Limbaugh Incorrectly Weighs in on Expensive Chevrolet Volt

General Motors has unveiled the cost for it's low-end model electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, and the price is sure to appeal- if you dress like the Monopoly tycoon and roll freshly-minted $100s into cigars for fun. At $41,000, nearly twice the cost of a Chevrolet Malibu, GM's eco-market entry against the Nissan Leaf will be too pricey for most consumers even after a generous tax credit, Newsweek reports. Piling onto GM's woes, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh lambasted the car, USA Today reports, suggesting that the Obama administration's $7,500 tax credit was for a vehicle "nobody wants".

However, as the Detroit Free Press reports, Limbaugh's broadcast included a good deal of misinformation, ranging from the reported 40-mile range on the vehicle, it's price in comparison to other GM vehicles, and the nature of the tax credit. While suggesting the vehicle was the most expensive Chevrolet vehicle outside of the Corvette, he neglected to say that the Tahoe Hybrid and Suburban also outprice the Volt. As for the tax credit, Nissan Leaf owners and folks with large-battery electric vehicles will also be able to claim the tax credit.

He mislead listeners by stating that "that 40-mile range has to include you getting home, and staying home three to four hours to charge the thing,", the Detroit Free Press noted, though Limbaugh seemed to have forgotten that after 40 miles the Volt's gas engine extends the mileage by an additional 300 miles.

Still, political enemies of President Obama aside, the Volt has a serious uphill battle ahead and given the price tag and "features", including being limited to four passengers, a flint-hearted 12,000 mile per year lease limitation, and failing to live up to the sporty look promised in 2007, the New York Times reports that the Volt probably won't be profitable in its first year of production. Given the significant stake GM and taxpayers have invested in the future of the American car company, that will mean major innovations will be required for future models. GM itself seems resigned to a less than full court press on the model, as 2011 production volumes seem to have been downgraded from 60,000 units to a mere 10,000.

Newsweek suggests, on a more hopeful note, by comparing the Malibu to the Volt that the market is probably not being fairly considered by the most skeptical audience, Limbaugh included. Volt doesn't have to compete against every car on the market, but merely the limited electric vehicle market which is already more expensive due to the cost of initial technology investment. Products that begin audaciously priced can grow less expensive as production costs decline and demand increases. And gas prices, a nearly forgotten global scare in early 2008 that was relieved in part by decreased demand during the recession, could spark an increase in purchasing interest, just as thousands of desperate SUV owners tried to unburden themselves of their gas-guzzling vehicles during the crisis. Business history may vindicate the Volt, but it all depends on whether GM and taxpayers have the stamina to see the model through.

Sources

Daniel Gross,"The Volt Jolt" Newsweek

Chris Woodyard, "Did Rush Limbaugh err on GM's electric Volt and 'Obama Motors?" USA Today

Justin Hyde, "Limbaugh rips Chevy Volt but cites income from GM" Detroit Free Press

Edward Niedermeyer, "G.M.'s Electric Lemon" New York Times