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Well, I do agree with the moderators that this is not a car to buy if you want to save money (which that is how it will be marketed, "save money on gas") However we all know in time it will get cheaper and this technology may find its way into every vehicle at some point in time to meet more strict CAFE standards which we know are coming. At that point it is goodbye V8 and hello to supercharged 4-6 cylinder/hybrid's.. Not that there is anything wrong with that however I will miss the sound of the V8 when it does..
GM and other car companies were given money in grants to research and develop this. The US Government has invested billions and so forth. Obviously GM doesn't have to make a profit on this Volt to survive since it is US Government owned. That is why Ford is not throwing all their money into this type of vehicle, only using certain grant money and a small percentage into the R&D. They will probably share R&D with other car companies down the road about this so they may be handling this the "free market" way as best as possible. GM on the other hand, are already losing money on the VOlt selling it at $41,000 and then on top of that they lose another $7,500 (they meaning the Government which is GM for all intents and purposes for this comparison) That is why I stated above that perhaps the initial $7,500 tax rebate fora all electric car purchases had good intentions however it should have only applied to GM vehicles to keep the money within the United States Economy mostly. Yes I know foriegn car companies have factories in the US and so forth however it is GM that needs to make a profit for our economy to turn around. Overall I see all of your points and my ideas mean very little since I do not know all the details and information behind how much money was involved with the R&D and grants over the years..
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