Chevy Volt: 1 Year Later?

[Roy Tucker]

Originally Posted by GAC

Sounds about right. Ya gotta love government.

And there is talk going on - even the UAW is inquiring to know - that GM may move production to China. We'll see on that.

About jobs in China, a very daunting article fromt the NY Times... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/bu...dle-class.html

About the Volt, the cost is very high for the amount of usability you get from it. And also the fact I don't buy a V1.0 of anything. Let it be out for a year and shake the bugs out.

I don't have a problem with the US gov't spending the money for development. The technology has come a long long way. But I do have a really big problem with that investment getting shipped to jobs overseas.

[Caveman Techie]

I keep seeing alot of "Range is a factor" arguments against the Volt, but I thought it had a gas powered generator that would kick on and recharge the batteries so that range was not a problem for it.

That said though, the price point was way too high, if your target demographic is the people wanting to save money on gas, you can't put the price of entry at 30K+ for the base model and 40K for the decently equipped one.

[Sea Ray]

If this is a hybrid car why can't it be driven long distances?

[Spazzrico]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

I did say that for now, they won't work on the large scale. And they won't because I can't drive to Dayton and back from Cincinnati with one.

You can, just one half (or a bit more) of the trip would be running as a gas hybrid. That's why I think plug-ins are the only way to get U.S. drivers using electric. With the longer distances we are accustomed too, we can't rely on batteries alone. It's the big reason I don't see the Leaf being able to grab market share until the infrastructure is built out, whereas a cheaper version of the volt or a the prius hybrid plug-in could.

[Spazzrico]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

Has anyone ever come out and laid out the actual cost of the Volt? It takes money in order to charge the Volt. It may not be gasoline expesnive but that is an added cost that I have yet to see mentioned.

It does raise your bill. the added electricity is significantly cheaper than fuel. The numbers that GM quotes come out to about $0.50 a gallon. Even if they are off 25% that is still huge savings.

[Spazzrico]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

If this is a hybrid car why can't it be driven long distances?

It can, people are misinformed. It is only fully-electric until the full charge runs out and then turns into a hybrid.

[Spazzrico]

I also want to throw out why plug-ins are especially important in areas that are using nuclear power for generation (like many parts of SC). Nuclear stations can't ramp down their output overnight when demand is low like coal plants. The energy that is created is effectively wasted. With plug-ins/electrics charging at night, you end up taking advantage of power that is already being generated and wasted and remove the fossil fuel use from the equation. This is a huge net positive for the whole system. I would love to see nuclear plant running utilities offer some purchasing incentives for electrics since they would be able to get more users and still come out ahead later.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by Roy Tucker

About jobs in China, a very daunting article fromt the NY Times... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/bu...dle-class.html

I saw that NY Times article on twitter. I think it's almost separate thread worthy.

ETA: New thread on the political side, since I expect any discussion on jobs is going to get somewhat political: http://www.redszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93672

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by Spazzrico

It can, people are misinformed. It is only fully-electric until the full charge runs out and then turns into a hybrid.

That helps. I thank you immensely for that clarification...

[paintmered]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

Has anyone ever come out and laid out the actual cost of the Volt? It takes money in order to charge the Volt. It may not be gasoline expesnive but that is an added cost that I have yet to see mentioned.

According to the Volt website, it costs around $1.50 in electricity to fully charge the batteries.

I think the Volt is a remarkable achievement. The GM claim from the beginning was to build and bring to market a car that achieves upwards 40 miles on electricity but without any of the range anxiety issues of an electric-only. They did, and they were the first to do it. According to the reviews, the car itself is well executed.

One area where GM has miserably failed is in the marketing of the vehicle. People simply don't know how it works. Joe Shmoe sees the Volt as a $40,000 car that only goes 40 miles while the Nissan Leaf is $25,000 and goes 80 miles. To a driver, the Volt acts like a Prius plug-in but things are very different under the hood. Only in very limited instances is the gas motor actually driving the vehicle (e.g., steep inclines and rapid accelerations). The other 99% of the time, the gas motor is a generator to keep the batteries charged while the electric motor makes the car move. So the Volt keeps going when the batteries are drained like any other car would. The Nissan Leaf driver has to call a tow truck or a buddy.

Regarding the lack of sales, GM did a very limited role-out of the vehicle. So there weren't many vehicles to sell. They do this because of the technological risky nature of the vehicle. If something were to malfunction with the car, it's much easier to recall and fix 8,000 cars instead of 100,000. The underlying technology will mature as it's sold worldwide, and the cost of the vehicle will reduce while the electric range will increase. Additionally, GM didn't really need the vehicle to sell extremely well for the Volt to be a success. It's a halo vehicle. It draws people into the showroom, people who wouldn't otherwise pay a visit. This drives sales for cars like the Cruze and Sonic.

In short, the sales are disappointing but it's too soon to declare the vehicle a bust. There's a bit more to it than that.

[AtomicDumpling]

The people with enough money to pay that much for a car are unlikely to be interested in a Chevrolet. The Volt costs much more than a Prius and the value is not worth the extra cash. It will take a company like Tesla to really get the battery-operated car market rolling. It won't happen quickly and it won't happen soon, but it will happen.

[RBA]

I read where the government labs at Livermore are having a breakthrough with battery technology that will revolutionize the industry. Let's hope America still has it.

[kpresidente]

Originally Posted by RedFanAlways1966

Give me power baby. Unless technology goes somewhere it is not at today.

I test drove a Leaf. Pickup was incredible. 0-60 faster than any comparable compact car I've ridden in. Gotta remember, you're getting full torque the instant you press the peddle.

[kpresidente]

Originally Posted by RBA

I read where the government labs at Livermore are having a breakthrough with battery technology that will revolutionize the industry. Let's hope America still has it.

Yeah, I read a story like that every week.

[MikeThierry]

Is the future really electric? It seems like the technology is limiting. I don't think America will catch onto a plug and drive system. It's going to take something like hydrogen or a substance that hasn't been invented yet for the auto industry to take that next step, in my opinion.