My year with the Volt. Costs and Comparisons

Lots of good stuff here. Let me know if you have questions.

My Chevy Volt: One Year of Volt Ownership: The Costs of Operation and Comparisons

 

I don't think I have cherry picked data. In fact, I have been as transparent as possible. If you want to make your own comparisons, I have supplied all the data you need to make a comparison. I did 'cherry pick' if you want to use that word, the cars that I selected to compare with. When I started making this graph, way back in February of 2012, the Plug in Prius wasn't even available. I have just continued using the same data, as I am attempting to compare the efficiency of gas/gas hybrid counterparts to a mainly electrically powered vehicle. My target audience is people considering to go to electric, not people that own electric and attempting to start a war over what is better.

However, due to the nature of a Plug in Prius, building a comparison is not easy, and I'm not going to waste my time with it. Why?

1) I travel a majority of my day on the highway. That is above 62 MPH. That means that the Prius is going to burn gas, even when it doesnt on the Volt.
2) I live in North Carolina. Heat is not always necessary in the winter, but it is as some points. I'd be burning gas in the Prius, even with a full limited electric range when I use heat.
3) The Plug in prius runs the engine when you accelerate too hard, giving you another unknown.
4) My commutes are 70 miles a day, about 35 miles each way, and with a charge at work, the Prius really can't compete for electric driving, so I see it as no better than a standard Prius for my commute.

So, in the end, comparing the Volt to an electric that is severely compromised like the Plug in Prius is really difficult. And if I did make the comparison, you wouldn't like the result. The Plug in Prius is not much less expensive than the Volt since there is such a huge disparity in tax credits. I want to say the base Prius is about 32k, and is eligible for about 2.5k in credits. The base volt is 40k, and eligible for the full $7500. So, the Volt has a net price of 32.5k and the Prius, about 29.5k (if its even possible to get it for that price, and I doubt it is).

So the Volt only needs to work off about 3k in price difference, and given the very small and conditional electric range of the PiP, and MY driving conditions, I suspect the Volt would pay off its premium in less than 3 years, making it a far cheaper car in the long run to own and operate. Notice I said 'my conditions'. My blog is not about the average driver. If you drive 15 miles a day, the Prius may be as good for you as the Volt is for me. But I'm not writing the blog for you.

 

Exactly what detail are you looking for? On that page, I show you the number of miles I have driven in a year, the number of those miles that are gas and the number that are electric. I show you the efficiency of the car, of which you can derive how many kWh I used. What other data do you need? My commute is about 70 miles. I charge at work and at home. What other data do you need to make a comparison?

As for the math, if you need some help:

If you wanted to find out how many kWh I used for 20k miles, you do the following:
20,000/100=200
200 * 31 (the number of kWh per 100 miles)= 6,200 kWh

What have I not provided you?

Again, the numbers are there. I have no clue what numbers you are talking about, when I've given you everything I have.

Provide me a specific example of data you think I am missing so that you can do a comparison.

You can see more data on my car here:
Volt Stats: Details for Volt #2012-11378 (@Voltdriver)

 

Well, I never mind discussing specifics. If he wants to tell me what I have missed, I will do my best to provide it.

I provide summary data because I think having granularity in the dataset, which in the end will not change the outcome at all, is just noise.

If this is his M.O., to hurl accusations and not provide specific requests, then my B.S. filter will be applied soon enough

The point of my blog isnt trying to say that the Volt is 'the' car for everyone. The point is to show the enormous variability with computing returns on investments in electric cars, that a blanket statement is NOT appropriate when considering electric (or what electric car to buy for that matter), and that people need to look closely at all the variables before accepting or dismissing electrics.

I can attempt to make some very broad comparisons with his signature data. If take his driving data totals, and apply my current averages (97% electric) to my car, you would get about 2 cents per mile costs. He is getting about 5 cents per mile, using my ultra cheap electric rate and the nationwide '12 gas average of $3.60 a gallon

Me in Volt: ~2 cents per mile (I rounded up to compensate for tiny amount of gas)
Me in PiP: ~ 5 cents per mile

Cost at 100k miles, assuming everything is linear:
Volt: $2000
PiP: $5000

What do you know? $3000 difference. Almost the exact difference in cost between the base Volt and Prius after tax credits, and after 100k miles, the Volt is putting money in your pocket. and the Volt is now selling for 1.5-3k below list price at most dealerships now, so I wouldnt be surprised if there is NO price difference between the two cars, especially from my experience that Toyota thinks that Prius is the end all be on and asks list price (which is why I walked away from buying one 2 years ago before the Volt was available)

At 100k miles, the Volt will have burned about 80 gallons of fuel. The prius would have burned about 1150. And through 100k miles, you are driving on mostly pure electricity in the Volt.