GM Volt will retail ~$40,000 - Page 2

vfx · 08-19-2008, 04:33 PM

15 minutes

Martin · 08-19-2008, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stopcrazypp

I guess we can expect a similar more expensive than anticipated price on the Whitestar (it inched up in the price estimates just like the Volt did).

Guess what? Making a decent, production electric car is REALLY HARD. Although $40K will push the Volt out of the price range for many consumers, it is still a major, major advance for electric cars and will drive the auto industry in the direction it desperately needs to go.

Even at $40K, I will buy a Volt. (Assuming Carolyn lets me

)

DaveD · 08-19-2008, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin

Even at $40K, I will buy a Volt. (Assuming Carolyn lets me

)

I expect an answer from her shortly. The gauntlet has been thrown!

Kevin Harney · 08-20-2008, 06:29 AM

Martin,

This is slightly off topic here but I was wondering if you would be good enough to write a thread on actual miles per charge under different circustances based on your reality of driving. Specifically what I am interested in is slightly spirited highway driving. Like is it reasonable for me to expect to be able to take a 200 mile highway trip @ say 70 mph. For me the city driving range is not an issue as it is ample for my needs the highway driving is the one in question. Any insight would be greatly appreciated now that you have over 1000 miles under your belt :) Lucky you !!!!

Thanks.

DDB · 08-20-2008, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vfx

15 minutes

Got to give the guy some credit. He sure works hard at his hobby. I'd also sure appreciate it if his "list" is honored by GM. Right now the Volt is looking like my #1 option.

vfx · 08-20-2008, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDB

Got to give the guy some credit.

Absolutely!

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SByer · 08-20-2008, 10:32 AM

I have to second Martin's comment. I think what GM had done with the Volt is absolutely amazing. Here is a company that has, in the past, shown a consistent bad habit of ruining most of their cars by raiding the parts bin to save costs.

And here they have a car that can't really share many parts, if any, and they're moving it towards production at a remarkable speed for a large behemoth. And while we may quibble about it being a REEV, the fact still is that it will mostly drive only electric, unlike the plug-in Prius, which still turns the engine on all too frequently.

Kevin Harney · 08-20-2008, 11:14 AM

That is strange SByer. When I first saw the redesign I thought they redesigned it to look like the Cobalt and the Malibu so that they could use many of the same parts and seem VERY mainstream and "normal". I also thought that is was quick way to move the design along rapidly in the public's eye so they could say they were getting prototypes out this year. Total opposite of what you said ...

stopcrazypp · 08-20-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin

Guess what? Making a decent, production electric car is REALLY HARD. Although $40K will push the Volt out of the price range for many consumers, it is still a major, major advance for electric cars and will drive the auto industry in the direction it desperately needs to go.

Even at $40K, I will buy a Volt. (Assuming Carolyn lets me

)

Don't get me wrong, I'm also a Volt fan, and at $40k I'm sure they will find plenty of early adopters who are willing to buy one. It's just that $40k is too high for most consumers as you mentioned. Hopefully as they increase volume they can get the price down to near the $30k mark.

TEG · 08-20-2008, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Harney

When I first saw the redesign I thought they redesigned it to look like the Cobalt and the Malibu so that they could use many of the same parts...

I didn't take the styling update to mean it would share more parts. It is just a normal part of new product development to update the prototypes to fit the latest styling direction. Just because it looks more like the new Malibu doesn't mean it is going to share more parts.