PurdueGuy

who is doing the classification of fuel cells to label them "gen V or gen IV"? Is this something established outside the companies, or is it like Toyota saying the Prius is on its 3rd or 4th gen platform, so it must be better than anything else? Honest question.

Honestly, do you know if Honda's fuel cell setup is any better or worse than GM's that is in the Equinox fleet? Honda keeps getting this "wow, you've done it!" simply because of how they've set up their test program. They may be further along, but franky, it's hard to tell at this point. Until a manufacturer is confident enough to sell (not just lease) a fuel cell car, I don't think we can really say anyone has "perfected" a fuel cell system.

^agreed

I personally think they could've come up with a way cooler "Alpha" emblem. It's ok, but it's not particularly exciting.

I agree. The automotive manufacturing world has pretty much converted, as have a lot of manufacturing categories. Makes trade easier. I would guess the largest industry that would drag it's feet is construction.

Maybe in a "looking back" sense. They won't pull the plug on Volt if Tesla fails.

one thing to consider... it's not like RHD vehicles are incompatible with roads where you drive on the right. Sure, there are reasons it's better to have the other design, but it's not like everyone would HAVE to buy a new car because of a switch. On a global level, it sounds good. Some areas (those african countries for example) would not have a hard time at all switching - it would be pretty much all signs aside from a handful of city roads. Starting there would help pressure the more developed countries later.

You shaved your head for a test drive?

IIRC, euro mpg =/= us mpg

looks like the same body and headlights as the upcoming chevy version, just a partial facia swap

Considering it already has a b-pillar in at least one picture, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Breakthrough Could Mean 40-Hour Laptop Batteries http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nf/57832

to paraphrase a great statement I heard once "People tend to over-estimate how much change will occur in a longer period of time, but then tend to under-estimate how much change will occur in a shorter amount of time." By 2012, Volt should have been out a year or two, and GM would like be getting ready to offer an e-flex variation with other forms of generator on board. I don't forsee hydrogen vehicles being at all common by then, but who knows - maybe they'll be where the Prius was when the 2nd (US) gen first came out - not a ton of people have 'em yet, but they start to quickly catch on. I think the number of E85 compatible vehicles will skyrocket, as that's probably the easiest way to play the CAFE game. I could see biodiesel being more readily available, and pushed in a more mainstream way.

A vehicle like this, depending on how they build it, is likely to be more off-road capable than the current Hummers - I fail to see how it dilutes the brand. It may very well get notably better fuel economy than you assume in your previous post as well. I'm going to guess that you generally hate hummer and just want it to die, or that you're just mad about the new northstar being canceled. Don't like the hummer? Don't buy it. Gosh, that was hard.

my main issue is that the front seats are so cramped. I do not want to have to watch my elbows that closely as the driver. If I have need to regularly drive 5 other people around, I'll get a 3-row vehicle (Lambda, etc). Even if there's no one in the middle front seat, the fact that they've made the seats so narrow to get 3 in means that it would still feel somewhat cramped in the front seats even without someone in the middle. The looks aren't exciting or offensive - it's just got a average boring Honda look. They wouldn't sway my opinion either way, really (though another vehicle in the segment with good looks could).

what about lexus?

looks cramped to me, and I drive a Saturn. lol

I still think GM/Saturn could find a way to make the panel gaps smaller or less noticeable. I'm not sure that the average customer cares, and many of those that do only care because journalists tell them to. I'm sure there are some who notice and care, and probably some subconsious impressions that they leave on many others, but I think the overall looks of a vehicle, brand and vehicle reputation/image, price, and other things waaaay overshadow the effect of panel gaps. Actually, my impression has been that the panel gap thing was perhaps a secondary reasoning for getting rid of the polymer. Being able to build a Saturn in any plant without having to invest in new polymer-related equipment (read: manufacturing flexability) may have been as much or more of a reason. Might be a bit of after-the-fact reasoning (depending on when decisions were made inside GM), but true enough. Too small for what? The size keeps creeping up with each new vehicle it seems. Of course with the NG Corsa supposedly coming, the NG Astra might be ok a little bigger. It's also justified since it also exists as an Opel, so supplying Saturn with the same thing with different badges doesn't add a lot of cost for the company. and Volt, right?

oh, and this reminds me of the old Foxtrot cartoon where the kid dresses as an iMac for halloween. He says it's scary because it has no floppy drive. lol Interestingly enough, floppy drives are pretty much gone now - wonder if this foreshadows the same with the cd-rom? Probably not completely, simply because of the abundance of music cds and movie DVDs.

very nice, but I would end up carrying the external CD drive with me everywhere. I don't trust for there to "just happen to be" a drive around, on a computer with a wireless setup, that doesn't have the wireless settings on lockdown, wherever I might want to use a cd-rom/dvd. Of course I'm also a cheapskate and probably wouldn't pay that much for a computer.

I want to like it, and I almost do.

good point.

how can more options be a bleak future? Good small cars are the best way to meet the CAFE crap. Otherwise, it means high tech fuel saving tech forced on everyone across the board, pushing prices up for everyone, and likely making maintenance more complex and expensive. GM offering good small cars and people buying them is the best way to ensure that the other cars can continue to exist and you get to have what you want.

There's a surprise - a car with about the same weight and same horsepower and an engine from the same family (ecotec) gets about the same fuel economy? Who'da thunk? They are - it's called the next gen, and it's coming.

Yes, I read the article. Of course GM will have issues to work out, but it's not really that far out there.