Oh oh! Not Good (GM temporarily suspends Volt production for slow sales)

[Ken Fry]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

This also puts it into perspective that automotive companies can't really expect any model to be the gangbusters 100,000+ units either.

However, despite the generally depressed market, the Accord and Camry continue to sell at over 300,000 units. In 2008, more representative of number to which we will probably return, the Camry sold 434,935 units, and the Accord, 372,789. The first 6 most popular midsized cars each sold more than 150,000 units in the first 8 months of 2011, putting all of them over 200,000 units by year end. (Details of Accord vs Camry over the years.)

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Ken Fry

However, despite the generally depressed market, the Accord and Camry continue to sell at over 300,000 units. In 2008, more representative of number to which we will probably return, the Camry sold 434,935 units, and the Accord, 372,789. The first 6 most popular midsized cars each sold more than 150,000 units in the first 8 months of 2011, putting all of them over 200,000 units by year end. (Details of Accord vs Camry over the years.)

Historically it was not uncommon for a popular model to sell 100,000 units in a month, not a year, although we need to qualify that by saying they didn't necessarily sustain that rate either.

[hawk2100n]

A friend/coworker of mine who has a 130 mile daily commute is starting to seriously consider a Volt. He drives a Toyota Avalon which nets him about 27 mpg. Even fully discharging the Volt battery on the way to work he will have the 40+ MPG engine to finish the commute. Hopefully there is one for him to buy.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Historically it was not uncommon for a popular model to sell 100,000 units in a month, not a year, although we need to qualify that by saying they didn't necessarily sustain that rate either.

But OTOH some long-term successes didn't start off selling a lot, either. For instance the Corvette, which has been in production since the early '50s, had sales in the hundreds for the first few years. And even today, Corvette sales figures aren't all that much greater than the Volt's numbers.

[junkyard]

I hope they don't cancel it.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by hawk2100n

A friend/coworker of mine who has a 130 mile daily commute is starting to seriously consider a Volt.

I don't think that's the car to buy for that driving pattern. Volt makes sense if your daily commute can be done on battery power exclusively (or nearly). I've seen comparisons done to a standard Prius liftback (non-plug-in) that show it is more cost effective than the Volt when the daily single-charge usage is over a certain distance (~100 miles comes to mind).

Of course few people make purchase decisions solely on economic calculations. Otherwise they would all buy Nissan Versas or the like (if shopping new) or used econoboxes (if shopping used).

There may be reasons to want a Volt, even if you don't fit its designed best use.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I don't think that's the car to buy for that driving pattern. Volt makes sense if your daily commute can be done on battery power exclusively (or nearly). I've seen comparisons done to a standard Prius liftback (non-plug-in) that show it is more cost effective than the Volt when the daily single-charge usage is over a certain distance (~100 miles comes to mind).

There may be reasons to want a Volt, even if you don't fit its designed best use.

My main interest is, has anyone mapped out the Volt/speed versus gas MPG, AKA has anyone figured out how to hypermile the volt in non-ev mode.

When I have gone looking it appears that the volt does not properly calculate gas created EV miles and the only indicator of your real FE would be to not charge and drive gas only for some time using tank to tank just like every other car to calculate.

From what I have read 45mpg actual MPG is possible, on my test drive it appears to be possible that 50mpg might be achievable but the way FE is calculated on the volt may not tell you 50, it may only list the 30mpg you got while the engine was on.

Anyone here own a volt that has been able to drive it long enough to find its sweet spots and hypermilability?

[MetroMPG]

An on-topic return to this thread...

People who are following this will have seen by now that GM is considering an additional week of production suspension during traditional summer shutdown.

On the other hand, Volt had some good news last month: March was its best ever month, with 2,289 sold.

And for the skeptics (include me!) who wonder how much that number was padded by fleet/commercial sales, it was apparently only a small fraction (160 sales - uncredited source, though).

EDIT... One interesting sale, if you're following the political bickering that has become connected to the car: former President George W Bush just bought one (for his son).

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Anyone here own a volt that has been able to drive it long enough to find its sweet spots and hypermilability?

Volt Stats! Tracking real world usage of Chevy Volts in the wild... has a wealth of Volt efficiency & usage patern info from a self-selected group of hundreds of owners. (Likely the types of owners who care about driving efficiency, I bet.)

One of the stats they show is what mileage people are getting in CS ("charge sustaining" - ie. battery depleted, internal combustion engine-on) driving.

Looks like the median for CS driving is roughly 35 mpg (US). There are dozens of drivers getting above 40, and a handful over 50.

[cleanspeed1]

My problem with the Volt is that it is too freakin' expensive right now. I just cannot conceive paying $40k for something like this. It's as if the car is good but does not fit the $$$$$ equation for a the vast majority of credit challenged individuals at the moment. That, and the fact for that kind of money it should be getting way over 100 mpg. Hell, we can get a standard tech car to do what a Volt does.