I’ve heard about a dozen times on talk radio that the Chevy Volt is “$10,000 more than the Leaf, which goes 125 miles… while the Volt only goes 40 miles.”
And, every time, I want to pull my hair out. Worse, I know one of two of these talk radio hosts is doing it on purpose; they know darn well the Volt goes 40 miles on electricity, and then another 320 miles on gasoline. Leaf does not. But, because GM is Government Motors, some on talk radio use Volt as a halo car… to attack government ownership of American auto.
Ends don’t justify the means here, but that won’t stop people from intentionally lying about the Volt. So, GM has to step in and nullify that themselves.
Yes, I’ve heard GM is trying to trademark Range Anxiety ahead of a massive PR blitz. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s enough.
GM must, and yes I say must, quickly and strongly emphasize in ads that Volt does what I emphasized in the paragraphs above. That should constitute a major part of their advertising, and that should be the only thing communicated in many of the ads.
Americans are already getting a false impression about Volt. Negative first impressions can destroy superior products. GM cannot and must not let this happen with the Volt, or when Volt is actually economical for most customers… they’ll go for a plug-in Prius instead.