Some real Volt numbers for the curious...

[wainair]

Hey folks, I'm a long time lurker on the forum and thought I'd break the trend today and post something. I love reading all the great ideas for improving the economy of all cars out there and enjoy the heated debates that are bound to come up.

In September I bought a Volt and have been enjoying the car immensely. Though after doing a quick search through the forum I noticed a lot the same ole Rush Limbaugh being rattled around here about the Volt. Love it or hate it, your opinion is yours but I thought I'd post a link to a site that uses the OnStar diagnostics to track the real world numbers fof Volt drivers who let them know what is going on with their cars by signing up with the site. Say what you will, but the numbers speak for themselves. And even though I would have liked to see better mileage in CS(generator) mode, the overall combined mileage number is the more important one. It is completely different to drive than a conventional hybrid and will need new techniques to get the best mileage out of the generator.

Check it out! I'm sure you will find it interesting!

Apparently I lurk too much and I can't post a link so I will spell it out for you ,

voltstats.net

It's worth a look and there is no advertizing on it...

[Ryland]

Here is the link:

Volt Stats! Tracking real world usage of Chevy Volts in the wild...

Thanks for posting it.
I'm of the mind set that anything that reduces gasoline use is good and although I think that most people would be able to get by with a 100% electric vehicle with a 100 mile range (less then 10% of the population drives over 100 miles per day) I see the Volt as an ok solution as well, I'm a little shocked at the price, seeing as how you can get a brand new Prius and the largest plug in hybrid kit that will give you about 35 miles of all electric range for less then then the cost of a new Volt, draw back with that of course is that Prius is not designed for sustained freeway driving in all electric mode so not everyone would benefit and a lot of people buy 100% gasoline powered cars that cost more then the Volt, so price is a weak arguing point.
The part that Chevy did get right is that the average driver drives 25 miles per day and from looking at the stats seem to show a large number of people drive in electric only mode a large part of the time.
My big question is, do you find it more annoying to plug your car in, or to go to a gas station? a gas station you only have to go to every few weeks but plugging in is best done after every trip and before the Volt was released that was the speculation of a lot of people is that no one would plug in their plug in hybrid.

[jakobnev]

120MPG and 63MPGe isn't half bad from a car that is "just a gimmick" and "a marketing trick"

[wainair]

Your right, most people could get away with an EV 100mile range. I could, if I could get a car that could guarantee me that in the cold of a Canadian winter. The Leaf's not quite there yet but I hope it will be soon. And maybe in 7-10 years when I'm ready to replace the Volt that car will be out there. Because driving on pure electric sure is nice!

Charging is really not an issue. I'd much rather plug in every night than go to the gas station twice a week. I also installed a 240V L2 charger so every time I park in my garage I just plug it in. No fussing with stashing my charger in the trunk and the cord coils away nicely. I've yet to forget to plug-in like Mr. Cavuto seems to think will be a problem, ah to be so absent minded. LOL

I can understand the price being a sticking point for some people. It is an expensive car. BUT you do get what you pay for. It doesn't ride like any economy car I've ever driven. The Volt really is a luxury vehicle and comes with a luxury price. The biggest complement I've heard so far for the Volt came from the President of BMW North America. When asked what he thought of the Volt after driving it he said that the thought the car was very nice but he didn't understand why GM marketed the car as a Chevy. He thought with the ride quality and the fit and finish the car should be marketed as a Cadillac! It is definitely the most expensive car I've bought, but I don't regret one penny of the price. It's been worth it!

[wainair]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

120MPG and 63MPGe isn't half bad from a car that is "just a gimmick" and "a marketing trick"

I'm wainair's HAL on the Volt stats site. I'm currently ranked a 71. I'm showing 190.9mpg right now and a MPGe of 70.26. My CS mileage is a bit low right now because when I first bought the car I was playing around with the MountainMode a bit to much and was actually burning more gas than I needed too. I know better now!

A Gimmick the Volt is not!

[jakobnev]

Have you estimated how long it will take for you to break even on costs compared to if you had bought a cheaper but other vice equivalent gas-only car?


And i'd also like to point out that three ER-EV's with 33 mile EV-only range will save more fuel than one pure EV with 100 mile range because most trips are under 25 miles. (Battery supply is still limited.)

[Daox]

Autoblog just had an article the other day that proved the Volt's 40 mile range is perfect. After the year or so they've been out, the vast majority of Leaf owners traveled 37 miles per day or less. Let me see if I can dig it up quick...

Nissan claims average Leaf is driven 37 miles per day, more range not needed

Also, the pricing on the Focus EV just came out the other day. It is going to start at $39,900. The Volt doesn't look too bad compared to that.

The Mitsubishi I-miev is the only reasonably priced EV around, possibly the Leaf. Even the Plugin Prius with only 14 miles of EV range is starting at $32k.

[wainair]

My commute is 57km(roughly 35miles) each way so I use all of my battery range. If I'm lucky enough to be able to charge at work(only some managers are onboard with letting me use company power) I don't use gas at all. Those day's I can't I get around 120mpg combined(gas and electric). Like you say most people's commute is less than 25miles and those lucky folks drive gas free all the time. But if they want to drive to a friend cottage on the weekend they can and they don't have to worry about range.(they just feel guilty about using gas! LOL)

I haven't crunched the numbers myself but there was a study being quoted a lot a while back that was saying that the people who did the study compared the cost of purchase and ownership of a Chevy Cruze Eco at $19000, against the cost of a Volt at $41000. They based they're numbers on the average American commute, projected maintenance costs, fuel consumption costs at $3/gallon and purchase price, over 5 years. After 5 years the Volt cost $1500 more to own than the Cruze. I live in Ontario Canada. We currently have an EV Incentive program the Provincial Government offers if you buy an EV. The Volt qualifies so I also got a $8250 payment after I bought the car from the government! If you factor that in I'd be ahead $6751 after 5 years! I hope to own the car for 7-10 years so I will come out on the plus side in a few years.

[Diesel_Dave]

Originally Posted by wainair

I'd much rather plug in every night than go to the gas station twice a week.

I plug in my vehicle every night and go to the gas station about once a month....that would be plugging in my block & oil pan heaters

[wainair]

Daox, I'm sure the second gen Volt will surely come down in price. My guess would be the low 30's starting price. The Leaf has gone up in price over the earlier release this year as well. That I-miev is a neat little car. I wish it fit my commuting needs. I sat in one at last years autoshow in Toronto. It was a true economy car. That's not a dis, it reminded me of how spartan VW Beetle interiors could be stock. Functional but no frills. The Volt is all Frills! I like both but I could see alot of Volt owners would never think about a I-miev after sitting in one and vica verca. But as they say different strokes for different folks!