I love the old chestnut that the US auto industry is "backward". Look hard enough and you can find all sorts of "firsts" like the Mixte drive (more famous for being used in the Maus military vehicle), but quite a lot of genuine innovation comes from the US auto industry. However, the car buying public don't always adopt it.
GM has the technology to produce something genuinely clever; their Saturn product line offered the basic engineering expertise to make an aluminium spaceframe, unstressed panel (could be made from renewables; think 21st century duroplast) lightweight hybrid. However, they have found Saturn buyers really want rebadged Opels.
EV1 was a two seater. EV1 should never have been killed off, but it wasn't a production car, it wasn't SOLD to people, it was a technology research programme and leased. Volt is a serious attempt at producing a true plug-in hybrid - more than can be said for Toyota's Prius, which will be coming up for plug-in "improvements" next year with a range of... 5 miles. Admittedly, this is an improvement over the 2.5 miles the current model can handle on pure EV mode (in territories where this is allowed), but it's a far cry from the expensive, but very interesting, third party conversions.
Manufacturing a car is a set of compromises. The US prefers different ones, but their engineers and research teams are just as good at developing new car technology - the marketing teams have to direct them differently.
It's a bit like the old chestnut that the Japanese made boring, knock-off cars in the 60s and 70s. Vehicles like the Mazda R130 Coupe and Toyota 2000GT prove otherwise, but we only see what we're sold. Imagine if Vauxhall had been selling rebadged RHD Saturns, with dent-proof panels and aerodynamic designs reminiscent of Cherry's finest droop snoots?
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US auto industry...
I love the old chestnut that the US auto industry is "backward". Look hard enough and you can find all sorts of "firsts" like the Mixte drive (more famous for being used in the Maus military vehicle), but quite a lot of genuine innovation comes from the US auto industry. However, the car buying public don't always adopt it.
GM has the technology to produce something genuinely clever; their Saturn product line offered the basic engineering expertise to make an aluminium spaceframe, unstressed panel (could be made from renewables; think 21st century duroplast) lightweight hybrid. However, they have found Saturn buyers really want rebadged Opels.
EV1 was a two seater. EV1 should never have been killed off, but it wasn't a production car, it wasn't SOLD to people, it was a technology research programme and leased. Volt is a serious attempt at producing a true plug-in hybrid - more than can be said for Toyota's Prius, which will be coming up for plug-in "improvements" next year with a range of... 5 miles. Admittedly, this is an improvement over the 2.5 miles the current model can handle on pure EV mode (in territories where this is allowed), but it's a far cry from the expensive, but very interesting, third party conversions.
Manufacturing a car is a set of compromises. The US prefers different ones, but their engineers and research teams are just as good at developing new car technology - the marketing teams have to direct them differently.
It's a bit like the old chestnut that the Japanese made boring, knock-off cars in the 60s and 70s. Vehicles like the Mazda R130 Coupe and Toyota 2000GT prove otherwise, but we only see what we're sold. Imagine if Vauxhall had been selling rebadged RHD Saturns, with dent-proof panels and aerodynamic designs reminiscent of Cherry's finest droop snoots?