The Chevy Volt Sounds LIke A Step In The Right Direction

There have been some announcements about the Chevy Volt. I was going to post these comments to that article, but it appears that the site is not working.

I'm pretty excited about this car. A few commenters to that article have pointed out a lot of the negatives about GM. It's true GM has made glaringly obvious wrong choices at just about every turn, but it seems like they might be on the right track with this car. It's amazing how excited people got over the Prius when it was and continues to be just a gas vehicle with a lot of moving parts. Toyota blew the Prius by not giving it a plug in all electric mode. What a waste, and yet people got very excited about it. The Chevy Volt promises to be something different. It is primarily electric and sounds like it relies on a mechanically simpler design than the Prius. By not having the gas engine mechanically connected to the drive train there are several advantages.

1. Mechanical simplicity.
2. It opens up a variety of power generation options in the future (efficient turbines, fuel cells, etc.).

I think the Chevy Volt looks like a huge step in the right direction and GM should be commended for taking it. It would be nice if they had the gumption to have pressed for higher CAFE standards instead of fighting them. Imagine if one American car company had stepped up and said, "we can do better" instead of cowering behind government protectionism. Give us a proud moment GM!