The first time I saw the Volt's tech I realized that it had merit. Curious, what is your plug in setup? Are you in a driveway or garage? Miles driven a day? Charging times?
EVs of all persuasions are at least in my mind mostly niche vehicles. Not everyone can use one every day. My main problem with the EV and specifically the Volt is the hype and the subsidies.
Tax breaks are not the same as out and out payoffs to the manufacturer and buyers. Solar has been being subsidized for decades now... I still see news stories of Gov grants for solar that don't add up.
Too much money being thrown around will usually attract corruption, and the corrupt will fight to keep the cash flowing even for unproductive ideas.
So when I saw the Volt and thought is would be good, I was thinking $25k to $30k. And something easy/safe to charge. That plus some universality of the chassie/drive train so that a number of models could be offered.
This one as interesting as it is, even after Gov Aid is a bit over priced for what it is to many of us.
Yeah I dig that... But why so huge a difference in the price? Is Detroit subsidizing the Volt? Or autos in general?
Chevy site calls for about what I found local... and possible $7500 tax credit. And a little better lease deal.... Have you a link to the super sales prices you were quoting?
Ralph Gilles means business... the old fashioned way.
Most people don't understand that the Volt actually isn't a hybrid in the sense that it can be powered either or.
The Volt is totally electric so if there is a more powerful generator being put in place then they might have to alter the governors if someone wants to race.
Chrysler has some neat stuff too.
Nothing like a Ram with a bench seat and having your honey sit next to you so you can feel her squirm.
The current crop of EVs is the beta fleet. What we need is the base model, no frills (or thrills) model that everyone can afford. I can't for the life of me understand why the Leaf came with a GPS. Anyway, that's a little off topic, but both the Volt and Leaf are a little out of reach for the folks that need them the most, I'll give you that. The tax credit gets us a little closer, and if we can get off the OPEC drug, the peace dividend would cover the cost of the credit. Ethanol isn't all that great, we could feed people with the corn. Expensive gasoline (tax) in the U.S. does nothing to curb its use in China or India, the finite oil problem is global. The price of oil will go out of sight on its own as demand continues to exceed production. I like the T. Boone Pickens plan (but modified a little) of using diverse energy for electric and using NG and oil for farming and heavy transportation (except for electric train engines). I really like nuclear power, it solves many problems for a little hassle. I guess that the (now abandoned) Nevada nuke disposal site could flood 1,000,000 years from now and cause someone else a problem, but I figure an astroid will get us before then. I understand that there are few perfect solutions, but i cannot accept "doing nothing". I can do something, many of us can do something. Even a technology like solar hot water, with its quick payback, isn't mandatory for new construction in most of the US (if anywhere in the US). Why not? We know we can't continue down this unrestrained consumption path without horrible consequences, but yet we do nothing. I can afford a $400 lease payment and zero gas payment for a Leaf, I would guess the average new car buyer can also afford that. The old clunker is a keeper for longer trips, that's fine. At least we are doing something. A few years down the road, that clunker could be a used Volt with a new battery and barely used ICE.
We looked at NG, and found that the electricity to compress the NG is nearly the same as the electricity to charge the Leaf. Granted you can go 200 miles in the NG Civic on that one "charge" but I was shocked! (he he pun intended) I think the Obama's "all of the above" comment was right on, much better than the "you didn't build that" comment. We need an energy strategy that includes "all of the above" and the Volt and Leaf are part of that story.
Here's something I've said before but haven't heard from anyone else. If we leave our oil in ANWR, refuse to fund a military, and owe 16 trillion dollars to China, do we give them Alaska or do they take it from us? Just wondering. When we can no longer do the things we want to do, we will do the things we have to do.
Yes, your question has merit. But I can't spend money I don't have... even if the car runs on dreams and only butterflies and puppies come out of its tailpipe. Green initiatives are nice, conservation measures as well, but just like oil, my personal resources are finite, and so are yours. Ethanol has merit if only for the idea that it gets us a little closer to bringing home the soldiers. Wind energy - same story but what do you do when the wind quits blowing? solar - well it's a little increment in the big picture but not robust enough for current demands. Tidal power.... 30 states [more or less] are nowhere near the ocean. Coal is the real deal. We have a lot of it, and it makes cheap electricity, AND it is domestic. Still we have personal economics. Do you, on principle, borrow large sums of money or spend large increments over available technology just to save the earth? Buying that clunker is an undebatable form of recycling. I read recently that 75% of all the aluminum ever made is still in use! High-end batteries tap the earth of precious resources and noble metals. Not to mention that our new foreign dependence will just merely shift from oil to battery materials. It's all arguable to a point, but the day of all-electric or all-hybrid personal transportation is nowhere near sustainability yet, largely due to personal economics. I'm wondering... if your feelings about the middle east and the war "over oil" are that deep, then am I safe in assuming that you are in favor of even higher gas prices? After all, pump price is the usual justification for non-petroleum cars. Not jabbing you at all here, I just want to know.
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