I think the Volt is a good idea. If the Leaf appeals to more consumers, then Nissan will sell more of them. Nobody holds a gun to the head of Volt buyers.
The problem I have with the Volt is that, for what you get...the price is listed around $40,000. Access to the web means I know that some of that price is so that, a high-school graduate can get an AVERAGE of $28.02/hr working the assembly line. But...add in the benefits package (full medical/dental/optical plus retirement for current employee contributions and retired UAW workers...) adds up to roughly $73/hr. Thats not a misprint.
But i'm not a socialist. If the UAW (I'm a former UAW member from when I worked at McDonnel Douglas for four years) negotiated those wages/benefits...more power to them. People can buy Toyotas if the price/benefit for GM cars gets out of whack, right?
The problem I have with the Volt is that...federal taxes are taken out of my paycheck, and every Volt buyer gets a $7500 tax credit (not a deduction, a full credit against any taxes owed). This brings the price of a Volt down to around $32,000...you know...so it can compete against the Leaf and the Prius (Go USA!!).
But,..from my skewed perspective, My taxes aren't preserving American jobs, they are preserving a very few $73/hr jobs. And a cynic might suggest that the current administration is buying union votes...so in a way, the Volt rebates are also increasing "vote-buying" with taxpayer money (thanks, congress!).
The US federal taxpayer lost a lot of money investing in the solar-PV company "Solyndra", Solyndra makes political-campaign contributions to congressmen and the president (through PAC contributions), Solyndra executives give themselves bonuses, then ...Solndra files for bankruptcy. Are there NO green companies that are HEALTHY and could use a boost from the fed?
Oh, and if you are a California taxpayer, Volt buyers get an additional $5000 tax rebate (bringing the price of a Volt down to $28,000-ish). Remind me again...all 50 states pay federal taxes, but which party does California and Michigan usually vote for?
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/democrat-mischief-liberal-voters-turn-out-in-attempt-to-topple-romney-in-michigan/
"...Wayne County, where Detroit is located, remains heavily Democratic and voted 74% for Barack Obama..." (Wikipedia, Michigan).
So, imagine you are a California alternative car buyer. (or a relative in Cali buys the Volt, then "sells" it to you a Year later, while you "borrow" it for a year). You only have to pay about $28,000 (does that include the garage charger? you don't need one of those do you?)...not a bad price, considering it gets you kind of the quality that GM has worked hard to provide (quality and reliability rating of 3.2 out of 5.0 http://www.mycarstats.com/ratings/100makes_all_years.asp).
