The GM volt. Will you buy this car?

[Vanraw]

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I think its strange that they recieved Motor Trend "Car of the year" when the thing hasn't even been available to buy. Its lie Obama getting the Nobel Peace prize for getting elected.... hey but this isnt political board....

40,280 (32,780 after tax rebate)

Would you or will you buy one of these?

[Diggles]

Pure electric cars really arent all that green when the majority of our electricity is generated from fossil fuel

not to mention I've never seen ANY of the companies address what they do with the old batteries. Disposal of batteries isnt cheap.

[Jakensama]

Lol @ American cars.

[Slamz]

"No, never."

I will buy an electric car when I find the car I want with the features and power I want which just so happens, coincidentally, to be electric. I do not foresee a future in which I go out looking for a car where the primary feature I'm looking for is "it's electric".

Ditto for hybrids. It's not like I'm anti-hybrid or anti-electric, but I'm not going to pay a bunch more money for what I consider to be a frivolous feature. When I find the car I want and the dealer says, "Oh by the way, it's a hybrid" then fine.



I also agree with Diggles: I'd like to hear a lot more about what makes a car "green" in terms of its maintenance and eventual disposal. Apparently these batteries use all sorts of rare earth elements (and probably toxic chemicals and probably toxic processes to build them to begin with) and nobody ever seems to talk about that. The fact that a car is electric or a hybrid does not automatically mean it's green. We need to hear the details. The fact that the details aren't advertised is fishy.

[Jakensama]

What does using rare earth elements have to do with being green?

But yeah, getting your power generated by coal plants that pump out radioactive ash rather than internal combustion engines doesn't really make something green.

[Slamz]

A technology based around rare earth elements, which I take to mean "things that would get really really expensive if 300 million people tried to buy cars made out of it", isn't really a solution at all.

It's like having a green technology that gives you 500 miles per pound of gold. It might be green but you won't be doing it for very long.

[Jakensama]

Rare Earth metals are fairly common despite the misleading name, the problem is China undercut us so we haven't been exploiting our other sources - were these cars to catch on there are more than adequate supplies of rare earth metals to exploit that it wouldn't remain an impediment for long.

[Diggles]

Rare Earth metals are fairly common despite the misleading name, the problem is China undercut us so we haven't been exploiting our other sources - were these cars to catch on there are more than adequate supplies of rare earth metals to exploit that it wouldn't remain an impediment for long.

Yes they are exceedingly rare, because 1-3 countries control 95% of the worlds supply.

China shut down their trade of certain ones and sent many countries scrambling to find alternatives...that dont exist.

Some South American country holds 80% of the worlds lithium.

[Jakensama]

The fact that China controls the market does not make them rare, it means that other countries have not mobilized to exploit their own resources because China undercut the market. We have lots in the US as well as other parts of asia and california, canada, south africa, etc, it will just take time to redevelop the mines and facilities to use them as there are high barriers to entry.. Its a short term problem, not something that will limit the long term viability of electric cars.

Lithium is not a rare earth metal, incidentally.

[Grieve]

I would seriously consider getting this, but there are a couple of things holding me back:

1) My aging Prius, while being beaten and battered (it's been rebuilt more times than Steve Austin, after multiple crashes), is still running. It already gets me close to 50 MPG.

2) My commute is a 60 mile round trip. If it was 40 miles or less, so I could be 100% electric, it would be much more appealing. Alternatively if there was an easy way to plug in at work. Incidently, it would be great to see large companies providing a handful of charging stations in their parking garages, especially if they let you park nice and close to the office.

3) My 4th kid is on the way - probably going to need my next car to be bigger.

When you factor in the tax rebate and how much money you'd be saving on fuel, it's actually a pretty good deal. Slamz, you'd be in that 40 mile range. There's calculators around, but you'll save a LOT of money on gas, especially with oil heading very fast towards $100. If the economy really starts to improve, gas prices will soar.

And it has a lot of really cool features I'd pay extra dollars for. 30GB hard drive for MP3s with USB port...pause live radio...remote start on the remote control...unlock, turn the heat or A/C on, and remote start via your cellphone, as well as checking tire pressure, electric charge, etc...OnStar...etc.

And as for the whole "green" thing, I would have thought the part that would attract Slamz and others would be that you are using domestic electricity rather than foreign oil. Give you fuel dollars to West Virginia miners rather than Middle East sheiks!

[Grieve]

And some numbers...electric-only driving is about two cents a mile (if electricity is 10 cents a kilowatt hour, and assuming you are not stealing electricity from work), compared with 14 cents a mile for a car using $3.60 a gallon gasoline (at 25MPG).

So...based on the 40 mile-per-charge, let's say you drive 15,000 miles a year.

With gasoline, that would cost $2038 a year.

With electric, it would cost $291 a year.

So after 5 years you'd have saved $8,734

Now I drive more like 25,000 a year. That would be a savings of $15,500, assuming I could charge at work. If I drove it for 10 years, the car would basically have been free. And that's assuming gasoline doesn't soar over $4 or even $5 a gallon anytime soon...

[Vllad]

I will never buy a car like this. I will buy a Ford Truck that gets 12 miles per gallon so I can help run us out of oil as soon as possible.


Vllad

[Vanraw]

And some numbers...electric-only driving is about two cents a mile (if electricity is 10 cents a kilowatt hour, and assuming you are not stealing electricity from work), compared with 14 cents a mile for a car using $3.60 a gallon gasoline (at 25MPG).

So...based on the 40 mile-per-charge, let's say you drive 15,000 miles a year.

With gasoline, that would cost $2038 a year.

With electric, it would cost $291 a year.

So after 5 years you'd have saved $8,734

Now I drive more like 25,000 a year. That would be a savings of $15,500, assuming I could charge at work. If I drove it for 10 years, the car would basically have been free. And that's assuming gasoline doesn't soar over $4 or even $5 a gallon anytime soon...

Yea this is the part that most "anti-green" illeterates fail to realize. The electric generation in this country is much cleaner and more effective then the energy used by cars on the road today.

But Batteries disposal and issues such as limited materials is an issue. I think its time we start mining the asteroid belt!!!

[Vanraw]

3) My 4th kid is on the way.

You know the Scientist have recently identified what causes this.

[Breand]

Saying there's no difference between a car running on gasoline and "coal burning power plants" is kind of silly. The amount of coal you are burning is miniscule compared to the amount of gasoline you are burning. You are still way below the emissions you would create from gasoline. Then there's the domestic versus foreign produced energy.

Honestly back in the day when they first announced it and had the concept car made, I was all over it said it'd be the first American car I'd ever buy. Now that I see the final product I have next to no interest.

[Grieve]

You know the Scientist have recently identified what causes this.

Yes, and after number 4 that cause will be getting snipped as soon as possible.

Oh, and by the way, what exactly is the difference between "No not at that cost" and "Yes if they lower the cost a little"?

[Vanraw]

Well the No not at that cost is, if they lowered it by 20k perhaps.

Yes if it dropped a little would be 10k...

I dont know, we just make this shit up.


Good luck with the snip snip.... /crosses his legs....

[Diggles]

Heh I'd never even consider it, since its made by GM...worst car company in existence.

[Uncle Shags]

I'd be interested if not for the 40 mile limit.

[Breand]

I'd be interested if not for the 40 mile limit.

for battery only...it a small combustion engine kicks in when the batteries are low to recharge them.

[Grieve]

Yeah, the range is about 310 for electric and gas combined, although of course you can refill the gas tank wherever for infinite range. So you're not going to get stuck somewhere. But if your daily commute is over 40 miles and you can't charge at work, it's probably not worth it.

I actually just found that some of my company's offices DO have electric charging stations, although not mine. The implication would be free electricity, which would make the fuel economy even better. Do most of your charging at work and you basically drive around for free.

[Arsilon]

My brother in law has 2 post-snip kids

[Breand]

I was on vacation this past weekend and there was a family at the pool with 6 kids ranging from 15 to 1 and the mother was pregnant with their 7th. The mother and father spent pretty much the whole time arguing over who was watching which kid. I wanted to grab both of them and shout "STOP FUCKING!"

[Diggles]

I was on vacation this past weekend and there was a family at the pool with 6 kids ranging from 15 to 1 and the mother was pregnant with their 7th. The mother and father spent pretty much the whole time arguing over who was watching which kid. I wanted to grab both of them and shout "STOP FUCKING!"

Dude, just let it go..you'll be surprised how good it feels saying what everyone is thinking. Its the ultimate freedom.

[Jakensama]

I was on vacation this past weekend and there was a family at the pool with 6 kids ranging from 15 to 1 and the mother was pregnant with their 7th. The mother and father spent pretty much the whole time arguing over who was watching which kid. I wanted to grab both of them and shout "STOP FUCKING!"

It's a vagina, not a clown car.