GM asks Detroit and Michigan for tax breaks for Volt production
No major manufacturer ever builds a new factory without getting lots of tax breaks from state and local governments. In fact, what happens is they announce plans to build a factory without specifying a location and then sit back and wait while the offers flood in. It should come as no surprise that GM is now asking for incentives from the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan for production of the Chevy Volt. GM has never publicly announced where the Volt would be built, but a leaked copy of the new contract that was negotiated with the UAW last fall listed future vehicle production assignments for most of the company's plants. Prominent on that list was the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant that currently produces the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS. The Detroit plant is now scheduled to build the Volt and a compact MPV to replace the Opel Zafira. GM officials met with Detroit City Council members on Monday to discuss the issue. From a PR perspective, GM would love to build the Volt in Detroit to symbolize the re-birth of the company in Motown. However, if they don't get the tax breaks they want, GM surely won't hesitate to go elsewhere.
[Source: Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
meme 12:37PM (6/03/2008)
I was just thinking about this recently: the Volt would probably make a nice conversion to a full BEV.
Think about it this way: because PHEV use is more stressful to battery packs than BEV use, the Volt only uses half the capacity of the pack. Take out the engines and adjust the charging profile to use the whole pack. The reduced weight and doubled battery capacity should give it 90-100 miles electric range. You can sell off the engine. Since it's an E-REV, all of the systems must be able to run without the engine on, so it's not needed. If you replaced the engine with extra batteries (you'd need to use the same type of batteries and get the same voltage as the current pack to match charge/discharge profiles, and you'd need to charge both packs at once), you could potentially get an even greater range and pack longevity.
Just a thought that occurred to me. I wouldn't be surprised if we see such a conversion, especially if quality four-seater BEVs like the i-EV don't hit our shores around the same time.
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Tim 12:50PM (6/03/2008)
It never hurts to ask...
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Tim 1:05PM (6/03/2008)
Not Yours To Give
Col. David Crockett
US Representative from Tennessee
http://www.house.gov/paul/nytg.htm
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roz 1:44PM (6/03/2008)
great concept - ugly car.
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goehring 1:22PM (6/03/2008)
GM has already said they plan to build a battery only version.
At least for California.
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meme 1:31PM (6/03/2008)
Tim: While the nation would be a better place if cities didn't give out such incentives, the facts are that it's cold hard logic that drives them to do so, not an interest in GM's betterment. A factory being located in your city creates a ton of jobs and brings in far more tax income than the city loses by offering such incentives. While the nation as a whole loses (since if nobody offered the incentive, the factory would still be built *somewhere*), the particular city actually gains money.
Such an argument as yours would make sense to argue for a state or federal ban on cities offering tax incentives, but doesn't make sense to a particular city. Nor are cities bound by the provisions of the constitution that stipulate what federal spending should be for. The whole constitutional argument is right out.
Interestingly enough, this isn't a liberal-conservative issue. For example, in my city, it's mainly the more liberal political activists who oppose TIFs (Tax Increment Financing -- the popular form of corporate handout around here to try and lure in companies). But some conservatives oppose them, too. It's not a liberal-conservative issue, but an issue about whether it's *right* to try to draw companies in by this manner.
I disagree with you on a lot of issues regarding federal spending and subsidy, but this is one we can agree on.
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meme 1:52PM (6/03/2008)
Goehring: They have? Could you give me a link?
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MattKelly 1:48PM (6/03/2008)
My feeling is that GM is already putting alot of money into the development of this vehicle. Asking for tax breaks is regularly done by most corporations/industries, so why not ask? The city and State need the jobs and the tax revenue that go along with them so, offering them the assistance to insure this vehicle becomes the game-changer we all hope it will only makes sense. Hopefully, GM will receive what they need to insure this vehicle rolls off the assempbly line in 2010 as predicted, and create a renewed partnership between Detroit, Michigan, and consumers across the country.
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MattKelly 2:00PM (6/03/2008)
meme--are you on Twitter by chance?
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meme 2:43PM (6/03/2008)
No -- why?
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MattKelly 2:49PM (6/03/2008)
Just liked some of your posts and wanted to follow you. Oh well.
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gromm 3:17PM (6/03/2008)
GM pays taxes? I'd expect that they already have so many "tax breaks" that there's nothing left for them to pay.
At least, that's the way it works here in Canada. I think corporations pay all of about 10% of all taxes collected by the government. But it doesn't sound like it's too far off down there either.
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Andy 4:26PM (6/03/2008)
Great. Another bail out for a well connected poorly performing company. Citizens beware.
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stevefazek 6:16PM (6/03/2008)
Read the book free lunch on tax breaks. Companies like cabellas and even walmart dont make money selling crap but from taxes.
Many walmarts get to keep the sales tax, while brining a burden to the community by forcing traffic and accidents.
All while they dont pay any taxes.
Hell many companies are given interest free loans and tax breaks that add up higher in value then the total wages of all the employees.
So yeah its a big tax scam to use taxes paid by the middle class and funnel it to the wealthy. And yes rich people pay a lower% than taxes hell whats capital gains tax its a joke like 13%
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Kevin Nugent 6:58PM (6/03/2008)
How about new york if michigan is too much 4 u
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BlackbirdHighway 7:04AM (6/04/2008)
This is how corporations work, it's what they do, as much as they can. It's called externalizing. Socialize expenses, privatize profits. That's how it has always been.
Think that corporations don't like socialism? Corporations love socialism, as long as it benefits them. Freepers think that business wants pure free market capitalism, but they aren't seeing the real world, only an illusion created by their own distorted perceptions.
Nobody is forcing them, but if Detroit and Michigan don't want to ante up, then GM can go somewhere else. That is their right, in this free country of ours, and there is nothing wrong with that.
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Chris M 3:53AM (6/06/2008)
Meme: The reason that the Volt uses only half the battery capacity is that LiIon batteries last longest if kept between 85% and 35% of the maximun state of charge. That is true with both BEVs and plug-in hybrids. To convert a serial plug-in hybrid to BEV would mean either:
1. Accepting the limited range offered, for maximum battery life., or
2. Overriding the charge limits and replacing the battery in a few years, or
3. Adding extra battery capacity to get acceptable range within the 85% to 35% "long life" state of charge limits.
Of course, such a conversion will be a moot point since there will be plenty of BEVs available.
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