"I'm Getting a Million Miles per Gallon in my Volt!"

Its reaching a level of manipulative marketing...government-esque as this point.

Electricity hovers somewhere around $.20/kWh for Long Island, which means until gas hits $4.50ish a gallon (premium currently at $3.95) a Volt is no more economical than a Honda Civic. However, if oil rises in price LIPA will tack on a fuel surchage and that $0.20 will go up accordingly too.

Add to that the fact that if these two cars are purchased today the guy who bought the civic still has $14000 in his pocket....

Ignoring the electric cost is akin to going to Starbucks every day and putting it on your credit card. I am probably similar to most people who get their monthly credit card bill, and don't peruse the bill very carefully. Hence, the price of the coffee is invisible and therefore does not exist.

Eventually, I hope, Volt owners will see what is happening to their electric bill and start stroking their chin with a "hmmmm".

That eventuality will probably not sink in until the new car smell has worn off. Then we will see the advent of a new aspect of "buyer's remorse."

Smug factor is very high with this Volt.
Volt just another product like the Prius that is a great product with offensive marketing hype and smug drivers.

British Columbia hydro is is 6 cent/kwh on the 1st tier and 9 cents on the 2nd.

It could get even cheaper when they install the new smart metres that will allow them to charge cheaper rates at night and higher rates during the day....as long as you remember to charge at night.

Electric rates aren't the problem though. The car itself is too expensive, the Prius will be much cheaper to run over the life of the car.

Volt Dolt

NOUN:

A stupid person; a dunce who has purchased a Volt thinking it would solve all of their and the world's energy problems and/or environmental impact while saving them money.

Erin's post is certainly bringing up a good point about the cost of electricity, but I think Dan's Fuel Economy Update that makes the Volt (or any other PEV) out to be a bad deal compared to hybrids is flawed in some important ways. The ridiculously high rates Dan mentions as being typical in California wouldn't really be typical if he were a real owner of a Volt or other PEV because he would most likely have a second meter exclusively for charging. That's important because the rate he would pay on the second meter would probably be way less than what he's paying now because it wouldn't bump him into the highest tier AND it would probably be a TOU rate, which would allow him to charge at night with cheap, off-peak electricity. Take those two things together and the cost/mile for the Volt is going to look a lot better.

In any case, comparing the cost of the Volt and the cost of the Prius ignores that the Volt is substantially more powerful than the Prius. Is the Taurus SHO more expensive per mile than the Taurus SEL? Yes. But no one at Edmunds would ever question that tradeoff.

> Here in XYZ, electricity appears to be half the price of what it is in ABC.

I assure you that as soon as electric vehicles are the norm, electric rates will shoot up everywhere to the same level, citing "unbearable grid loads".

This article is pretty insulting. It's almost like you guys are suggesting Volt owners are idiots and they are oblivious to the amount of money they're spending on their own car. There are reasons to buy an electric car other than to save money.

"In any case, comparing the cost of the Volt and the cost of the Prius ignores that the Volt is substantially more powerful than the Prius. Is the Taurus SHO more expensive per mile than the Taurus SEL? Yes. But no one at Edmunds would ever question that tradeoff."

No one will buy the Volt for performance, it's not that fast.

People buy the Volt for for the ECO spin and in that sense the Prius beats it easy.

This is why you let the market decide what works and what doesn't instead of good feelings and digital dashboard leaves. There is still no cheaper and more efficient fuel than, well... fuel. Energy has to come from somewhere, and if we were really serious about mileage and a cheap commute we'd all drive 3-cylinder diesels. Electricity is not an endless free source of motive power and we won't be replacing our current grid with solar or wind power anytime soon.

Now, if they could figure out a way to move a vehicle with smug self-satisfaction... that's something we could all get behind - and push.

California might have some of the worst electric rates, but they also have the best and most advanced infrastructure for solar energy usage in the country, Florida following behind. In places like that you'd probably consider a good deal of Volt owners being pV owners as well. In that case....just as good as free :)

'smug satisfaction' seems a bit sarcastic...I think there are people out there who genuinely feel that they are doing a service to the environment by reducing their vehicles CO2 emmissions to virtually zero

not to mention: where are you putting the thousands of tons of batteries in 10 years?!

"People buy the Volt for for the ECO spin and in that sense the Prius beats it easy."

Depends on your use, your electrical cost baseline, and the cost of gasoline. It's impossible to make a sweeping statement due to the huge variances in those three factors. For my 23 mile round trip commute in NC, the Volt's energy cost would be lower and the ECO impact smaller. The differential in purchase price makes the Prius and 3 or 4 compact models lower overall cost than first generation Volt.

"Smugness is nothing but an emotion used by the feeble-minded."

I detect a certain amount of smugness in that statement.

""Mike McCarver, a retiree from Los Altos, CA, has traveled nearly 800 miles since he bought his Volt on Jan. 28, and he's averaging 93 mpg. McCarver uses his Volt to travel around town, to the local country club, and occasionally to his vacation home in Carmel about 80 miles away.""

GM forgot that country club and vacation home are as anti-environmental conservation as you can get.

And don't forget, the best-selling hybrids are usually the ones that look different from the average car. The greenie-weenies want something that screams "LOOK AT ME!!! I'M SAVING THE PLANET!!!"

Oh my God, I'm getting 1,000,000 per gallon in my new Volt, too! Now, I can drive 1,000,000 miles for nothing, except for my carbon footprint, which is bigger than any Honda built, or the cost of the electricity that comes from coal and fracking for natural gas, or the replacement batteries, or the 40 grand that it cost me...

Of course, I'll have to engage the gasoline motor to drive to my many vacation mansion estates, drive my duelly to pull my prise thoroughbred horse that gets 8 mpg (the duelly, not the horse; the horse gets 5 miles to the apple).

You see, my good fellows, a man of aristocracy, such as I, simply cannot be seen in a mere Toyota Prius. It's nothing but the best mediocre hybrid electric for my everyday driving among the peasants. I drive my $100,000 Tesla only on the weekends.

@deanoflas... good catch, I was being sarcastic; and "genuinely feeling" something doesn't actually make it so. Eco-mentalists (to borrow a phrase from my favorite show) have gone to war against the most efficient source of motive power available without coming up with a viable alternative and no amount of good feelings is going to make parting with more money for an inferior product sit any better with me. I don't care if my car is powered by baby farts and pine cones... if it doesn't do what my car does right now, or improve upon that - I don't want it.

BTW - I am positive that once a commercial company finds a profitable way to replace the internal combustion engine it will happen; and I am all for it.

Im really curious to know did GM do some personal grievance to insideline it appears to be a constant crusade against the Volt. If you have that muhc of an issue with it stop doing reports on it, otherwise find something else to CONSTANTLY complain about hmmm like the Leaf. Which ironically you rarely here anything about negative from this site. Or for that matter why not do a useful reviw that doesnt involve doing some dum like track testing trucks, or 6000 pound ultra luxury sedans who cares. Or for that matter do you not use electricity simply because its expensive?? Say whatever you want in regards to your socrates allegory of the cave mentality but if your going to have your head in the cave refusing to come out, at least put out stories for more than just the mullet crowd. Seriously..

"General Motors issued a press release today with personal success stories from early 2011 Chevrolet Volt owners. Curiously, all of them wax on about the big mpg numbers they're seeing, but none appear to be factoring in the cost of the car's electricity consumption -- which is a definite consideration when you're plugging in your Volt regularly."

Stop hating. Please! You cannot tell actual customers what they should and should not care about. The Volt is not a car you buy SOLEY for economic reasons- it cots over $40k so no one is buying one JUST to save money. No one goes around calculating "cost per mile" when they drive. Do people with regular cars every calculate cost per mile by adding up maintenance costs, service cots, depreciation, etc.? No. People buy hybrids and electric cars to use LESS gas and reduce emissions. Its that simple.

"We understand that electricity may be practically free in the middle part of the country, but here in California (which like it or not, is destined to be the Volt's biggest market), electricity costs real money and can't be ignored."

What a stupid, smart a$$ comment. California will be the largest market because its the most populous state. That doesn't mean the Volt wont do well in other parts of the country where "green" cars are popular. You know, places like DC, New York, Boston, Philly, Jersey, etc. There are other parts of the country that count for something, even if it doesn't seem that way when you live in California. Most of the phase 2 roll out is happening in east coast areas. Electricity is cheaper EVERYWHERE in the US, not just the "middle of the country". I pay about 10 cents per KwH.

"This article is pretty insulting. It's almost like you guys are suggesting Volt owners are idiots and they are oblivious to the amount of money they're spending on their own car. There are reasons to buy an electric car other than to save money. "

They refuse to acknowledge anything you just said. The M3 costs more to operate per mile than a Camry but they would never argue the M3 is a bad buy due to the fact that it doesn't make sense from a value standpoint.

"And don't forget, the best-selling hybrids are usually the ones that look different from the average car. The greenie-weenies want something that screams "LOOK AT ME!!! I'M SAVING THE PLANET!!!""

The Volt looks like no other GM car. What's your point?

vanatageman:

Every post they do on the Volt is negative and they love airing their disdain for the car. They are seemingly upset that GM actually produce the car when they said they would and it performs as they said it would. They also are likely ticked off that their competitors (all of which have a much longer history of reporting on cars) have given the car numerous accolades. Keep in mind, IL is the only major auto publication that has been totally unimpresed by the Volt. Ever since the final production specs and operating modes were revealed they have been on a mission to prove that its really not much more than a Prius and that it makes no sense economically. But they never ask if the Prius or Leaf make sense from an economic standpoint. They are angry about the concept of the Volt because they live in an area with insane electricity rates that make any plug in a questionable proposition. Keep in mind, this isnt a Volt specific issue- its just that the Volt is the first car of this type. Any future plug ins will face the same charging cost issues as Volt.

"The Volt looks like no other GM car. What's your point? "

That WAS my pint; the Volt WILL attract the sanctimonious planet-worshipers precisely because it DOES look different.

I dont know that styling is really what attracts Prius owners, Its more the fact that they know is a separate model that can be identified as such as opposed to a hybrid version of a common, dull car like the Camry. As you know the shape is determined primarily by the batteries and aerodynamics. They dont style these cars like doorstops to attract the santimonius people you hate so much.

This has already been mentioned in a couple of posts, but if in the next decade we find plug-in electrics becoming mainstream across the country...you can expect electricity costs to rise along with the demand no matter where you live. Saying that may sound cynical, but I think that all of us know that this is simply how things work in the real world. The only real solution (that solves both the costs involved, and helps clean our air) is to move away from centralized work places and have more people working from their homes (already possible with the internet) and spend the neccesary money for a real, viable public transport infrastructure for everyone else.

Oh, and before you get me wrong...I'm a Texan who sees personal vehicles as not only a tool for personal freedom, but also a necessity. (for now)

no one is predicting plug ins will become mainstream anytime soon so the fears of rampant rate increases due to tens of millions of cars being plugged in aren't founded. On top of that, most of these cars will be charged at night when usage is down so there isn't any reason to suspect there will be prices hikes to match increased demand for charging. Its a non issue and will be for years to come.

For most people, Volt gets a bit less than a million miles per gallon. Probably more like 90 mpg on a Cost Equivalent MPG calculation.

Here is the calculator for it
http://www.befrugal.com/tools/electric-car-calculator