Spicedaddy
Platinum Member
- Apr 18, 2002
- 2,305
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For the price of a Volt you could get a Leaf and a used Altima for long trips.
Volt makes no sense.
Volt makes no sense.
For the price of a Volt you could get a Leaf and a used Altima for long trips.
Volt makes no sense.
For the price of a Volt you could get a Leaf and a used Altima for long trips.
Volt makes no sense.
The only place the Chevy Volt makes sense to me is if you live 5 miles from work and all your local shops and stores are also within a 5 mile drive. If your total driving in a day is < 30 miles then it might be better in the long run.
If you drive that little, though, it's especially bad because you'd not be paying a ton for gas in a non EV or hybrid.The only place the Chevy Volt makes sense to me is if you live 5 miles from work and all your local shops and stores are also within a 5 mile drive. If your total driving in a day is < 30 miles then it might be better in the long run.
Drive to work, plug it in, drive home. plug it in. Seems like you could live farther than 5 miles from work.
Probably more like 20-30 miles each way, which covers a lot of people.
"boss I can't come in to work today... again... piece of fuck geo metro broke down AGAIN"Quit worrying about saving money. You don't spend $20k+ a car to save money. You buy a $500 geo metro. These things are about the cool/hip factor.
But the volt will see more cycles, too. If 30 miles is one full discharge/recharge cycle on the Volt it's only half of one or less on the Leaf. Among other things batteries are cycle limited.
The question is how far does the Leaf drain it's batteries - the Volt typically runs the batteries between 25% and 90% (Link) for 10.4kW of power.
The Leaf seems to potentially use it's batteries from 0-100%. They are rated at 24kW, and take 8 hours to charge using its internal 3.3kW charger (when plugged into a 30 amp 240V socket). This is mirrored by the press releases stating - Total capacity (kWh): 24
Completely charging the batteries and potentially completely discharging them is harsher on them than running them at 25 - 90%.
"boss I can't come in to work today... again... piece of fuck geo metro broke down AGAIN"
My friend was getting ass raped by his chevy blazer. The thing fucks up and doesn't work, it gets towed to a mechanic, he misses 2 or 3 days of work and needs to pay for the repairs as well. Being that guy who misses a day of work here and there also makes you the one more likely to get fired when the company needs to cut staff.
Still cheaper overall to get a Cruze or other such vehicle and pay for the gas, unless you keep the Volt for a very long time.
Heck, even a Fusion Hybrid is quite a bit cheaper.
Gasoline would have to go a lot higher to get the economic case to make sense for folks of modest means.
Wealthy and trendy folks don't care, naturally. It's a shame that the Volt really only fits in such a niche.
Taking a 40 mile cab ride to work then a 40 mile cab ride home. Yeah that won't be expensive or anythingEven my hick town has these things called taxis, friends, and rentals. The point was you don't save money by buying a very expensive new car when you can buy a good used car. You buy the new car because it is cool to have a new car. New cars break down too.
80 miles per day is very common for people who drive to work. While my work was located on the opposite end of the city, my commute was 60 miles (30 each direction) and that was all within the same city. People out in the suburbs were looking at 70, 80, 90 miles per day. LOTS of people in AT Garage easily do 80 miles per day.80 mile commute? Driving a Blazer in Canada? He could have two cars and never have to have a breakdown just for what he'd spend in gas in a SUV. If he can afford that much fuel and DOESN"T want to get fired or laid off then he'd eat the cost of a cab, if he is so socially disfunctional he can't find anybody going his direction near him. . . .
Choices my friend choices
Still a choice isn't it?
In Canada it is. From the education thread, our American ATOTers said they lived in the suburbs because it was the only way their kid would get a good public education D:
Living in the shitty industrial part of town would mean forcing your kids into ghetto schools.
"That’s not quite true. The gasoline engine has been found to be more than a range-extender for the battery. Volt engineers are now admitting that when the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery pack runs down and at speeds near or above 70 mph, the Volt’s gasoline engine will directly drive the front wheels along with the electric motors. That’s not charging the battery — that’s driving the car."
http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=10004
So ? I didn't say it was cheaper, just that it can go farther than 5 miles to work.
Really no way to know that a Cruze is cheaper without knowing resale value.
If you're really worried about cost, get a 5 to 10 year old car that gets 35 mpg. Like a Focus.
I'm talking about your average Joe who is looking to buy a new, small, fuel efficient car. Why would he buy a Volt over a Cruze or Focus?
Will he see "$7500 credit" and "230mpg" and just sign?
Will he think about it and buy one of the other choices?
He's not trendy and really has no extra money even if he were.
He could certainly buy used and get the best deal of all, but he wants a new car this time with a new car factory warranty.
Will he lease a Volt and let the tax credit go to GM? Do people even realize that the leasing company gets the tax credit?
I think it's a sure bet that your average Joe isn't going for a Leaf yet, but you never know.
I think my average Joe has to buy the Cruze or Focus or used if he thinks it through and was considering the Volt.
So the average Joe buys a car that is more expensive and isn't the best that suits his needs. That's been going on for decades.
