No he was making a point that long range transportation on electric is a fool’s errand. You can do all the long trip stuff on a gasolene engine cheaper than this hybrid. There are cars that get over 50 MPG that make much more sense.
And you can also not find any charging points if needed cause they barely exist. This car has limited usage and high costs and that simply isn’t going to change anytime soon.
The funny thing is I am the perfect candidate for this car. I live only 10 miles from my job so a round trip on electric would be easy for me with charge to spare if I needed to make a small side trip. However, at $50,000+, its a no-go for me.
Sorry, but all the excuses the electric carheads make for this highly subsidized car is simply so much wind. Government pushing these follys aren’t going to change anything. Like someone else mentioned, Asia would probably be the best market for these vehicles if they can ever get the costs down.
“However, at $50,000+, its a no-go for me.”
Why do you feel the need to exaggerate ? The MSRP on a Volt is $39,146 not OVER $50,000.
The purchase price is only part of the total cost of a vehicle. If you drive 40 miles per day between commuting and lunch and errands, you could expect to save $100/mo in fuel costs as the difference between $4/gal gas and $0.10/kwh electricity compared to a 40mpg gas-only vehicle. So you need to adjust the price of the vehicle by the amortization value of $100/mo savings. Did you do that ? Fuel savings over a ten year lifespan makes it equivalent to a $27,000 gasoline vehicle, not a $50,000+ vehicle. Then subtract the $2,000 you won’t be spending on oil and filter changes and mileage engine services over that ten year period and it becomes the equivalent of a $25,000 gasoline vehicle. Did you add that into your cost comparison ? With the $7,500 tax credit the Volt is the equivalent of a $18,000 gas vehicle, but even without that credit any honest comparison would compare it to gasoline vehicles in the $25K price range and not the $50K range.
Did the writer correct the two old farts at the end of the article by telling them the car saves so much money on fuel costs and maintenance that it is really equivalent to a $25K conventional sedan and not for “rich people” ? No, because he’s a fool who can’t do basic math and/or is happy to perpetuate misinformation that supports his prejudice against the Volt. Kind of like some people around here.
Right now you’re thinking about the battery replacement cost after ten years. Today a 16KWH pack is about $8K, but the cost of LiFe batteries has come down by half in the last five years and ten years from now it will likely be under $4K for the Volt battery pack. Compare that to the cost — including labor — of dropping a new engine, cooling, and emissions system into a typical Chevy midsize sedan after ten years and 150K miles. (That’s a valid comparison as a new equivalent Malibu is about $25K and it will be a worthless POS after ten years.) Heck it cost me $2K to have a timing belt and blown head gasket and block truing done 15 years ago ! Ten years from now, a complete engine replacement is going to cost more than a complete Volt battery replacement.