GM Asking Uncle Sam For $2.6 Billion More To Develop More Electric Cars

Tesla is only asking for $350 million.

Tesla only plans on selling a few thousand cars a year.

Why doesn't GM just license the technology from Toyota or Honda, and stop bugging the taxpayers for more money?

You know where toyota gets their money for hybrids? From their own government. I think it's only fair that ours helps with our hybrids. Plus the toyota hybrid design isn't as advanced as the GM design. Why do you think Chrysler, BMW and M-B have licensed the Volt's drivetrain?

Yeah, like to keeps bothering the Japaneses taxpayers for money.

Tesla has a great idea. Build a car which allow third party company to build the battery and create a new "gas station" to refuel or replace the battery. That's creating jobs.

Nobody seems to be in a hurry, the USA government plan is for a million plug-in electric vehicles by 2015. Nissan is also asking for money but the amount is undisclosed, the kicker is they are planning an electric vehicle production line and battery plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. Now most batteries required are done in Korea, Japan and China.

If GM markets and educates the consumers correctly, I think many more of the masses will be able to afford the Volt. I spend about $120 per month on gas, but my commute is within the 40 mile limit of the Volt’s battery. If I use an extra $20 or $30 a month in electricity, I can put almost another $100 toward the purchase price.
But the trick will be for GM to convince the market to do the cost analysis necessary to reach that decision.

It is about figuring out what to do about the rest and how to handle electric cars since their is no profit in them for another 5 years.
GM management made a choice of having three distribution channels Chevy, PBG. and Caddy, along time ago. The PBG channel is already more than 80% completed. To make these dealers viable, they all have tot have an attractive vehicle to sell. That almost dictates an Electra spin-off of the Volt.

The fourth vehicle, and the Third one that GM is asking for the Section 136 loans, could logically be the Orlando EREV. Don’t forget that the Orlando is a RAV-4 competitor, or sub-RAv4 and perhaps half a size downsized. An electric Voltec Orlando would seem pretty easy to do.

At the same time GM really needs to push forward a solution for larger cars and larger CUVs, as a PHEV. The downsized dual-mode in a FWD configuration as has long been planned, and showing up on the Vue, makes sense for GM.
The batteries and EREV architecture will eventually expand in scope, but GM needs to build a solution for its larger cars, CUVs, and very light trucks that is viable before 2015. These are usually profitable vehicles and GM needs an electric image car for these vehicles too.

The Nissan ZEV (likely a Nissan Sentra EV) will cost less than $20K (with tax incentives) and will be available in 2010. Overall, there were an estimated 250,851,833 registered passenger vehicles in the United States according to a 2006 DOT study. A 100 mile charge range is the preferred target required, 72% of Americans drive less than 40 miles a day and 98% drive less than 100 miles per day. California already has 660 electric vehicle charging stations.

Build MORE electric cars?...haven't seen ANY electric cars from GM...just alot of fanfare and hype but nothing in production so let's not count our chickens before their hatched! Most North American car companies have only jumped on the hybrid - electric bandwagon since the word 'bailout' soon became popular. Hybrids tend to be more expensive to insure and most cost more than their non-hybrid cousins not to mention the life-expectancy of the all-important battery and it's replacement cost. The overall fuel savings compared to the overall expense is questionable. According to hybridsales.com overall figures for hybrid sales are down 30 - 38% compared to last years. I agree hybrids, electrics, diesel electrics, etc. will sell but will only continue to remain a small share of the overall car market.

Yup :) In reality more Corvettes were sold last year then the total number of hybrid vehicles. Between Toyota Honda GM and Ford.

Most people for have heard about the EV-1, GM’s previous electric car. But not as well known is GM’s more distant electric vehicle history. Automotive News has an excellent article detailing some of that.
From 1912 to 1917 GM built a line of electric trucks. In the early to mid 1960s GM built several electric car prototypes. They were called the Electrovair I and II and were based on the Chevy Corvair. These cars used silver-zinc batteries and had from 40 to 80 mile ranges. The gas crisis of the 1970s prompted the appearance of an electric Chevy Chevette.

It was in 1990 that GM introduced the forebear concept car to the EV-1. It was called the Impact and was a two-seater with 120 mile range (at the time, you could charge them at most Saturn dealerships). A 50 car test fleet was built in 1993 and was driven by 1000 consumers and utility companies. Encouraged by the Impact’s performance, GM went on to build the EV-1.

The EV-1 was introduced in 1996, and 1000 were built between 1996 and 1999.
The EV-1’s waiting list, a paltry 5000 people (compared to the 44,000 already here on GM-Volt.com) apparently only led to 50 qualified lessees. Having spent $1 billion on the program, GM found current and future servicing those cars too expensive and combined with the departure of the CARB mandate, pulled the plug and crushed them.
Despite the ensuing conspiracy theories, GM learned a great deal from the EV-1 experience and it has led to the Volt program.

One thing GM is and that is resourceful. They have shown the world the company can be short sighted and not able to holding on to a vision, not willing to seeing it through. I hope those days are over.

Didn't the head of GM say that if the UAW makes concession GM would be able to save $1 billion per year? Why are they asking the tax payers for more money when they should be getting the UAW to compromise?

Considering that after benefits the average GM employee makes about $73 an hour, and that average includes the janitors the UAW forces gm to not contract out. I suspect that their is far far greater then $1 billion per year to save.

investor27,

Do you actually invest in anything or is that just a name? A real businessperson/investor would understand the situation and not ask such naive questions.

I say give $1 Billion to Tesla and see what they can do. Sure can't F**K it up more than GM has done over the last few decades. Lets give somebody else a good chance. On top of a $1.3 Trillion budget deficet, we won't even miss the $1 Billion!

This is the only reason GM didnt ask for money in March... to ask for a bigger chunk in april...

Don't see a problem with this, the Japanese government funded the toyota prius and no one seems to have problem with that!

Yes they did..but then again the Prius actually works!

What a GREAT IDEA! Let's give them more money to make cars that nobody wants.

Number 1 way to tell someone knows nothing about the auto-industry, when they say:

" make cars that nobody wants." or "GM builds inefficient cars that no one wants to buy"


Yea, somehow they just tricked over 8 million buyers last year.


Who would want a Malibu or Corvette or Insignia or CTS or Escalade!?!?


Dummy

Wait, I take it back Whelan, I mis-understood your comment, sorry.

I was referring to the electric cars. It seems Hybrid sales have crashed recently. I buy cars based on what I find appealing and what I want from my own research and likes. If I bought a car out of necessity it would be a stripped down bare bones Ford Ranger or a Prius.