Whats your opinion of the GM volt electric car?

[SolarAndWood]

I wont pay 40 thousand for a new car.

I wouldn't pay 40 either but the $7500 makes it reasonably competitive. And, after a few years of tax credits to develop the product, Toyota didn't need them to be able to convince me to by a Camry hybrid. Same price and power as the V6 but 1/3 plus better mpg. I hope Chevy takes advantage of the subsidy and makes the platform work.

 

[begreen]

Dune brings up good points too. An armchair opinion is just that. It's not based on experience. Really, I can't believe the linked blog was even brought up. It's impossible to take seriously. The guy is an blowhard ranter. FWIW, when we bought our Prius, the press was throwing all sorts of crap at it. Funny how they changed their tune for the same car a few years later. The rant about the $7500 credit is silly, it does not just apply to the Volt. It's an incentive for all electric cars.

The Volt's range is excellent for a lot of commuters. It would be great for us. And it's range is negotiable by switching over to gas. So let's say one's commute is 60 miles. What is wrong with having 2/3ds of your commute at a significantly cleaner and much lower cost? Note that while the generator is running, you are still getting good mileage. They have done a lot right with this car. It handles well, performance and safety are very good and it's quite versatile. My main gripes are that it only seats 4 and it is high-priced. Still, I hope to try one out someday soon. If it was 4wd I would probably buy one. But it looks like for 4wd I will have to wait a year to see how the Mitsubishi or Subaru plugin hybrids perform.

 

[oldspark]

I thought the link was sorta funny and made a few good points, let me do the math for ya, 25 to 50 mile range on the battery, what do you think happens to the range if you have to defrost the windows and heat the car, it gets 35 to 40 miles a gallon on the highway for 40 grand, I paid 14,800 (a little higher now) out the door for my Honda fit that get close to 40 so why would I buy this car, so I can call myself green.

 

[MarkinNC]

I think I would by a diesel truck or 2 Prius's instead. It's price point is unrealistic. Every financial expert I have ever read recommends against leasing which I guess is the only way GM could try and bring it to market in an affordable manner. The Volt is bureaucratically driven, not market driven like a Prius or Honda hybrid.

I personally think diesel electric hybrids have the most potential as far a reducing energy consumption, but I seem to be a minority on this one. If PV ever becomes affordable, this could change the dynamic dramatically!

 

[ScotO]

While these electric cars may be a step in the right direction (as far as getting away from fossil fuels is concerned) it is in the WRONG direction at the same time. I truly think that hydrogen cars would be the way to go, but that won't happen because big oil and fossil fuel owns our country. And until that goes away, you will just either have to spend 40000 dollars on an electric car and plug it into an outlet that is being charged by fossil fuel fired generators or go and spend a sh!tload of money on gas in your 500 dollar work-beater car. The whole system SUCKS, and will continue to do so until the chain is broken.

 

[Regency139]

I think I would by a diesel truck or 2 Prius's instead. It's price point is unrealistic. Every financial expert I have ever read recommends against leasing which I guess is the only way GM could try and bring it to market in an affordable manner. The Volt is bureaucratically driven, not market driven like a Prius or Honda hybrid.

I personally think diesel electric hybrids have the most potential as far a reducing energy consumption, but I seem to be a minority on this one. If PV ever becomes affordable, this could change the dynamic dramatically!

Hopefully VW follows through with this one. Diesel, AWD (except in electric mode), and a hybrid.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...diesel-off-road-hybrid-concept/1#.T1q6dvF5mSM

 

[begreen]

I thought the link was sorta funny and made a few good points, let me do the math for ya, 25 to 50 mile range on the battery, what do you think happens to the range if you have to defrost the windows and heat the car, it gets 35 to 40 miles a gallon on the highway for 40 grand, I paid 14,800 (a little higher now) out the door for my Honda fit that get close to 40 so why would I buy this car, so I can call myself green.

Because it gets 100+ mpg running on electric and greater than 60mpg on many combined runs. It may be a bad fit for you, but that doesn't mean it's a bad car.

 

[begreen]

I think I would by a diesel truck or 2 Prius's instead. It's price point is unrealistic. Every financial expert I have ever read recommends against leasing which I guess is the only way GM could try and bring it to market in an affordable manner. The Volt is bureaucratically driven, not market driven like a Prius or Honda hybrid.

I personally think diesel electric hybrids have the most potential as far a reducing energy consumption, but I seem to be a minority on this one. If PV ever becomes affordable, this could change the dynamic dramatically!

Not at all. Peugot/Citroen has a 4wd, diesel hybrid concept that sounds great.
(broken link removed to http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26233/)
(broken link removed to http://www.peugeot.com/en/products/cars/3008hybrid4.aspx)

 

[oldspark]

I thought the link was sorta funny and made a few good points, let me do the math for ya, 25 to 50 mile range on the battery, what do you think happens to the range if you have to defrost the windows and heat the car, it gets 35 to 40 miles a gallon on the highway for 40 grand, I paid 14,800 (a little higher now) out the door for my Honda fit that get close to 40 so why would I buy this car, so I can call myself green.

Because it gets 100+ mpg running on electric and greater than 60mpg on many combined runs. It may be a bad fit for you, but that doesn't mean it's a bad car.

Its too expensive, thats why they halted production, thats why they are not selling well, somebody stop me.

 

[RowCropRenegade]

Seasoned Oak, my mistake, the cost was 40k! As you can see, not an over estimation. Telsa Roadster.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/...hicle-at-risk-of-bricking-know-the-facts.html

 

[begreen]

I don't disagree with that point, but all the other points are weak. Toyota understood price point and sold the first Prius at a loss. If Chevy dropped the price by $10K, the Volt could be a runaway best seller.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Probably wouldn't even take $10K with the $7500 tax credit and 0% for 60 months. Getting it into the mid to high 20s with 0% would probably do it.

 

[oldspark]

Hopefully they will get the battery problems worked out.

 

[btuser]

It takes a lot of carbon to make 7500k, let alone the carbon in production. If you factor the cost that way my stinky ol' truck is way cleaner than any Prius or Volt.

I bet if you factored in methane production, your average car is less polluting than your average horse.

 

[Jack768]

If it depended on actual willing purchasers rather than Washington handouts and politically-motivated government sales, it would have been discontinued by now. As is, I'd be amazed if they're making them in two years. Sales have been abysmal.

 

[btuser]

If it depended on actual willing purchasers rather than Washington handouts and politically-motivated government sales, it would have been discontinued by now. As is, I'd be amazed if they're making them in two years. Sales have been abysmal.

I'm not into the save-the-world reasons for it, but I am in favor of government sponsorship of new technology. The best thing we can do for this country's long-term health is learn how to do more with less. We piss away billions every year on programs worth much less. I'd get rid of the prescription drug benefit before this subsidy. Don't look at it as the purchase of a single automobile, but rather seed money for a new industry. It's worth it, and we do less with more in other areas.

 

[MarkinNC]

I think I would by a diesel truck or 2 Prius's instead. It's price point is unrealistic. Every financial expert I have ever read recommends against leasing which I guess is the only way GM could try and bring it to market in an affordable manner. The Volt is bureaucratically driven, not market driven like a Prius or Honda hybrid.

I personally think diesel electric hybrids have the most potential as far a reducing energy consumption, but I seem to be a minority on this one. If PV ever becomes affordable, this could change the dynamic dramatically!

Not at all. Peugot/Citroen has a 4wd, diesel hybrid concept that sounds great.
(broken link removed to http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26233/)
(broken link removed to http://www.peugeot.com/en/products/cars/3008hybrid4.aspx)

I should have qualified my statement to reflect I seem to be a minority in the US of A. I long for the diesel cars and trucks of Europe and diesel hybrids...wow. Just a purely diesel platform makes more since to me as well, but that is a different topic.

 

[Corey]

I'm all for domestic energy, not really a 'fan' of ay specific car...as long as it gets the job done. But, Volt really doesn't make sense for me...I'm averaging 28mpg and making ~400hp with an engine I custom built for E85. Given E85 is generally running about $2.95/gallon, that is barely 10 cents per mile, for a very high performance engine.

The Volt lease would be 3.5x that right out of the gate, then I still have to feed it electricity. And sadly, even though the volt uses cutting edge battery technology, the range and power just aren't there. If any OEM would actually build a state-of-the-art E85 engine, it's pretty easy to have excellent performance and diesel-like (or better) mpg.

 

[oldspark]

I just think they got carried away with it, make it cheaper and work on the range in electric mode and put in a smaller gas engine, an electric car in cold areas has issues with heating and defrosting sucking the battery down in a hurry, they already designed a special sound system for it. You have to walk before you can run, make a good basic simple car with a good range and better gas milage and go from there, 5 dollar gas and you will sell them, hell Geo Metros will sell with 5 dollar gas.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Waiting until the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel wreck the economy is not a solution either. IM all for NG conversion as well. A fuel that is available right now at a cost of $1-$2 a gallon equivalent for gas is something we can all live with im sure ,not to mention the super clean exhaust. THe volt is not for everyone and is not perfect but id say its in the top 5 of solutions available TODAY. THe main problem with gasoline is it doesnt have any competition YET!

 

[Seasoned Oak]

All the uninformed bozos in the media sensationalizing a battery fire 3 weeks after an accident did not help sales either,as if gasoline is not flammable DURING an accident let alone 3 weeks later. THe prius was pretty slow out of the gate as well when it was first introduced.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I think I would by a diesel truck or 2 Prius's instead. It's price point is unrealistic. Every financial expert I have ever read recommends against leasing which I guess is the only way GM could try and bring it to market in an affordable manner. The Volt is bureaucratically driven, not market driven like a Prius or Honda hybrid.

I personally think diesel electric hybrids have the most potential as far a reducing energy consumption, but I seem to be a minority on this one. If PV ever becomes affordable, this could change the dynamic dramatically!

Leasing make sense in several situations,it did for me
1. If your lease depreciates quickly you could come out a few thousand ahead after 3 years. Lease co. or car co. takes the loss not you. (happened to me twice)
2.You want to drive a new car every 3 years. (trading in is very costly)
3.You are driving NEW technology which is likely to improve greatly in 3 years.(such as electric car range,cost ect)
4.Often the monthly Pmt is quite a bit less,your not financing sales tax and residual value on the vehicles entire cost, just the first 3 years.

 

[Dune]

Hopefully they will get the battery problems worked out.

Really? What battery problems?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

They need only to get the misinformation worked out.

 

[Dune]

Obama anounced yesterday that the credit for alternative fuel cars will be increased to 10K, and that the credit can now go directly to the dealer.
If the dealers can use the credit as a down payment sales may pick up quite a bit.