GM Volt to get 230 mpg in city driving (dollar, claim, billion)

[jojajn]

I wonder how long it will be before the oil companies start their fear mongering campaign against it.

[Stac2007]

Has any one ever thought that if they own car which can needs to be recharged every 70 miles that it really restricts ones ability to be mobile? Just think that your electric car will prevent you from doing any serious traveling. Does the government want us to resort back to how we traveled over 100 years ago? One must really wonder.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by Stac2007

Has any one ever thought that if they own car which can needs to be recharged every 70 miles that it really restricts ones ability to be mobile? Just think that your electric car will prevent you from doing any serious traveling. Does the government want us to resort back to how we traveled over 100 years ago? One must really wonder.

A horse could probably go farther.

Will AAA's new job be jumping batteries ?

[Icy Tea]

What about using heaters in the winter and air conditioners in the summer? How will they affect the MPG and battery life?

[deepcynic]

Originally Posted by jojajn

I wonder how long it will be before the oil companies start their fear mongering campaign against it.

They have no fear. The GM effort on the Volt has been weak at best. Too bad, done right it could help right the ship.

[compJockey]

Originally Posted by mgt04

Its just not cost effective...at $40K buy yourself a Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Corolla, or even a Prius and it'll take you like 10-15yrs just break even with just the cost of the Volt vehicle. And no one knows the cost implications of your electricity bill. We all see what happens in the summer when the air conditioning is on.

I'm excited about the car, despite not being in a position or need to get a new vehicle. The fact that it might be the first to hit triple digits is exciting.

I did some checking of your estimate.
I'm using 12,500 miles each year by the average driver (roughly based on 3 estimates I found - 12k, 13k and 15k).
And the average new vehicle gets 22 MPG.
569 gallons for average driver, average car in the average year.
Average cost (as of two days ago, not yearly average) per gallon is $2.65

So best case, an average driver with an average car in average town could save $1500 / year.

I'm closer to 30k miles / year - roughly the same 22 mpg.
So I'd be closer to $3000 / year.

Pretty decent estimate from what I can tell, mgt04.

Its a lot prettier (meaner) car from what I've seen, than any of the other eco friendly cars.

Another question is, how long does the average ...
6 years is average ownership.
(based on: Discussion Topic: Average length of car ownership in U.S. (http://knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov/cops/hcx.nsf/discussionDisplay?Open&id=B8B5E7BE067EF33D85257544 004E2071&Group=National%20Household%20Travel%20Sur vey&tab=DISCUSSION - broken link))

So roughly, the car could save $9,500 over the average period of ownership.
Or closer to $20,000 for 30,000 miles/year. (*best case - no gas purchased)

So the question for me would be, is the car worth its cost minus its savings over whatever I would have otherwise purchased?


And I've never liked the idea of leasing a car - but perhaps this would be the perfect car to lease.

Oh, also the car is supposed to include a credit for $7500 - you are probably looking at low 30's in price - if they keep the 40k price.

[compJockey]

Another thing, this video claims the electricity costs from charging come out to 3 cents per mile (off peak charging).

http://www.marketwatch.com/video/ass...5-F5D91731543A

[momonkey]

Originally Posted by rlchurch

Electricity is substantially cheaper than gasoline and electricity from coal is a cleaner source of transportation energy than gasoline from petroleum. Other than those two errors, you're spot on.

Today. After hundreds of thousands of these plug in designs start charging up every night, the cost of electricity will skyrocket for everyone.

Mccain was right about all the above. Without nuclear, coal, natural gas, domestic oil and sensible green energy, plug ins are a vehicle design to nowhere.

[Lincolnian]

40k is the early adopter's cost. The cost of any new technology is prohibitively high at launch. The price will come down as demand increases and supply increases to meet demand. The first couple of years will be high and if the car gets anywhere near the mileage claimed there will be a substantial number of people who will be looking to buy one even at $40k.

Add the Picken's Plan into the equation and electric vehicles look even better.

[Memphis1979]

Originally Posted by Stac2007

Has any one ever thought that if they own car which can needs to be recharged every 70 miles that it really restricts ones ability to be mobile? Just think that your electric car will prevent you from doing any serious traveling. Does the government want us to resort back to how we traveled over 100 years ago? One must really wonder.

Thats why it has the gasoline generator on it to keep the battery charged. The estimated range for the car, before refueling the gas, is about 300 miles. You can drive it 1200 miles if you want, just keep fueling the tank.

The 40 miles is just how long it will run without the gas generator.