One day, back in 2009, while driving my ’99 Chevy Malibu home from classes in Marleboro College’s MBA in Managing for Sustainability, I set a target for my next car that it would get over 45 Miles Per Gallon. That basically means a hybrid like the Ford CMax (Edmunds / Ford) pictured above or one of the uber-efficient Volkswagon TDI Clean Diesel (news / autoblog / VW).
Brian Heater at Engadget reports (here) a $1,000 (USD) drop in the list price of the electric plug-in Chevrolet Volt. It’s roughly a two to three percent drop. What’s more likely to get 
sales going, economies of scale working, and prices down are large private and government fleet orders – or sharp increases in petroleum prices, or accurate news and information. We, at Popular Logistics think higher gasoline prices are inevitable.
“Chevy wants to know what it can do to get you into one of its plug-in hybrids today. A $1,000 price drop? You got it. The carmaker announced this week that the 2012 Volt base price will come in a grand lower than its predecessor, thanks to the sorts of additional configurations that come with increased availability.
The 2011 version was available in seven states and the District of Columbia and came in three configurations — 2012’s Volt is available nationwide in seven different packages, ranging from $39,995 to $46,265. And keep in mind that those prices don’t factor in potential tax credits. The latest version of the plug-in vehicle is available now for order and offers up features like MyLink media streaming, OnStar driving directions, and passive locking though the new base model does strip away a couple of features found in its predecessor. Also there’s the whole lessening your dependence on gasoline, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
via Engadget.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GRM) announced Tuesday, August 11, 2009 that the Chevrolet Volt, to be available as a 2011 model in 2010, is expected to achieve city fuel economy of 230 miles per gallon (Press Release, Official Site – GM-Volt.com).
2011 Chevy Volt
The Volt is powered by an electric motor and battery pack with a 40-mile range. After that, a small internal combustion engine kicks in to generate electricity for a range of up to of 300 miles. “From the data we’ve seen, many Volt drivers may be able to be in pure electric mode on a daily basis without having to use any gas,” said GM CEO Fritz Henderson. He also said, “The key to high-mileage performance is for a Volt driver to plug into the electric grid at least once each day.”
They used to say “What’s good for GM is good for America.”
This is true today, given that the Federal government – the taxpayers – owns a significant stake in General Motors. But if it gets 230 miles per gallon, it will sell, and The Volt will be good for GM, good for America, and good for the world.