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I bought an $800 motorcycle that gets close to 80 MPG. Insurance is $65 a year tags and taxes maybe another $50. On its 2.6 gallon fuel tank the range to empty is right at 198 miles.
Fuel cost today is just over 3 cents a mile.
A Volt would suit most of my daily driving, but the all electric range would be the very limit of most of my driving.
The leaf would probably cover 90% all electric.
If I had to choose one I would take the Leaf, and buy an economy car for highway trips with the left over funds.
As it is I have my Altima that gets close to the same mileage as the Volt when the battery is depleted. In the car and bike I have less than 13k total.
If I had to have one electric car and no other means of transportation, I would probably take the Leaf and build a tow behind generator for longer trips, which means I would be towing the trailer behind me about 10% of the time.
I'll bet the Volt is a success for those who can utilize it's advantages and minimize its disadvantages.
I could write a check tomorrow for either the Volt of the Leaf, but I did not achieve that kind of financial security by ignoring the overall costs of transportation. Rebuilding a total loss vehicle has meant that I almost never suffer depreciation losses when I sell a car.
I guess the natural thought progression is to watch the local salvage auctions and pick up one of them when that come to an auction. In the mean time I can observe the customer feedback and wait for the recycling industry to get a supply of used parts.
Or I could just wait for one of the batteries to become available and use it to electrify my Fiberfab VW based kit car that would weigh less than 2k pounds with the battery.
regards
Mech
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