Appeal isn't just directed to those shopping for a Prius.  Think about those considering purchase of a traditional Camry.  There are many models more expensive, including the hybrid.  Excitement from the EV experience Prime delivers on a test-drive can be a powerful draw.  No special equipment needed for an overnight recharge either, just an ordinary household outlet.  It's a simple, affordable choice.

We all saw the writing on the wall. GM would shift efforts from Volt to Bolt... because what they delivered for a plug-in hybrid wasn't enough to appeal to their own loyal customers.

Reaction.  Going down without a fight isn't acceptable.  Some absolutely insist on getting the last word in.  That gives me the opportunity to continue stating purpose... as well as point out observations:  The desperate reaction of participants on this thread to spin & suppress information is amazing.  They see that year 8 of Volt is off to a terrible start. Inventory is currently at 5,800 unsold.  That's an undeniably bad sign, especially knowing Bolt will be the source of conflict to come.  Adding to the growing pressure is the reality that there are a number of plug-in hybrids on the way, all with tax-credits still.  The crutch Volt depended on will vanish in the meantime.  Negative vote posts to make them disappear.  Sticking your head in the sand won't fix the problem though.  It's too bad those who dismissed it didn’t take the situation seriously.  That concern of "too little, too slowly" has been validated.

That describes a well thought out vehicle appealing to a very wide base of consumers.

C-Max Energi.  It was rolled out in October of 2012.  Today we found out, 5 years later, production came to an end last month.  Ford delivered 40,690 of that plug-in hybrid.  That was between 7 and 8 thousand per year, which wasn't much.  Odd configuration of the battery-pack may have contributed quite a bit to the disinterest.  It's hard to tell.  That protrusion into the cargo area was much more than the floor lift we see in Prime; however, that is a factor to keep in mind.  Though, we could see Toyota finding a way to condense stack density to make it smaller for lower placement in back.  So, it could end up a non-issue anyway.  Efficiency wasn't as good as Prius.  Lower MPG for HV makes sales harder.  People expect hybrid performance after depletion.  There was that scandal too.  Whatever the case, it wasn't a SUV and that's what Ford shoppers would like.  We know there's one on the way.  So, this discontinue isn't a big deal.  Of course, it draws even more attention to audience targeting.

4K Video.  I've filmed a few videos, capturing my commute to & from work, using the new camera.  But all that footage was in HD still.  The setup up to 4K resolution requires a new approach.  Even though I had worked really hard in the past to refine the rigging, simplification was still needed.  It took too long to get everything in place and there was no guarantee of consistency.  So, I began my experimentation today.  No more anti-glare blanket.  That was a pain to get in place... too many soft & firm pieces to assemble.  The camera mount itself was still presenting challenges as well.  How could I get a quick & easy process in place to deliver even higher quality than in the past?  Today was my effort to give it a try.  Hopefully, this first drive will deliver some obvious improvements.  I'm willing take apart what I had in the past to see if a new approach will work.  After all, anything I can figure out now... prior to the arrival of the extreme Winter weather... will be a welcome change.  Wish me luck.

Tank Refill.  The act of going to the gas station to refill the tank is becoming so rare, I have a hard time remembering when it last happened.  Typically, it's due to an upcoming road trip where I'll need to do some long-distance highway driving.  Otherwise, I'd likely see a pattern of every 6 weeks or so.  That's around 2,000 miles per tank.  It's an interesting statistic I hadn't considered.  The assumption was being closer to the much celebrated 1,000 miles per tank we heard GM so often promote for Volt.  Perhaps it will and my driving circumstances just happen to be ideal.  But then again, I expected the frequent trips to be out of the ordinary.  Whatever the case, it has been interesting to watch the overall MPG average continue to climb.  I suspect it will plateau around the upcoming holidays.  Approach of the new year often brings a bunch of unplanned running around in extreme cold conditions... which can be quite significant, here in Minnesota.  We'll see what happens.  I'm certainly looking forward to the experience, even if it does send me to the gas station more often.

Why?  Clearly, purpose of the federal subsidy was not understood: "Maybe having the credit extended would encourage GM to continue offering the Volt, which is an AMAZING car. I'd like THAT!"  Of course, most people posting nowadays don't have any knowledge of the history.  Not being aware of the past make a difference.  I wonder if my injection of information will:  Remember the tax-credit for hybrids?  That $3,150 for the first 60,000 purchased was intended for market growth, since the technology had already been established.  Toyota triggered phaseout in just 9 months too.  Goal achieved.  The $7,500 for the first 200,000 was far more generous, yet had much lower expectations.  Why should such an offering be continued?  Volt is still a small hatchback, the type of vehicle GM customers simply aren't interested in.  Subsidizing that doesn't make any sense, especially when the it took so much longer to reach the trigger volume.  In other words, what should the goal be now?  With the technology so well proven now, there must be some type of timeline & quantity requirement.  Why reward any automaker not committed to rapid & significant growth?

Climate Change.  It's a bizarre situation when political stance on the environment takes such a drastic viewpoint, one blatantly contradictory to what scientific data shows.  The administration doesn't like it, so they don't accept it.  They just plain don't care.  Despite a long report released today overwhelmingly proving we are having a direct impact on climate change and must take immediate action to prevent worsening damage, there's just an outright dismissal.  It's not even an effort to discredit.  The evidence is simply ignored.  Treating it as unimportant is what we see now.  When it is brought up, they just move on to the next topic or bring up a diversion.  The disregard as if it isn't even an issue is so odd.  You wouldn't think that level of complacency would even be attempted, since it would be so obvious.  Yet, that's what we are seeing anyway.  This level of selfishness, to preserve the status quo, is truly amazing.  Greed is a powerful motivator and there's lots of money to be made when the effects of climate change are not taken into consideration.  Pretend it's not a problem...

Top Speed.  It's nice when questions come about from discussions trying to uncover technical detail.  I provided an answer for that today:  Top-speed of electric-only driving is based upon kW draw.  If demand exceeds capacity, the engine will simply start up to provide that additional power.  This is why you get a wide variety of answers when asking about maximums.  People make anecdotal observations rather than us an aftermarket gauge to figure out what's really happening.  Long ago, it was a 10 kW draw.  That would allow a decent amount of power up to 25 mph.  Faster, power dropped off significantly until the max of 46 mph.  But with the larger battery for PHV, despite also being a gen-3, max was increased to 62 mph (that's 38 kW or 51 hp).  With the gen-4 Prius, you can see even faster electric-only speed.  That is also dependent upon power demand, but is a little more squishy than the hard limitations we saw with prior generations.  Basically, the engine will shut on & off during the course of ordinary driving.  It's among the methods used to deliver outstanding efficiency without plugging in.  With Prime, you've got the much larger battery along with the clutch to include the second motor for quite a bit more overall power... enough to accelerate all the way to 84 mph (that's 68 kW or 91 hp) using only electricity.

Tax-Credit phaseout was supposed to occur at a point which high-volume sales had become established and sustainable profit without the subsidy would be realistic.  That wasn't going to happen even with the anticipated time-table. GM's abandonment of Volt being a range-anxiety solution to Bolt leaves Volt in a world of hurt mid-cycle.  Will that supposedly "vastly superior" technology just die as a result?

What should GM's plan be for plug-in hybrids?