[Outcast_Searcher]

Running on electricity for 100,000 miles makes an EV or plug in hybrid less expensive over time than vehicles with around a $10,000 lower purchase cost. That's a reality which you cannot distort, no matter how much you try. The Volt makes more financial sense at it's price point than any ICE vehicle at or near the same price point. If you think the Volt is too expensive to succeed then so is any Lexus, Audi, Cadillac, and pretty much any vehicle that costs more than $15K.

YOU are blithely ignoring many serious unknowns, given GM's poor quality and customer service reputation, and the newness of the Volt's large battery and technology.

IF and ONLY IF there aren't many maintenance issues, the Volt COULD make financial sense, if it holds up long enough AND the questionable battery life proves to be very good.

If it were a Toyota, I'd be willing to take that chance. With GM - no way.

And oh, by the way, the electricity we use mostly comes from coal -- so the whole fossil fuel and global warming issue is just as prevelant with the Volt as "normal" passenger cars, so I think your "the new world is here" attitude about the Volt is way overblown.

Plus, I don't like lower middle class people helping pay the $7500 federal subsidy for some rich "look at me" type clown to own a Volt.

[vtsnowedin]

IF and ONLY IF there aren't many maintenance issues, the Volt COULD make financial sense, if it holds up long enough AND the questionable battery life proves to be very good.

.

I can't see as even that improbable outcome makes the Volt a sensible choice. Just too much money up front to ever overcome.
I agree totally with the rest of your post.

[Keith_McClary]

Plus, I don't like lower middle class people helping pay the $7500 federal subsidy for some rich "look at me" type clown to own a Volt.

Have you been following the upcoming 2014 Cadillac ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe rumour mill?

[JRP3]

YOU are blithely ignoring many serious unknowns, given GM's poor quality and customer service reputation, and the newness of the Volt's large battery and technology.

The car is fully warrantied, for longer than most people keep a vehicle. If there are issues with the Volt build quality it will be GM's problem. Most people seem to feel the Volt build quality is some of the best from GM.

And oh, by the way, the electricity we use mostly comes from coal -- so the whole fossil fuel and global warming issue is just as prevelant with the Volt as "normal" passenger cars, so I think your "the new world is here" attitude about the Volt is way overblown.

False. In 2011 around 45% of US power was from coal, so that means most, 55%, is not from coal. Even so, a fully coal charged EV is cleaner than any ICE, only a hybrid Prius is cleaner.

Plus, I don't like lower middle class people helping pay the $7500 federal subsidy for some rich "look at me" type clown to own a Volt.

I don't like middle class people paying higher tax rates than the super rich either. The 50 cents per US citizen that the $7500 tax refund cost last year doesn't bother me too much, though I agree it probably should not apply to vehicles over $40K or so. I'm fine with the Volt not getting the subsidy, but it's not up to me.

[JRP3]

Volt sales double in March:
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/04/03/chevy-volt-sales-double-in-march/

The plug-in hybrid car had its best month ever in March with 2289 sold, more than double its February result of 1,023 and an increase of almost 50 percent over its previous best mark of 1,529 set in December 2011.

[Plantagenet]

GM extends duration of VOLT assembly line shut down

GM extends VOLT plant shut down for extra week

Sales are still so poor and the inventory of unsold VOLTs so large that GM is delaying re-opening the VOLT plant this summer.

[Keith_McClary]

Volt sales double in March

European sales of the Volt and its European twin, the Opel Ampera, began in February and the car has been met there with a more enthusiastic reception

Was the increase due to a "Grand Opening" effect in Europe? Fox doesn't say where the sales were.

[Tanada]

The funny thing is when the price of Gasoline starts bumping $4.00/gal in the USA every fuel efficient automobile suddenly gets a sales boost. The Chevy Cruze took an upswing as well as the Volt and the imports thought to be most fuel efficient by the average consumer.

[JRP3]

GM extends duration of VOLT assembly line shut down

GM extends VOLT plant shut down for extra week

Sales are still so poor and the inventory of unsold VOLTs so large that GM is delaying re-opening the VOLT plant this summer.

Sorry Plants, out of date info

Buoyed by record monthly sales of its Chevy Volt hybrid electric plug-in car in March, General Motors will resume production of the Volt at the Detroit Hamtramck plant one week early, the United Auto Workers told Talking Points Memo on Tuesday night

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1074861_after-record-sales-chevy-volt-production-to-resume-a-week-early

[Plantagenet]

Sorry, Jry. Once again you don't understand what you are reading and posting, even in your own links. Since your own link proved the point against you, you are officially hoisted on your own petard for not even understanding your own link.

As I noted above, GM is closing the VOLT plant for an extra week this summer because they still have too many VOLTS and too few buyers.

In addition to my link, this is confirmed in your own link: "LaForest noted that the Detroit Hamtramck plant would be shut down in the summer for two weeks for routine maintenance of equipment, plus one week to re-align Volt supply with demand. LaForest said the UAW was still hopeful GM could shave one week off that temporary shutdown as well."


Jry is once again hoisted on his own petard!

[JRP3]

OK, you got me on that one

[vtsnowedin]

Apparently others are beginning to do the math.
I doubt if it can be considered a serious number as the Volt won't last 27 years to break even point.
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/bl ... ybrid.html

[Plantagenet]

The VOLT is in a tricky spot right now. Because of the very poor sales of the VOLT in Jan and Feb, they've currently got two months supply of VOLTs already built....and some (most?) of these have the older battery design that repeatedly caught fire after NHTSA collision tests, now retrofitted to make them safer, even though NHTSA now says there isn't a fire hazard in spite of the fact that VOLT batteries repeatedly caught fire after their tests.

GM has a backlog of VOLTS equivalent to 61 days worth of production

On the other hand, GM sold over 2000 VOLTS in march so maybe the car is starting to get some traction with the current high gas prices. With the 4-week long shutdown of the assembly line in spring, and then another 3 weeks more shutdown planned in the summer, GM should be able to move the backlogged inventory. For the future GM will start building VOLTS with a new, more fire-resistant battery system, and they still have hopes of getting VOLT sales much higher---up around the 3000 per month level.

[Revi]

I think the Volt is a great car for a lot of people. The fact that you can plug it in anywhere is going to make it much more useful for a lot of people. The age of the car is ending soon anyway. These cars may be the bridge to another kind of transportation. Once people get used to plugging their car in we can get rid of the ICE motors, and switch to a smaller more efficient electric car instead of driving around in fossil fuel burners.

[JRP3]

The VOLT is in a tricky spot right now. Because of the very poor sales of the VOLT in Jan and Feb, they've currently got two months supply of VOLTs already built....and some (most?) of these have the older battery design that repeatedly caught fire after NHTSA collision tests, now retrofitted to make them safer, even though NHTSA now says there isn't a fire hazard in spite of the fact that VOLT batteries repeatedly caught fire after their tests.

Still with this fire nonsense? One Volt caught fire, three weeks after a test. The other fire was on a bare battery pack that was penetrated in a test. One other bare pack just smoked for a bit and then stopped. Not one single Volt has had a fire in the real world. Now that Faux is starting to flip flop on it's Volt bashing the minions might start to wake up and realize it's better to run on American electrons instead of foreign oil.

[Keith_McClary]

We don't seem to have a recent hybrid vehicle thread, so I'm posting this here, even though it doesn't mention the Volt:
Many hybrid-car owners buy once -- but not again, Polk study says

While the choice of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles for sale in the U.S. continues to grow, more buyers than not are deciding against the technology when they go to buy another car.

Only 35% of hybrid vehicle owners chose to purchase a hybrid again when they returned to the market in 2011, according to auto information company R.L. Polk & Co.

If you factor out the super-loyal Toyota Prius buyers, the repurchase rate drops to under 25%.
...
Hybrid vehicles represent just 2.4% of the overall new vehicle market in the U.S., according to Polk, down from a high of 2.9% in 2008.

H/T Slashdot

[Plantagenet]

fire nonsense...

If it was nonsense, why did the VOLT issue a recall of every single VOLT on the road so they could fix the problem?

battery fires result in GM recalling all VOLTS to fix battery problem

Why not face facts, Jrie? GM recalled every single VOLT they had ever sold and modified them to fix the problem---- But in your fantasy world this never happened? SHEESH!

[Outcast_Searcher]

We don't seem to have a recent hybrid vehicle thread, so I'm posting this here, even though it doesn't mention the Volt:
Many hybrid-car owners buy once -- but not again, Polk study says

While the choice of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles for sale in the U.S. continues to grow, more buyers than not are deciding against the technology when they go to buy another car.

Only 35% of hybrid vehicle owners chose to purchase a hybrid again when they returned to the market in 2011, according to auto information company R.L. Polk & Co.
...

H/T Slashdot

From the article:

“The lineup of alternate-drive vehicles and their premium price points just aren’t appealing enough to consumers to give the segment the momentum it once anticipated, especially given the growing strength of fuel economy among compact and midsize competitors,” said Lacey Plache, Edmunds.com chief economist.

This, to me, seems to confirm my assumption. We need to wait a bit yet, as only recently are really appealing choices (aside from the Prius) becoming available, given the trade-offs like cost, vehicle size, etc.

I kept noticing that for mid-sized cars, that the hybrid performance was really PRETTY DARN PITIFUL, especially given the cost. So unless it was a Prius, it was "no way".

Now suddenly, assuming the 2012 Toyota Hybrid Camry performs according to specs and proves reliable -- for about a $3500 premium and a whopping 43 mpg city for a REAL, quality, top brand car as a hybrid -- I'm all over it. I'm just waiting a couple of years since this is a new model, new hybrid engine, etc -- just to ensure there isn't a big reliablilty "gotcha".

I could be wrong, but with the likes of the Ford Fusion hybrid and others from various makers which have gotten to be much better choices -- I expect those surveys to change. And, BTW, if gasoline gets to be averaging $4.00 or even $5.00 plus -- that will only encourage that trend.

BTW, the Volt is just a hybrid with a big battery, high price and all of GM's baggage. To me, it is one of the worst choices out there for someone who wants to be fairly CONFIDENT they can drive reliably and cheaply for many years

[JRP3]

If it was nonsense, why did the VOLT issue a recall of every single VOLT on the road so they could fix the problem?

Because of all the FUD from people such as yourself, obviously.

[Plantagenet]

So you believe there actually was no VOLT battery problem, Jrie?

The NHSTA engineers who tested the VOLT and the VOLT engineers who worked to come up with a fix, and GM's management recalling all the VOLTs to do the fix, and the dealers and mechanics actually installing the fix on every VOLT ever made ---- that was all a sham?

They were all just pretending to fix a problem that didn't exist?