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Whats there to discuss. The've been touting it for over a year. They kept the final version under wraps till now .. (I think)
I'm really not sure who will pay $41,000 "minus the temporary Fed Credit" for a car that only has a 40 mile range without using fuel.
Sure,there will be a few car buffs and well to do folks that just want to have the current "in thing" for starters but will it have staying power?
I think they have miscalculated all along.
GM is going to be a Prime Target for other Car Companies in the race for the Customers that want this type of car.
Pricing will be a Big Issue for them in the long run.
I said from the Start that GM was making to Big a Bet on this vehicle. Guess I'll have to wait and see if I was right.
Assuming the Volt is recharged overnight from a confirmed renewable energy supply (as opposed to the more common coal plant), the 40 mile range should cover most commuters' daily needs.
Do coal-fired power plants have some mysterious property that would preclude that 40-mile range from covering most commuters' daily needs?
The Volt is going to be a game changer, Unlike a typical hybrid, the Volt is an electric car that has a range extending gas engine that never drives the wheels directly. Unlike the Leaf or Tesla, when you run low on battery power, you can still get to where you are going on a long trip.
It also looks like and drives like a real car, unlike most electric cars over the years.
The average commute for the average American is 33 miles round trip. Mine is 14. If the average commute is 33 miles, then close to half the drivers in the country could use pure battery power to commute on with the Volt. Half the drivers in the US is just under 100 MILLION drivers. Even at max production capacity, GM could only supply 1/2 of 1% of those people annually, and that would still be 500,000 sales per year. You really think that's a bad market to try to go after? Even IF the Volt is perfect for a mere 1% of the total driving market (200 million registered vehicles in the US) that's 2 million potential sales. Again, not a bad sales figure for ANY car. How again is that a bad thing?
We don't require any other car to be perfect for every drive in every possible condition, yet bring out a car liek this and some idiots denigrate it beceause it's not 100% perfect for 100% of drivers.
I did the math, using the charging figures for the Volt (a full charge is 8 KwH) I could commute all week, charging at night, for about $1.50 at MD's current electric rates. Per week. And I could commute all week without every using the gas backup engine. In fact, if I used it JUST for commuting and errands, the gas in the fuel tank could go bad from not using it...
I never require a single car to be everything I need. I have always owned more than one car at a time, for various different roles, from race car to tow vehicle to commuter to custom. A car like the Volt could fit in the stable as a daily driver very easily.
Location: Just East of the Southern Portion of the Western Part of PA
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The Volt is not intended to be a great bargain, and it is not expected to be a big money maker for GM. They are only making around of 40000 of them through 2012 and many of these will be leased.
The car is really more of a milestone car than anything else - its the first of a kind for GM and proof that they can at least build a car with the future in mind. Think of the Volt as kind of an image car that GM can use as a starting point for next generation automobiles.
The Volt is going to be a game changer, Unlike a typical hybrid, the Volt is an electric car that has a range extending gas engine that never drives the wheels directly. Unlike the Leaf or Tesla, when you run low on battery power, you can still get to where you are going on a long trip.
It also looks like and drives like a real car, unlike most electric cars over the years.
The average commute for the average American is 33 miles round trip. Mine is 14. If the average commute is 33 miles, then close to half the drivers in the country could use pure battery power to commute on with the Volt. Half the drivers in the US is just under 100 MILLION drivers. Even at max production capacity, GM could only supply 1/2 of 1% of those people annually, and that would still be 500,000 sales per year. You really think that's a bad market to try to go after? Even IF the Volt is perfect for a mere 1% of the total driving market (200 million registered vehicles in the US) that's 2 million potential sales. Again, not a bad sales figure for ANY car. How again is that a bad thing?
We don't require any other car to be perfect for every drive in every possible condition, yet bring out a car liek this and some idiots denigrate it beceause it's not 100% perfect for 100% of drivers.
I did the math, using the charging figures for the Volt (a full charge is 8 KwH) I could commute all week, charging at night, for about $1.50 at MD's current electric rates. Per week. And I could commute all week without every using the gas backup engine. In fact, if I used it JUST for commuting and errands, the gas in the fuel tank could go bad from not using it...
I never require a single car to be everything I need. I have always owned more than one car at a time, for various different roles, from race car to tow vehicle to commuter to custom. A car like the Volt could fit in the stable as a daily driver very easily.
Although I respect your posts - I disagree that the Volt is a gamechanger. For one thing - I don't believe 1/3 the population of the US (100M) is a remotely accurate way to size the potential market. The average commute doesn't cover other miles driven during the day, nor drivers that need more room, nor drivers that simply cannot afford a $40K car. Many of these drivers are probably students (for example) and they need a $10K car.
For many of these commuters - a pure electric like the Leaf is a viable alternative.
The vehicle is also likely (I believe) to suffer from quality problems. I am not a GM hater - but I just don't believe GM has the mojo right now to make the Volt remotely close to the reliability of a Prius. I hope they pull it off - because the Volt at the very least is technically interesting.
For $33K most people will opt for a better looking, driving, handling, better options type of car. Only the greenies wanting to make a statement would buy this if they have the money. You could buy a simple Ford Focus or Honda Civic and it'd take you over 20yrs to try and make up the difference in gas costs. You're still paying all along for the electricity anyways and no numbers on that have come out yet....they're just going by current prices kw/h.
The Volt is going to be a game changer, Unlike a typical hybrid, the Volt is an electric car that has a range extending gas engine that never drives the wheels directly. Unlike the Leaf or Tesla, when you run low on battery power, you can still get to where you are going on a long trip.
It also looks like and drives like a real car, unlike most electric cars over the years.
The average commute for the average American is 33 miles round trip. Mine is 14. If the average commute is 33 miles, then close to half the drivers in the country could use pure battery power to commute on with the Volt. Half the drivers in the US is just under 100 MILLION drivers. Even at max production capacity, GM could only supply 1/2 of 1% of those people annually, and that would still be 500,000 sales per year. You really think that's a bad market to try to go after? Even IF the Volt is perfect for a mere 1% of the total driving market (200 million registered vehicles in the US) that's 2 million potential sales. Again, not a bad sales figure for ANY car. How again is that a bad thing?
We don't require any other car to be perfect for every drive in every possible condition, yet bring out a car liek this and some idiots denigrate it beceause it's not 100% perfect for 100% of drivers.
I did the math, using the charging figures for the Volt (a full charge is 8 KwH) I could commute all week, charging at night, for about $1.50 at MD's current electric rates. Per week. And I could commute all week without every using the gas backup engine. In fact, if I used it JUST for commuting and errands, the gas in the fuel tank could go bad from not using it...
I never require a single car to be everything I need. I have always owned more than one car at a time, for various different roles, from race car to tow vehicle to commuter to custom. A car like the Volt could fit in the stable as a daily driver very easily.
Finally, a good post! And like yourself and likely millions of other Americans I would probably end up with stale gas in the tank. The Volt is a very good thing but too many morons choose to put their anti-GM blinders on.
Whoever mentioned earlier about installation of the charging station.... well I am pretty sure it is just plain old 120/240 @ 60Hz. There is absolutely no reason to have anything else.
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