Posted on 07/27/2010 12:04:22 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
DETROIT — The Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in car capable of driving about 40 miles at a time on battery power without using any gasoline, will have a sticker price of $41,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, General Motors said Tuesday.
G.M. will also lease the Volt for $350 a month in the hopes of attracting consumers who want lower monthly payments or would hesitate to buy the vehicle until they are more comfortable with its technology.
The carmaker has begun taking orders for the Volt, using the Web site to direct consumers to a participating dealer. Dealers in selected states, including California, New York and Michigan, are scheduled to begin receiving the vehicle in November.
G.M. had kept the Volt’s price a secret since introducing the model as a concept more than three years ago, though executives had hinted that it would cost about $40,000. The price is considerably more than the Nissan Leaf, a pure electric car that goes on sale for $32,780 in December, but G.M. insists the Volt is a better value.
“You can drive it cross country, and our competition can’t do that,” Joel Ewanick, G.M.’s vice president for United States marketing, said. Nissan’s Leaf is expected to have a range of about 100 miles on a battery charge. The Volt has a small gasoline engine — which will require premium fuel, G.M. said Tuesday — that will give the car a total range of about 340 miles and allow drivers to fill up at a gas station if they cannot immediately charge the battery.
Both G.M. and Nissan are counting on the government’s $7,500 tax credit for plug-in cars to go a long way toward making their vehicles more affordable.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
1) The Dems haven't passed Cap 'n Tax yet.
2) Assume they sell 1 million of them (shouldn't be THAT hard, look how many voted for Obama!) - the cost of electricity will go up.
3) When the cost of electricity goes up, if there isn't enough to charge the cars, zero's energy czar will take the electricity away from US so environuts can charge their vehicles.
4) How much will the HazMat charges be when one of these things gets in a wreck?
5) What are the replacement costs for the batteries and where will the old ones be sent??
Cars recharge at night, there is tons of surplus capacity at night, if running on a timed meter, cost should be lower than average cost of electricity.
Battery technology is really inadequate for the job and your other comments are spot on.
They really need to forget about the electric only range, put about 1-2 kwh of cheap lead acid storage in the car for acceleration and build a more traditional diesel-electric drive train like on a locomotive. Diesel engine connected only to a generator. Wheels driven only by electricity. A small capacity storage to give boost for acceleration and allow the engine to shut off when power needs are very low.
The cost differential would be very small compared to a traditional diesel car, you would get the benefits of regenerative braking and shutting down the engine at stop lights and it would get rid of the heavy drive train.
If properly set up, it would be fun to drive too.
LOL It goes 40 miles in how much time and then has to sit for how long?
What, exactly, do you think a hybrid is?
Parallel hybrids, like the Prius, have two engines providing motion -- gas and electric. The gas engine is the primary drive, with the electric engine kicking in when needed. The Volt is a series hybrid; the drivetrain is 100% electric, with a gas generator kicking in when needed. It has the potential to be more efficient, because the gas engine is always running at its most efficient speed. It never throttles down or idles.
Note the estimated 40 miles per charge for the Volt or 100 miles for the Nissan Leaf are likely figured at moderate temperatures with no use of heaters, defrosters air conditioners, stereo system or windshield wipers.
The stereo draws very little power. If you start the heater or air conditioner plugged in, all it has to do off the battery is maintain the temperature. Keep in mind that climate control and windshield wipers on conventional cars have not been engineered to be highly efficient, because they're essentially using waste power; there's a lot of room for improvement there.
If temperatures drop below freezing range would further be reduced. Recharging the battery takes at least 30 minutes from and electrical outlet. I can't imagine anyone finding these as practical and in the northern part of the country they would be almost useless during the winter.
I'm not an engineer, and I can't tell you how much the power curve for the batteries drops in low temperatures. It would almost certainly be less efficient in low temperatures, but far from "useless." With the gas engine running, you have an efficient car with the same limitations as one with an internal combustion drivetrain.
Hybrids necessarily entail a series of compromises. I think GM has them about right with the Volt. The price is too high, and I'd have to drive one to judge it, but it's got my attention.
Pretty much.
I agree the volt doesn’t make sense now, but not because it costs to much to recharge. At least make an intelligent decision base on fact. I would buy it if it costs 20K, but not 30K+.
So was I. So was I.
But the analogy fails because at that time there was nothing that could do better than that in that price range.
Nothing.
Virtually every car on the road today does what the volt does. Better, cheaper, faster.
Would you have bought that CP/M if there were tons of other electronics that used proven technology that had been progressing for the last 100 years and all of these were better, cheaper & faster?
Of course you would not have, and that is the salient question
Thank you for your post.
You could set my 73 pontiac on fire, and run down a hill...and still wouldnt trade it for this piece of swill...
What model?
lol
1973 Luxury Lemans...Burgandy....350 Cubic inches/ 350 turbo trans...all bone stock....with brother skirts...still has the factory wheels and UFO style hubcaps...bucket seats and a floor console...
Ah....they don’t make them like that, anymore.
I’ve had a few Ponchos....none like that, though.
It makes no sense at any price for me. Cities in Idaho are 20+ miles apart. The damn thing can't make a round trip. Besides, where do I charge it at the distant endpoint? How long do I have to sit around twiddling my thumbs waiting for a charge so I can get home?
Why would you spend a ton of money on something that is only good for local transportation? A golf cart would be equally useful and much less expensive. The short range means city streets. A top speed of 35 MPH would be good enough. I need 4WD in the winter. Six to 18 inches of snow is a common impediment in the winter.
In the current world, I do all my daytime travel on a motorcycle. The Mercury Mariner Hybrid is used only for a big grocery run or a drive of 930 miles between San Diego and Pocatello. The Mariner is used on rainy days too. That's the current San Diego transport profile. At home in Idaho, it is the same in Spring/Summer/Fall. Winter brings on a need for the 4WD and a heater with icy roads and subzero temperatures. Shopping trips to Idaho Falls are in excess of 120 miles round trip. Recreational runs to Yellowstone National Park run over 400 miles round trip. The Mariner does that perfectly...for less money than the crappy Volt that can't do it at all. I have a zero mile commute to work in Idaho as well. The house is also my office. I hop on the bike(s) for local transportation.
Obviously, the volt is not for you. I just don’t understand the visceral hate. I guess the GM subsidies from the FedGov is to blame.
I wouldn't buy one if the label said Porsche, Ford or Toyota. It's a stupid product. You're grasping at straws for an explanation. It's not necessary. It's a flawed concept.
In some ways it would make sense for me, I have a 20 mile commute and if I could charge it at work I would use zero fuel on a daily basis.
Yes, interesting. I'm guessing they want to run the engine at a fairly low speed, and want to run a highish compression ratio. They say you can get more timing with GDI, so maybe that's where they're going.
I would never buy a 1st year vehicle, especially a 1st year Domestic vehicle, and most especially one with unproven technology. That, and $34,000 with the tax credit is still too high a price to pay for a low-performance 4-seat commuter.
Other than that, I really like the Volt and would not mind owning one. Electric car technology is really enticing. The cars are quiet. Maintenance costs are next to nothing. I mean, how many moving parts does the car have? People talk about the cost to replace batteries but never compare this to the cost of an engine and tranny rebuild.
Does the transmission have more than one moving part? I don’t think so. I don’t believe the car shifts. It is just linear power delivery from 0 to redline.
I am interested in a quiet car that has fewer moving parts and very low maintenance costs. But I would wait years for this technology to work itself out and see how it goes.
I would want a sportier car than the Volt. Electric motors generate a lot of torque and can be very very quick off the line and in 0-60 mph.
I hope to own an electric car sooner than later, but not until the technology is proven and somebody makes a sports car or sports coupe for under $30,000 (Tesla price is insane).
We definitely need another 50-100 nuclear power plants if electric cars are to be more than just a niche vehicle. Other than that, I would love to have an electric powered car for the short commute. Electric cars are wonderful in stop and go traffic because you don’t use any electricity when you are stopped, unlike gasoline cars which are getting 0 mpg when stopped and the engine temps are soaring on a hot day in that traffic jam.
The Volt is interesting and I like it but I won’t buy an electric car until someone makes one that is fast and fun and still affordable. I say bring it on. Gas is going to $6/gallon at some point and I would just as soon be able to avoid gas linesa and charge up at home each night than be at the mercy of volatile gas prices.
We are definitely going to need a lot of nuclear power plants and places to recharge cars.
The key here is that the technology is not mature. As electric cars become more and more common, they will increase in practicality. Charging times will decrease and battery capacities will increase. Technology marches on!
If somebody gave me a free Volt to commute in, I sure wouldn’t turn it down.
Actually the fuel your using is being burned at the
power plant to make the electricity, so the “save
the planet” argument doesn’t hold up. You’ll have
to pay for the electricity to recharge at each end.
Your employer will have to spend money to wire
a location for charging and bill you for what you
use and maintenance of the charging area. The
electric drive is quieter than an internal combustion
engine, but that means the blind folks are going to
force a noise maker onto the car so they can hear
it coming across a parking lot. My hybrid has
surprised a few folks who didn’t hear it in a
parking lot when running in electric mode.
I won’t buy a Volt or a Leaf endorsed by that Fag. GM will never see a nickel of my money. Never!
These idiots really think that we are going to buy a car for double???? I hope they choke on every one.
Hey, all you ball-less dudes who bought a Smart Car, go run out and get one of these!! Save the Earth!!!!
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