Volt Pricing Set - $41,000!

[JeffDeWitt]

The greenest Chevrolet ever will also be one of the more expensive.

The 2011 Volt will carry a starting sticker price of $41,000 when it launches late this year, General Motors said on Tuesday. With a federal tax credit worth up to $7,500, the price drops to $33,500. Destination charges are included.

Orders start today.

Chevy will also offer a lease program, with payments as low as $350 for 36 months; $2,500 would be due at signing. The tax credit is figured into the lease.

The Volt will have an expected range of 340 miles, with 40 miles on pure electricity from the 16-kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack. After that is used up, a gasoline-powered generator kicks in to extend range another 300 miles.

The initial markets will be New York, Michigan, Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

The Volt is considered the most significant vehicle from GM in years, vaulting the company into a competitive position in the race to build greener cars as federal fuel-economy regulations tighten.

The Volt also gets an eight-year, 100,000-mile battery-pack warranty and a mobile app from OnStar. The car comes standard with a 120-volt charge cord.

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/2010072 ... z0uu9OHfTX

[Dr. Rude McNasty]

I'll run right down to Sale Auto Mall in Kinston and order me a fleet of 10, to start with.
N.O.T.............

[Sotaae'o]

$41,000 is still too rich for my blood, but it pleases me that there is an option to by an American made hybrid. How this option would offend others perplexes me, but that is a topic for another discussion.

I still need the utility of my 13.5k pickup truck, and I use it to move stuff all the time. The Volt would cost me three times as much, and wouldn't be right for moving sheets of plywood, a couch, a Jon boat, or 10 bags of pine bark nuggets. My friends and family need me to have it too, LOL.

I bought Wifey a used Mercedes E320 for 20k, she seems pretty happy with that, and its nice on road trips. At its best, it gets 28~29 MPG at high speed, at its worst, it gets 22~23MPG. It will kick most car's asses, if they try to get all huffy puffy at the stop light.

I have considered buying a commuter vehicle, since work is only 12 minutes away for me, and this is basically the right concept, but the price is still too high. My guess is that this vehicle is meant to eliminate most if not all of the inconveniences that a rechargeable car might pose. Chevy is assuming that we cannot cope with having to do something unfamiliar like pluggin it up between stop. Fair enough, some wouldn't. My hesitation in buying a commuter vehicle is due to safety. There are still a shit-ton of SUV's on the road, and my safety is no concern of theirs. I won't buy a smaller commuter vehicle until the ratio of massive SUV's is further reduced.

If Americans were paying what Europeans are paying at the pump, then the Volt would look a lot better. Particularly in a couple of years when production costs are lowered, and the vehicle is fully tested by the public, and any recalls/ refits are done. Give this vehicle five years, then we'll know more about its quality.

If gas prices soar again, then a $41,000 hybrid won't be a joke.

Not to criticize the rag, but Autoweek doesn't admire automakers for non-sport vehicles. They also don't care much what soccer mom's think of their minivan's either, its tilted toward gear-heads, acceleration and horsepower, and they assume their readers want the same.

[JeffDeWitt]

I don't think Autoweek has anything against the Volt, it's more of a news magazine than a buff book like the regular car magazines.

$41k IS a lot of money for a car that size (of course you can easily pay that much for less technically advanced Prius), but it is bleeding edge technology and that sort of tech is always expensive.

Hopefully the thing will be a huge success both financially and technically so that technology can be spread to other vehicles.

In point of fact the Volt isn't really a hybrid, at least not in the sense of a Prius. It's actually an electric car that has an on-board engine to keep the batteries from running down. If you just drive it in town less than 40 miles a day, don't use the lights, heat and AC much and plug it in every night you could conceivably drive it for years and never use the engine.

[runlolarun]

$41,000 is still too rich for my blood, but it pleases me that there is an option to by an American made hybrid. How this option would offend others perplexes me, but that is a topic for another discussion.

Ford has a line of hybrid vehicles. A friend of mine got the Fusion Hybrid late last year and he loves it. Had this been around when I got my Civic in 06, I would've seriously considered it as a alt vehicle.

[DayLight]

When the engine runs on hydrogen I will be more interested.

[MyName]

I smell a rebirth, both in performance and quality, of this:

[JeffDeWitt]

When the engine runs on hydrogen I will be more interested.

If hydrogen was easily available they'd be building cars with fuel cells.

Lola, if I had the money I wouldn't buy one of these either. I've never been a GM guy (never had a GM car) but I SURE wouldn't' buy one as long as GM is owned by the federal government.

[Catus Magnus]

I smell a rebirth, both in performance and quality, of this:

All it needs is a 327 shoe-horned into it...

[JeffDeWitt]

I smell a rebirth, both in performance and quality, of this:

All it needs is a 327 shoe-horned into it...

Oh I don't know, how about a 300KW electric motor (about 400 hp)!

Actually... a hybrid that used something like the technology of a Prius that had a small V8 of about 200 HP combined with a 200KW or so electric motor and some good batteries could give the same kind of electric car performance as a Volt (the range as a pure electric) but when you put your foot in it could release all 400 HP and take off like a bat out of Hell. Talk about having your cake and eating it too!

[7rob7]

[7rob7]

[shrug] 7wife7 still has her eyes on a Tesla. [/shrug]

But I thought you might like the cartoon.

[JeffDeWitt]

I've got a lot of respect for Mr. Limbaugh, but on the Volt he's wrong.

And he really should know better, he's been an early adopter of other technology.

However he is absolutely right about the tax credits, if the Volt costs $41,000 that's what it should cost, no government rebates, tax credits, or any other shenanigans with our tax money to prop up a new technology.

If the technology and engineering is right the Volt will be a success (and I hope it is, even if it's a Government Motors product), if GM didn't do it right it's going to be a bigger failure than the Oldsmobile Diesel or the Cadillac V4/6/8.

Tesla now... it's a tiny little car that goes like stink but with limited range. If I bought a new Tesla (HA!) and some Friday afternoon decided to take off for the mountains and I had a choice between driving my cool new little sports car (which would be a blast on some of those mountain roads) or my 71 Beetle I'd have to take the Beetle because the Tesla could do it. I think Telsa ought to come up with a trailer that not only has some extra (much needed) luggage space but also contains a small generator. Connect the trailer to your Tesla and it turns it into the same sort of electric car as the Volt... and you could drive it anywhere.

[John Thomas8]

I've got a lot of respect for Mr. Limbaugh