Is the house of cards falling around the Chevrolet Volt? If you remember when GM was restructuring just a few years back, they described the Volt as a Must Have Item to be competitive. An all electric wonder machine no less.
As the Volt came to reality one of the first big shockers we ran into (pun intended) was the addition of a gasoline motor to help the Volt along if battery power ran low. While there was an initial outcry at first, it soon died down as this was seen as a last resort assist from the pure EV experience. That was until we found out the Volt has the average range of a golf cart. That "assist" motor obviously would be used far more often than we were originally led to believe. But the hardcore fan said "hey we were still saving on the cost of fuel right?", so it all works out in the quest of leading edge technology.
That kept many of the skeptics quiet until the reality of sticker shock set in. There was simply no way to recoup any of the investment in fuel savings. If you wanted the keep the green in your wallet you had to lease and let the taxpayer foot the bill. Being "green" was going to cost both you and you neighbors
So now we look at the facts. While the Volt is selling better, than it used to, it can in no way be classified as a volume seller and recent reports indicate that this"must have" for GM is costing almost $50K per unit "sold". Do you really want such a money loser in the lineup? How long will the burden continue. Will sales ever increase? Has the Volt become the Edsel for this generation?
Discuss....