It'llrun

http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/ca...chevrolet-volt

Seems they're okay with it, but convinced it's not the saviour of the auto world, just a nice car worthy of consideration for those wanting to "save the planet" or whatever...

They do think it's expensive, but then they recommend LEASING it rather than buying. I agree, at this point. On the other hand, I don't lease unless from a rental company and I'll be bringing it back in 2wks or less.

Not a rave review, but I think it's fair.

TriShield

That could be said for all of these new EVs coming out.

It'llrun

I suppose, but the LEAF is the only true EV I can think of and it's quite a bit less expensive. Like any alternative, it's limited in range. That said, it seems you can take the Volt and go(which always seemed the case), filling when needed.

Many people seemed to think that range listing meant it had to go back home(or to some plug in source), even if by tow truck. With the LEAF, that would be the case. The VOLT, no, because it's not a true EV.

The plug in concerns me... Takes WAY too long to recharge the vehicles. From what I remember, and maybe it was some other plugged in... 8hrs with the 220v to charge the VOLT... That's 7hrs 45mi too long for me, though I expected it would need at least 5... with a 120v, that is. Eh, they're just not what they will be someday... If only Tesla were still around to offer wisdom...

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

I thought that article was fair and un-biased.

It'llrun

Just from how this thread has "taken off," I'm guessing interest in the Volt isn't all that high. They did a pretty good job on the article and I'd expect people to start debating the merits if there was any real interest... Just me.

I saw... I forget the guys name. Anyway, he drove a Volt around during his show and talked about how much he liked it... He IS a paid GM sponsor, however. Besides that, I don't have the same tastes as he has, based on the GARBAGE BANDS he gets on the show and raves about. I mean, I can't even make out the words from most of them, but he talks about how great it is... The music, I get... The noise, not so much. ANYWAY, he really liked the car. I wanna say it was Carson Daily. Late show... way late.

It did look funny when the passenger side cameraman would get into the pic from the front view. Kinda made the car look REAL small.

fspeedster

iTrader: (6)

What's your point?

It'llrun

Pretty obvious, most people don't hold much interest in EV's.

fspeedster

iTrader: (6)

Not on this Forum at least. I think all Automakers will continue to come out with different types of Hybrids. The future will be interesting thats for sure. I'll keep my v8's in the mean while.

It'llrun

Not much of anywhere, truth be told. I believe GM expects to sell more to GE than the rest of the country for maybe the next 2yrs... if they can get GE it's 12,000. Volt is in limited production, so it's hard to say. 326 sold in December according to 2 articles I saw. Btw, 19 LEAF cars sold. Somehow, and I'm not sure I believe it yet, Toyota sold over 15,000 Prius... The most ever in a single month, after having lagged behind all yr long, according to Toyota itself. Something seems real fishy about that one. More Prius were sold than all other widely known EV's combined during the mo of Dec... I'm not sure how correct that is, but from what I've read...

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

This thread is your indication of the demand for this car??

I stopped off at the stealer-ship today and picked up a few things from the parts counter and decided to stop in the showroom and see if they had any Volts...





I also saw the sticker, looks like the EPA finally came up with something...







I talked to the manager to see if I could test drive it or if he had any for sale and he said that they had three Volts, none of which were for sale as the one that I saw was already sold and the two other were pre-ordered and arriving that day. He doesn't know when he'll be able to order more. I really wanted to test drive it.

It'llrun

One of the articles, possibly the one at the top of this thread, said the dealerships already know how many they'll be getting for the yr... So if they don't know, they're not getting anymore, apparently. These aren't offered in all states, clearly due to limited availability at this point.

Why didn't you add the sticker price as well? The EPA figures were mentioned in an article about 1-2mo ago (written by a "actual road" test driver) and those are the same as in your pic, or at least they seem to be. Yeah, I remember 37/93 from somewhere.

Seems like a concern may be the cost of electricity rising... Which is part of at least 1 government officials plans(but it's only the President). If electricity costs double, there's really no savings anymore... even in all electric mode.

Finally, as I said, it appears there isn't much interest overall... GM has an order list for the Volt, and I think it's around 20K... Let's hope they can sell that many yr after yr. I mean, it can't hurt the cost of gasoline for the rest of us, right??? Gasoline here has gone up 10cpg in the past week.

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

Chevy sold 326 out of 350 vehicles for sale in a little under 10 days in which the car was available for purchase. Seems to me there's plenty of interest

Sticker read $42K and change, don't remember it exactly.

OMG...there's a possibility that electricity may rise?? We're doomed!! Stop the presses. Burn everything that consumes electricity!

I wonder if people could use small solar panels and wind turbines to harness electricity?

fspeedster

iTrader: (6)

I actually think it's a great car (minus the price) if you plan on using it as intended, meaning under 40 miles between charge. If the car comes out to be RELIABLE it will do great!

BanditTA

iTrader: (3)

The price will go down, the CEO has ordered a drastic cost cut be addressed, they are looking at ways to remove cost currently. That was on CNN the other day.

Regardless of what people think, it will sell and be a hit. We all said the same thing about the prius, this car is years and years ahead of that thing. Look at how successful that car has become. In previous years GM made hallow cars,cars to draw people in showrooms even if they didn't buy that car (e.g., mid 90's impy SS). People will visit dealerships just to see and ask about Volts and possibly leave with a new car that isn't a Volt.

ss1129

iTrader: (16)

LOL the leaf sold......wait for it......wait for it........19 cars for December.


Anyways, Ford has an all electric Focus coming out too.

It'llrun

Added background info: Back in August of 2009, a new plant was announced. It's goal was to (at full production) create 70,000 battery packs per yr for the Volt. The batteries were expected to come to the plant from Korea for assembly into packs and the expected cost of the packs was $8,000 apiece and contain 220 cells each.

Hmmm... Not much available in options, or not much in the way of ordering options? Even if the 350(some say 360) is accurate, it's hard to convince people there's plenty of interest in owning the Volt just yet. After all, when the new Camaro hit showrooms, I'm willing to bet more than 326 sold during the 1st week. I'm only guessing that more were delivered the 1st or 2nd day, several of which were in the 42K price range and all of which will need more gasoline to drive the same number of miles. Genuine interest in owning suggests all 350 would've been sold. It isn't like 350 is a massive number when potential customer base is over 100,000,000. Part of Volt sales, roughly 100, supposedly went to fleet use. That means the GP may have only purchased 226 of them.

Besides, GM claims over 1,000 customers per day are buying GM and leaving a different brand in the process. Having duly noted that claim, 326 in 2 weeks is a pittance. Added: Considering the hype the Volt got was about a match for the new SS... It amounts to about .023% of sales (going with a full 14 days of sales). Having been told interest is so high and preorders were high as well, I'm just waiting to see it happen.

In 2012, I think sales will dramatically increase, due to the aforementioned expected price cut, along with added production availability(which alone should lower cost). If they reach the 45,000 unit goal, that still puts them in the 3-4mo worth of Prius sales range.

I didn't even hint that "we're doomed" or any such thing. I merely pointed out the simply fact, and it is a fact, an owner won't save much if people like Obama get their way. To take from that, the idea I'm saying the country is in trouble if electricity prices go up is more than a stretch. It's flatly ridiculously and patently absurd. Your assertions could use some real world thought.

And, oh, by the way, this came out within the past 24hrs... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/1008...-car-sales.htm

I think this has been covered already. Btw, most people don't show interest in solar or wind powered cars just yet either. Further, since Volt doesn't use either as a stand alone, it doesn't make any difference to anyone who doesn't have those power sources available at all times, and own the "production facility" themselves.

How many people generally park their car for 12hrs daily, after having only driven 39 miles? Many people don't even park for 12hrs in a row during the week. I'm not trying to take anything away from Volt, just pointing out it still isn't exactly practical for the average owner, in the all electric mode. I hope the sales increase... It will leave more combustible fuel for the rest of us.

See post 9.

And we'll see if that's a big seller as well. Considering how popular the Focus has been, I'm of the mindset Ford won't be blistering their lots with Focus EV sales anytime soon.

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

Are you seriously comparing Camaro sales with Volt sales? No wonder you think this car isn't doing very well. Not even gonna go there.

Hence the tier system and off-peak rates, what time of day would an electric car normally charge during? ZZzzzz

Uhhhhh....
You say the cost of electricity is gonna go up, I tell you it can be harnessed for free, you say there's no interest in it...
If the price of electricity goes up...ya think people are gonna take interest.

12 hours? Try 10 hours, do you sleep at night? There ya go!
OR
OR
The Volt exec Tony Posawatz commented that the “Volt battery can/will handle 220V w/48 amps, Just not something we are offering from the factory.” allowing the car to charge in less than an hour, how does that sound?

It'llrun

Basically, you're saying that since nobody really expected great sales, it shouldn't be compared to cars with great sales... However, NO, I wasn't comparing the sales. I was comparing REAL PUBLIC INTEREST in owning the vehicle.

You've obviously fallen asleep instead of reading the full article... It suggests that prices in CA may go up for ANYONE who uses more than the lowest tier... It won't matter when it's used, rather how much is used. Therefore, those with a Volt plugged in at home are at risk of higher electricity prices, even for their cell phones... if charged at home.

In his[Wally Tyner] study, he looked at California, which uses a tiered pricing system to charge customers more if they use larger amounts of electricity. California rates average about 14-15 cents per kilowatt-hour, the most expensive in the nation. But that can get pushed above 20 cents if the household uses more than a baseline amount. Pacific Gas & Electric, for instance, has tiers at 130 percent, 200 percent, and 300 percent of baseline use.

Which of those systems is free? I seem to have forgotten how to make a solar panel without using money...

A better approach would probably be to provide as much electricity as possible with nuclear sources... for now. Still, the reality is, most people don't have solar or wind power at home and won't anytime soon. Those who use either are still going to incur costs. These systems don't build and maintain themselves, YA KNOW!

If you wanna spend the EXTRA COIN to adapt Volt for 220v(and I would, were I to buy a Volt), then great... You can "fuel up" faster. As for sleeping 10hrs... Kids need it. I don't. Further, I never sleep that long even without an alarm clock, unless I'm physically ill or have been up more than 24hrs straight. I may sleep 6, then I've got things to do and, alas, PLACES TO GO!

Btw, what I read this... http://www.insideline.com/chevrolet/...tallation.html

How's 1 hour work? Fine, fine... if it was true... However, considering the cost for the 240v home unit, most may just decide to pass... In reality, it seems the nearly $2,000 unit(including installation- $490 w/o), will charge the battery pack in 4hrs. It may only take an hour for someone who drove a short time, however.

On another note on "fueling," how much of a great idea is this for anyone without a garage, let alone who live in an open apartment complex?

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

Money Money Money Money. You want things in life your gonna have to pay for it. You want new technology, your gonna have to pay for it. You want to charge something faster, your gonna have to pay for it, you wanna get off the grid your gonna have to pay for it. Nothing's free man, you want the world given to you on a platter? Your gonna have to pay for the platter.
Stop your bitching.

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

Not sure how GM selling 93% of the vehicles they had for sale in December an indication of poor sales but whatever.
Everything I've seen about this car leads me to think this car will sell, and it will sell well. Only time will tell.

Done