I just emailed Hugh, then decided to email the group. If you don't fancy wishful thinking, skip this entire email.... ""So, if we now own 70% of GM, can't we make them make the EV1 again?"" That makes me really think. Does anyone have a handle on how much of the tooling, etc., GM still has? I know it was done at the Reatta Craft Centre, by GM, not by an outside low volume specialty contractor (like ASC did for the Ford GT). I can handle NiMHs, large format. I can handle the EV1 Gen 2's range. I can afford a 30K EV. Ok, 40. So, although they crushed the cars, how much tooling is left, I wonder?
The amount of tooling left may be a moot point, as I hear that the Tropica is about to be reverse-engineered for some parts, and I know that the Chinese are REALLY good at cloning cars. What amazes me is that even though the General is hurting enough to sell off the very well thought of, and profitable, Opel, and other core assets like GMAC and Saturn, that they couldn't find a buyer for the EV-1. I wonder if anyone up in the GM stratosphere even thought of THAT? They're even selling off some of their collection of show cars from over the years. Admittedly, not the crown jewels, but some nice stuff nonetheless. If they're down to selling off spare staples and rubber bands, why NOT the EV1? To, say, Magna, or GE? Now, before we all get our hopes up, this is all wishful thinking-- thinking that simply won't come to fruition. But. It does boggle the mind. What would hold them back? Well, someone recently quoted a GM employee as saying that the EV-1 shared only two parts with any other GM product- one of which was the door handles. (can't remember the other). Well. Wouldn't that make it even easier to spin off? Ok, how about the unique-to-the-EV-1 drive-by-wire brakes? Those could be engineered out in a week. If they were to do anything, I'd assume that they'd build an EV off of the Volt, the new Aveo replacement, or the Volt/Cobalt replacement chassis for commonality. Still.... Hmmm... Rob Neighbour **************Shop Inspiron, Studio and XPS Laptops at Dell.com (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222616459x1201464730/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fad.d oubleclick.net%2Fclk%3B215218145%3B37264238%3Bd) _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org
