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The best part of the carconnection.com link is this line:
"For a person that likes cars, appreciates efficiency, and couldn't care less about the definitional semantics the rest of the press is engaged in, that's fantastic." wrote:
The author supposedly has both a law degree and a degree in speech communication.
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The problem with Motor Trend and Car & Driver is that they test the cars on a track. There are plenty of cars that aren't good on a track but are very good in city and suburban driving. I have a Chevy that was pretty much dismissed and derided by the automotive press but it's a great car. It's the automotive equivalent of diner food--the critics diss it but I like it.
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I'm going to reserve judgment till I get the definitive review from the Top Gear team.
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I always find it amusing to hear ratings of high efficiency commuter-pods by people who have the "My Other Car is Also a Porsche" stickers on their 'daily driver'. 0-120 ratings ? bHp ?
All electrics and plug in hybrids are designed as urban transport vehicles. They are not freeway flyers or road trip rods. That sort of foolishness is the equivalent of "Offroad" Magazine rating the offroad capability of a Ferrari GT. "Poor. Got stuck on the curb before the trail even started. No winch. Difficult to get mud off the hand-sewn interior. Tires did not perform well on sand and mud..."
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mick e was being slightly facetious with the OP, but it really is another example of GM shooting themselves in the foot. They promised one thing, and ended up delivering something quite different. While it is true that production cars almost always end up being something completely different than the show concepts that inspire them, GM continued to dispense the same technical hyperbole, even as the styling of the car was changed. They never wavered from concept-speak.
Conversely, as a lesson in Automotive Marketing 101, take a look at the Nissan Leaf. Nissan promised a long range electric, and it sure looks like that is exactly what they are delivering. They did not make unreasonable technology claims or inflated performance statements. As a result - they did not ALIENATE or DISAPPOINT POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS, or those ALREADY ON WAITING LISTS.
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anyone buying a Leaf believing they are going to get 350+ MPG is going to feel betrayed, too.
I rather doubt anyone spending that kind of money on a Volt believes it is something it isn't, but I'm sure that micke could fine someone somewhere that thinks all electric cars have really really long extension cords.
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Ultimately the whole 'no mechanical linkage to the engine' thing is somewhat irrelevant. What we've really learned is that, true to ancient form, the Marketing people always make claims before the engineering people are done.
I will always remember my personal favorite--- an optical missile tracking system sold to a subcontinental nation as 'perfect' for their requirements. Except (as I discovered in-country) it will only work for the 1 month out of the year when there isn't an optically impenetrable dust cloud at 1Km altitude.
The marketing guy went over during that one month.
