landowner

Consumer Reports: GM's Volt 'doesn't really make a lot of sense'

 

 

 

"When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn't particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy," said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto testing center at a meeting with reporters here. "This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer."

Good job, Government Motors.
Here's a take on it by someone who saw this train wreck coming back in late July last year. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/opinion/30neidermeyer.html

"So the future of General Motors (and the $50 billion taxpayer investment in it) now depends on a vehicle that costs $41,000 but offers the performance and interior space of a $15,000 economy car."

 

"Quantifying just how much taxpayer money will have been wasted on the hastily developed Volt is no easy feat. Start with the $50 billion bailout (without which none of this would have been necessary), add $240 million in Energy Department grants doled out to G.M. last summer, $150 million in federal money to the Volt’s Korean battery supplier, up to $1.5 billion in tax breaks for purchasers and other consumer incentives, and some significant portion of the $14 billion loan G.M. got in 2008 for “retooling” its plants, and you’ve got some idea of how much taxpayer cash is built into every Volt."

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landownerPermalink Reply by P.G. on March 1, 2011 at 12:10
I wonder how long those batteries will last before they need replaced and what the cost would be?

landownerPermalink Reply by ledlights on March 1, 2011 at 14:59

Good question - what is the projected lifetime for the Li-ion batteries?

 

Same question loomed large about the Prius batteries early on, but turned out to be no issue at all.  Although the price for their Ni-MH batteries has gone from $8000 or more down to $2500 there have been virtually no replacements necessary for ones that have been driven 200K miles other than ones damaged in wrecks.  I have heard that there are Prius cabs with many more miles than that on the original batteries.  Consumer Reports recently reported on early Prius with 200K miles that they tested - performance/gas mileage was very close to the original stats of the car when new. 

StevewPermalink Reply by Stevew on March 1, 2011 at 12:37

They will have good sales at first. They could be very good for commuting in a city.  If your work was 25 miles away it would be a good deal - but how comfortable is it?

 

Most early buyers of the volt will be people who like to show off - sorry, that's true. It will be a status car for awhile. I think its' real world limitations will kick in within a couple of years.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Parkdota on March 1, 2011 at 15:31
I read where some dealerships in CA are charging 20k above the list price due to demand.  I thought that was wild to pay roughly $60k for the Volt.

landownerPermalink Reply by P.G. on March 1, 2011 at 15:33
The price difference would certainly buy a lot of even high priced gasoline, huh?

landownerPermalink Reply by P.G. on March 2, 2011 at 2:28
Well if you could afford a $60,000 electric car perhaps you could plug it in to your $90,000 solar generator, right?

landownerPermalink Reply by JHH on March 2, 2011 at 5:25

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

we'd need some govt subsidies!


landownerPermalink Reply by P.G. on March 3, 2011 at 3:10
Yes, those solar generators probably have a terrible resale market value, huh?

landownerPermalink Reply by JHH on March 2, 2011 at 1:06
DUH! And what do you do to those nasty batteries after they're dead? Plus, new ones are expensive!

landownerPermalink Reply by Mac Davis on March 3, 2011 at 21:03

There's a lot of metal in the batteries for a single car.  The metal is relatively expensive.  I suspect that there will be a brisk recycling business, even without government incentives.   Heck, people might even start stealing the batteries to sell them for scrap.  


landownerPermalink Reply by Max on March 2, 2011 at 5:46

Recharging cost estimate @ .85 cents.

 

Charger cost: $2500.....(furnished by the DOE)

 

http://www.brighterenergy.org/17690/news/transport/michigan-takes-c...

 

Huh, wonder how many Federal workers will have to be fired to keep shoveling money to these and other corporations? 

 


landownerPermalink Reply by P.G. on March 4, 2011 at 3:55
I wonder  if these electric vehicles got real popular, if it would cause an issue with the power grid if everyone plugged them in to charge all at the same time?

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