I love cars. Cars are probably my second love, or passion, next to hockey and graphic design. And on the subject of cars, I think the market is moving in the right direction, in terms of electric and hybrid vehicles. The Chevrolet Volt could potentially put GM ahead of the foreign automakers. Ford and Chrysler are also making significant steps in the right direction in order to better compete into the future. But the electric vehicles and hybrids aren’t want bother me, I like the technology. It’s the interior of them. GM has some real revolutionary technology with the Chvrolet Volt. I mean, it is some really good stuff. But when Chevrolet has some new, awesome technology, what do they do? They put one of the ugliest interiors they could muster up in the car. Seriously, go google "Chevrolet Volt Interior" and you’ll see what I mean. I just don’t get it. Car’s interiors (and exteriors) are suppose to evolve. Not take some "revolutionary" step, then it just looks weird. But it’s not just GM. Ford and Chrysler do it, too. I guess they’re trying to make it look futuristic or something, but somebody forgot to tell them that they’re doing a terrible job, and car interiors have to progress to that stage. 
Hit "read more" to continue reading about the volt and other cars
Arguably the exterior of the Volt is even worse than the interior. Check out the Volt concept car. It’s sleek, sporty, and kinda has a new "camaro-look". It looks awesome. Revolutionary desing for a revolutionary product, right? Wrong. Now go force yourself to lay your eyes upon the production model of the volt. Just like every other hybrid ever made, it looks like an egg shell. GM pulled the good ol’ "bait-n-switch" on us.
A lot of people don’t buy hybrids because they don’t want to be caught dead in something that looks slower than a turtle. GM’s solution? Build an awesome looking concept in which people would actually be proud to be driving an "eco-friendly car". Too bad that was wasn’t their solution. Now we’re just stuck with another egg-shell-turtle-looking prius car that gets decent mileage.
#1 by Cubd - April 26th, 2009 at 15:59
Exactly why I think the government should have given the bailout money to car manufactures that already have eco friendly, fully electric, 0-60 in 4 seconds cars in production. Tesla Roaster: http://www.teslamotors.com/design/interior_colors.php
They should have just let GM and the others die and supported new companies with smarter solutions (and sexier ones!). I really wanna test drive a Tesla Roadster but they cost $100k.
Just imagine what could have been done, however, if the government gave companies like Tesla a big sack of cash and said “make an eco-friendly car that average people can afford.” We’d actually be getting rid of gas-guzzlers and moving toward the future of eclectic vehicles a lot faster, 0-60 in 4 seconds faster.
#2 by Snowy - April 26th, 2009 at 18:21
As much as I would like to see companies like Tesla given money, it just doesn’t make sense yet.
Any type of new technology starts at the top, and eventually trickles down to where the average joe could afford it. Having the government say to Tesla “here’s money, go make a car that Joe can afford” wouldn’t work economically. Just the base costs of raw materials puts cars like Tesla’s out of many people’s budgets at the moment.
You could just say “Why not have Tesla sell them at a loss, then have the government give them a big sack of money to reimburse them?” Sounds like a good idea, right? Well, what happens when that “big sack of money” runs out? Prices are going to go back up. The reimbursement won’t last long enough for the prices of raw materials go down.
It only makes sense to bail out the “big three” automakers at this point because they’re the ones that are making the cars that everyday people can afford.
If this recession were to happen 5-15 years in the future when companies like Tesla were an active force in the market place, you could be sure they’d be getting a slice of that bailout pie.