Eric Bolling Exposes the Volt

As you may remember, last month, I had the pleasure of meeting Eric Bolling of Fox News's The Five. Last week on The Five, he told about his experiences with the Chevrolet Volt, the hybrid car that is being pushed hard by a Federal Government backed General Motors, yet did not sell well in 2011.

Because Bolling did not speak well about the Volt on the air, Chevrolet gave him a model to drive around so that he may get a better feel for the car and give a stronger opinion. In his driving adventures around the New York Metro area, the car, on a full charge, ran out of energy in the Lincoln Tunnel, twice, on his commute into the city from 18 miles away. Getting 25 miles to a full charge, combined with its other issues and the fact that, in my opinion, it's an ugly car, raises many red flags about a car that is being pushed so hard.

When I was at Epcot last June with a friend, we rode the General Motors sponsored Test Track, (best ride in the Walt Disney World Resort) and in the post-show area, many current GM automobiles on display and guests may sit in them, as well as ask GM representatives questions about them. One of those models featured is the Volt and we noticed guests that day were avoiding the car. It got to the point where the GM Representatives attempted to initiate interest in the Volt among the guests! They were unsuccessful with not only us, but many others. Even in Disney, Americans are apathetic about the Volt!

Red flags must go up with GM and they have to come to the realization that the technology has not been perfected and in a time of economic strife, the Volt is grossly overpriced. Americans do not want this car in this form, and as a result, continuing down this path of ignoring consumer demand, General Motors will lose customers to other companies, lose profit and the "government investment" in GM will be just another waste of money by elected officials who still don't understand the auto industry and demands of its consumers.