Volt 23,662 miles Factory Fill

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
I would never in a million years invest in a vehicle that could quite possibly cause me to say "oh, that's too far for my car to go" or "I'd like to, but my car is going to be charging, so I'm going to have to pass."

An electric car is not a primary vehicle, period.

There is life beyond your daily commute.


That's why EV is likely not the only vehicle in a household. If I were to buy an EV I'd make sure I have at least a beater as a backup.


Definitely an option as a second vehicle used for reasonable commute distances. We've considered one, but lean towards the plugin hybrids as the better option.

 

[OneEyeJack]

The Volt was not successful in Taxi service in California. Two problems. It's limited to 3 passengers instead of the traditional 4 and reliability was a problem. It suffered by comparison with the Prius which is proving to be almost bullet proof. Taxis are an exercise in high mileage, hard use and minimum maintenance. The Prius does well because the transmission never needs service, never shifts gears and has no reverse gear. There are no friction components of any kind. Also there is no fan belt on the engine and the cams are driven by a, so far maintenance free chain and most of the braking goes to charging the battery. Low maintenance and reliability are the reasons the Prius is in taxi service. The operators don't care one bit about saving the planet. And so far with all the miles driven not one traction battery has been replaced. A lot of people that have never owned or operated a Prius have strong opinions about the problems and short comings of the Prius but the taxi people are doing just fine and ignore all that good advice.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Taxis are a perfect application for hydrid technology, all of that stop-and-go. The Prius V must be a real winner at that game. Compared to a Van or Vic, it must save loads.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Compared to a Van or Vic, it must save loads.

My brother spends less dollars daily on gas with his Prius right now than I did twenty years ago in a Caprice, and roughly the same number of dollars as I did closer to twenty-five years ago with LPG.

 

[bxd20]

I just want to clear up some things because there seems to be confusion in this thread.

The Volt is not a normal EV. It gives you about 40 miles on a charge, then switches on its engine to generate electricity and you can keep going. So you can keep driving forever... cross country if you like... without plugging in.

I myself have a 32 mile round trip commute each day. I could charge the Volt each night for about 1/10th of what the commute would cost in gasoline. It perfectly handles Monday through Friday, and Sunday trips to church. Trips to grandma's house on Saturday's would be 1/2 on gas.

It's the perfect antidote for the "range anxiety" that comes with a normal EV - worrying that having to run an extra errand or being called somewhere unexpectedly will leave you stranded.

And it means the Volt can be the ONLY car in a family.

Someone asked about the crossover point, aka when does the engine kick in. Actually the engine can be turned on manually using "Hold" mode. "Hold" mode is designed to keep your battery at its current charge level by running the ICE. Otherwise let it do its own thing and it manages the cutovers for you automatically.

I plan on getting one as soon as my current lease is up in 4 months. The prices have dropped significantly. After tax credits and rebates, a new Volt can be had for under $25,000 and will save hundreds to thousands in gas costs each year.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
The Volt was not successful in Taxi service in California. Two problems. It's limited to 3 passengers instead of the traditional 4 and reliability was a problem.


I don't think Volt is any less reliable than a typical car. Of course if you are comparing it against Prius V you will have 3 very big problems:

1) It cost a lot more because it is a plug in EV, and Taxi doesn't care about plugging in as it is always on the road.

2) It is much smaller than a Prius V, actually nothing else is going to beat a Prius V on volume per fuel cost in the market.

3) The Prius power train as you said, is just too reliable of a benchmark, among any power train setup out there (maybe except long haul diesel truck).