Range anxiety is overrated

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

But a brand new Fit was only $15k, so which one was the right buy? Not an electric.

A brand new 2013 chevy volt premium with 76 miles was $17,500 for me, I still think it was the right buy

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

A brand new 2013 chevy volt premium with 76 miles was $17,500 for me, I still think it was the right buy

Do you know a guide you like on what to look out for when buying a used Volt? You know a lot about EVs, from what I have seen, and now I see you own a Volt. Even a few years old Volts are too expensive for us unless I go for high miles and reasonable repairs needed. I am willing to consider that, but I have to know more about what to look out for. Any advice?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Do you know a guide you like on what to look out for when buying a used Volt? You know a lot about EVs, from what I have seen, and now I see you own a Volt. Even a few years old Volts are too expensive for us unless I go for high miles and reasonable repairs needed. I am willing to consider that, but I have to know more about what to look out for. Any advice?

Thank you,

I don't know of any guides but in general any new car if it has been in a collision and repaired is on its way to the junkyard.

That said the Gen I Volt is GM's most reliable car and is more reliable than the Nissans Leaf or the TSLA.

So...

1. Don't buy a volt with accident history, if you do buy one that had an accident you have to accept a $2000-$4000 looming potential cost since the modules are designed to disallow normal OBDII tools to work and the dealer charges lots of money to do absolutely nothing but clear a code.

2. When buying a high mile volt, insist on the battery being fully charged before you get there, drive it dead and drive it like you 0WN it.
(a volt with issues will have them show up nearly instantly if someone tried shenanigans)

3. Most volts will easily go 300,000 miles without any real repairs, some require a main bearing and others require the front end bearings (like all FWD GM cars)
but Sparky, the 330,000+ mile volt only recently had to have the front bearings done, not bad.

Generally repairs on a Volt are very few and far between, sort of like a Prius but in all honesty better.

Next, on a volt anything but the OEM tire will cause range loss (except maybe the 2nd gen Ecopia) many dealers like to shove on some ****e, call em out on it. The OEMs are just fine but keep them aired up and accept poor winter performance (if you use them that way) Keep your pressure low on the OEMs and expect front tire blowouts.

There is also a preventative maintenance kit (a modified coolant sensor) for volts with the structural updates to prevent a false failure because of a $5 part.

It is offered by a guy on the volt forum and I recommend it if you have a volt with the wonderful update.

A Volt is pretty much a charge and drive car, oil changes every few years and not much else for hundreds of thousands of miles is normal/

I myself am looking for a high mile volt to give my father, but the right combination of options (and distance from me) hasn't happened.

Ah well, good luck

[California98Civic]

Cool. You could start a useful thread on that theme, with this post as the central kernel. One last question (apologies to the OP)... I see three forums devoted to the Volt. It seems gm-volt.com is the best developed. Is that the forum you mean?

For the OP: The Volt is the way out of range anxiety!

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I surely wouldn't buy an EV (say a Leaf) that had only a 70 mile range, because many of my trips are more than 70 miles...

The manufacturers aren't charging extra: if anything, they seem to make less profit on electrics (normal for any new product). That 'extra' they charge is simply the cost of the batteries. Make cheaper batteries, you get cheaper electric cars - or you can put more batteries in to get more range for the same price.

Well if you wouldn't buy the car than nobody would.

...and you again have pointed out that price is the main factor preventing EV adoption.

Originally Posted by rmay635703

A used Think City EV (100 mile city range) is about $4000 on up

I don't think price is a good argument, unless everybody only buys a new car.

I don't think your example car is a good argument. Cars are only introduced to the market new. No manufacturer builds used cars, so they have to appeal to new car buyers first. The Think City doesn't appeal to people, and the company went out of business.

Think about it, are there more Leafs or Teslas on the road? Do you think price has anything to do with it?

Price is the #1 factor affecting EV adoption. You think the Leaf wouldn't sell any better if it could be bought new for $5,000? If the price is greater than the perceived benefits, then there is great anxiety about owning something that cannot be afforded, or is a poor investment.

Ability to charge is factor #2. If you can't charge it, then your anxiety about owning it is so great that you won't buy it.

Range might be a distant #3 factor that causes anxiety preventing people from purchasing.

If manufacturers work on #1 and #2, then more EVs will be sold.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Price is the #1 factor affecting EV adoption. You think the Leaf wouldn't sell any better if it could be bought new for $5,000?

Sure, and they'd sell even more if they were given away in a box of cereal :-) (Like digital watches: the first ones were a status symbols costing many hundreds of 1970s dollars. Couple of decades later I got one in a cereal box.) But the reality is that the Leaf and other non-Tesla EVs are priced comparably to other new cars, so if new car buyers are choosing not to buy them, it must be for reasons other than price.

Now those reasons might be limited range, or a limited choice of models, or just (as with Harleys and a lot of diesel pickups) the desire to drive a 'macho' vehicle that makes lots of noise and stink :-)

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

A brand new 2013 chevy volt premium with 76 miles was $17,500 for me, I still think it was the right buy

I'd have been all over a Volt hatchback. Can't put the dog in the trunk.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

I'd have been all over a Volt hatchback.

I thought the Volt is a hatchback. Haven't seen one up close, but from pictures and seeing a few on the road, it certainly looks like one.

If it's not, there goes any chance of my ever buying one. As you say, can't put the dogs - or bike, skis, bulky objects, &c - in a trunk :-( Well, unless you drive a '59 Chevy, of course.

[Fat Charlie]

It's a fake hatchback. 5 doors, yes, and the the trunk is part of the cabin, but...

[California98Civic]

FWIW, the new Volt only has 10.6 sq ft cargo area. The leaf has 24, the Model s has 31... heck the spark has 9.6... so this is not one of the coolest features of this car.