Intent of the Pre-order Program

[Corey Crowley]

Lots of people tell me that they would like to wait for GM and pre-order the car when it is closer to being available....If you are serious about owning this car - that is a mistake.

GM is stating that this car will be available in 2011. If the car is made - a big IF - it will be made in limited numbers and almost impossible to get. I don't know about you but I never had an EV-1 or even the opportunity to have one.

This program is more of a political movement than it is a pre-order program. My intent is to CHANGE the speed at which these cars are coming to market and to INCREASE the numbers produced. If you wait for GM you chances of owning this car in the next 5 years are almost ZERO. Only by organizing ourselves and pushing the issue can we get this cars in the PEOPLE's hands as soon as possible.

Don't underestimate the oil interests or GM ability to revert to their traditional ways. GM needs us to help them get this car built. They have taken a bold step and it is our responsibility to help them through the rocky times ahead. The best way to do that is to pre-order a Volt TODAY!

[margaret]

I would be happy to pre-order depending on three things
(1) The cost
(2) The guarantee the money will be returned if the car is not produced in a specific time frame
and (3) I'd like to apply my gm credits from my gm card toward that pre-order down payment.

In the meantime I am against hydrogen fuels since that again leaves us in the hands of "suppliers" while with electric I can set up solar panels.

And also in the meantime, we liked the idea of a generator rather than a second engine as in the hybrids. My spouse is currently working on making one of our vehicles electric. We aren't waiting for the big car companies.

[Corey Crowley]

Margaret...the difficult part is the cost. My plan is to pick a price and bring it to GM rather than to wait for GM to set the price. They can either accept the offer or not. If I have 100,000 order and the price is $25,000....that is $2.5 billion dollars in one sale. A compelling case for any company.

All pre-order money will be secured and refundable. I am working on a program to partner with a bank to put their name behind the security of the money. The customers need security and, frankly, I don't want to be responsible for that much money.

Tell your husband about the VOLTRACE. It is for cars like the one he is building.

[Louis]

Hey guys,
Congrats for your efforts, by the way. I have been waiting for this kind of car my whole life (well, since I've been driving). I think one of the key factors for the success of this initiative will be:

1) The credibility (good initiative with with the bank, but remember that most banks only ensure part of the money, you'll need to get that straight and ensure people's money will be GUARANTEED100%, otherwise they'll feel like it may be a scam)

2) Publicity. I heard about Volt4me because I kept google-ing the net looking for anything about the Chevy Volt and came upon that site. Do you guys have an official FACEBOOK group? Facebook can ba a very powerful tool, especially when people see how many members are part of the group (same idea and money can be collected too). So far, there are 3 groups I found on Facebook, they are:
a) Vote for the Chevy Volt
b) Help Chevy Save the Environment one Car at a Time
c) Bring back the electric car!

I can see that none of these are related to Volt4me, maybe the founder should start his own Facebook site, I'd definitely join. I'll put a volt4me link on all 3 of these right now...

[Corey Crowley]

Louis....you ROCK!!!! I appreciate your initiative and thoughtful advice. I will create a facebook page today.

I also appreciate your feedback about the deposit. This is a good idea but it is new and needs to build slowly. Security and credibility are KEY to the success. I am not searching for suckers - I want real people with a desire to own this car. Thanks again.

[ecardriver]

With corporate America running Washington these days we need a grassroots campaign to get these cars on the road....I want an electric car to drive to work in every day. My wife drives 200 miles a day minimum. I do 60 round trip minimum. She drives a Honda Civic getting 42 MPG tops with 38 MPG average and it is a ultra low emissions car. Even so we need zero emissions! We need to be free of Middle Eastern oil. And we need to avoid global warming for generations to come. Anything else is just making this generation look bad. We can do that by bringing American alternative fuel technology to market and buying it. I will...just bring it and see. Maybe GM should develop a solar cell to help power it...I will buy that too. Gas cars? Not cool that was my grandfather's technology...do we really have to buy Japanese cars? No I want an electric Chevy.....real soon. I like your forum I hope it grows.