A current affair
Posted by Jamie Kitman at 2:20PM on Tuesday 09 January, 2007 2 Comments
Those whose memories range back further than last night's open bar raised eyebrows in unison when they turned up at the much-ballyhooed media launch of General Motors Volt electric car only to find General Motors' Vice Chairman Bob Lutz holding the mic.
Until recently, the ex-Marine - a staunch petrolhead who flies fighter planes to work and only last week was quoted as saying 'I'm a great consumer of fossil fuels for pleasure' - stepped aside for environmentally aware presentations, leaving GM head of research and development Larry Burns to lead the charge before press and public, while he, the silver-haired car guy's car guy, scowled in the wings.
However, insiders say the outspoken Lutz found the green religion in his own way last year, with a series of public utterances documenting his conversion.
Instead of expecting all cars to turn an instant profit, Lutz's epiphany was that potentially money-losing models like Toyota's Prius hybrid can legitimately be considered brand marketing exercises rather than hard costs that need to be quickly amortised.
'He's right, too. We throw away $100 million on misguided marketing efforts all the time,' said one GM lifer.
GM's green reputation, reeling from public perceptions both factual and fantastic, needs some sprucing up and, says the lifer, 'Bob's smart enough to know which way the wind is blowing.' And, besides, added another GM insider, 'He had to have something to do at the show.'
Less certain is the Volt's future and whether Lutz, 75, will be around to introduce it as a production model. While internal activity would suggest that production may be in the cards, GM has said it won't build the Volt until significant improvements in lithium ion battery technology are registered by its suppliers, which could be years away.
Until then, there is much fossil fuel to burn.
Advertiser links
2 Comments for "A current affair"
POST A COMMENT USING THE FORM BELOW
Comments are now closed for the blog archives.
Interestingly, Tesla Motors is bringing a full battery electric to market with production volumes sold out through half of 2008. Eyebrows are eternally high on where do THEY get the battery technology that GM says needs imrpovements. Eyebrows have been high since EV1 did 100+ miles on its NiMh batteries, and years later GM is saying that the tech isnt there to do 40.
It is said that the production of NiMh batteries is very bad for the environment, evidently there is one factory in Canada that has pretty much turned the surrounding countryside into a virtual moonscape, the lithium batteries that the Chevy Volt uses are supposed to be more friendly to the environment.