Wagoner: GM OK with $25B loan package

[IDemo]

Source: Associated Press

'It makes sense the government should stimulate (electric-car) technology'

updated 15 minutes ago

FLINT, Michigan - General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner said Thursday that the automaker should be able to put to good use its portion of a $25 billion government loan package for new technology.

Speaking to reporters at a ceremony announcing a new engine plant in Flint, Wagoner said many of the loan program's specifics still must be written by the U.S. Department of Energy, but GM can live with the version the House approved Wednesday.

"We'd like to see them written to include all new technologies with significant improvement in fuel economy, but the legislation does have specific guidelines as well," he said.

GM is developing the Chevrolet Volt, a rechargeable electric car that can run up to 40 miles (65 kilometers) on battery power, with a small internal combustion engine powering a generator to run the car after that. It's also spreading its dual-mode gas-electric hybrid system to more models.


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26891153/

[ixion]

1. yeah, well, I'd be happy to if someone decided to gift me with $25B

:eyes:

[katty]

2. yeah, maybe they should have started new tech 2 decades ago

[IDemo]

3. But they did

At 1:00 a.m. on the morning of November 28, 1989, a strange sight rolled out of a back entrance of the AeroVironment building into a dark alley. A doorless shell of raw green fiberglass on wheels, it rolled with a slight whine, but no engine noise, to the end of the alley and back. It wasn't a car yet. But its batteries and inverter and motor all worked. Thrilled, the engineers took turns whipping around the parking lot with squeals of burning rubber. Every time it took off, the car pinned the delighted driver against his seat. A gas engine took a few long seconds to reach its peak power. This thing flew forward as fast as the current could reach the wheels, which was to say, instantly.

As soon as its doors were affixed, the car was taken by flatbed truck to GM's desert proving grounds in Mesa, Arizona. It weighed in at a remarkably light 2,200 pounds, including its 843 pounds of batteries. On the track, it jumped from 0--60 in 7.9 seconds--faster than such sporty gas cars as a Mazda Miata or Nissan 300 ZX--and quickly reached 75 miles per hour, the top speed allowed by its controller software. On a highway range test, it went 124 miles at 55 miles per hour; on an urban range test, one with lots of stopping and starting to simulate city traffic, it did nearly as well. That was extraordinary. A gas car had at least a 300-mile range on the open road. In the city, however, its range was sharply diminished as it idled at stops and used extra fuel to accelerate. Slowing, the Santana car recouped energy from its regen braking. Stopped, it consumed no energy at all.

We all know what became of that effort, though.

[WriteDown]

4. Once again...

People confuse a loan with a gift :eyes:. Please see Chrysler ala early 80's for reference.

[Mudoria]

5. Please don't confuse the issue with facts please...

no one must stand in the way of outrage ;)

[LanternWaste]

6. I'd be just as happy...

I'd be just as happy if someone decided to loan me 25b. more :eyes:

[Skink]

7. See now that people are used to charging a cell phone each night...

the time has come. The car companies had to wait for the invention of the cell phone.

[hatrack]

8. Some words & phrases GM executives, PR flacks, lobbyists & apologists are no longer allowed to use:

"Free market"

"Free enterprise"

"Deregulation"

"Burdensome government regulation"

"Market forces"

"Heavy-handed interference"

"Entrepreneural"

"families"

"children"

"welfare"

[Dover]

9. This is just like the bank bailout!! Are people not furious?

The 'new technology' angle is just a cover for a bailout, after they ran their companies into
the ground. Why haven't they developed "new technology" before now?

And like the bank they plan to use our tax dollars to bail out each company (auto, airlines, etc.)