New hybrids, American jobs and hypocrisy
I know someone getting the new Chevy Malibu Hybrid so I looked it up to find that it only gets an extra two miles per gallon. Its a mild hybrid that puts some of the extra power into acceleration instead of fuel economy. GM did the same thing with Saturn hybrids. I don't see the point. I'm holding out hope for the Chevy Volt.
According to this article GM might finally be getting it:
With gas prices near $4 a gallon, and sales of GM's big trucks and SUVs falling, the automaker announced 3,500 layoffs at the factories making those vehicles earlier this week. On Wednesday, it announced a first-quarter net loss of $3.25 billion.So going green has become vital to the automaker's survival, GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said in a speech Thursday in San Francisco. That's why it's pushing the forthcoming hybrid-electric Chevrolet Volt, part of a "major transformation" at GM, he said.
Right now auto industry lobbyists are using scare tactics in Springfield telling state legislators that tougher emissions standards in the Illinois Clean Car Act will cost jobs. Yet, once again we see that what's really costing jobs is American car companies refusing to meet the market demand for fuel efficient, environmentally friendlier cars. More Americans would have jobs today if American car companies had listened to environmentalists about fuel efficiency years ago.
Wagoner goes on to say later in the article, "Energy supply, sustainable growth, CO2 emissions, fuel economy - these are top concerns around the world,"
Yet at the same time the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, of which GM is a member, is fighting against new laws that address those problems. If Wagoner means what he says then he will end GM's opposition to the Pavley emissions standards in Illinois and other states.
For no particular reason, here's Car Song by Elastica:
Comments
Leave it to GM to totally miss the point re: hybrids.
GM is paying the price today for their corporate decisions of the past. They've applied advances in engine technology to increase power, and the Toyotas and Hondas of the world have increased their engines' fuel efficiency.
I, too, am holding out for the Volt. I understand that Saturn is coming out with a similar type of vehicle, only in SUV form.
I've read that if your daily travels are less than about 40 miles, you shant need a drop of gas for a Volt. Just plug the sucker in at night, and you're good to go for the next day. Sweet.
I've read elsewhere, though, that they've made tweaks to increase the Volt's top speed to 120 mph. Nobody needs a car that goes that fast. Apply the tweaks to further increase the efficiency of the gas engine and make the top speed like 90 mph or something.
I'm hoping my Saturn can hold out two more years until the Volt comes out.
Posted by: Anonymous Communist | May 8, 2008 10:14 AM
Same story here. My old Saturn gets about the same mileage as the new Chevy Malibu Hybrid. I'm hoping it will last until I can get a Volt.
Of course the ultimate solution, if I had the money to do it, is a Volt with a solar roof that will charge the battery without plugging it in.
Posted by: Will | May 8, 2008 2:12 PM
At least the Volt will increase your street cred.
Really, why not try out the smart car? As long as everyone else is driving an SUV, most anything good for the Earth is a death trap.
Really, risk it and get a moped.
Posted by: Best Looking Reader | May 8, 2008 2:36 PM