would love to get away from their massive discounts, which often bring the net profit to nothing/small loss (believe it or not, we all often sell cars for a loss. We tried not to discount to more than a $500 “bracket” deal). Selling at a nice profit? Sounds great to me!
American politicians have tried for years to force car companies to make the switch that science demands. Way back in the early 1990s, California attempted to make automakers develop and sell zero-emission vehicles, a mandate that resulted in the launch of the country’s first mass market electric car, GM’s EV-1. But the effort cratered under sustained pushback from the auto industry and the George W. Bush Administration. (snip)
But despite that perceived lack of ambition, California’s new mandate at least puts elected officials in a position of dictating the speed of that electric transition to the industry, rather than the other way around. The state’s gasoline vehicle ban adds a stick to the new economic carrots for EVs passed in the Biden Administration’s recent climate bill—in this case, an up to $20,000 fine for every car sold in violation of the state’s electrification targets. That means not only rewards for companies that took the climate crisis seriously enough to invest early in electric vehicles, but also real repercussions for players like Stellantis that ignored the urgent need for emissions action to squeeze a few more dollars out of their gasoline cars and trucks. And at this stage of the game, with humanity’s chances of keeping the planet’s temperature rise below 1.5°C slipping away, those consequences are long overdue.
This is not really the Socialism module from the Democracy model: this is way to the right in the Authoritarian model, hence, Progressivism is nice fascism. They are doing this for your own good, and controlling the economy, up to and including owning the means of production, with the force of government to make you comply. They will make you buy an EV, and, if you do not want to, well, you can walk, bike, or take the bus, peasant.
“A couple things. First, that price is not out of line. It’s kind of in the middle of what the battery packs cost.”
“The average cost for a Chevrolet Volt hybrid high voltage battery replacement is between $9,209 and $9,334.”
https://repairpal.com/estimator/chevrolet/volt/hybrid-high-voltage-battery-replacement-cost
“Second, let’s not forget that the Volt is not an EV, but, a plugin hybrid which has an 8.9 gallon tank.”
That has nothing to do with the price of a battery.
“Third, and this is very concerning, they car only has 70K miles. That’s going to cause a lot of consternation in the used market. Who would want to buy, say, an EV coming off lease with 30-36K miles for a hefty price, then look at almost paying for the car again a few years later?”
Exactly. Who wants to pay near $30,000 for a 12 year old Chevy Volt when a new:
“The 2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV in basic LT trim has a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $36,500. A $995 destination charge pushes that to $37,495, which is the same as last year. Premier trim goes up by $800 to $42,695. These prices are before any state tax credits.”
You can deduct a $7500 tax credit, so say a new one is around $35,000. The owner is screwed. But getting screwed is what happens when you make dumb decisions.
I’m a suspicious type so when I saw this on a FB post yesterday, I called the dealer. After being shuffled around a bit I wound up with a talkative type who said yes, the picture is correct, and that GM senior management had been advised of the problem.
The problem being caused by this. The battery has been manufacturer discounted so the one needed must be special ordered.
Why any reasonable businessperson could not see that in a market depending on trade-ins and used car sales the basic parts needed for repair, must be available at reasonable prices, I cannot say. I will say that if I was running GM someone’s ass would be out the door with the imprint of my shoe on it. But then again, I’m not being paid millions of dollars.
I understand Ford has the same problem.
Ah yes. Command Economies work so very very very well.
Then, what are they going to do with the many used batteries that are trash. I was once told that used batteries are almost as bad as nuclear waste.
Let us not forget that the planet will be strip mined by slave labor for the materials needed to build you a HYBRID EV. Now remember they are getting rid of Gasoline. Hence Hybrids are dinosaurs right now and anyone buying a Hybrid will slowly evaporate and in fact that market will begin drying up in a few more years forcing every car to be purely EV.
How are you going to charge 300,000,000 EV’s when already California can’t power their state’s needs? Now your asking everyone to plug in every day. All day at work. All night at home.
Good business plan. I do not care what fuels our cars and planes and trains, or powers our homes and industry and businesses. I DO CARE that that transition is made smoothly and effortlessly and that our military is still capable of defending our shores against aggressor nations who laugh at us as they fill their tanks with diesel fuel and their 6th generation fighter jets with Aviation gas, while the USA figures out how to make our soldiers wear the right rouge and lipstick while we practice with sticks like we did in the 1930’s before heading into WW2.
Praise be to Chairman XI and Vlady Putin. They have done exactly what they said they would do. Take over America without firing a shot.
I’m a fan of Scotty Kilmer’s yahoo channel. He recently featured a Chinese EV that takes an interesting approach to the battery problem, with a swipe at the charging problem. The NIO EV doesn’t come with a battery. You subscribe to a battery service. The batteries are standardized, and easily replaceable. So when needed, you drive into an automated station and the old battery is swapped for a charged one. The old battery is diagnosed, repaired if needed otherwise recharged for the next user.
Scotty is also a big fan of hydrogen.
I’ve heard him say he was a fan of hydrogen… I’m not as big on hydrogen. It has to be produced, and it’s difficult to distribute,and dispense.
Subscribe?? That means they can cut you off whenever they desire.
Call me paranoid but are you aware of how the social media enforces their rules??
If the manufacturers would standardize on the space for a battery the free market could do just that, without a subscription.
Well, you can still charge the battery from a home or public charger.
Nope, that avenue out of being controlled is easy to block.
Just think what the cost of the batteries will be when demand goes up and supply can not keep up with demand.
Get ready to bend over and spread them.
Auto battery prices have almost doubled over the past year.
What a great movie – Top Gun Maverick ROCKS!
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2022/08/what-great-movie-top-gun-maverick-rocks.html
Waitaminit – didn’t Roger Dean do all those cool album covers for Yes back in the ’70’s?
Johnny-is that evidence of your “renewable prices going down”?
Battery replacement on an EV is perilously close to a total power-train(engine+transmission) replacement on a conventional vehicle, the vehicle is essentially totaled. Most independent shops and some dealers lack the capability to undertake the task and the owner is at the mercy of whom ever is available.
Standardized battery packs would be a good alternative, however that poses many drawbacks in automobiles. While it might work in class 6-8 vehicles, it’s probably not a viable automotive concept with current battery technology.
Ev’s have progressed much since the P.o.S. GM EV-1 of the 90’s, but they still aren’t ready for the masses and to propose a general replacement of FF vehicles with EV’s is rather foolish.
Yes, the current battery c/o price for a ’21 Volt EV is around $9000. No matter how you figure it the current approach to EV design is a failure…. First cost, distance per charge, lack of charging stations, time to charge as well as future battery replacement cost.
Standardized battery size will require all the manufacturers to agree. The current space requirement is about 75% of the underbody.. the passenger cabin/trunk sets on top…with current technology changing the battery is difficult… there is no foreseeable break through that I am aware of.. Plus, weight distribution is an important design requirement… as the Corvair showed us.