Posted on 08/07/2014 12:41:23 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Actually, I’ve always thought they should have led with a Cadillac version. The technology is not unsound but the price is insane. $35K for a $15K car and a $25K engine doesn’t work.
All momentum is lost introducing g the Cadillac version now.
But, given the overall cost of the car, their per mile cost is likely far, far more than any other car on the road. Since they are elderly, I assume they don’t drive a significant amount.
I have to respectfully disagree about leading with a Caddy.
It’s important to GM that Cadillac be perceived (again) as a premium brand. That means to me that significantly different technology should only be introduced to the Cadillac brand if it provides a top-of-the-line performance. If the performance is mediocre, or untested, it depletes the value of the brand.
Maybe I should forgive and forget, but the Cadillac Cimarron, an up-badged Chevy Cavalier, made me very cynical about this sort of thing.
While I am not a fan of the GM Volt....
False, when the battery ran out of charge, the gas engine started and the car never stopped. He didn't make to work on only electric. The car made the trip.
In fact, Bolling’s video of his second drive to work showed the car seamlessly switching from EV mode to hybrid mode. The Volt didn't “break down.” Bolling made it to work and after one week reported his findings… the ones he wanted to find.
His chief complaint, as indicated above is that the car switched from electric to hybrid at only 25 miles.
I'm not a fan of the Volt, but the car is bad enough on it's own. We don't have to make up false claims to make it look worse, reality is bad enough.
And here is the problem of EVs. To become profitable, they have to be driven a lot. But they cannot be driven a lot because they require a lengthy charging cycle. As result, they never cross the threshold of financial viability.
A Volt makes the problem worse because it is not a long range EV, and it is not an economy gas car. If those friends don't drive a lot (say, 10-20 miles per day) then they definitely will use mostly the EV mode. Let's ignore the cost of the hookup and of the energy. Then the car's use is free... but you paid premium of at least $20K as a lump sum, up front. This investment buys you right now 5,000 gallons of regular gasoline, and any econobox (say, with 30 mpg - let's be generous today) gives you 5,000*30 = 150,000 miles! This means that you prepay for all the gasoline that you will ever use in a regular car if you buy a Volt. Furthermore, nobody buys 5,000 gallons of gas and stores them at home. We pay as we go - the remaining part of $20K can be used for other purposes, invested or spent on something else.
And there is another little detail: if they drive the maximum EV range (40 miles) every single day, never use headlights or heater, never encounter wind and never climb hills, then they will need 150,000 / 40 = 3,750 days, or a bit more than 10 years to reach that point. I admit that after those 10 years and 150,000 miles a Volt becomes profitable... but only to a junkyard owner, as the car of this old age will be simply unsafe to drive. People who splurge on such luxuries will not want to drive a jalopy.
The executive summary is simple: if you buy a Volt, you will never see the gas savings for the life of your car, as the EV premium is higher than all the gas costs in the future. EVs should become much cheaper to compete with gas cars. Until then they are nice toys that people may buy only because it pleases them.
I ran similar numbers once and agree. IIRC, my math came out to somewhere around 200,000 miles to break even when compared to buying a Chevy cruze. (Same chassis)
My concept with the Cadillac would be that some Cadillac drivers are more likely to be early adopters who can also afford the premium cost of the engine rather than Chevy drivers who more than double the cost of the car.
What I remember was that the high-school science fair kids that designed the car couldn’t get it to work without a DIRECT DRIVE from that puny engine to the drive train...even though they CLAIMED there was no mechanical link.
They got caught RED HANDED.
Yes, I meant he didn’t make it to work on elec. My reply was to a question about how far it would go on elec power.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.