Posted on 05/19/2011 1:35:01 PM PDT by smokingfrog
I think they've upped that number to 16,000, because of demand. At a taxpayer subsidized $33.5K, compared to $22.5K for a top of the line Cruze, it's not that bad a deal, in exchange for roughly $1K in gas savings a year. The real question is how long the batteries will last, outside of a test lab, before requiring replacement or a major overhaul.
Watt? Volt here, Ampera there...sounds like it’s lost power
truthguy is anything but truthful.
Here’s a link saying GE is going to buy 12000 VOLTS, so the public isn’t buying these lemons.
General Motors has only sold 1,703 copies of the Chevrolet Volt through April, but the automaker plans to crank up the volume for the 2012 model year. GM has announced that it will shut down its Detroit Hamtramck plant for four weeks to prepare for 2012 Volt and Opel Ampera production. The upgrades will enable GM to build 16,000 total units this year, and in 2012 production will grow to 60,000 units; 45,000 of which will be destined for U.S. consumption.
When the 2012 model comes online, GM will begin to open up sales throughout the U.S. The 2011 model is only being sold in California, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The Volt and Ampera will also be shipped to Canada, China and Europe beginning later this year.
During the lengthy shutdown, GM will add new tools, install overhead conveyor systems and other equipment. The General will also set up the plant to build the 2013 Chevy Malibu during the four-week shutdown, though more work will be completed before the mid-size sedan is launched...
“The Volt is going to be a major success. Live with it.”
Heavily subsidized by fleet purchases by General Electric who just happens to be the leading producer of charging stations that will be sold to municipalities.
The buying public is puking over the volt.
>>>General Electric plans to purchase 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015, giving the budding EV business a significant boost.
Initially, GE will purchase 12,000 vehicles from General Motors—starting with the Chevrolet Volt, which has just become available to early buyers this month. The company said it will be the biggest single fleet purchase of electric vehicles so far.<<<
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20022491-54.html#ixzz1Mq8aUxd5
They haven't made many of these yet. As of May 2, a Chicago-area paper noted that it won't be available there until the end of the year:
The new Chevy Volt might not be available to buy in the Chicago area until the end of the year, but those curious about the new electric car in the south suburbs can take it for a test drive.This is Chicago, the 3rd largest metro area in the country. It looks like GM feels it has finally worked out the manufacturing kinks in the Volt and is now ramping up. Bottom line is that GM's production target is 2nd-half loaded. Time will tell if reliability is a problem.While the Volt has only been released for sale in the coastal states, at least two area dealers have managed to get their hands on them.
Are you attempting to make a joke? ANYTHING is a "good deal" if you can get someone else to pay for it. But then, that's the problem, now isn't it?
Thanks for the replies. As far as I’ve been able to ascertain approx. 2000 have been sold as of end of April 2011.
After all the hoopla about DC being one of the first markets the funny thing here in the MD suburbs of Wash DC is that one of the largest Chevy dealers has no listing for the Volt even though had an ad about the end of last year for Volt for 46k. Only ran that one time. Not a peep since then.
Must be selling them at an undisclosed location.
Getting facts about SEAL Team 6 is easier than getting facts from Gov-Motors.
That other fellow sure burns a lot of smoke when he gets to rolling doesn’t he?
And we have a winner for Most Unintentionally Hilarious Assertion of the Day. The primary problem (though there are many) with the Volt is the same one that hybrids suffer from: It is impossible to offset the much higher initial capital cost with lower gasoline costs before the car wears out.
It has been amazing to watch people foolishly pay a premium of $10,000 - $15,000 for something like a Prius (versus a comparable non-hybrid car) because they think they are going to save so much money on gas. They get positively giddy about it. Yet, the reality is that at best, at today's $4.00 per gallon prices, they probably only save on average about $700 per year on gas. So divide $10,000 (taking the lower of the range) by $700 and you can see that it would take over 14 YEARS just to break even! Assume the higher cost differential of $15,000 and it would take over 21 years before the Prius owner started to see a benefit. That just makes no rational sense.
Yet, the economics of the Volt are much worse! And that's before you even take into account the fact that the extremely expensive battery pack has a limited life, which means that there will be virtually no used-car market for Volts. Who in their right mind would pay an inflated price for a used electric car, with a battery whose remaining lifetime would be difficult to determine, and which to replace would cost at least $8,000 and as much as $15,000 (GM has yet to give a definitive cost estimate)? Yep, I guess you're right - It's got major success just written all over it. /s
My post wasn't about taxpayer impact. It was about the economics of purchasing the Volt for the individual buyer. Note that GM's not the only car maker benefiting from tax credits on fuel-sipping vehicles that run fully or partially on battery power. Every car maker that manufactures one does - including Toyota, Nissan and Ford.
You got it. As a life long GM buyer my Pre Obama 2007 Suburban will be the last GM or UAW built vehicle.
Well you could always rip out the electric drivetrain and batteries and put in a Corvette engine with AWD.
How do you figure that’s a good deal? All else equal, it would take 14 years to break even. No way the Volt will last that long.
Remember that any hype out of Government Motors is propaganda to boost the upcoming stock sale. Government Motors is a complete failure and all stops are out to fleece the public on the stock sale.
I’ll buy used pre-Obama GM, but nothing made after 2008. I’ll rebuild what I have, some going back over 30 years (the parts are aftermarket rebuilds), but I won’t buy anything newer from them. Ditto Chrysler and Dodge.
I don't think it's a good deal. With the tax credit, it's just not that bad a deal. For a toy. In essence, buyers are paying $9K extra for bragging rights, much like someone might feel the need to spend a few grand on a home speaker system (a few grand more than I would spend). Unlike most toys, buyers get some of their money back in the form of gas savings (about $1K a year).
Do I think it makes sense for taxpayers to subsidize it? No.
E=IR
“isnt’ that a small number?”
Extremely small for domestic, much less global production. Not even close to being profitable. And keep in mind, that’ in 2012. And I bet they don’t sell that many.
“Who in their right mind would pay an inflated price for a used electric car, with a battery whose remaining lifetime would be difficult to determine, and which to replace would cost at least $8,000 and as much as $15,000”
Reminds me of considering buying a used Dewalt cordless drill. The replacement batteries cost far more than the bare drill, and the Dewalt batteries are total junk. Never again will I buy a Dewalt cordless product. Going back to Makita. I’ve got cordless Makita drills I’ve had for decades and only had to replace the batteries once.
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