ON THE TABLE

October 13, 2010

 GM. Editor-in-Chief’s Note: You just knew that the hand-wringers would polish-up their chrome pitchforks and come out of the woodwork to lay out GM’s Chevrolet Volt for some egregious slight against all that is right and good with the electric car movement and its increasingly annoying fanatics. Well, pay no attention to any of that noise because it’s total, unmitigated bullshit. Just the time and space achievement alone – cramming a minimum of eight years' development time into four – would be enough for effusive accolades in my book, but the seamless performance of this vehicle and the way it goes about its business is truly amazing. And no, the electric car will not replace the internal combustion engine-powered car anytime soon. As a matter of fact my view of the electric car hasn’t changed one bit. It’s a niche solution that’s part of a kaleidoscope of power choices made up of pure electric, extended-range electric, hybrids, diesels, diesel-hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells, etc., etc., that will propel our transportation system of the future. Electric cars will have a role, but they will not approach 10 percent of the world automotive market before 2030, and that’s at the earliest. And one more thing. I get the fact that there are legions of naysayers out there who still believe and remain absolutely convinced that anything associated with a Detroit-based car company has to be derided and mocked and must be junk, but they’re going to end-up stewing in the narrow-minded confines of their own bile-filled thoughts as the rest of the world – automotive and otherwise – embraces the Chevrolet Volt for what it well and truly is: A technological tour de force for this or any other century and a glittering reaffirmation that there is such a thing as American ingenuity, that we haven’t completely devolved into a parasitic consumer society that can’t build anything of consequence anymore, and that we can and will fight our way out of this morass of mediocrity that has plagued this industry – and this country I might add – for far too long. So kudos to the entire team at General Motors Corp. and to their capable suppliers who gave four long years of their lives to this project. You should be very proud and you are to be commended for a job well done. And make no mistake - it was worth every last minute of your efforts. – PMD

(GM Corp.)
The 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Can this guy be any more clueless and irrelevant? His latest bone-headed remark came when he spouted off in a recent interview with Bloomberg News that it might be time for the government to consider banning all cell phone use in cars, including the use of hands-free technology. Really? Why don’t we ban radios in cars altogether, Ray? I mean, wouldn’t it be better if people didn’t listen to the radio at all? After all, if we remove music from the equation completely, imagine how much safer we’d all be, right? Uh, except you better think twice about that, Ray, because if you did that we wouldn’t have anything to distract us from thinking about the blithering idiots and relentless assholes masquerading as our so-called representatives in Washington. And just in case you’re confused, Ray, that means you, too, even though you were “appointed.” LaHood and his stable of stumblebum advisors have to be the most embarrassing show in Washington, D.C., at the moment. And given everything else that’s going on, that’s really saying something. – PMD

  Porsche AG. From the “Holy shit, Mark!” File comes word that Porsche is blocking its employees from accessing social-networking websites such as Facebook Inc. and Xing to protect the sports-car maker from industrial espionage. If only it were a trend in the making...

Walter de’ Silva. From the “Master of the Obvious” File comes word that the Volkswagen Group design director told Automotive News in an interview at the Paris auto show that, "I really hope to be able to add something positive to Porsche's new models, which will remain coherent with the great tradition of Porsche.”  De' Silva’s influence on Porsche will first be felt on the new Cajun SUV, Porsche’s version of the Audi Q5. Good luck with that, Walter.

  Chevrolet. They’re going to drop the “Aveo” name from the new compact B/C car that will be built in the Orion plant in Michigan in favor of a more interesting one. Halle-frickin-luja as the Aveo name sucked from the get-go.

Craig Wilson. Author of USA Today's "Final Word" column in the Life section, Wilson waxes nostalgic about that famous "new car smell" that's being purged by automakers en masse out of fear of offending somebody. Worth the read.

Publisher's Note: For longtime readers of AE you will find the name on the column below familiar. Tom Pease has been writing his pithy and often funny letters to us almost from the beginning and we consider him to be our unofficial West Coast correspondent. We just couldn't resist Tom's take on the Volt controversy this week. - PMD

The Volt uproar.

By Tom Pease

Beverly Hills. The way some of the auto journalists are crowing about the "lies" surrounding the Volt is almost laughable. If you don't plug it in it "only" gets 35-40 MPG? Really? My '93 Civic gets that and to do so it's made of tinfoil and does without ABS, traction control and 63 airbags. The engine adds power to the wheels at speeds above 70 mph? Why are you going faster than 70, Greenieboy?

Looking at the videos on GM's website I've been daydreaming about running an extension cord to my garage. If GM built the Cadillac Converj I'd go into serious hock to get one..

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Publisher's Note: Check-out John McElroy's daily news show covering everything about the auto biz by clicking on the graphic below. Good stuff guaranteed. - PMD

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