Will the Chevrolet Volt be a failure or a success?

You are accusing him of being a fan. Likely true, but not extendable to the mainstream buying public who are quite sensitive to 30% differences in fuel costs.

 

No accusation intended. I was talking about natural variation in driving routines. YMMV. I doubt people stop short drives in winter because gas mileage is worse.

 

Thanks for sharing your data.

One minor thing:
Volt needs primium gas, Prius uses regular. Are they both same price in your area?

Giora.

 

In Europe the purchase price difference will be more than $10000. EDIT: a lot more.

 

Then in the future try to say what you mean. You originally said that asking for data from a kill-a-watt is overkill because consumption between 0.28 - 0.38 kwh/mile would not sway his purchase decision.

It is obvious that a single one mile trip in the context of multi-year car ownership is insignificant and not worth comment. Were you belaboring the obvious, or now spinning ?

 

I guess I am, but I hope I don't come off as a fanboi.

 

I say no. More a fan with a chip on your shoulder.

 

Good point I didn't factor in.

My average fuel cost was $3.96, and I used $4; lets assume average regular in my area is $3.60, then:

32.96 gallons = $118
cost per mile = 7.2 cents per mile

still about 10% more than what I got in the Volt (6.5 cents per mile).

The real thing I like is that I displaced around 15 gallons of gasoline. I don't know the tank size on the Gen III, but on my old Gen I that was nearly a tank and a half, in just 3 weeks. Extrapolate that for a whole year and I'd displace 26 tanks of gasoline, that's pretty awesome in my book.

 

I thought I was stating some fairly well understood things, but you jumped to conclusions and then accused me of putting an insult in there. If you don't understand something, it may be you, and you should not infer that there was an insult from me to mfennell at all.

SO here is the obvious, as stated in the first post YMMV! Getting 20% better than EPA doesn't mean that you should compare it to epa of anouther car unless that car is doing the same trip and gets EPA. The CR mileage in winter should also not be compared to the prius as they did. Weather, driving conditions, speed, trip length, etc have an effect on mileage, and this effect is different between the volt and prius. Most volt buyers will be more concerned about miles per charge and gas usage in a year than how much electricity they are using on a given day. To learn these things and kwh per full charge you do not need a kill-o-watt meter, but its fine to geek out and get one.

Is that clear enough for you, or do you feel like another insult is somehow implied? If you do please keep it to yourself this time as it is all in your mind.

To me you don't. I hope you weren't hopelessly confused like sage to that imaginary slight.

I'm glad your happy with your car and gas savings.

 

I didn't perceive any slight at all.

 

Anyway, back on topic of E-Efficiency, my final for last week was 223.6m, 75.71kWh, or 33.86 kWh/100mi. No gasoline used. I turned several people loose with it during my daughter's 2nd birthday party on Saturday, which netted a usage rate of 37.9 kWh/100mi.

I also noticed an assembly flaw over the weekend. The rear, passenger door striker is a little high. The tell was a tiny scuff on the door entry frame paint from (I think) the door seal rubbing it. I'll adjust it myself but mention it the next time my Volt Advisor calls. No kidding, someone calls about every 3 weeks and asks about the car.

 

I keep an open mind, I like the Volt, but it will fail.
It cost's WAY too much, and it's kind of small.

 

Anybody see the IIHS crash test results that came out today?

Volt and Leaf are "Top Safety Picks", I didn't see Prius on the list (although there were some other Toyotas).

 

2010 Toyota Prius-III earns IIHS top safety pick! - CleanMPG Forums

 

I just found it on IIHS's website, had to go back to 2009 to find it listed for the 2010 model. Prius doesn't appear on the 2010 or 2011 lists (they've added a roll over test since then).

IIHS vehicle ratings

 

A lot of gaming occurs in crash testing grades; and of course any revision to the test puts cars designed prior to the revision in a poor light. You really have to read the details to know if an 'A' or a 'B' is meaningful.

IIRC G3 Prius missed top marks because the headrest was not active.

 

Hi Mike,

Just curious, are those kWh figures from the Volt computer, or is that what you calculate from refilling the battery to full, measured using a kill-o-watt.

If it is the latter, I am curious what the spread is from what the Volt displays and what a kill-o-watt displays. That would indicate the charging efficiency.

 

Yet somehow Volt drivers are managing to get more electric miles then gas miles.
Chevy Volt owners average 1,000 miles between fill-ups in March — Autoblog Green

 

And yet we were talking about it going coast to coast on electricity. Not sure what relevance your link has to that.

 

I'm surprised at the level of venom aimed at the Volt. My dad just got his this week, replacing a 2008 Touring Package 6. Why? His daily commute to work is 25 miles, round trip. That's 95% of the mileage he puts on a car. With the Volt, that done entirely gas free. Here in NJ, we have electricity suppliers who can provide up to 100% of the electric feed to the house using renewable clean sources (solar, wind, etc.). And so with the Volt, my father's commute is now entirely gas free, charged with electricity that is 100% clean.

Driving the Volt so far is a pleasure, and if anything I think we shouldn't be playing semantics with the word hybrid. The Volt, Prius, Leaf, and more are all part of a larger movement and we should embrace acceptance of it rather than have infighting. For people like my dad, the Volt represents a quantum leap in economy and emissions reduction compared to any Prius. And by the way, the lease price we got is equivalent to any other car in the Volt's price range (after Fed discount) and actually less than our local Toyota dealer quoted for a Prius package 5.

-MKL