[Wisconsin Proud]

I caught this hour long show today which was very informative though I must say I was getting tired of all the hybrid/fuel cell/electric car talk.

So anyway, they are showing the Chevy Volt. Nice looking car but $40,000??

I'm sorry but that puts the Volt up against name plates that have alot more cache than Chevy. If I'm spending $40k it won't be on a Volt, hybrid or not.

This has probably been discussed before but it hit me right between the eyes when the graphic showed the price. I think alot of people will see the car and get excited only to have that smile turned upside down by the asking price.

Comments?

 

[beach]

It's been talked about and known for a while, and while the pricepoint certainly isn't fit for everyone, for the first electric car (it's not just a Hybrid, as the wheels are always powered by electric alone with the gas engine just used to recharge the batteries when needed) in mass production, it's part of the deal.

It checked a few people off the potential list, but really not that many. Plenty of people are willing to pay it to have one, and have been on lists for a while now. Plus, there's going to be rather large tax credits. The last I heard was a specially approved $7500 for such an all electric powered vehicle, specifically lobbied for by GM, knowing what the price on their end was going to come out to.

At the $40k pricepoint, yes, there are a lot of choices but nothing that compare to an all new electric car and one that's the first of its kind at, really, that low of a price. Hard to compare "well, I can get this new BMW, or, or...", to a Volt, really. Maybe Chevy doesn't have the cache to go around selling $40k cars generally, but they've been selling SUV's with stickers $50k and above for years in big numbers and people never bat an eye.

So, long story short, it will still be an interesting rollout and as initially disappointing as the $40k number sounded...people still want them, it's a first of its kind really, there will be large tax credits, etc.

 

[Wisconsin Proud]

I hear you on the rebate/tax credits. I guess everyone (taxpayers) will pay in some way subsidize these cars considering the mandates congress puts on these companies to up their cafe numbers.

Beach, have you heard and news about how much electricity bills would be to keep this car charged? I hear how more cars, even a Chinese brand, are fully electric requiring no gas but they don't mention the cost to charge the car. From what I heard, they dont require a special power outlet either.

 

[beach]

Beach, have you heard and news about how much electricity bills would be to keep this car charged? I hear how more cars, even a Chinese brand, are fully electric requiring no gas but they don't mention the cost to charge the car. From what I heard, they dont require a special power outlet either.

That is one very thing I HAVE been wondering about myself. It's sort of the one unspoken fact of electric vehicles, never brought up...what about your electric bill?

Actually, no, it has been mentioned a handful of times as part of a general "xx cents per xx miles based on electric cost", I think, but I'm not sure what it is. It's definitely not extravagant, but think of recharging a really big laptop battery nightly or however often you need to...

 

[Jcol]

I have been following the development of the Volt for some time now. I agree that the $40K price will be a non-starter for many people, however if this car works as GM says it should it will be a significant development. There will be lots of early adopters who will buy it at the $40K mark and then the price should start to come down as more and more are produced and the technology starts to become more main stream. I wouldn't pay $2000 when VCR's first came out either, but I did pay $1200 three years later.

There is a very active Volt site that you might find interesting, don't know the rules about posting URLS at this site but google gm volt and you will find it. I believe I read there that the 40 Mile electric range will cost about .80 cents on your electric bill.

 

[maliblu]

The part I hardly ever hear mention of is the cost of battery replacement...My understanding, for Hybrids at least,is that you have to shell out about $3 to 5 thousand every five years or so to get new ones......As for the $40,000 for the Volt...Better than $140,000 for a Tesla.(correction:Teslas start at $109,000....Much more reasonable)

 

[BillD64]

Based on GM's comments it shouldn't cost any more than $3.50 to recharge the battery overnight. This is based on a standard 110 volt outlet running a full 15 amps charge current for 7 hours at the highest electric rate in the US. That rate is $0.31 per kilowatt-hour in Hawaii.

NY State's rate is $0.18 per kilowatt-hr and a lot of other states are considerably less. Those prices don't even consider getting a night rate meter and paying less for charging.

With the Lithium batteries the battery replacement cost may not be as bad. There may be a trade in program for the batteries since they will have other uses when they are no longer useful in a car.

Bill

 

[Pizza Man]

Anyone know how running the AC will affect how long charge will last before running on gas?

I seem to remember the Prius runs on gas while the AC is operating. Is this the same with the Volt?

 

[beach]

Anyone know how running the AC will affect how long charge will last before running on gas?

I seem to remember the Prius runs on gas while the AC is operating. Is this the same with the Volt?

With the Volt, it's all electric ALL the time. The only thing the gas engine is there for is to act as a generator--like a gas generator you might use around the house--to recharge the batteries a bit and keep the electric only drivetrain humming after the first 40 miles of range are through.

There is no mechanical connection to the drivetrain by the small gas engine, and since the first 40 miles are on all electric only and then still on electric with the gas engine blipping in to recharge it...A/C or other accessories make no change on that, except possibly sucking a bit more juice and making for an earlier gas recharge if driving some miles.

 

[Yury]

With the Volt, it's all electric ALL the time. The only thing the gas engine is there for is to act as a generator--like a gas generator you might use around the house--to recharge the batteries a bit and keep the electric only drivetrain humming after the first 40 miles of range are through.

There is no mechanical connection to the drivetrain by the small gas engine, and since the first 40 miles are on all electric only and then still on electric with the gas engine blipping in to recharge it...A/C or other accessories make no change on that, except possibly sucking a bit more juice and making for an earlier gas recharge if driving some miles.

Yeah, overall efficiency is a big deal for them, I remember them saying that beyond drive train they were also redesigning all of small things that draw power, such as windshield wipers. So no big stereo setups in Volt, I suppose

I think Volt is a great effort, and 40$ price tag at first is ok. The main thing at this point is that it's not hugely expensive as, say, Tesla roadster. 40$ is a good start for a brand new technology. Hopefully over some years following the launch the mass production will lower the cost, but even if it doesn't however many will be sold will provide a good testing pool for further R&D. The main thing is to get it rolling.

Btw, I love the styling, it is so much better than the original artwork couple of years ago.