[2010-1SS-IBM]

Originally Posted by fielderLS3

First, something jumped out at me in that article:

"Once the car has been ordered, Volt customer service advisers will contact the customer and take them through a survey to determine if they are eligible for one of the free Department of Energy-funded home charging units from Coulomb Technologies or Ecotality.

If they don't live in one of the eligible areas, they will be referred to another charger supplier that GM will be working with. Because the Volt's 16 kilowatt-hour battery pack can be charged in just 8-10 hours from a 110 volt outlet, customers don't actually have to get a 220-volt charger for the Volt, potentially saving them several thousand dollars compared to a battery EV like the Leaf."

A 220-volt charger costs thousands of dollars!?!?!?!? Isn't it just a step-up transformer? And shouldn't that be something the car comes with if needed? (Perhaps more of a Nissan directed question). That's like being told the car costs this....but this is what we charge for the keys. Kind of makes you wonder what the car will actually cost after dealers and manufacturers are done nickel and diming (or more acturately Grover Clevelanding) the customers for these.



I'm sure there will be a certain niche in the market that will pay anything just because it's a plug-in hybrid. Problem is, at this pricing, no one else will be interested, and the car will only ever appeal to that small niche. You're quote shows it best DG, ultimately its a $20k car (just with $21k of efficiency adders), which is more than enough to pay for all the gas over the entire life of a car like, say, the Chevy Cruse. (so even if the Volt were driving on "free" energy all the time, it still doesn't make financial sense). And remember, like all hybrids, it will get great mileage, but probably nothing close to its EPA ratings (whatever that will be).

Leasing also doesn't make sense. $350 a month + $2500 down is $14,600 for what is probably a 27,000 mile (or similarly low-mileage) 3-year lease. You'll be able to buy a Cruze outright for about the same or slightly more.

Again, I recognize that there is a niche for these cars, but it is just a niche. So lets stop pretending that it can ever be a high volume car without GM finding a way to cut at $10-15k off the sticker without decontenting it.

It's not very economical now, and it doesn't appeal to many people now either. But GM is at least betting a little bit that they can improve the technology enough to become more economical and appealing in the future. Having an operational model will help a lot with that.

Bonus question: What kind of performance mods will the aftermarket make for these cars?