Chevy Volt To Resume Production One Week Early Following Record Sales 443
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the back-to-work dept.
from the back-to-work dept.
surewouldoutlaw writes "On the heels of the news that the Chevy Volt had a record month, selling 2,289 units in March, the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the car is made will be resuming production of the car one week early, reducing a five-week shutdown to just four weeks, the United Auto Workers union said Tuesday. The shutdown had been put in place to re-align supply with demand. Volt workers have also begun to lash out at Republican presidential candidates' criticisms of the car: 'They're attacking our car to get at the President...But our car is going to change the way America does business. It's a breath of fresh air.'"
Re:Who Bought Them? (Score:1, Interesting)
Apparently more popular in Europe (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Volt is a game changer. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:sure it is (Score:5, Interesting)
Exactly.
My sister called me a few weeks ago. She works 3 days a week as a nurse working 12 hour shifts at a facility about 60 miles from her house. She has a vehicle that gets about 20mpg and is in great shape. More than that, it is 100% paid for. She wanted to know my opinion on getting a new car.
So even if she had a car that was able to get 40mpg, her gas consumption would go from 9 gallons a week down to 4 gallons at best. 5 gallons at $5 a gallon is $25 a week or $100 a month. A new car payment would be better than $250 a month.
I told her as long as her current car was safe and dependable, don't go buy a new car to "save money".
Valid, if you're out to save money in the short term you're not going to do it. However, you neglect to factor in things like maintenance. Don't forget the fact that electric vehicles are typically lacking in things like air filters, oil filters, etc. Maintenance for the late EV-1 was "rotate the tires and top off the wiper fluid". How much would you save if you didn't have to do all of the maintenance related to combustion engines?
Since electric cars are still more than $20,000 more than conventional vehicles, plus you are asking tax payers, many who make less money than you to subsidize an additional $10,000 or more of your auto purchase. that does not seem like much of a bargain to me. Batteries have to be replaced every 5 years. You are not really doing this to save money.
Again, agreed. If you do not have a lot of money to throw around you're not going to save money.
All of the extra nasty non-green things that goes into manufacturing your lightweight car, motors and batteries PLUS using electrical current generated by coal burning plants. All you have done is moved WHERE the environment is polluted at from your exhaust pipe, to someplace else. You are not really saving the environment either.
Yes, that's true. You move the "where" of the pollution. But this is more important than you think.
Let's say a thousand vehicles emit the same amount of pollution as one coal-fired power plant. Which do you think is easier to install and maintain filters on? One coal power plant, or a thousand individual vehicles that may or may not be as well maintained as you'd like?
Even with the "environmental damage" that occurs from mining and the like, it's still all centralized in certain places. That makes containing and reducing that damage much, much easier.
Re:Volt is a game changer. (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, we can't have the GOP schmucks kill the tax rebate on "green" cars, can we? I mean the federal government has just loads of cash sitting in piles doing nothing. No, wait, the government doesn't have piles of cash sitting around. The federal government has a debt that is somewhere around the annual wealth production of the entire nation.
This tax rebate comes from somewhere. I'll give you a minute to figure out where.
That's right, it comes from taxes. The government is giving these people money that they already gave them in the first place. Not only that but they are giving money to people that can afford a new car but they are doing so by taking it from people that cannot.
All these tax rebates for "green" technologies is destroying the economy, bankrupting the federal government, and doing very little to actually improve the environment. We've seen all kinds of money pits and environmental disasters like "cash for clunkers", windmill subsidies, and corn ethanol requirements. Cash for clunkers scrapped fully functional vehicles meaning considerable wasted energy in producing replacement vehicles. Windmills produce unreliable power meaning that to keep the lights on the coal power plants will run idle when the wind blows. When coal plants "idle" they still burn fuel since they can't be turned on and off like a light bulb. This raises the price of electricity and does nothing to the "carbon footprint" that is ultimately produced.
With corn ethanol... WE ARE BURNING OUR FOOD!
I sure hope the GOP schmucks are voted into office this November. Without an oil pipeline, with a ban on new oil and gas drilling, continued subsidies into failed "green" businesses, and burning more of our food I suspect we will see some very cold and dark winters ahead.
Opel Ampera - European twin of the Volt - owner... (Score:5, Interesting)
...here. What seems to be missing from all the discussions is that the Volt/Ampera is a very good, comfortable and well-equipped 'European style' car first. Its smooth and elegant power delivery is actually way more useable in daily traffic than an IC with much better figures on paper. Granted, it may not be for everyone for various reasons, but if the electric range suits your daily commute, your energy costs are half and your driving comfort double those of a clattering, noisy, smelly and soot spewing diesel that needs 4 jerky gear changes to reach 100km/h. It isn't cheap, but the price is roughly the same as a similarly equipped same old same old lease-slut BMW 320d ED.
I was sceptical about GM, but it turns that they have done their most decent job in years. Give it time; it's qualities will become evident as more people discover it irl and more versions appear.
Street creds: 528i, 525i, 944S2, Z3 2.8, 645Ci.
Re:sure it is (Score:5, Interesting)
EV TCO is already favorable compared to your average compact
That's true, but the Volt has the unfortunate position of having a couple extra thousand dollars worth of complexity added so that it can run on both gas or electricity.
The sad fact is that the only people who a volt makes sense for are the same people who could do alright with an electric conversion that might cost them $10,000 - and they could buy a $11,000 Versa to park in the driveway for those "long trips" that theoretically kill the electric car . Then they could take $15000 and bury it in the backyard and still have money leftover vs. buying a Volt.
I'm intrigued by cars like the all-electric Leaf - but until battery prices come down (or until they offer a lower-range version) they are wayyyyy overpriced. My wife only needs to go 15 miles per day total. She currently drives a Camry. She puts less than 5000 miles on the car each year. With low mileage like that, it would take forever to pay for the Volt/Prius difference - but a safe electric car with maybe 40 miles of range would be ideal if they could price it close to other (gasoline) cars in it's class. Hauling around hundreds of miles worth of battery for her 6-mile commute is silly.
You can't see difference because you ignore facts (Score:2, Interesting)
FACT: The Volt requires DAILY recharging. According to published numbers, it cost about $4 per charge. That is $120+ a month in electric cost.
FACT: If you take your example, 1250 miles a month means that the vehicle will be running on the gas engine for the great majority of the time. Remember, the Volt only has an average of 25 miles per charge. Given that the Volt gas engine has a miserable 24 mpg (claimed, ~20 real), you will be spending more on gas for the same drive (40+% more).
So in the end, for the same conditions you presented you will get an average of $7,120 of electric cost ($4 x 365 x 5) on top of $10K+ for gas (remember, the Volt is a gas guzzler). Adding the $40K+ price tag, that 5 year TCO is no less than $57,120 (ignoring any other maintenance cost) .... a $20K difference.
Re:sure it is (Score:4, Interesting)
> and they could buy a $11,000 Versa to park in the driveway for those "long trips" that theoretically kill the electric car
Or even better?
free/subsidized rental cars of a similar model with zero paperwork.
IE, Toyota signs a deal with Budget to stock a number of (what is the Leaf, the Matrix?) cars as normal rental models. If a Leaf owner comes in, they simply hand in their keys and take a set for the rental model.
Yes? Would this do it?