Posted on 04/15/2012 9:04:00 PM PDT by DallasBiff
"My husband (JDHCalif) wrote a lengthy review and I wanted to add my 2 cents. We are actually now getting nearly 130mpg per day because his company installed an electrical outlet in his office parking area.
The car costs about $2 to fully charge at PG&E rates and each full charge takes the car about 45 miles. Even though we drive 130 mile+ daily commutes we are burning almost no gas...not insignificant in CA where gas is now $4.63 per gallon. The Volt is proving to be more than twice as economical as our Prius...and it drives so much better - even the regen brakes feel better. We are going to sell the Prius and get another fully loaded Volt for me (which net/net costs less than a comparably loaded new Prius)
(Excerpt) Read more at cars.com ...
I hope they have Nomex driving suits.
...from the NY Times, no less.
I was under the impression that the Volt cost considerably more than a Prius.
Either way the payback is going to take a very long time. Free electricity at work might be nice, but probably only saving you a couple of bucks a day for a vehicle with limited range.
+ In a hot climate like TX, the air conditioner is going to suck that battery dry in no time.
A husband and wife team pimping the Government Motors Volt. Nothing funny going on here. Nope.
If this review is true (and I have my doubts), any gas savings is probably offset by higher insurance costs, higher property taxes, higher repair costs, and lower resale value....and then there’s initial cost.
The Volt does. I was basically making fun of the propagandizers on cars.com.
They make the price of a fillup seem extremely cheap... only $2.
Yet for that price, they only go 45 miles.
Or about 22.5 miles per dollar.
So if you have a car that does 20 miles per gallon, and gas is only $1.50/gallon. That is essentially an equivalent price for to the gas price.
The price only seems cheap when comparing fillups. But for my $75 bucks for a full tank, I get to go 400 miles.
So I get about 40 miles for every $7.50 or 20 miles for every $3.70 (20 miles per gallon for my truck).
After Obama gets through with the coal fired plants and makes electricity skyrocket also, there is no savings even against my truck.
Volt MSRP runs north of $50k.
How many charges will the batteries last?
Replacement cost of batteries will give you a sticker shock.
I have heard $8000+. My best estimate is 5 year battery life if
driven daily.
Now compare a similar size gasoline only car. Many are available around $20k yielding 28 mpg.
For a 10 year period, and 100,000 miles of driving,
the Volt will use 100,000/130mpg=768 gallons of fuel.
The gas car will use 100,000/28=3571 gallons of fuel.
Cost of Volt = 50,000+8000+768x4.0=$61,072
Cost of gas car= 20,000+3571x4=$34,284
Then consider the inconvenience of never driving over 50 miles per trip to maintain that 130 mpg average.
The Volt is NOT a green car because it uses electricity generated by burning coal/oil/nat gas/nuclear
Oh yeah? I’m in fag land aka Hollywood and never saw one. Lib clowns here drive their wuss mobile called the Prius and even most of them are ashamed to drive this clown car.
The range is pretty useless for a ‘westerner’. I drive 40 a day on my commute so if I did have one of these would just barely make if it didn't get charged while I was at work. Can't drive to anybody out in the country. What do you do if you get stuck on the side of the road “out of gas”?
Next year when the batteries don’t works so well anymore than it will drop to 25 miles. The year after that then 10 miles.
And then prepare to spend thousands to replace the batteries.
Pimping pure and simple.
each full charge takes the car about 45 miles.”
Half of my daily commute to SF. They are, however, as thick as mosquitoes around here. The land of Fruits and Nuts.
+ In a hot climate like TX, the air conditioner is going to suck that battery dry in no time.”
Bet there won’t be too many in Galveston. During a hurricane evac they wouldn’t even make it over the Causeway bridge.
Yep. That would be my choice in a New York Minute. I’ve crunched the numbers and there’s no question that for the price of a Volt, the Audi TDI is a MUCH better deal.
The problem for the Volt is that it carries a low-end luxury car price... and is as plain as an Amish buggy. For the same money, you can get into a whole lot of other cars that have more zip, more utility or more luxury (pick one or two of those, but not all three).
The Volt costs so much more than the Prius, which is priced starting just under the average selling price of a car in the US, that if one wants a hybrid and low fuel costs, the choice is clear: Get a Prius.
Freepmail "Lazlo in PA" to be added or removed.
Wait until it burns their house down. then they will be screaming why did I byuy this?
What a load of crap. I have never read long winded and detailed reviews like that for anything. They look like they were written by the GM marketing department.
I doubt that. Sit down, put on your engineer's helmets and tighten your chin straps...
Suppose they actually get 45 miles on a charge (suppose...). At 130 miles/day commute, that means 65 miles one way. So the last 20 miles or so are on gas. When the gas engine kicks in, it is going to not only push the car, but start re-charging the battery. That engine will be under heavy load basically the entire time. That last 20 miles probably takes 40 minutes or so - some highway and then surface streets to final destination. In 40 minutes at full load that 1.4L engine will burn some fuel. In 40 minutes or so of modest load driving the 2.0L engine in my car would burn over a gallon of gas.
So then they get to work, charge, and do the same thing all over again on the way home. Although she claims they are burning "almost no gas" that has got to be an exaggeration. I'd estimate they are burning about 3 gallons a day. That's not bad but... Consider that you can easily find small commuter cars that get mid 30s for mpg in their scenario. They would burn maybe 4 gallons a day.
So they are saving themselves 1 gallon of gas a day. Oh, but they're also paying about $2 a day in electricity to recharge. (and skating along on the employer's good graces for another roughly $2 a day in electricity) And they have the high initial cost, the Mickey Mouse fooling around with recharging twice a day. The added dangers, operational restrictions/characteristics of an 80 hp slug...
I just don't see how it makes any sense other than making a status/political statement. I don't understand people that commute in dualy pickups either when they've never had anything more than an empty McDonalds wrapper in the bed of their truck. To each his own. But when you're doing something just to do it, don't try to rationalize it. I do enough of my own rationalizations - I don't need yours! ;-)
A great pub crawler and nothing more.How drunk were they?
Plus they get “free” electricity from their employer?
Sweet deal...
I can do better - 4 door Suzuki SX4 gets well north of 30mpg in actual driving (a buddy with one just told me about getting 39mpg out of his), and an out-the-door MSRP under 17K. I'm actually looking at something like this as my next car. Except my current car is running great and I don't have a spare 17K laying around. ;-)
You're right though. Your numbers or mine - just goes to show the Volt makes no sense whatsoever from a practical standpoint.
Fake review posted by a DNC mole.
It has an on board engine / generator that burns Premium Gas. With the gas tank full, it can go 300 miles, or so they say.
This looks like a Metrosexual guy and his bi-sexual wife pimping for Government Motors.
(From your link)
“The Volt, which cost nearly $40,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, could take up to 27 years to pay off versus a Chevrolet Cruze, assuming it was regularly driven farther than its battery-only range allows.”
Whadda deal!
OK, we agree on the audi and while the Prius is a nice car, I think there are better choices.
For a gasoline only powered vehicle, this gets about 38 mpg and has more room and functionality than the Prius.
Four adults fit in the Honda Fit much more comfortably than the Prius and the cargo room of the Fit is way better. Take it to a garage sale or Home Depot and you will be surprised what you can haul home. Just don't haul over 990 pounds, including passengers.
1. How do you double the value of a Volt..?..Put a spare battery pack on the back seat.
2. Why are the rear windows heated..?...To keep hands warm when pushing through snowdrifts.
3. What is the GPS radius on a Volt...?...40 miles.
4. How do you stop a Volt from being stolen...?...Take the battery pack inside with you.
5. If a Volt crashes into the Euro version (the Amp)....Watt is the result...?
6. .....etc...
.
.
Go to Barrett-Jackson Auctions and bid online (while viewing cars on the SPEED Channel) on a fully restored or Retro-Moded (much better than new) late 50s ‘Vette or mid-50s Baby Bird for mid 20s to mid 40s
Drive it for 5-10 years sorta carefully but quite briskly
Resell (if you are insane) then at B-J for 2 times to 4 times what you paid for it
Garaged full actual replacement classic car insurance is often under $300-$500 bucks a year
Life is very short
Enjoy it while you can
.
.
Where do you think that electricity comes from that runs into your car when you plug it in to that little thingy in the wall?
So how much is your light/utility bill this month?
From an environmental perspective, I still like electrics where there is fossil fuel generation because it is generated at a level much more efficient than a car engine. There's some loss over transmission, and then the electric motors are 90+ percent efficient, still much better than a gasoline engine. Plus, pollution from the power generation doesn't end up at street level in the city.
I'm a perfect candidate for a Nissan Leaf with my short commute. I might even think of getting one after the second generation (not going to buy first). For the financials, it's not only that gas is effectively cheaper, remember for a pure electric there are also no oil changes, transmission fluid changes, clutches, etc., and brake changes will be few and far between with the regenerative braking. Nice and simple setup with a pure electric, little maintenance should be required.
But hybrids? No thanks. That much added weight and complexity for a little fuel savings doesn't look like a good idea.
Imagine the acid spill damage when one of these envirodisaters self immolates. Put that on a bridge for serious damage.
“Gas would have to approach $8 a gallon before many of the cars could be expected to pay off in the six years an average person owns a car.”
Was wondering where Obama was coming up with that “$7 a gallon” figure he said he was working for.
My son said a guy came into his shop and just replaced his second Volt battery pack at $1500 a pop. He was pretty upset about it.
Just don’t drive more than 40 miles on the ‘electric’ portion otherwise you are SOL. This is such a piece of drivel. I wonder how much she got paid for it.
#5 is genius.
Note to self, buy the extended warranty. LOL
“Oh yeah? I’m in fag land aka Hollywood and never saw one. Lib clowns here drive their wuss mobile called the Prius and even most of them are ashamed to drive this clown car.”
Was watching “Terrible Bosses” as the guy in a Prius was being interrigated by the police...
“You were drag racing in a Prius???
“Well, I don’t win a lot...”
My nuclear powered Hummer will crush you!
I've seen a few Leaf's driving around San Diego. Only 2 Volt's thus far.
I googled this and it is indicating that the replacment cost is 8,000$.
I can’t find any official price listing for it on chevy’s website. Seems like important information to have prior to purchase, however I cannot find it, perhaps someone else can.
Seems like taxpayers should probably be on the hook for the cost of these batteries though, because democrat cars are good for democrat car company owners who donate to the DNC and such!
If you overinflate your tires by about 30-35%, you can significantly improve mileage as you will reduce rolling resistance. Just don’t do it in the winter.
Anyone catch the flaw here? 45 miles per charge means they are only getting 90 miles on the batteries, the other 40+(she doesn't say how big of a plus)is run on the gas engine which, from what I've read, gets only 20 MPG due to the weight of the volt, therefore it is costing them 4 bucks for electricity(according to her)and another 9.3 bucks for 2 gallons of gas making a total of 13.3 bucks a day. Hardly 130 MPG as she claims. I also have my doubts as to the 2 bucks for recharging.
Further more, if they didn't have the charging station at work, he would have to drive all the way home on the small, underpowered gas engine, which would be the case in most situations. Not only that, summer is coming on and when he uses the air conditioner(assuming it has one)he will drastically reduce the distance the battery will take him.
Try driving across country on one of these machines, you would be on the gas engine most of the way, which would mean no savings at all.
The government is in full court press with volt ads, hulu is saturated with volt ads, makes a guy want to puke.
I estimate that my weekly gas costs are at $8-10 / per week for the two beers I buy for my buddy who owns the car.
We had an 18 wheeler lose its load of steel during rush hour in Houston a short time back. The freeway was shut down for most of the morning. Can only imagine what an acid spill would do. But I’m sure BO and the Energy and Transportation wizards have all these plans in place so not to worry. Right? Kind of like those stupid light bulbs. When Ike hit down here we didn’t have any power in some areas for weeks as well as no or limited gas availability. Can hardly wait to see what those clowns that buy these do then. And those Smart Cars are just as bad. If anyone who wants one of those ever saw one that had tangled with an 18 wheeler they might think twice. People’s brains are sometimes just totally AWOL.
A short time on the 610 reveals that quite well.
I’d rather have the BMW 335d...
But your right with the diesel cars. Simple, cheap, reliable...
Something you can’t say about hybrids.
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