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The most shocking part of this to me is that they are cutting the Volt? There was so much R&D in that car and it's such an amazing vehicle that I'm shocked. Eve

The most shocking part of this to me is that they are cutting the Volt? There was so much R&D in that car and it's such an amazing vehicle that I'm shocked. Everybody I know that has one LOVES it. They just need to do a better job of advertising it. It's not advertised AT ALL. The only people who know about it know about it from word of mouth and research.

giarc 8y ago
I see no evidence of that in the article posted, nor Google News results. The Volt is not made in Oshawa either.
- pp19dd 8y ago
  The linked story is just a slice of the larger story, obviously tailored to be more significant for a Canadian audience. But the larger story [Reuters report] involves a major restructuring. "GM is expected to announce it will cut the Chevrolet Volt, Impala and Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and XTS, and the Buick LaCrosse" More info at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-restructuring/gm-to-cut-car-production-in-north-america-halt-some-models-source-idUSKCN1NV1NB https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-restructuring/gm-to-cu...
  - del82 8y ago
    The linked story seems to have been updated to remove references to the Volt being cut: "The company also plans to stop building several models now assembled at those plants, including the Chevrolet Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and the Buick LaCrosse."
    - brightball 8y ago
      Cool. That didn't make any sense.
    - pp19dd 8y ago
      Yep, they updated it and removed all that specificity since it was attributed to an anonymous source. However, it doesn't mean it's not true yet. Until details come out, I think they're going to try to control the message tightly to make it sound like a possible ending of The Volt is not a regressive move. Or they'll keep throwing money down that well. And yes, it's not like they're moving back toward the steam engine, but in the short run it might make sense to kill the Volt and do something else. But the optics of it will look bad. Think Reuters got tripped up by the "increase investment in electric and autonomous vehicles and connected vehicle technology" line because it's broad and potentially conflicting. Here's a selection of top "Chevy Volt" headlines for the past few years: 2015: "Yes the 2016 Chevy Volt Will be Profitable." 2016: "GM Will Lose Money on the Chevy Bolt to Make Money On Other Models" 2017: "GM trims battery costs, aims to make profitable EVs" 2018: "GM races to build a formula for profitable electric cars." In the larger sense, GM's leadership has been sending some weird messages talking about a future they don't fully understand. Spouting things like blockchain, autonomous, ride sharing, and future profitability being tied to selling customer information. You know, all the apparently popular contemporary trends. They're a car company.
      - zzzzzzzza 8y ago
        Been following gm closely for a while and never heard mention of blockchain. All I could find was this - https://www.coindesk.com/bmw-ford-gm-worlds-largest-automakers-form-blockchain-coalition https://www.coindesk.com/bmw-ford-gm-worlds-largest-automake... . But there's like 50 companies in that coalition... So it seems weird you would say blockchain first. The other stuff doesn't seem misplaced at all, and future profitability also seems down on the company since they are currently profitable albeit their fcf could use improving.
        pp19dd 8y ago
        You raise some good points. When I see that word mentioned in any business I get skeptical, especially one where there's a classical product involved, like bananas. Or cars. In this case I strongly believed it was used for adding feathers to their plume and so I used it in a mocking tone. Radio Bloomberg (broadcasts) mentioned the blockchain line with some skepticism for awhile and so it stuck in my head. None of these parroting futurisms make sense for GM. Their largest customers are fleets like Enterprise Rent a Car, who buy massive numbers of new models before consumers can get to them, assuring delivery numbers. If they compete with them for rentals or ride-sharing, what if ERAC orders a bunch of Fords next year? They'd be crazy to endanger this relationship. GM should stick to making cars and messaging to that effect. Anyhow, I stand firmly by how I interpreted this announcement. My overall opinion on GM, however, is probably very ignorant and naive. "A GM spokesperson told Jalopnik over the phone: “We are ending production of the Volt March 1, 2019.”"
  - a_crc 8y ago
    I just read the article you linked, and it says the opposite: "The company also plans to stop building several models now assembled at those plants, including the Chevrolet Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and the Buick LaCrosse. GM said it will shift more investment to electric and autonomous vehicles." That reads like they're investing in the Volt.
    - cowsandmilk 8y ago
      This morning seems to be a roller coaster related to the Volt, stories said it was being cut, then people removed references to that, and now they're back to saying it will be cut. This Verge article[1] currently says production will end March 1, 2019 and Jalopnik agrees[2]. Obviously, they say they are focusing on electric. Maybe they are killing off the hybrid to focus on the purely electric. Maybe some new product will be released to replace it. It is far from clear at the moment. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/26/18112536/gm-layoffs-factory-closing-ending-production-chevy-volt https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/26/18112536/gm-layoffs-fact... [2] https://jalopnik.com/general-motors-may-kill-the-chevrolet-volt-1830653844 https://jalopnik.com/general-motors-may-kill-the-chevrolet-v...
- chrisbolt 8y ago
  https://jalopnik.com/general-motors-may-kill-the-chevrolet-volt-1830653844 https://jalopnik.com/general-motors-may-kill-the-chevrolet-v... > Update (Nov. 26, 2018 10:50 A.M. ET): It is official. A GM spokesperson told Jalopnik over the phone: “We are ending production of the Volt March 1, 2019.”
koreyb 8y ago
Volt = hybrid, Bolt = electric
- brightball 8y ago
  Technically Volt = Extended Range Electric. It's never powered by a gas engine, it just has an onboard generator that produces electricity to power the electric engines or charge the battery when the battery gets drained.
  - jhayward 8y ago
    Also known as a "series hybrid". I'm not in favor of pedantic nit-pickery.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - justryry 8y ago
    This is a common misunderstanding and I feel GM hasn't helped matters much. The engine in the Gen2 is connected to the transmission and does provide mechanical force to turn the wheels. https://gm-volt.com/2015/02/20/gen-2-volt-transmission-operating-modes-explained/ https://gm-volt.com/2015/02/20/gen-2-volt-transmission-opera...
  - sliken 8y ago
    It was marketed like that, but in reality there's a planetary gear that allows the engine to directly (mechanically) drive the front wheels. This marketing claimed a pure serial hybrid... up to the day it shipped and GM quietly mentioned that the engine can drive the wheels directly. At first GM claimed that it happens only above 70 mph, or when the battery was dead. But then GM goes consistently more vague, and them eliminated this completely in the generation 2 revision. So the current volt is a bog standard parallel hybrid.

giarc 8y ago

I see no evidence of that in the article posted, nor Google News results. The Volt is not made in Oshawa either.

pp19dd 8y ago
The linked story is just a slice of the larger story, obviously tailored to be more significant for a Canadian audience. But the larger story [Reuters report] involves a major restructuring. "GM is expected to announce it will cut the Chevrolet Volt, Impala and Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and XTS, and the Buick LaCrosse" More info at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-restructuring/gm-to-cut-car-production-in-north-america-halt-some-models-source-idUSKCN1NV1NB https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-restructuring/gm-to-cu...
- del82 8y ago
  The linked story seems to have been updated to remove references to the Volt being cut: "The company also plans to stop building several models now assembled at those plants, including the Chevrolet Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and the Buick LaCrosse."
  - brightball 8y ago
    Cool. That didn't make any sense.
  - pp19dd 8y ago
    Yep, they updated it and removed all that specificity since it was attributed to an anonymous source. However, it doesn't mean it's not true yet. Until details come out, I think they're going to try to control the message tightly to make it sound like a possible ending of The Volt is not a regressive move. Or they'll keep throwing money down that well. And yes, it's not like they're moving back toward the steam engine, but in the short run it might make sense to kill the Volt and do something else. But the optics of it will look bad. Think Reuters got tripped up by the "increase investment in electric and autonomous vehicles and connected vehicle technology" line because it's broad and potentially conflicting. Here's a selection of top "Chevy Volt" headlines for the past few years: 2015: "Yes the 2016 Chevy Volt Will be Profitable." 2016: "GM Will Lose Money on the Chevy Bolt to Make Money On Other Models" 2017: "GM trims battery costs, aims to make profitable EVs" 2018: "GM races to build a formula for profitable electric cars." In the larger sense, GM's leadership has been sending some weird messages talking about a future they don't fully understand. Spouting things like blockchain, autonomous, ride sharing, and future profitability being tied to selling customer information. You know, all the apparently popular contemporary trends. They're a car company.
    - zzzzzzzza 8y ago
      Been following gm closely for a while and never heard mention of blockchain. All I could find was this - https://www.coindesk.com/bmw-ford-gm-worlds-largest-automakers-form-blockchain-coalition https://www.coindesk.com/bmw-ford-gm-worlds-largest-automake... . But there's like 50 companies in that coalition... So it seems weird you would say blockchain first. The other stuff doesn't seem misplaced at all, and future profitability also seems down on the company since they are currently profitable albeit their fcf could use improving.
      - pp19dd 8y ago
        You raise some good points. When I see that word mentioned in any business I get skeptical, especially one where there's a classical product involved, like bananas. Or cars. In this case I strongly believed it was used for adding feathers to their plume and so I used it in a mocking tone. Radio Bloomberg (broadcasts) mentioned the blockchain line with some skepticism for awhile and so it stuck in my head. None of these parroting futurisms make sense for GM. Their largest customers are fleets like Enterprise Rent a Car, who buy massive numbers of new models before consumers can get to them, assuring delivery numbers. If they compete with them for rentals or ride-sharing, what if ERAC orders a bunch of Fords next year? They'd be crazy to endanger this relationship. GM should stick to making cars and messaging to that effect. Anyhow, I stand firmly by how I interpreted this announcement. My overall opinion on GM, however, is probably very ignorant and naive. "A GM spokesperson told Jalopnik over the phone: “We are ending production of the Volt March 1, 2019.”"
- a_crc 8y ago
  I just read the article you linked, and it says the opposite: "The company also plans to stop building several models now assembled at those plants, including the Chevrolet Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and the Buick LaCrosse. GM said it will shift more investment to electric and autonomous vehicles." That reads like they're investing in the Volt.
  - cowsandmilk 8y ago
    This morning seems to be a roller coaster related to the Volt, stories said it was being cut, then people removed references to that, and now they're back to saying it will be cut. This Verge article[1] currently says production will end March 1, 2019 and Jalopnik agrees[2]. Obviously, they say they are focusing on electric. Maybe they are killing off the hybrid to focus on the purely electric. Maybe some new product will be released to replace it. It is far from clear at the moment. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/26/18112536/gm-layoffs-factory-closing-ending-production-chevy-volt https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/26/18112536/gm-layoffs-fact... [2] https://jalopnik.com/general-motors-may-kill-the-chevrolet-volt-1830653844 https://jalopnik.com/general-motors-may-kill-the-chevrolet-v...
chrisbolt 8y ago
https://jalopnik.com/general-motors-may-kill-the-chevrolet-volt-1830653844 https://jalopnik.com/general-motors-may-kill-the-chevrolet-v... > Update (Nov. 26, 2018 10:50 A.M. ET): It is official. A GM spokesperson told Jalopnik over the phone: “We are ending production of the Volt March 1, 2019.”

koreyb 8y ago

Volt = hybrid, Bolt = electric

brightball 8y ago
Technically Volt = Extended Range Electric. It's never powered by a gas engine, it just has an onboard generator that produces electricity to power the electric engines or charge the battery when the battery gets drained.
- jhayward 8y ago
  Also known as a "series hybrid". I'm not in favor of pedantic nit-pickery.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- justryry 8y ago
  This is a common misunderstanding and I feel GM hasn't helped matters much. The engine in the Gen2 is connected to the transmission and does provide mechanical force to turn the wheels. https://gm-volt.com/2015/02/20/gen-2-volt-transmission-operating-modes-explained/ https://gm-volt.com/2015/02/20/gen-2-volt-transmission-opera...
- sliken 8y ago
  It was marketed like that, but in reality there's a planetary gear that allows the engine to directly (mechanically) drive the front wheels. This marketing claimed a pure serial hybrid... up to the day it shipped and GM quietly mentioned that the engine can drive the wheels directly. At first GM claimed that it happens only above 70 mph, or when the battery was dead. But then GM goes consistently more vague, and them eliminated this completely in the generation 2 revision. So the current volt is a bog standard parallel hybrid.