we'll see if it's actually $30k, or "$30k after incentives."
I believe, though I could be mistaken, that GM is one of the few automakers who doesn't quote post-incentive pricing when they're advertising sticker prices. Even Tesla is guilty of hacking that $7.5k tax rebate from their prices. We used to always call out manufacturers that did that when I wrote for Green Car Reports.
I vote for it being a pretty substantial improvement over the previous one. Granted, I never really understood the hate for the Volt MKI setup, the MKII is much more regular car like, and that really broadens the appeal to more people. Thing is, Chevrolet has to shoehorn their dual-cabin blah blah blah styling in there, and while it isn't quite as successful as the interior of the Impala, it certainly isn't unattractive, either.
I quite liked the old Volt's cabin. Its biggest problem was that it looked cheaper than it felt - the white plastic on the dashboard was meant to be iPod like, and it felt it too, but it looked too cheap. And the gap in the dash for the shifter was a neat idea, but in practise it just looked odd.
It's so you can look cool that you have a tablet in your car cause car designers are take advice from 10 year olds.
There's actually a relatively logical reason for putting it where Mercedes puts it. Two logical reasons, in fact. I asked them about it one time.
One is that it's a much more sensible idea than having a system that pops out of the dashboard - it's simpler, cheaper, more reliable and makes more sense, since the pop-out systems are basically always there when you're driving anyway. What's the point of having a movable screen if it's only hidden when you're not even using the car? May as well fix it somewhere instead.
The other is for cooling. Some of these screens are chewing up a lot of power and outputting a lot of heat. Anyone who has used an iPad for a decent amount of time before will be aware of this. Having it sitting proud of the dash is much better for heat dissipation.
I actually don't even mind the look of them, in general. In the new MX-5 mentioned above it means the dash itself can be nice and simple, rather than them having to design a massive sculpted orifice in which to place the screen. Ditto in the Mercs, really - I'm not a fan of the dashboard real estate screens take up in BMWs, Volvos etc.
Unfortunately, Merc's way of doing it is better in theory than in practice. In reality, they look a bit too cheap, they aren't touch screens even though they're positioned in such a way that people assume they are, and in every example I've driven the screen has always creaked as it heated and cooled.
Alright...as boring as it is (though, better than the other non-Corvette and Camaro Chevy's) I can say that that is an "ok" car, and a pretty good EV. 👍
