I bet his breath smells like hot dogs.

@neredowell: I was thinking raw babies.

GM really has to stop hyping their "savior" vehicles like the new old looking Camaro and the Volt a half a decade before they even go on sale.

I'm sure I'll be driving a Chevy Volt while listening to The Chinese Democracy.

I doubt it matters what it'll ultimately cost; there probably won't be enough of a supply of Volts to satisfy demand (like there weren't enough Soltices or Malibus), and dealers will definitely jack the price up as far as they possibly can.

shoot take back the 5 grand and throw in a GPX boombox in there ..done deal

Fiero headrest speakers. Efficient. Done.

@neredowell: I bet it smells more of Nytol, Vicks and Horlicks

I'll take my iPod and not drive in the rain.

But then, I still don't want one. So I'll shut up.

I heard from Autoblog that this thing was going to start at $40k.

[www.autoblog.com]

It's a ways off and what it will actually cost is all speculation right now. We don't even know if technology will advance enough to support the 40 mile electric range they want.

I spent the last 6 months gradually becoming a fan of GM, believing they had what it took to make a product turnaround.

The last 4 weeks of GM news kinda killed that for me. Not just because the one potential product of theirs that I was excited about (G8 Wagon) got the a, but because of news like this.

Blurbs like this suggest a major failure when it comes to product development and R&D management. How could you not build the accessories into the battery power budget? (or at least do so apparently do so accurately)

@johnnyichiban: Those were probably U.S. dollars..

Save 5 grand and give every buyer of a Volt an IPOD and a Squeegee!

Remember seeing a guest on Top Gear talking about her GWiz electric car. Said you had to choose between headlights or windshield wipers. Sounds like the smae type of thing with a volt.

Just get a $10 radio from Wal-mart, add some D batteries and throw it in the seat. It has worked for my last two trucks that I have been too lazy to install radios in.

I heard Daryl from Tesla gets the first one.

@Bento: Didn't some old cars have clockwork windup wipers? Just use lots of Rain-X

According to Lutz, the Volt concept (as shown here) was more aerodynamic running backwards than forwards. Had to go back into the wind tunnel for a complete re-design. Who would show an electric/hybrid concept with lousy aerodynamics (except GM)?

@grzydj: listening? Don't you mean reciting for daily practice of motherland great nation?

I'll pay an extra $5,000 for GM's engineers to design larger windows for the Volt. And another $1,500 to tear out the electric drive and install a turbo-diesel.

@pauln: You know, I seem to recall GM already spent a lot of money developing a very, very aerodynamic, lightweight, manufacturable design.. What was it....DU-0? FW-2? Something like that.

WTF! A G-Wiz is only $18,000 US. Why all the fuss over wipers and a radio. A G-Wiz gives you the option on a dark rainy night of either headlights or wipers, but not both.

Bangalore is that far ahead of the US. I thought that was only on Oracle RDBMS and not cars. It is time for GM to pack their bags and head home if this is as good as they can do. Audios Rick. You proved you cannot manage a car company if you cannot out perform Reva. And Maximum Bob needs to hit the bricks and his job be outsourced to India where they can show the rest of the company their Tatas.

ICE's have abundant power to run ancillaries as well as a tremendous amount of energy in the form of waste heat, energy that can be recovered for the heating system or by a turbocharger.

Electric cars have to do everything off the battery. I'm intrigued how they will handle the heating in the pure EVs like the Tesla. Once the battery pack is under load, it will generate some heat, but I wonder how they will handle defrosting in cold climates at cold starts. Any kind of resistive heating element is not conducive to long range.

What? No 1200 watt, 16-speaker stereo for impressing the neighborhood?

This thing will never win an award at SEMA.

@bozoerrebbe: Shouldn't take a lot of resistive heating to warm up the tiny Tesla cabin. Of course, they could install a gasoline auxiliary heater...

I blame the government-mandated 200dB blind-people-warning klaxon.

Time to bring back the boombox!

Most normal car stereos don't draw much power. The big high-end megawatt subwoofer ones do, but how loud ya' need yer NPR, anyway, greenies? (I semi-kid here.)

I would think the headlights would be the big draw, from having experienced a couple bad alternators in mid-voyage at night. Anybody know if they've got super efficient all-LED headlight systems up and running? I'm ignorant on the current state of headlight tech.

@STR8SIX: They've already said the actual Volt isn't going to look like the concept Volt, so those gun slit windows will be going bye-bye.

Hey guys, about that crock...

Some of these items I can't open until I get home, because I don't want the article's headline to show up on my browser history. Just sayin'.

Same thing I said on Autopia yesterday - deep cycle battery for the accessories similar to your average VW Westfalia and you've solved 80% of the problem. $160 for an Ultima battery, $50 in wiring and relays to make sure it charges properly when the main battery is on the charger. The Ultima should buy you at least 40 miles worth of stereo, wipers, fan and lights.

So where is the other $4790 going?

@lascauxcaveman: [www.worldcarfans.com] - According to that link, LED headlight tech is improving, but not quite ready for prime-time. I think by the time the Volt hits showrooms (in 2038) LED will be fairly common place.

Even if they don't work it out, the limited range of the Volt doesn't represent a huge problem for conventional lighting and a deep cycle battery.

@eltonito: Legacy costs.

So...no A/C compressor I'm guessing...

I really wish I were a rich celebrity - I would buy the first TWO Volts off the line. One to see if it's really worth a damn. The other to completely rip the guts out and drop in a 572 big block crate engine (Vega style), a custom "VOLTRON" license plate, and a CROCK OF SHIT bumper sticker.

Aside from showcasing some really long-lasting battery technology, this car does nothing for me. 40 miles isn't long enough, the recharge time is much too long, and guess what it uses when the battery runs out: a "generator" that runs off of either petrol or E85 ethanol... Seems like it's just a hybrid with improved battery tech that, instead of running off of both gas and electric, just runs off of one at a time.

the should find a way to accumulate the flatulent gasses from Bob Lutz and use that to power the windscreen wipers.

@FreeMan: Legacy costs? I thought the Volt was GM, not a Subaru!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

@ Davidaum -

precisely, the only peripheral that really eats a lot of power in an EV is the A/C. The best way to tame that beast is to minimize cooling demand by keeping the sun's rays out in the first place. That means insulating the roof and using either special infrared-blocking glass mixtures and/or coatings, or double glazing, or electrochromic glass that is activated only if the vehicle is parked outdoors on a hot day (or if the driver so desires). Messing with the glass in a car is very much non-trivial, though.

[www.europhysicsnews.com]
[www.icg.group.shef.ac.uk]
[uk.gizmodo.com]

wasn't Lutz just dogging on the Prius and Camry hybrids for being too expensive for normal consumers?

And since when is a 40 mile range acceptable. i drive 20 miles to work everyday. I'll be lucky if the Volt makes it to my driveway.

Is that 5k in real money or unicorn fairy dust money?

@Morphine: Perhaps you need to invent some sort of "cure for pain" and reap the profits.

How bout a window with a perm coating, like rain-x crossed with teflon, and just one wiper, that dosent have to work hard. I love the ideas of the headrest speakers, if done properly.
How bout a secondary power supply, fed by solar and regen brakes, or a frickin 1 liter turbo oil burner??
Will someone please make a car with a torquey electric motor powering all 4 wheels, possibly in wheel motors, (ala mitsu mivec) With the juice coming from a tiny efficient engine/ generator/ capacitor set up?? And while your at it... make it really modular, and easy to upgrade and swap out parts, and have the ability to decide if you want to run hybrid, or staight up electric. and obtain electricity from alternate sources, like an outlet at my house. You know, for when china and india use up all of the oil. This way I can fill my tank with the fry vats of KFC...
This concludes the post 4:20 rant. Thank You.

@allenparkpete: Motors or the band?

It's Apollo 13 all over again. Got to find that final coupla amps from somewhere...

"Gotta shut the computer down. Gotta shut it all down..."

@P161911: I don't know about clockwork, but the earliest 2CVs had wipers run off the speedometer cable. Fun at speed apparently.

I think the words that everyone is searching for here are EPIC and FAIL.

@P161911
My '56 Chevy wipers were vacuum. Great sport trying to cross the Rockies in a spring snow storm!

I wish my Photoshop skills were up to snuff. I'd like to show my grandkids a ratrod Volt. Lord knows they won't live long enough to even see it on the showroom floor!

Considering how little power the radio uses...and for that matter, the fact that windshield wipers don't run 24/7 anyways...this is just plain pathetic.

What's the brilliant $5k redesign? A lower wattage amplifier for the radio?! Gimme a break.

Cmon this is too easy. Instead of $5000 super-efficient radio and wipers, just hook up regular ones to a gas powered honda generator in the trunk.

@pauln: "Who would show an electric/hybrid concept with lousy aerodynamics (except GM)?"

The same company that would show a car whose windows can't be rolled down.

Toyota is going to pull GM's pants down and kick their ass when the new Prius comes out. And the Volt will still be five years away.