What is Digg?236 Comments
- inactive, on 05/27/2008, -4/+47I agree with giving plug-in electric hybrids (PHEVs) and electric car buyers a tax credit, but I don't think there should be any special pandering to GM or any other specific company if they can't bring the price down. The company Green Vehicles just released any electric car (TRIAC EV) for $20K that uses lithium-ion batteries and has a 100 mile range. Why can't GM make some compromises and get the Volt out for less than double that?
- smartcause, on 05/27/2008, -2/+36Tax-break just because it's a hybrid = no good. The market will get flooded with hybrid Hummers that still only get 15 mpg. How about a tax break for any car that averages 100 mpg or better? That will get us more cars like the Volt, the VW 1L, the Aptiva, Teslas, Fiskers, etc.
- trvale, on 05/27/2008, -7/+31Climate change is not a problem for private companies. For years they have had no problem selling 12mpg SUV's. We as citizens are going to suffer the consequences of the American auto industries reluctance to change.
- maxgladwell, on 05/27/2008, -7/+28You should get an additional tax break if you have solar panels on your house to recharge your Volt. This is where it has to go.
- miketgt, on 05/27/2008, -8/+27Yes, the government doesn't need to be spending our tax dollars on a private companies problems.
- cheerio, on 05/27/2008, -6/+23Are you serious? They asked? Thought they just line the pockets of lawmakers and ***** POOF, $7k tax credit. This is very unbecoming of a multibillion dollar corporation.
- slightlygifted, on 05/27/2008, -1/+17wouldnt this be a little unfair to other car companies?
- yunus, on 05/27/2008, -4/+20Your stretching the truth with "as environmentally damaging as a 12mpg SUV.
Large power plants are more efficient than the engine of a single SUV. Yes there is the battery problem but thats not the same issue. - inactive, on 05/27/2008, -0/+15GM doesn't deserve a government handout! Corporate welfare is wrong!
- inactive, on 05/27/2008, -4/+19You know where tax breaks come from? our pockets.
So instead of someone who wants an electric paying 37k, they pay 30 - and everyone else helps out; and I wonder how much GM will be profiting per unit? - carpespasm, on 05/27/2008, -2/+17Because they're too tied to the idea that it has to be a big sedan with boxy edges rather than small light, and more aerodynamic.
- inactive, on 05/27/2008, -8/+21The government has to bribe an auto maker to build a better car, instead of a government regulating a car maker to build a better car.
- inactive, on 05/27/2008, -1/+14By the time they sort through the bureaucratic red-tape and their own dated business model Honda or Toyota will have electric cars on our roads and the Big Three will be left in the dust....again.
- davidrools, on 05/27/2008, -4/+15even coal burning in power plants is cleaner than burning gasoline in cars. Additionally, through the vehicle's 10 year lifetime, power production will be steadily moving toward solar, wind, tidal, and hopefully nuclear. Plus it will pave the way for future electric vehicles as electricity production moves toward 100% sustainability (in the next 50-100 years?)
- therevolution, on 05/27/2008, -0/+11It goes 40 miles on battery power alone. After that, the gasoline engine kicks in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt - krnldmp, on 05/27/2008, -1/+11Mass production has made machines like cars unimaginably CHEAP compared what you'd pay for equivalently complex and heavy machinery that doesn't sell so much.
Try building a car from scratch with new design parts for 30,000 dollars. You'll kill yourself trying. - agentem, on 05/27/2008, -12/+22GM.
Resortin' to Extortin' - yunus, on 05/27/2008, -3/+12Yeah cause Tesla and their $100,000 electric car are within the reach of the average person. By 2012 they hope to release a $30,000 electric car. But Chevrolet hopes to do that sooner, doesn't mean either one will deliver that price tag.
- inactive, on 05/27/2008, -2/+11Where do you people come up with such outrageous claims? The only people stupid enough to believe that the GOP is better on energy conservation already vote Republican.
- bossm4n, on 05/27/2008, -0/+9Tell that to the guy with a Tesla in the driveway and solar panels on his roof. I agree that alternative energy options, such as wind and solar are the future in terms of charging electric cars, and this country is well on it's way to making those options available. I also agree that ultra caps are more likely the future, but we will certainly continue to see newer and better battery technology, certainly better that what GM is proposing. The bottom line though is that we need to start somewhere. Get these cars on the roads regardless of how they are charged right now. Frankly, I hope startups like Tesla lead the way into the future of transportation in this country. Status quo is what got us here in the first place. I'm for anything that reduces our dependence on oil, especially foreign oil.
- diggB, on 05/27/2008, -4/+13Tax credits and other government subsidies, when applied appropriately, can be an effective incentive to push technology forward. It's the chicken or the egg scenario. These advanced batteries will remain expensive until produced in mass quantities and batteries will only be produced in massed quantities when they are cheap enough to be in high demand. If this is what it takes to get things moving, I'm all for it, tax dollars and all.
- diggB, on 05/27/2008, -1/+10The idea with a plug-in hybrid is that if you commute less than 40 miles a day, you'll only be using battery power. Now, for those long road trips to grandma, a small ICE kicks in and can take you for hundreds of miles and you can refuel just as you normally would at any old gas station. Since most people don't drive more than 40 miles a day, many won't ever touch a gas pump except a few times a year. Cool.
- davidrools, on 05/28/2008, -0/+8This would be paid for by repealing tax credits given to the big oil companies. So tax payers are already footing the bill for oil exploration that big oil isn't even doing. They either find loopholes in the tax credit wording or just plain don't comply and no one presses the issue. Plus they have no incentive to spend money on exploration since they make more profits with from a more valuable, short supply item.
This would be giving money back to the tax payers, rather than into the pockets of big oil's CEOs and shareholders, all the while moving us toward sustainable transportation that doesn't fuel wars and adds another incentive for clean electricity production. - axiomflash, on 05/28/2008, -1/+9time for public transit bitches
- cheesehead, on 05/28/2008, -2/+10How did GM mange to develop and destroy their first electric car without subsidy.
They were given a gift and they pissed it away. ***** em. - inactive, on 05/28/2008, -0/+8We can just ask the government to give a $77k tax break.
- Modestexcuse, on 05/27/2008, -1/+9I agree, but it is the consumer's demand that drives their design. It is just as much our fault for "wanting" all the SUVs out there.
*I drive an SUV happily, my point is that we decide what they build next. I for one would much rather drive a nice looking Volt than a disgusting *looking* Smart Car. Just my opinion... - bossm4n, on 05/27/2008, -2/+10This is exactly why it's going to take thinking outside the box by a company such as Tesla. We need new solutions and methods that are not tied to archaic unions that are more likely to prevent change than pursue it.
- Bkaufman, on 05/28/2008, -1/+9Typical Liberal attitude. The wind farms were going to go 2 MILES OFF OF CAPE COD. And no, you just can't stick wind farms anywhere. You put them where they will be the most efficient, and coastal areas are some of the best for generating wind power. Kennedy is a complete hypocrite and a huge ***** for trying to claim to be a friend of the environment.
- pkulak, on 05/28/2008, -2/+9The Prius has enough battery power to drive about half a mile on batteries alone. The Volt needs to drive about 40 miles.
- SpudgeBoy, on 05/28/2008, -1/+8Now we know how you can justify 12mpg SUVs.
A peek inside the mind of an oil company apologist. - darkciti2, on 05/28/2008, -1/+7That's funny. Why did they destroy the EV-1 back in 2004 then?
- diggB, on 05/27/2008, -1/+7I think the $7k tax credit would go to other plug-in hybrids manufacturers as well, not just GM.
- SilasTomorrow, on 05/28/2008, -0/+6Y'know those hybrid Japanese cars you guys love sooooo much? That technology was bought and paid for....by the Japanese government.
And you guys are yelling about getting tax credits? Puh-leeze. This doesn't even begin to level the global playing field, but it's a start. - yunus, on 05/27/2008, -3/+9Neither of those scenarios should occur. Free market forces should cause the car maker to build a better car. Adapt or die. Providing a life line to the car manufacturer is a waste of tax dollars that could be better spent fixing the roads we drive on.
- lettruthout, on 05/28/2008, -1/+7A huge amount of energy is wasted each night since power plants mostly cannot vary their output. Time of day net metering can be used to encourage people to charge overnight by offering much cheaper rates during these hours. Many vehicle miles could be driven using this "found" energy.
- Mothrog, on 05/28/2008, -4/+10Central power stations are a lot more efficient than burning fossil fuels in a car.
- ileftfark, on 05/27/2008, -1/+6I honestly don't believe the government should be giving tax breaks or rebates for any kind of car. Not because I don't believe in the merits of cleaner (greener) cars, but because I don't trust the motives of the large corporations, and I *really* don't trust the government's ability to manage money. The money they give out in relief ultimately gets replaced (and then some), and where do you think that will come from? Maybe not directly from tax increases, but by decreasing funding for things that could use it. For... I don't know, like education or something. Screw paying the government to mismanage our money to benefit large corporations that also mismanage money. Plus, the Volt kind of sucks, did anyone mention that yet?
- Necoras, on 05/27/2008, -2/+7If a technology isn't economically feasible, subsidies won't help anything. Solar panels will become ubiquitous when the technology gets cheaper or oil gets too expensive. Granted, Germany has massive subsidies for solar energy, but what will happen in 20 years when all of the panels need to be replaced? Governments should stay out of the workings of the free market; that includes energy and automotive markets.
- bjornski, on 05/28/2008, -0/+5Maybe they can balance it by removing the tax credit people get for buying a Hummner as "farm equipment".
- inactive, on 05/27/2008, -4/+9Driving a used car is more efficient than driving a Hybrid the way things currently stand.
- BloodWenis, on 05/27/2008, -2/+7I'm just waiting for used Teslas to hit the market. :)
(yes I know it will be a while) - Barackalypse, on 05/28/2008, -3/+8Leave the markets alone. The government is incompetent at picking winners in these sorts of matters, look at their foolish ethanol production mandates and the impact those have had on food prices and water pollution from agricultural runoff and air pollution from ethanol refining that is way outside of the emissions promised.
- cubicledrone, on 05/28/2008, -1/+6The reason you're not earning enough is because large employers have stagnated wages for 35 years. Now back when we had the huevos to actually build something in this country, wages were fine and we built fine products.
But there's not one corporate ***** that can stand in front of their team and say "build it for $10,000. Just get it done. I don't want to hear it" becuase they're too busy hairpiecing the conference room, ordering more croutons and crying about what the team players bring to the table at the end of the day. - MxM111, on 05/28/2008, -0/+5I'll put it in these words: It is better spend money on promoting green technology then on wars.
- davidrools, on 05/27/2008, -0/+5I don't think they'll be able to limit the credit just to GM vehicles. If they get their way, your Triac should cost $13k and my Aptera $19k
- chevyorange, on 05/27/2008, -2/+6The industry was reluctant to change because of the morons, i.e. "demand", were for crappy SUV's. Give the people what they want. (I want a Volt!)
- bjornski, on 05/28/2008, -1/+5"Only" the third?
Well ***** it, then! We don't have to do a damned thing!
Right? - marx2k, on 05/28/2008, -0/+4I agree. But those people are a very small subset of drivers of gas guzzlers. When you drive on the highway, take a look at the people driving the gas guzzlers. Plumbers? Electricians? Construction workers? Nope. Just Henrietta Housewife picking up the groceries all by herself in her suburban assault vehicle.
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