G.M. Puts $41,000 Price Tag on the Volt (If you had the money, would you buy?)

New York Times ^ | 07/27/2010 | Nick Bunkley

[SeekAndFind]

DETROIT — The Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in car capable of driving about 40 miles at a time on battery power without using any gasoline, will have a sticker price of $41,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, General Motors said Tuesday.

G.M. will also lease the Volt for $350 a month in the hopes of attracting consumers who want lower monthly payments or would hesitate to buy the vehicle until they are more comfortable with its technology.

The carmaker has begun taking orders for the Volt, using the Web site to direct consumers to a participating dealer. Dealers in selected states, including California, New York and Michigan, are scheduled to begin receiving the vehicle in November.

G.M. had kept the Volt’s price a secret since introducing the model as a concept more than three years ago, though executives had hinted that it would cost about $40,000. The price is considerably more than the Nissan Leaf, a pure electric car that goes on sale for $32,780 in December, but G.M. insists the Volt is a better value.

“You can drive it cross country, and our competition can’t do that,” Joel Ewanick, G.M.’s vice president for United States marketing, said. Nissan’s Leaf is expected to have a range of about 100 miles on a battery charge. The Volt has a small gasoline engine — which will require premium fuel, G.M. said Tuesday — that will give the car a total range of about 340 miles and allow drivers to fill up at a gas station if they cannot immediately charge the battery.

Both G.M. and Nissan are counting on the government’s $7,500 tax credit for plug-in cars to go a long way toward making their vehicles more affordable.

[BereanBrain]

how many POS Prius’s are there on the road?

This is GM’s version. No more, no less.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***The Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in car capable of driving about 40 miles at a time on battery power without using any gasoline,***

Nothing new. Electric cars were on the market in 1975 or ‘76. I saw lots of them for sale on South Memorial in Tulsa, OK about that time.

They went over like a lead balloon.

[ryan71]

Not even close to practical.

[manc]

Now that is a much better way to spend over 40 grand than this piece of crap.

[Caipirabob]

Who, in their right mind, in this economy, would spend that money on that !??

A law will be passed so you have to buy one.

I'm series, comrade!

[SWEETSUNNYSOUTH]

I think I’ll stick with my F-150 and my bicycle!

[ecomcon]

I’m not defending the Volt, and I wouldn’t buy one for a host of reasons, but I can’t believe the ignorant comments some people are making.

1. Its range is 40 miles on electric ONLY. About par for the course for an electric car.

2. If you drive electric only, electric cost is about $1.50 to $2.00 per 40 mile cycle, about 35% less than a 40mpg gas car.

3. The car has a 1.4l gas engine to recharge the batteries when needed. This is how the range can be extended to approx 300 miles.

[ryan71]

“The company has said it does not expect to earn a profit from early generations of the vehicle.”

Ha! Didn't take them long to fit in to the gummit culture did it?

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I wouldn’t buy one for a host of reasons

OK, you’ve given us the reasons why it could possibly be a vehicle worth considering. Now please tell us the reasons why it isn’t advisable to buy it...

[ichabod1]

Why can’t we have a diesel electric automobile?

[DCrockett53]

Hell NO!!! I would buy a Corvette and drive it aimlessly around town at 100 mph, being sure to get the worst gas milage possible!!!!

[ichabod1]

People who want to be seen.

[IamConservative]

3. The car has a 1.4l gas engine to recharge the batteries when needed. This is how the range can be extended to approx 300 miles.

Did you find it interesting that it required premium gas? GDI technology perhaps?

I would rather see the donkey motor run on biodiesel.

[RacerXSpeedRacer]

What, don’t you see the similarities?!?!? Its nearly the same..., except for the less expensive Malibu sheet metal, undercarrage, suspension, interior, paint....

Oh, wait...

Nah, come on people, GM wouldn’t change this up on you, would they?

I see the bean counters are still running GM.

[proud_yank]

a plug-in car capable of driving about 40 miles at a time on battery power without using any gasoline

That sounds like terrible mileage, and so what if you are not using any gas? Mileage needs to be looked at as a function of energy consumption, i.e. gas, electric(coal), diesel, etc.

[central_va]

I wouldn’t buy one either.

[taildragger]

Brilliant - let’s make cars the average working Joe can’t afford. They are such morons.

Excellent point. While speaking with one of my auto gnomes I noted they were making a CNG version of their popular car. His response? Yes but the guy working as a Mgr @ Wall Mart still can't swing it so he will buy a used Taurus.

Tangent to this, one of my gnomes was on the Volt. Changes in our lifes I have lost contact. We had some interesting conversations, and note he did not spill any beans, but our discussions are not for here.

IMHO it is a bit of a disappointment, I had hoped the engine would run steady state to get the lowest Brake Specific Fuel Consumption. Instead they are using the electric drive train as a transmission. Interesting? A bit, but far from what was originally proposed. I got some ideas on what could have been even better, but not for here...

[Monterrosa-24]

You’re right... The idea behind it is solid. It is the price tag that is disappointingly steep.

[brytlea]

lol

[KeyLargo]