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Originally Posted by nick at night
That's why the gas engine is on board.... to keep you from HAVING to charge it up at work. If you need to go further than 40 miles, stop at a gas station as you normally would. And, no disrespect, but comparing a cell phone battery to the battery in the volt is kind of silly. I've yet to hear any case where the battery in a hybrid has inexplicably spontaneously combusted.
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Actually it's not kinda silly. Obviously there are safeguards and a cooling system for the battery, however if one gets too hot because of a breakdown in one of the systems keeping it cool, then kaboom.. Or perhaps an accident hitting a heated battery causing an explosion. These are legitimate concerns I have. Crash test ratings only look at specific crashes at 40mph. We will not know of these dangers until these vehicles hit the road.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Number 3
An EV isn't for everyone. Today you have to have the following mindset: I'm willing to pay more and put up with more inconvenience in order to NOT use gasoline.
It will be a while before it is as convenient as gasoline. Keep in mind, gasoline is basically the cheapest form of energy that can be easily transported to your corner gas station. If there were a cheaper and easier way to supply energy for your personal transportation needs, we'd be using it. That is unless you believe in oil company conspiracies 
So your situation is where most people are. Arguably that is why the government is paying $7,500 to entice you and I to consider that inconvenience more worthwhile.
And that is what the Volt can do, allow you the flexibility to choose the most convenient form of energy. If you have access to the infrastructure you can use electric. If you want to drive on vacation you can choose gas. |
I hear ya. However even with the incentives, it is still very expensive outright. I understand the savings however how much will a new battery cost once its charge is half of what it used to be? What will that make your investment worth in a trade in? At the moment, the numbers don't add up. People who buy a Volt will not be saving money.. Hopefully we can get there with cheaper pricing and a battery replacement program that's affordable etc.. I just don't like an overpriced car already with an incentive paid for by our taxpaying pockets simply because the majority of people in the free market does not want buy one.
I was interested in buying one of these however I will wait to see how reliable they are and what the trade in value's of them will be in a few years. That should be a good indicator of what's to come..