Daniel Englander
Batteries Not Included February 12, 2008 at 4:52 PM
GM has been forced to revise up its price estimate for the much-anticipated Chevy Volt. The electric car, originally pegged at $30,000 with a 2010 delivery date, will now be in showrooms in 2011 with a $35,000 price tag. The problem? It seems the geniuses at GM forgot about that whole driving in the rain while listening to music thing. The company that gave us Robert McNamara and that awful John Mellencamp song were too busy man-worshiping their electric phallus to realize that subsidiary electronics on cars siphon power from the battery. Duh.
In a gas powered car things like the air conditioner, stereo, and windshield wipers draw power from the battery, which is recharged from the motor via an alternator. Well, the Volt has no alternator and its battery is pretty much occupied making the car go forward (and backward, hopefully). GM’s initial solution is to have its engineers build redundant systems into the first generation Volt, raising its price and pushing back the launch date. I guess this means I can forget about the Pimp My Ride makeover.
GM: We Bring Dead Things to Life!
