Monday, November 29, 2010

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Each Chevy Volt Cost $40,000 to Build

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 06:08 PM PST

The  accolades for its Chevy Volt, those accolades don't come cheap. The Chevy Volt reportedly cost a whooping $40,000 each to build, not including development costs.

That price makes the $41,000 MSRP seem downright reasonable. GM makes just $1,000 on each Volt sold. That isn't a lot, considering that GM can make upwards of $15,000 on the sale of an upscale Suburban such as the Cadillac Escalade or GMC Denali. On the same token, GM also lost around $1,000 on every Chevy Cavaleir they sold, and they sold a lot of those. GM will make about $1,000 on every Volt sold. At that rate, it will take GM a long, long time to recoup the $1 billion some-odd dollars they spent developing the Volt.

These revelations come from Steve Rattner, who in his book "Overhaul" walks us through the auto bailouts that dominated last year. While I am surprised that GM, one of the world's largest automakers, couldn't build the Volt for cheaper, I guess it kind of justifies the Volt's high cost. What say you though, in light of these revelations, is it really still worth the $41,000?

Source: GM Volt

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

Renault Aims for 150-mile All-Electric Range by 2015

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 11:47 AM PST

Batteries are the only Achilles' heel in the otherwise impressive armor of achievement in electric cars, limited to just 100 miles to a charge. Yet Renault thinks by 2015, they will have increased their range to 150 miles.

First off, I hope everybody had a happy Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and now Cyber Monday (if you celebrate such holidays). I know I had a great time off, but I’m happy to be back writing about the cars I love.

Major manufacturers are experimenting with all kinds of different batteries, from lithium-ion to varities of nickel and more. I'm no chemist or engineer, but I do know that while a lot of people are interested in electric cars, paying full price for a car that gets a lot less range than a regular gas engine is a big problem for many people.

Renault realizes this too. Their all-electric Zoe hits markets next year with a 100 mile range, which is on par with the other major contenders. By 2015 though, they think they can bump the range up to 150 miles. Renault (and by extension their ally Nissan) are working on different kinds of batteries, including zinc-air and silver-zinc varieties. They hope that by 2025, battery pack range will have increased to 300 miles. That isn't far behind what many small cars manage now.

Imagine 300 miles between charges. Who wouldn't be happy about that?

Source: AutoCar

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

Toyota Happy with Hybrids…For Now

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 11:45 AM PST

The Toyota Prius made the word "hybrid" a household name, and it has given Toyota a huge lead in the hybrid car market. Toyota will stick with hybrids as other automakers play with electric cars. Mistake, or good game plan?

You really can't blame Toyota for wanting to stick with a winning strategy. The Prius is the best selling hybrid in the world. Also, Toyota did play around with electric cars, selling a 100-mile electric Rav4 for five years (from 1998 to 2003). They sold just under 1,500 of those in five years. Very sad, but not unexpected when you don't market the damn car. While Toyota did bring the electric Rav4 back (with the help of Tesla), Toyota doesn't expect to sell them. Instead, they predict they will sell almost a million hybrids a year by 2015, 10% of their total sales.

In addition to traditional hybrids like the Prius, Toyota is also working on a plug-in hybrid that will operate like the Volt, with a small all-electric range and an extended gas-powered range. Toyota apparently feels electric cars will remain a niche market in the coming years, and they could be right. Even with their partnership with Tesla though, is Toyota running the risk of falling behind other automakers?

Nissan and GM are both putting their own version of the electric car on the road in the coming months. Ford has an electric Focus coming next year. Everybody is getting in on the electric car game it seems, except Toyota (and Chrysler). Is Toyota going to end up as the next GM, stuck in its old ways because the old ways work? Let us hope not.

Source: Technology Review

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)