Chevy Volt, due 2010, $40k

[lorennerol]

Lutz: Volt will cost $40,000, first-gen will lose money - Autoblog

It's an exciting time in the world of automobiles- we've not seen anything quite like the coming transition since the early 1900s when cars replaced horses.

[RedSkyWV]

Have they finalized what the range is going to be on a full charge on these things?

[BSRL]

Nice looking car!

[lorennerol]

Originally Posted by RedSkyWV

Have they finalized what the range is going to be on a full charge on these things?

They are aiming for 40 miles on electricity alone, with a small internal combustion engine to recharge on the fly. Wikipedia says they are aiming for 640 mile range on the highway:

Chevrolet Volt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

L

[RedSkyWV]

That's the last I'd seen too, but wikipedia is always full of speculation. 640 on 12 gallons is still 50MPG+ the initial 40 electric miles.

[akinmb]

Sharp lookin' car.. top speed of 120 MPH.. I just wonder why? I mean, sure I've hit much higher speeds than that, but it's really so unnecessary... I wonder what the 0-60 is?

[marlboromike]

At least they took into consideration STYLING & DESIGN....not like the Toyota Prius

[cerberus]

I'm really looking forward to following the development of this car.

[Bogie]

I think GM is lucky to have Bob Lutz at the helm of product development. He is a visionary. He had the vision for the Solstice, and the SKY. He knows how to move things forward quickly. He seems to be a strong force behind the Volt. And I think he has a good sense of reality, both in terms of the market as well as forces in and around the market.

He is not just a manager in the traditional sense, but he has a passion for his products, and supports his people. And he stands behind the passion and visions. You can see this when you read the Solstice book.

[MidniteBlues]

I would seriously consider buying one of these, no matter the price.. Now mind ya, I said BUY... not lease..

[RedSkyWV]

Yeah definitely not a fan of leasing, the volts will be for sale though no?

[redhotchillipepper]

I am really afraid this will go the way of the EV1. GM cannot continually market cars that they will lose money on and still attract investors. The EV1 died because Saturn could not make a dime on them. They could not fill enough orders to turn a profit. Battery technology has advanced in leaps and bounds since then but are still expensive. As far as the enviornmental impact, the manufature, transportation, and disposal of the batteries is worse than burning fossil fuels. I personally would not pay $10,000 more than a sky to save about $1000.00 per year on gasoline plus the exorbinant cost of maintaining an electric car. How long do you think the electric motors will last, or the batteries for that matter. Do you think they will be covered under warranty? Not to mention you still have to pay for service an a gasoline motor.

[WishfulThinking]

Originally Posted by RedSkyWV

Yeah definitely not a fan of leasing, the volts will be for sale though no?

I remember seeing one omonous comment about buying the car, but leasing the battery.

I have to say, that although I like the concept, I'm a little disturbed by the direction the batteries are going. The monolithic 'T' shaped battery in the volt seems like a multi-thousand dollar version of the propriatary camcorder battery. I've said before somewhere (maybe here) that there needs to be a standard battery cell. Car designers can figure out how/where to stack them, and manufacturers can compete to build them. If one cell goes bad, you replace one cell. If your planing a long trip, maybe you can shuffle them from one car to another for extended cruising range (or towing capacity). I'm sure the tech is changing so fast right now, that it would be hard to do, but if a direction isn't established now, it will just be harder to change it later on.

[MidniteBlues]

Honda has now produced, (donno if released yet) a fuel cell car. Has anybody seen it yet? is it for sale yet? and finally, how do you "fill 'er up"..?

What is really disappointing is that a yankee company has not produced one, and appears to be way way behind our Japanese friends...Sad.. (what else is new)..

Honda set to release hydrogen fuel cell car – and home fuelling station

[mynewsolstice]

40K!
Seriously at that point you have to seriously look at a civic accord because the MPG difference won't make up the 12k cash difference! Damn I wanted that car but not 40k Wanted!

[redhotchillipepper]

Originally Posted by MidniteBlues

Honda has now produced, (donno if released yet) a fuel cell car. Has anybody seen it yet? is it for sale yet? and finally, how do you "fill 'er up"..?

What is really disappointing is that a yankee company has not produced one, and appears to be way way behind our Japanese friends...Sad.. (what else is new)..

Honda set to release hydrogen fuel cell car – and home fuelling station

What do you mean a yankee company has not produced one yet. GM pioneered the fuel cell concept! They are the only company doing a large scale test in America with their Fuel Cell Equinox. Here is a link. Chevrolet | Fuel Cell Technology - Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell Car

[OKC08SKYR/L]

Originally Posted by lorennerol

Lutz: Volt will cost $40,000, first-gen will lose money - Autoblog

It's an exciting time in the world of automobiles- we've not seen anything quite like the coming transition since the early 1900s when cars replaced horses.

I am looking forward to the 500hp 2010 Camaro Z28.

[uranium-238]

Originally Posted by redhotchillipepper

What do you mean a yankee company has not produced one yet. GM pioneered the fuel cell concept! They are the only company doing a large scale test in America with their Fuel Cell Equinox. Here is a link. Chevrolet | Fuel Cell Technology - Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell Car

correction: NASA is the pioneer of fuel cell use. that's what they used for main electrical power on the apollo missions, and i'm sure it's used on the shuttle as well.

[redhotchillipepper]

I stand corrected! I meant that they pioneered it's use in automobiles. The first hydrogen fuel cell car, Hy-Wire Opel Vectra in 2005. They spent a whole bunch of money on its developemet throughout the late 90's and put all of their apples in one bushel for alternative fuel sources after the EV-1 failed miserably in 2002.

[LatinVenom]

Just and FYI the Volt that will be develop does not look like the one shown.
When they tested the concept the drag coefficient was awful so the car will look more closely to malibu/prious.

[lostcause]

Too expensive. Also, the infrastructure is not there for charging the thing. A lot of people live in apartments and can't exactly snake an extension cord several hundred feet across a public parking lot to charge their car overnight. Plus, it's not very practical for road trips. Nowhere to charge it. I realize that it comes with a gas engine but still, you're looking at about 50mpg which isn't that much more than current hybrids but it's a lot more expensive. When they can get something like this to market for 20K, then people will go nuts over it. At 40K it's just a novelty for the wealthy.

[Valistener]

It may get a $7,000 tax rebate. So at $33k it becomes a bit more mainstream.

No infrastructure for charging it? Its plugs into any standard wall socket. I could see how apartment dwellers would have a bit more hassle then someone who has a garage.
If I owned one, I would definitely snake an extension cord where I could.