GM, Ford and Chrysler arrayed a huge number of lawyers and much cherished Washington lobbyists to go after California after it decided to introduce a zero emissions rule on part of all car fleets. While GM was fighting California, it was also building an electric car, 10 years ago called the EV1. The state lost, GM breathed a sigh of relief and promptly destroyed all EV1’s and sold the patents.

Yep, sold the patents to a MIT. Just kidding. If the patents had been sold to MIT, the car would have been rebuilt and the Toyota Prius hybrid would never have been created. Whoever bought the patents wasn’t interested in building an electric car. There is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest the battery patents were purchased by Texaco who has done tremendous work with them since ( NOT ).

Balancing the books, one might claim. Lots of Research and Development costs, nothing to show for it, so sell the technology. It wasn’t an objective decision. After an acrimonious battle with the state of California, GM management couldn’t get rid of the technology fast enough. A billion dollars later, GM executives didn’t stop to think that perhaps core elements could play a critical roll in future transportation technology. They had to wait for the Japanese to prove that similar technology could and would be a huge element in the future of transportation.

So much for the history lesson, this week, we are back at square one watching a video interview with GM’s Chief Designer as he discusses the new GM Chevy Volt.

GM has almost entirely “bet the boat” on the new technologies going to market in the electric Chevy Volt. We are sure that GM Detroit Management exactly didn’t plan it this way, but their European operations must have seen the writing on the wall many years ago as gas hit 3+ dollars per gallon in europe and continued on through the equivalent $4 dollar mark. With the global credit crunch, increased gas prices and declining sales of the big cash SUV’s GM is feeling the pinch like never before. The Volt must become iconic.

The car is also GM’s gambit to outpace foreign competitors like Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC). Unlike conventional hybrids-including the best-selling Prius-the Volt is essentially a plug-in electric car with an onboard gas-burning engine that can recharge the vehicle’s batteries. This enables the Volt to travel some 40 miles before the driver turns on the gas.

According to GM research, many drivers will not need to switch to the gas engine because simply recharging the vehicle via a regular outlet at home overnight will satisfy most of their driving needs. When I first heard this, I thought – What a useless car. Who wants a car that does only 40 miles per charge, but in truth, the car simply switches to the small gas engine at that point and continues its merry way.

On the surface, unless you have significant shareholder shares in an oil company, we all want a Volt. The dream of being able to cross Europe or United States basically on plain cheap electricity without having to pay between 3 and 5 dollars a gallon for gas is a like a dream come true.

So back to the question can the Volt save GM?

I suppose it might be presumptuous but perhaps we should first ask – Does the General really need saving?

BusinessWeek estimated GM’s Liquidity position to be 45 Billion in May of 2005 with a burn rate this year of over a Billion a month here in 2008 ( Boston Herald ). Estimated reserves now stand at about 25 Billion and analysts say that even with the 10 Billion in future cost cutting, GM may need another 10-12 Billion in cash to see their way through to 2010.

According to an article in Detroit News Oct 14th 2008

GM had access to about $21 billion cash, $5 billion in available credit lines and is raising $5 billion through asset sales and borrowing.

Cost-cutting associated with the aforementioned 10 Billion in cuts, intensified when GM announced it was closing plants in Grand Rapids and Janesville, Wis. 2500 workers are affected by these measures in plants that produce sport-utility vehicles and parts for pickups/SUVs.

Since 2005, the General’s cash reserves have been reduced from 45 Billion to a mere 25 Billion and with the tightening credit crunch and federal government moving slowly on aiding the BIG3, the rumour doing the rounds is that GM is eyeing the cash reserves of Chrysler ( estimated 11 Billion ) to help it through 2009 when the arrival of the Chevy Volt and Cruz, the following quarter are expected to help turn things around.

In an interview given to Business week in the last week of Oct 2008, GM says its expecting to sell about 10,000 Chevy Volts at between 30-40,000 USD each in 2010. So, that’s about 3-4 Billion dollars in gross sales with a net of about a 800 Million dollars annually at an estimated 20% profit per vehicle ( my own estimate not theirs )

So, is this innovative car of the 2010 year – Volt just a little, just too late?

I leave that answer up to you, but if I had to make a serious bet with odds, I know which way I would be betting.

If you are looking for a car body repair shop, you have to keep a tab on a whole lot of things so that you’ll be able able to choose a service provider to match your expectations. A company that is in the auto business for some years will have better experience and expertise. Selecting such a provider would mean that you can be sure that the problem will be fixed correctly and you’ll not have to face other issues once the car repairing is completed.

You can narrow down your search by looking at car body repair shop expertise. You’ll find that some workshops have better experience and expertise in repairing a specified style of cars or few workshops also specialize for specific international brands of vehicles. Most of the times the auto parts that you need, will be easily found with them and that will avoid time and money wastage.

Try to select a car body repair shop that you can use more than once otherwise you’ll face this selection problem every time you need an auto repair done. You should give preference to the quality workshops that are located nearby so that you don’t waste money in unnecessary travelling each time. Moreover seeing the current trends of the fuel charges it becomes all the more necessary that your selected car body repair shop is not too far.

After you have all aspects covered you also need to bring into consideration the price that you will have to pay for hiring services of a car body repair shop. Different workshops offer different rates and some might be unbelievably high for no apparent reason. In such cases just do not forget that the price and services are not always proportional.

If you are looking for good car body repair shops in your area, browsing the internet can be quite fruitful as you can get a lot of choices and can also find exact addresses. You will be able to read testimonials by people as well as you’ll be able to draw comparisons between the services offered by different providers.

Anyone who feels as though they have a car loan that is costing too much should look into the idea. The sooner that you refinance your car loan, the more money you can save.

Chances are that when you first got your car loan you arranged everything through the dealer that sold you the car. If so, you most likely payed an interest surcharge, even though you probably qualified for a lower rate. So why not refinance and get the lower rate now?

So how much can you save with a refinance car loan? Most people end up saving anywhere from twenty to fifty dollars a month. This may not sound like a lot, but over the course of a year you’d be saving several hundred dollars that you could put towards other expenses.

Refinance car loans are not hard to get. You just have to fill out an application, and then once your application is approved your old loan will be paid off and you’ll have a new loan with a lower interest rate, and lower payments.

One should remember that the less that is owed on the car loan, the lesser the chances of a successful refinance. One should also remember that whole purpose is to low the rate of the monthly payment, so there is a possibility that it will not be worth it.

Income and expenses don’t necessarily have to be created or produced from an asset or a liability, and assets and liabilities don’t necessarily have to produce cash flow. Assets can be sold, liabilities have to be paid for. If you welcome yourself into the world of financials, you will learn that teach category can be broken down forward. For example, cash flow in or income can be created by earned income, passive income, or portfolio income. You can gain cash flow from bhusiness, just as you can have outflows from operating expenses associated with running the business.

Your personal financial statement is just one of the many things that will welcome finance into your life. Finance is about managing your money, or a businesses money, or others money. It’s usually not only about money management, but managing your money and how that money will function in a given set of time, and managing your resources to generate more money. It can be about budgeting, saving costs, and cutting expenses, it can be about in making investments to save expenses in the future. It can be about increasing your income through actions, or through buying assets. It’s easy to be intimidated by a financial statement but really all you need to know is that you want to focus on creating assets, and eliminating liabilities, as this will general increase your income, and reduce your expenses, which results in you having more money to work with.

Of course, if you want a more sophisticated in depth view of finance, you want to know all about investing, all about cash flow, portfolio gains and creating passive income, different strategies and techniques and so on that can welcome finance into your life.

Accounting is only part of your financial welcome. Budgeting, cooperate finance, accounting, insuring, income, expenses, assets, liabilities, operating statements, cashflow, balance sheets, stock analysis, investment selection, and many other things are very important if you want to welcome finance into your life.

If you are one of these guys, you might be considering some garage floor ideas because if you can personalize the floor, it can really take your garage up to the next level. I have seen garages where the favorite sports team logo is painted over the entire garage floor and the whole garage is a shrine to that sports team.

The best garage flooring ideas depend on what you want to accomplish. Some people just want to make their garages look better by putting down a cover on the cement floor. They want it more for looks than anything else because it can give the garage a more “finished” look. These people are usually looking for some type of mat that will cover all or part of the garage.

Your easiest choices are mats and you can decide to cover the whole floor or just part of it. Mats can be made out of rubber, plastic, or other materials and they can be made into custom shapes and sizes. If you dont want mats, you might choose to seal your floor as a way of protecting it. Sealing your garage floor is a great way of protecting it from all the dirt and water that is brought in and it makes the floor look better as well.

Whether you choose mats or a sealant, you will notice a big difference in the quality of your garage with regards to the floor. Now you will be able to walk around in your socks or bare feet and not get the feeling you are walking outside. A nice finished floor is a great way to add value to your garage and most people never even think about doing it. Finishing the floor is a must if you want to turn your garage into anything other than just a place for parking cars.

Sadly, many drivers seem to think this is the norm and therefore lie about all these when they are applying for an insurance policy. And this is further influenced by the thinking that the companies are mandated to pay and reward them. Most informed drivers know that falsifying your records is seen as fraud while the uninformed drivers think it is ok to lie about their records. The truth is insurance companies are beginning to catch up with this trend and are taking steps against the frequent occurrence of such acts. One of these steps is in the installation of software that will function as a lie detector and will compare all the different data for traces of irregularities. Besides this, insurance companies now have penalties that are meted out on culprits of this act. These include:

1. Cancellation of the Insurance Policy. All culprits will lose their rights to any form of insurance with the company of they are caught. This means that all the monies paid prior to that time will not be retrieved or paid back and the driver will forfeit all attendant benefits.

2. All Claims will be lost and denied. All drivers caught in the act of falsification will be denied all claims. During accidents, most drivers and car owners resort to the insurance company to offer some form of relief. Even if the claims are genuine, the insurance company will desist from making the required payment if it detects false information.

3. Blacklisting in all car insurance companies Depending on the severity of the false information, most insurance companies will willingly blacklist the driver thus making it really hard for him to drive his car.

4. May pay Fines If the driver is found guilty of severe falsification or under the insurance act, he would be required to pay the sum of one hundred thousand dollars and another two hundred thousand dollars if there are other offences discovered. 5. Jail Terms.

In Canada, all offenders could face up to ten years in prison and may be forced to pay a sum greater than five thousand dollars if found guilty. So whatever the case may be, it is in your best interest to tell the truth at all times.

If you’re in a situation where you feel like you’re paying more for your car than you should be paying, or can afford to be paying, then you are the perfect candidate to look into refinancing a car loan.

Most people finance their cars at the dealership they purchased the car from, resulting in an interest surcharge known as rate participation. Most people usually already qualify for a lower rate due to the fact that the rate of interest can be up to three percent higher.

What kind of savings can you expect? Most people that get a refinance car loan see savings anywhere from twenty to fifty dollars each month. This may be not a lot each month, but over the course of a year that will give you several hundred dollars that you can put to other uses.

A refinance car loan does not take much time and effort to get. After filling out an application, which can be done online, and a loan agent will then call and verify the application. The agent will also give a credit decision, and afterwards, the old loan will be paid off. Then, the new loan is opens, requiring lesser monthly payment.

Keep in mind that if you don’t owe very much on your loan it probably isn’t worth it to get a refinance car loan. You need to still owe enough on your car to save money in the long run. So do your homework before you apply for a loan.

Sometimes automobiles can be a lot of trouble. I guess they wouldn’t call it car trouble if that weren’t true. The added anxiety of feeling like your car has something wrong with it is never fun at all. But you should never ignore car trouble. You should try to resolve it as soon as possible. And that all starts with finding the right auto repair shop.

You want to find a car repair shop that has prices that make sense and are industry standard. You also want the employees to know what they are doing and to have a good amount of experience. You do not want to have to return repeatedly to have your repairs corrected over and over again. Also you do not want to test out mechanics on your vehicle. Haphazard selection of strange repair shops can cost you a lot of money. The wrong shop can not repair your vehicle properly and, furthermore, they can add insult to injury by creating additional damage to your automobile.

Searching for the right mechanic takes a little effort in the beginning to save you a lot of hassle in the long run. Referrals from family and friends are always a good start. Another important factor to consider is the mechanics experience with certain makes and models, foreign and domestic cars. Sometimes traveling a few extra miles is also worth it if you live in a small town with few options. Sometimes when there is less competition, performance and quality can suffer.

Also any auto repair shop should allow you to examine there facility. When you take your vehicle in for an estimate, ask to look around so that you can evaluate the conditions of their work environment and the caliber of their clientele. A clean shop that isn’t a graveyard for old beaters is what you want to look for. Nice cars being worked on is also a plus. More expensive vehicles usually come with more concerned and discerning owners. That in itself is a good referral. Recommendations and research are always going to give you a better advantage when selecting a car repair shop or mechanic, so don’t skimp on these steps.

Another important note: If you have been in an auto collision, repair is a different issue. Auto collision repair is different is some ways from usual auto repair. Just because a shop will do the work doesn’t necessarily mean that they should do the work. You should seek out an actual auto collision repair shop to perform any car body repair or car body paint work.

We all need our cars, like it or not. Everyday we drive to work and school and the store and so on. Ignoring damage or maintenance on your vehicle is never a good idea. Taking care of the problem right away will spare you a tremendous amount of grief. And finding a fair-priced skilled repair shop or mechanic will make things that much better for you and your vehicle.

A respectable mechanic can mean two things. One that is reasonable with his charges. And one that is knowledgeable and skilled. Fixing your car correctly the first time is the most important issue you should be focused on. Car repair is not necessarily the best situation to be trying out new vendors randomly. This could be an expensive experiment. A poor mechanic can not only fix your car incorrectly but they can also cause other problems with your vehicle intentionally or not, costing you more money.

Pausing for a moment to do a little research on the best available car repair shops, will greatly benefit you. Ask someone close to you for advice on who you should go to. Also ask them if the car repair shops they go to work on your type of vehicle. Foreign and domestic vehicles have different needs and considerations, so do different vehicle brands. If your city or town doesn’t have a lot of options to choose from, don’t hesitate to go somewhere else. You may find a better deal or a more qualified and reliable alternative to your local car repair shops.

Don’t be afraid to investigate the shop either before committing to the repair. You can tell a lot about an operation by the way their set up looks. You can usually work this into a brief visit to a shop when they offer a free estimate. A cleanly atmosphere that isn’t cluttered with several clunkers is a good sign of a quality shop. High end vehicles is a another really good sign. Obviously, if they have customers with expensive cars, they must not be making too many mistakes. Referrals and a bit of investigation together will definitely save you a lot of hassle and time and money, so do yourself and favor and make the effort.

Auto collision is another matter. Auto collision repair is not exactly the same as conventional car repair. If a standard repair shop offers to do your auto collision repair for you, be sure that they have experience and existing customers for auto collision repair. But if your vehicle has been damaged in an accident, it is wisest to got o a repair shop that exclusive deals with auto collision repair.

Your vehicle is a vital part of your daily routine. Taking care of it whenever necessary will keep your life running smoothly. And picking the right mechanic that you can trust on a regular basis will also help your peace of mind.

In order to receive the maximum of $4500 in the form of a rebate which your auto dealer can apply instantly once the paperwork is true you need to adhere to some of the requirements. This program helps the consumer and it helps the auto industry to get back on its feet from the devastation of the recent financial crisis.

There are requirements that you must adhere to before you get your maximum of $4500 toward your vehicle. Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old when you initiate the trade. The rebate only applies to new vehicle quality type vehicles. You cannot trade in one older used car for a little bit less older a used car. The trade-in vehicle needs to have gotten 18 miles per gallon or less on average.

These trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured for the past year. The program runs through November 1, 2009 or when there is no money left in the kitty set aside for this program. Your dealer will be very helpful in getting all the paperwork done and submitted because it’s a win-win for you and the dealer.

You have to obtain the scrap value of your trade in automobile which will be added to the rebate as your vehicle must be scrapped and not put back on the road. Your dealer can take care of this. Many dealers have complained that they have not gotten answers back after they submitted their applications. Customers are waiting to take delivery of their vehicle but the dealers have not heard back from the government with approval. This is causing frustration for the customer and the dealers.

This program seems to be a good idea on the surface as it helps the automobile industry to get back on its feet from the recent financial crisis. It also helps some people get rid of their gas guzzling big vehicle and traded in for a smaller more efficient vehicle. However, the price of a new vehicle can range from $12,000-$30,000 or more. This means going into debt in an uncertain time. This may not be a good idea for a lot of people especially if your job is not secure. The old days are over and it may be more prudent to keep your older vehicle if it is running well.