Volt Sleeps With the Fishes

[motorhead]

After reading this entire thread, I can now see why they are not selling ,and it almost caused me to change my mind about the car. I guess the world just isn't ready for a car like this yet.

[8cd03gro]

Originally Posted by motorhead

Just wondering from the guys in the know here. Why do you think this is when gas is quickly approaching five bucks? I thought with the tax incentives that this car would have been a hit. It doesn't seem like the public is ready for a car like this.
I had the pleasure of driving one the other day ,and I was very impressed with the quality of build, the styling and the performance.

Discuss.

The people that are really worried about being able to afford gas aren't able to purchase a vehicle as expensive as the volt anyway. The target market for the car is very slim. You want people that are concerned about gas mileage, but are willing to spend Cadillac money.

[Blownhotrodder]

Why buy a $40K+ volt when you can buy a nice new car for under $20K that gets equally great mileage?

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by Blownhotrodder

Why buy a $40K+ volt when you can buy a nice new car for under $20K that gets equally great mileage?

Please enlighten us all. What car that costs under $20k gets an EPA rating of 94 MPG?

[ffrcobra_65]

Originally Posted by Blownhotrodder

Why buy a $40K+ volt when you can buy a nice new car for under $20K that gets equally great mileage?

Originally Posted by Mr_Draco

Please enlighten us all. What car that costs under $20k gets an EPA rating of 94 MPG?

"equally" is inaccurate. But there are cars out there that get great mileage under $20k and it comes with a whole lot less "what if".

['11CamaroLS]

i think the volts cool. and i think the people buying them arent the people worried about mpg so much cause they could just go get a sonic but worried about saving the world with little polution lol.. its good they have the volt tho cause with the volt that raises Chevys MPG average, cause dont they have corporate averages companys have to meet up to? with the volt being rated so high it makes up for all the other v8s getting mediocre mpg.

[ffrcobra_65]

GM should have given away a few of them to Hollywood stars. Every time I go to a Lakers game or just driving around or having breakfast in Santa Monica or similar hot spots, I always see a Hollywood actor/actress in a Prius!

[Number 3]

Ah, what a fun thread.

Originally Posted by Indpowr

Once they make an EV that can go 200-300 on a charge we will consider it. The Telsa Model S does everything we like plus looks amazing..

But Tesla doesn't have the range they plunked on their website. That is their test in the their conditions. Tesla sued Top Gear when the reported that they got 50 miles range (with rather spirited driving). But keep in mind it weighs next to nothing and is simply a 2 seater. Volt is a car you drive on vacation comfortably with luggage. I know guys that have.

Originally Posted by GEEo

$39k is a lot better for what the dealers are asking for the Volts around here.

One dealer here localy is asking $52k for the volt. I think that's just overkill.

Compared to the Pruis, the Pruis only starts at $23k!! That's a hell a lot cheaper compared to the American Hybrids. but the volt does look the best in all of them Tho.

As mentioned there isn't a reason for a price mark up especially on a car selling so poorly right now...................UNLESS THE DEALER IS AN IDIOT.

Originally Posted by Ject

at that price I rather buy something else. If it was 20k-30k I'd consider it.

It would be if batteries were free. Sadly right now they aren't. A huge amount of the cost of the Volt is simply the extra propulsion system.

Originally Posted by GEEo

The Volt has been in the Market for to long to have a Mark Up that much. Having a mark up is overpriced. Yes the Camaro did have a mark up but did not last this long.

I agree that the volt has more technology than the Pruis. But the Pruis is selling even tho it's inferior compared to the Volt. Because its not overpriced and doesn't catches on fire. lol

I don't see this EV cars lasting verny long.



You can get a brand new 3 series with that price!

But you can't run as an EV only in the Bimmer. Volt is the only car that gives you the choice to use ZERO gas if you want.

By the way, I'm not sure what you think will take over for EVs. Electric propulsion is here to stay. Now whether you use batteries or something else to provide the juice is another story.

Originally Posted by GEEo

Hhaha. I guess.

Theres other alternatives other than EV. What about those Hydrogen Cars?

I've read somewhere that a guy in the Philippines had successfully made a car fully functional with water as fuel.

Many Car Company's offered him Millions to buy that car. And I believe GM wus the one he sold it to. Not sure on that tho.

Anybody heard about this?

Those hydrogen cars (GM had the "In your Driveway" demo fleet and Honda has a few on the road too) cost over a quarter of a MEEEEEELION dollars. A long way from practicle and if you think the Ethanol discussion was bad, look into how much energy it takes to free hydrogen from water. It's a negative engery model.

Originally Posted by derklug

At a recent auto show GM made the mistake of putting the Volt at 44k next to a Cruze at 19k. My son looked at both and decided he would rather have the 100,000 miles of free gas with the Cruze than the interior upgrades of the Volt.

But with the Cruze, you can't choose to be gas free no matter how hard you try.

Originally Posted by GEEo

If the Gas Prices do go up to $5 a gallon which eventaully will. People will turn to EV's.

And that could be the end of our Big V8's!!

CAFE already did that...............$5 per gallon gas might just speed up the process.

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

They could find full time employment if they re-opened the Trailblazer/Envoy assembly line.

I belive Moraine is now a parking lot. :(

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

They have created their own problem here. This news is already a couple of days old, yet I sit down and watch a couple programs tonight on TDC and I have been subjected to commercial after commercial for the Volt. They stuffed commercials for the thing into the Superbowl as well... and that one was particularly revolting "The car America HAD to build..."

They know the car is radioactive right now and a political football and they don't have the sense to shut up about it? Everyone knows about the Volt already, so advertising it incessantly is only annoying people who wouldn't buy it anyway and making them dislike the brand.

They need to cool it and do some sort of tastful reworking of the commercials and reintroduce the car like any other car. I do not appreciate being hit over the head with this thing every time I turn on the TV.

But Captain you aren't the intended audience for those commercials.

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

Just for the record, to completely prevent a fire you must REMOVE the battery after an accident. The Lithium in the battery itself can catch fire because it reacts with oxygen. Damage to the battery can lead to exposure of the Lithium and eventual fire.

And a 12 V battery in your car can also lead to a fire after an accident......just sayin'

Originally Posted by CooG

The wifey sent this to me via email the other day......

Cost to operate a Chevy Volt - Eric Bolling (Fox Business Channel's Follow the Money) test drove the Chevy Volt at the invitation of General Motors.

For four days in a row, the fully charged battery lasted only 25 miles before the Volt switched to the reserve gasoline engine.

Eric calculated the car got 30 mpg including the 25 miles it ran on the battery. So, the range including the 9 gallon gas tank and the 16 kwh battery is approximately 270 miles. It will take you 4 1/2 hours to drive 270 miles at 60 mph. Then add 10 hours to charge the battery and you have a total trip time of 14.5 hours. In a typical road trip your average speed (including charging time) would be 20 mph

According to General Motors, the Volt battery hold 16 kwh of electricity. It takes a full 10 hours to charge a drained battery.

The cost for the electricity to charge the Volt is never mentioned so I looked up what I pay for electricity.

I pay approximately (it varies with amount used and the seasons) $011.6 per kwh.

16 kwh x $011.6 per kwh = $18.56 to charge the battery for 10 hours.

$18.56 per charge divided by 25 miles = $0.74 per mile to operate the Volt using the battery.

Compare this to a similar size car with a gasoline engine only that gets 32 mpg.

$3.19 per gallon divided by 32 mpg = $0.10 per mile.

The gasoline powered car cost about $15,000 while the Volt costs $46,000.

So Obama wants us to pay 3 times as much for a car that costs more that 7 time as much to run and takes 3 times as long to drive across country.

REALLY?

Bad math. Boooooooooooooooo

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/chevyvolt.asp

Want to try that again?

Just another example of what I'm talking about. People in this country WANT the car to fail.

People think the Volt is tied to the Government involvement and the bailout. Volt was a program well before either occurred. Check the date that the Volt was first shown at the NAIAS. Then check the date of the bankruptcy.

Originally Posted by Russell James

Wifey needs a better news source. A reporter that fails at basic fact checking
is pretty much not really a reporter. We call those types blowbags.

blowbags.............love it!

Originally Posted by PAUL SS

They want $1499 down and mileage is 10,000 per year.
Let's face it, the Volt is not for everyone, but fits my wifes driving habits.

It isn't for everyone and GM has never said it was. You get it, many don't. It works for some people and it's that simple. Just like the Camaro doesn't work for everyone (I know that's hard to hear on a Camaro website)

Originally Posted by CooG

She was just passing on an email she got and sent to a car nut (me). I read it thinking something a'int right about this....never took it too seriously.

Never meant to post the info as fact.... thanks for the Snopes link. I sent it to all the people on her email.

Good recovery. You are forgiven.

Originally Posted by Russell James

You also have a lot of money invested in Ford's alternative energy vehicles...
and a few other car companies that lined up for DOE money.

When the DOE created a 25B loan program for alternative energy vehicle development.... which was actually a wink wink... bailout program... Ford was one of the first in line asking for 11B, and they received 5.9B.

Then advertised proudly how they build their cars without any taxpayer
money. Last I checked, money from the DOE is 100% taxpayer money.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...rgy-loan_N.htm

Just in case there was any misconception that the Volt was the only alternate energy vehicle out there built with the support of taxpayer dollars. It's one of many. Just the most popular headline.

I saw the list of the DOE requests from the industry. My recollection was Ford was the bigges piggie at the trough. They were proposing projects that GM had implemented years earlier for FE improvements.

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

and mileage is everything? There are other more important factors...like proven reputation and reliability.... in this econony, these are two major things the average american buyer will surely weigh before spending $40k+ on a commuter car. The American buyers decided, the result is death for the volt.

The American buyers haven't decided anything yet. Way to early. The Volt and sister Opel Ampera just won car of the year in Europe. In a year if it's still in the dulldrums, maybe. But GM will, just like they have with the Camaro, continue to improve the Volt. The technology will improve, the battery will improve and costs will improve. It's just bound to happen.

Originally Posted by Blownhotrodder

Why buy a $40K+ volt when you can buy a nice new car for under $20K that gets equally great mileage?

Again, the Volt offers you the ability to NOT use gas if you choose. For some people, people not often on muscle car websites, this is a hugely important factor. And to have a car that allows you to be gas free at your choosing but then be able to drive 500 miles also at your choosing is HUGE.

The Volt was made around two key points. EV when you want to and eliminate range anxiety, the number one consistent concern for people considering buying an EV.

[MauriSSio]

Originally Posted by motorhead

... I guess the world just isn't ready for a car like this yet.

the world isnt ready to spend 40,000 large ones to save a little gasoline.


how much waste and energy does it take to make and destroy the batteries?

[WE485]

WOW! Im not going to quote it, but that's the longest responce I have ever seen. good job sir.

[AZCamaroFan]

I personally have always thought they should have started it out with the Cadillac version. Fits the price range better, and maybe even decline the government 7K incentive.
i think the two thing's working against are the price and the fact that it's new Tech. a lot of people probably are not sure how it works.

[c_LoW29]

Originally Posted by 8cd03gro

The people that are really worried about being able to afford gas aren't able to purchase a vehicle as expensive as the volt anyway. The target market for the car is very slim. You want people that are concerned about gas mileage, but are willing to spend Cadillac money.

I disagree with this statement. Most of the people who are trying to save on gas are the penny pinching savers that have a lot of money saved up but choose not to spend a hefty amount of money on a car whether it be a gas saver or fuel burning high hp sports car.

[drummer5679]

Electric cars never have been and most likely never will be practical, or economical. Hydrogen power will most likely be the fuel cell "of the future" because its just as easy to refill and time efficient as gasoline and costs about the same. The volt was a huge blunder on gms part and a lot of money wasted that could have gone into the camaro or Corvette or future projects.

I disagree with the comment about lack of infrastructure for hydrogen powered cars. How hard could it be to convert old gas stations into hydrogen stations? Honda already has a working hydrogen powered car so while it does bot have the 100 year history of the combustion engine, its hardly in its infancy.

Not quite sure how credible this website is but its interesting to say the least. Note the article is from 2009.

http://www.h2carblog.com/?p=215

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

and mileage is everything? There are other more important factors...like proven reputation and reliability.... in this econony, these are two major things the average american buyer will surely weigh before spending $40k+ on a commuter car. The American buyers decided, the result is death for the volt.

I have yet to hear any LEGITIMATE quality issues with the volt. The whole "battery catching on fire" incident doesn't count, as it was clearly shown that the fire popped up after a crash test and the batteries were not disconnected afterwards as they normally would have been, in other words: not a real world situation.