Hi,
I have not made a study of the Chevy Volt but it reads like a solid engineering effort. So when I stumbled across a Volt review, "
An electrifying weekend with the Chevy Volt," I was reading with an open mind. Then familiar phrases started showing up:
- "stepping into the Volt was like something out of the Jetsons. Or Star Trek"
- "a dizzying array of buttons on the main “center stack”, a large multifunction display in the center,"
- "the entire car came to life, complete with boot-up sound,"
- "you need a freaking aerospace engineering degree"
The first time I heard phrases like this were some of the early Prius reviews. And like those reviews, I was not surprised when it ended with:
"Would I want to pay for and own one? At this point… no."
I'm OK with a reporter who is intimidated by new technology but not the echo heard over and over again in the Prius reviews, a soft 'do not buy.' In the Prius reviews, it was often after some 'how long to save the fuel cost' analysis. Had those earlier or even this review left off the question of buy or not, we would have the writer's review and no fault nor foul. But making a claim about buying steps over the line separating a reviewer from a sales critter.
Bob Wilson
ps. I'm a firm believer in the right tool for the right job and tend to see vehicles as filling owner requirements and nothing more.
- ZVW30
