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Posted on 03/03/2011 5:01:49 PM PST by Nachum
That brings the grand total so far up to … 928 cars. Which, believe it or not, is considerably more than its rival, the Nissan Leaf.
I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t someone want to own a $41,000 electric car that under some circumstances gets worse mileage than a Prius?
Why, it’s downright un-American not to.
Peruse Chevrolet’s February sales release, and you’ll notice one number that’s blatantly missing: the number of Chevy Volts sold. The number – a very modest 281 – is available in the company’s detailed data (PDF), but it certainly isn’t something that GM wants to highlight, apparently. Keeping the number quiet is a bit understandable, since it’s lower than the 321 that Chevy sold in January…
Ouch. The big questions, of course, revolve around one word: “Why?” Is ramping up production and deliveries still a problem? Is demand weak? Are unscrupulous dealers to blame? When will sales start to climb? And what are these numbers doing to plug-in vehicle work at other automakers?
Nissan has sold 173 Leafs in two months; Megan McArdle notes that, back in November, its CEO was projecting sales of 500,000 per year by 2013.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
Silver-cloud-lining-wise, however, at least there’ll be enough public charging stations if they keep up this sales rate.
I liked them from 1972 until repair expenses became too high, some years back. Wasn't worth taking them to 250k miles anymore.
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I actually saw a Volt on the freeway yesterday near San Diego.
How did it get from Michigan to California? By rail car I bet.
I actually saw a Volt on the freeway yesterday near San Diego.
How did it get from Michigan to California? By rail car I bet.
If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.
at 40 miles a day it would have taken nearly two months to drive it here. These cars are about as efficient at cross country travel as covered wagons. Who in their right mind would purchase one? And who in their right mind would manufacture one?
The Volt is a product of collective insanity.
Post of the Day in my book. Thanks!
It is still a hugh and series success! Well, when you are a libtard and measure intentions and ignore results.
The Volt has a 9.3 gallon fuel tank. Why not try filling it up with gasoline so you can go beyond the 40 miles when the battery charge runs out? That's what I would do instead of waiting for it to charge up every 40 miles. It gets 37 mpg on the gasoline engine and can go about 380 miles before needing to fill up again.
I mean, the way you would drive to California in a Volt is like how a union worker would do it.
I still haven’t figured out how they claim that car can go 40 miles on a single charge. It has a 150hp electric motor, which uses 112 kilowatts, but only a 16 kilowatt hour battery. That means at full use of 150hp it can only run 8.5 minutes. They can only claim 40 miles across town at 40 MPH and only use 22 HP on average.
When is the last time you floored your gasoline powered car for 8.5 minutes straight?
A 150 hp car should hit about 100 mph and take a minute or so to reach that speed, so flooring a Volt for 8.5 minutes would get you about 12 or so miles down the road.
Sure that's a bit shy of 40 miles advertised, but I don't think Chevy expects owners of Volts to drive them like recalled Toyotas.
They can only claim 40 miles across town at 40 MPH and only use 22 HP on average.
How did you arrive at that conclusion? It does not take 22 hp to maintain 40 mph in a car on a flat road. You only have to overcome wind resistance, rolling resistance, and drivetrain friction. It only takes about 13 hp to keep a slippery Corvette going 60 mph for example, and there is 2.25 times the wind resistance at 60 mph than at 40 mph.
Accelerating there is another story. That's why we can't get by with 13 hp engines in cars. Presumably you won't be accelerating for your entire battery charge however. And it stands to reason that you will decelerate as much as you had accelerated. Fortunately, the Volt has regenerative braking.
Gosh, my 280 hp Honda Accord gets 37 MPG and goes 110 MPH in rural Nevada.
So effectively the Volt is just an overpriced hybrid. And FWIW in most of the United States, it is a coal powered car.... like coal is going to make less carbon dioxide than gasoline.
It is a car made for idiots by idiots.
I hope you didn't buy one because I'd hate to have to call you an idiot.
“It only takes about 13 hp to keep a slippery Corvette going 60 mph for example”
Another urban myth. I hear that often but it isn’t true. A Vette produces far more than 13hp in top gear at 60mph, which means it would be producing excess power beyond 13hp and would accelerate.
That is the huge question. Why did 281 people buy one? Why did anyone buy one?
I bet it doesn't get 37 mpg at 110 mph!
Freepers are so damn stubborn on automotive subjects. When it comes to the Volt, Freepers will only compare it as a pure electric car or as a pure gasoline powered car.
Yes, the Volt can get 37 mpg on its gasoline engine just like your Accord. But how far can your Accord go on a charge?
When you combine the electric charge of a Volt and its fairly efficient gasoline engine, typical gas mileage will be well north of 75 mpg.
If you are looking to drive on 2300 mile road trips, the Volt is not for you. If you don't have a garage to plug the Volt in overnight, then it also isn't for you.
But if you drive less than 40 miles per day as over 50% of Americans do and have a place to charge it, you may benefit from the average 85 cent per charge depending where you live.
According to you, your Accord would need just under a gallon of gas to do that. When's the last time you saw 85 cent a gallon gasoline? Word on the street is that we'll see $5 gas pretty soon.
Using round numbers (30 mile r/t commute, 30 mile per charge for the Volt, 30 mpg for a gasoline car), going to work five days a week will cost $221 annually for the Volt driver and at today's avg gas prices ($3.38/gal), $879 annually for the gas driver. ($1040/yr at $4/gal & $1300/yr at $5/gal)
By the time you hit 100k miles commuting, you saved $8400 in gas at today's avg prices, $10,500 if gas is $4/gal, and $13,833 if gas is $5/gal.
Yeah that's not much for a $40k car, but it just came out. The cost will come down. The first PC (IBM 5100) was $11,000 in 1975; the second one (IBM 5150) was $1500 in 1981 dollars. Could you imagine Freepers back then?
"I can type 30 wpm on my Selectric II and it only cost me $200. Only an idiot would buy a computer!"
So effectively the Volt is just an overpriced hybrid. And FWIW in most of the United States, it is a coal powered car....
You can say the car is 50% coal powered, 20% natural gas powered, 20% nuclear powered, 7% hydroelectric powered, and 3% other powered.
The one thing you can't call it is OPEC gasoline powered car unless you are going on those 2300 mile road trips.
But hey, if you'd prefer to send your petro dollars to Islamic third world terrorist supporting countries instead of American coal miners, nuclear workers, or gas drillers, so be it.
like coal is going to make less carbon dioxide than gasoline.
Only a liberal would fall for that anthropogenic global warming crap... or consider that a selling point when buying a car. That is not something that concerns me.
It is a car made for idiots by idiots. I hope you didn't buy one because I'd hate to have to call you an idiot.
No, I walk to work. For everything else I ride my Harley. I don't even have a running car. (Although when it's finished, it should get about 8 mpg with it's 7.2L engine.)
What exactly is “far more than 13 hp” then? You’re not really showing me much. Are you aware of the 10 hp Geo Metro that can go 50 mph on a level surface?
Post of the week.
LMAO
even more LMAO. Well done sir.....
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