By Warner Todd Huston —— Bio and Archives August 23, 2011
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Analyzing the Chevy Volt, the new sedan that is supposed to go 40 miles on batteries and then use a gasoline engine, he calculated that because of inefficiencies in electricity generation, its fuel economy was no better than a Toyota Prius hybrid running on gasoline, while its price was roughly double that of the Prius. “Does the extra $20,000 justify the overall fuel and possible carbon dioxide savings?” he asked. “If two drivers switched to Prius, the overall savings of oil likely would be larger than one driver switching to a Volt, for the same money.”So, why should the American people sit idly by while GM pumps even more money into the Volt, a car consumers don’t want? Maybe because wealthy environmental activists think it’s wonderful and seem to imagine that sales will grow up from the ground as if by magic. Great, isn’t it? We have political considerations programming GM instead of having sales and technological reasons guiding the company We The People bailed out. Sounds like a good deal for the American people’s Government Motors, doesn’t it? When all is said and done, it seems that even as GM execs are talking up the Volt, GM CEO Dan Akerson, a Chevy Volt evangelist who refers to GM’s newest EV as “not a step forward, but a leap forward,” led the kick-off parade at a recent event riding in…..a gas-guzzling 1960 Corvette! When he had a chance to tout his supposedly favorite new car, Akerson instead went for an old gas hog that gets 12 miles to the gallon. Whatever is going on, none of it sounds good for Government Motors’ Chevy Volt, now does it?
Warner Todd Huston’s thoughtful commentary, sometimes irreverent often historically based, is featured on many websites such as Breitbart.com, among many, many others. He has also written for several history magazines, has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows.
He is also the owner and operator of Publius’ Forum.