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.
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.
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.
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.
Freepmail "Lazlo in PA" to be added or removed.
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...
Fake review posted by a DNC mole.
This looks like a Metrosexual guy and his bi-sexual wife pimping for Government Motors.
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...
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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
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