I'm so excited about the Chevy Volt!

[admiralsnackbar]

To be fair CC, most of the people looking to get this car probably aren't driving more than 40 miles a day.

ALso, are you arguing that coal is more efficient than electricity?

No one's saying it's going to be green as, say, bicycling to work. But it is slightly greener than a normal car.

At this point it isn't even about environmental conscientiousness as much as just being cheap as hell and leery of the oil market in the near future -- especially if you have enough acreage and the know-how to build and install some cheapo windmills (I know... sounds ridiculous, but search google) and/or invest in some solar cells and store the juice for your car or home.

I know this wouldn't work for everyone in the world, but here in the SW it's just wasteful to not exploit the 300+ days of sunshine and/or constant supply of wind in the plains. Money in your pocket.

[Bender]

I'll keep my small gas car, and my mid-size motorcycle

[TeyshaBlue]

you guys havent even touched on the disposal of batteries.

Actually, at the end of it's designed life cycle, the battery pack should have over 70% of it's capacity remaining. It will be suitable for industrial uses. That will offload the recycling for a few more years. Lithium is so relatively cheap right now, that there's not alot of interest in recycling them. Toxco, http://www.toxco.com/facilities.html is the only large company that does this.

[Nbadan]

I'm not going to begrudge anyone for attempting to eliminate their carbon footprint as much as possible.....battery prices are likely to decrease and disposal of these batteries will spark entrepreneurship!

[DarrinS]

Remember why they invented the catalytic converter?

They thought CO2 and water were harmless. Well, now we know that CO2, without which there would be no life, is a deadly gas.

Oh shit. I just exhaled some.

[Sportcamper]

Has anyone mentioned that the Volt is a nice looking car?

[Nbadan]

Remember why they invented the catalytic converter?

They thought CO2 and water were harmless. Well, now we know that CO2, without which there would be no life, is a deadly gas.

Oh shit. I just exhaled some.

I have an idea...stick a bag on your head and breathe in your own CO2 and lets see what happens...

[CosmicCowboy]

Your added electric bill would be nominal, about 1.50 per day....but you get the first 40 miles, about the typical drive for most Americans, free with the volt.....if you spend 120/month on gas that a savings of 1,440 per year...or about 6,000 for the lease of the car, about 6 years..the price for the volt after the tax rebate is 33,500

Where did you get your $1.50? It takes about 100Kwh for a full charge. By my calculations I'm paying about 10.25 cents per Kwh.

Thats more like $10.25 to charge it to drive 40 miles or about 26 cents a mile.

By comparison, a gas car that gets 20mpg at 3.50 a gallon costs 17.5 cents a mile to fuel.

*note* I'm currently checking on that 100Kwh figure that I saw published.

[Nbadan]

from the Chevy site

Electricity is an extremely affordable way to power a car - the average American pays less than 12 cents per kilowatt hour. If the average American drives less than 40 miles, it will cost about $1.50 a day for electricity. That's about the same annual cost as running a common household appliance. To save even more, some utility companies recommend charging overnight for off-peak rates and may even offer incentives to customers who do so

Chevy

[Sportcamper]

You can argue efficiency & toxic batteries all you want CC…The Volt is going to make people in Los Angeles feel better about their carbon foot print…I kind of feel sorry for those polluting Prius owners...Hybrids are like soo yesterday…

[DarrinS]

How long would it take to recoup the 20K that this thing is overpriced?

[CosmicCowboy]

I'm seeing estimates as low as 20Kwh and as high as 100Kwh. At 20 thats just a little over $2.00 or 5 cents a mile for the first 40. (of course adding 10 cents a mile for prorated battery pack cost evens things out significantly)

[Drachen]

I guess 45K isn't that much, if it soothes your envrio-hypochondria.

What do I care what the reasoning is that first adopters use to justify a 45k car? Let them adopt and make things better and cheaper for us poor saps. Oh and BTW darrin, people have been driving 45k cars for ages at least this one has a purpose other than ego (not saying ego isnt part of this, but it does have a whole OTHER purpose too).

[DarrinS]

What do I care what the reasoning is that first adopters use to justify a 45k car? Let them adopt and make things better and cheaper for us poor saps. Oh and BTW darrin, people have been driving 45k cars for ages at least this one has a purpose other than ego (not saying ego isnt part of this, but it does have a whole OTHER purpose too).

I don't care what people pay for a car, but THAT car is not worthy of 45K, IMO.

[LnGrrrR]

I don't care what people pay for a car, but THAT car is not worthy of 45K, IMO.

Well, the free market will decide whether it's worth it or not.

[TDMVPDPOY]

Actually, at the end of it's designed life cycle, the battery pack should have over 70% of it's capacity remaining. It will be suitable for industrial uses. That will offload the recycling for a few more years. Lithium is so relatively cheap right now, that there's not alot of interest in recycling them. Toxco, http://www.toxco.com/facilities.html is the only large company that does this.

i read in the news, theres talk about installing these used battery packs into homes and shit, where they can just charge up during the day and use at night...

[DarrinS]

Well, the free market will decide whether it's worth it or not.

Well, it's not entirely a free market with the tax credit.

[Drachen]

I don't care what people pay for a car, but THAT car is not worthy of 45K, IMO.

I can't think of a reason to buy any car for 45k, at least this one does something that the others don't.

[LnGrrrR]

Well, it's not entirely a free market with the tax credit.

You know what I meant. Either people will think this is a good deal for 35K or whatever it costs after the rebate, or they won't. Time will tell.

[admiralsnackbar]

Well, it's not entirely a free market with the tax credit.

Or taxpayer money subsidizing Detroit for the past 30 years.

[Sportcamper]

Point of order...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle

Cost of recharge
The GM Volt will cost "less than purchasing a cup of your favorite coffee" to recharge. The Volt should cost less than 2 cents per mile to drive on electricity, compared with 12 cents a mile on gasoline at a price of $3.60 a gallon. This means a trip from Los Angeles to New York would cost $56 on electricity, and $336 with gasoline. This would be the equivalent to paying 60 cents a gallon of gas.

[EmptyMan]

It's pretty gross seeing the President of the freaking country going to such an extent to pimp a specific company that he now owns.

[DMX7]

It's pretty gross seeing the President of the freaking country going to such an extent to pimp a specific company that he now owns.

You mean "we" own.

[DMX7]

Yeah, base is $41,000. If they could have kept it under $10K Obama could have followed Hitlers model and called it the Voltswagen.

I see what you did there.

[CosmicCowboy]

Point of order...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle

Cost of recharge
The GM Volt will cost "less than purchasing a cup of your favorite coffee" to recharge. The Volt should cost less than 2 cents per mile to drive on electricity, compared with 12 cents a mile on gasoline at a price of $3.60 a gallon. This means a trip from Los Angeles to New York would cost $56 on electricity, and $336 with gasoline. This would be the equivalent to paying 60 cents a gallon of gas.

Of course at 40 miles a day it will only take a couple months to get there.

[DMX7]

Of course at 40 miles a day it will only take a couple months to get there.

Yeah, bad reference from whoever wrote that, probably Obama.

But the car is still useful. I read that most commutes are less then 40 miles anyway.

[CosmicCowboy]

I see what you did there.

Glad someone did. I thought the people in here would be more history literate.

[Wild Cobra]

It should be cheaper, I would think. Electric engines are more efficient, so I've heard.

Way more efficient... in the vicinity of 80+% IIRC.
Combustion on the other hand is around 50%...

The challenge with electric is in the batteries. Both on overall charge, charge time, and longevity...

Yes, but by the time electricity gets to our homes, it's only something like 50% efficient.

How long before I have to replace the batteries again?

[Wild Cobra]

you guys havent even touched on the disposal of batteries.

No shit, or the fact they are made in countries that don't have the same environmental concerns we do.

[Wild Cobra]

Point of order...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle

Cost of recharge
The GM Volt will cost "less than purchasing a cup of your favorite coffee" to recharge. The Volt should cost less than 2 cents per mile to drive on electricity, compared with 12 cents a mile on gasoline at a price of $3.60 a gallon. This means a trip from Los Angeles to New York would cost $56 on electricity, and $336 with gasoline. This would be the equivalent to paying 60 cents a gallon of gas.

Wait one minute....

A favorite cup of coffee at a Starbucks costs around $4, doesn't it?

40 miles on $4.00....

Where do they sell my favorite coffee for 80 cents? Is this something computated by a journalist who likes cheap coffee?