Shocking Voltage

The much anticipated electric powered Chevy Volt was given a pricetag today... $41,000!!! Yeah, I typed that right, Fourty One Thousand American Dollars!!! This vehicle does qualify for a $7500 tax credit, but it still comes to $33,500. (source)

Now, I understand that this car is brand new technology and that you are paying a premium for being on the cutting edge, but I think they have priced themselves into a pretty tough corner with this. Afterall, the key market for a car like this is people my age, young and environmentally conscious, who aren't known for having a lot of money to spend on a city commute car.

And at the same time, it doesn't appear luxurious enough to compete with the BMWs and other cars normally found at that price point. The Prius is such a huge success because it is a hybrid under $25,000!!!

What's your reaction to the Volt?

P.S.
In looking for a picture of the Volt I read that the President of Audi called anyone who buys the Volt an "idiot".

How Tweet It Is

It's no secret that the US auto industry is hurting. Living in Dearborn we've got front row seats to the whole show. Ford is in a better position than GM or Chrysler, but I've not been personally persuaded to look into their vehicles. When I was looking for a car, all of Ford's attention was on SUVs; when I was looking for a minivan they stopped making them. And I've not seen much to make me look back from my Hondas until now.

Sync.

It just keeps getting cooler and cooler. Sync is basically an in car computer that allows you to have seamless integration between your vehicle and portable devices, such as your ipod or mobile phone. At first I was pretty skeptical, it seemed that they were just throwing some flash tech into a car to be able to mark up the price, but sync keeps getting upgrades which make it more and more appealing. The latest addition reads your twitter feeds to you. You can be totally in touch with your calls, texts, and tweets while staying hands free. (source)

It's going to be a few year until we look for a new vehicle, but I might be looking at a Ford with snyc when the time is right.

Any testimonies from someone who uses it?

cubism

Have you ever see a car that you thought was just plain ugly? Which models/makes are on your list?

I'm not old enough to has seen such classic disasters such as the Edsel, but there are plenty of vehicles on the road that I think are design failures: PT Cruizer, Chevy HHR, and the worst offender, the Pontiac Aztek.

Early Aztek Engineering Design

Now there's a new polarizing design on the horizon... the Nissan Cube. It is reminiscent of the boxy styling of the Honda Element or Scion xb. The windows have rounded frames and the rear hatch opens via side mounted hinges.

Forward design or huge mistake?