[Supermans]

The Volt should have been priced no more than $35,000 to start off with a bang and a higher number being made. $41,000 will turn people away to the competition.. I personally was interested in the Volt up until this price was announced.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Thing is, putting all the electric drive stuff aside, the Volt is simply a much nicer car than the Leaf. Then, include all the electric drive stuff, and the Volt is still a better car.

If you own a Leaf, you will need to have another vehicle at your house. Want to visit family or friends over 100 miles away? Can't take the Leaf. What about a road trip? Not going to happen. If you ever forget to plug it in when you get home, well I hope you don't live too far from work. And remember that your range will drop significantly in the winter because of the cold battery coupled with a running heater. And if you do run out of electricity, its going to have to be towed back to your house, afterall you can't fill a Jerry can with electricity.

And if you lease you save a grand total of $541, plus the cost of gas?


Its the same for both

I guess that means if you do alot of driving you need to "Leaf" that car at home and take a real car....

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

Originally Posted by 1bad65

I'll predict it's gonna be a huge failure at that price.

At any price, It looks like dog pop.

+87,000,000,000.00

Originally Posted by Sax1031

I love the car and do understand why it is so expensive.

But having said that. I would never pay anywhere near that for that car.

Hate the car it dos not work for most PPl. 40 mi on a charge that's great if you drive 70 mi one way to work, So i save all of 1 3/4 Gl of gas one way,
That is why i DD my camaro.

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

I hope you guys are all well aware that CAFE is fabricated by a bunch of UNELECTED beaurocrats with no responsibility to the public.

Can you say "not representative government"?

Agreed +$13,254,643,798,611.34 And that dos not count the unfunded mandates.

[THE EVIL TW1N]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Could be 10% better, could be 10x better, could be infinitely better. Depends on how far you drive.


Sorta, its called 'aerodynamics'. The concept wasn't aerodynamic, the production car is. And there is no getting around the fact that the egg shape of the Volt, Prius, Insight and other highly efficient cars is near optimal if you want to maximize space and aerodynamics.

wouldnt a supercar type shape be more aerodynamic?

[guiLT]

$41,000??

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Supermans

The Volt should have been priced no more than $35,000 to start off with a bang and a higher number being made. $41,000 will turn people away to the competition.. I personally was interested in the Volt up until this price was announced.

Odds are, the price and the low production numbers are because of the fact GM is going to lose money on the Volt. So dropping the price and selling more means they'll lose even more money on it. Even at 41k they'll have a hard time covering the build cost of the car, let alone the billion dollars or so spend on R&D.

Originally Posted by THE EVIL TW1N

wouldnt a supercar type shape be more aerodynamic?

No, supercars aren't very aerodynamic. They're designed for downforce and have a drag co-efficient similar to the Camaro, up around 0.35 or so. The Volt will be in the 0.2X range. Plus, how many supercars seat 4 comfortably and have decent trunk space?

[HeHasReturned]

Originally Posted by All-Or-Nothing

I think the Leaf will win this war.

It is cheaper, has a better lease deal, can sit more passengers, has an identical battery warranty, and greater "electric only" range. The Volt only wins in extended range and initial charging times however there are alternatives to shorten the charging times of the Leaf down to 30 minutes.

Ultimately I think the $10K saved over the Volt will play heavily in the Leafs favor.

Nissan Leaf

Vehicle type: Fully electric, four-door hatchback

Base price: $32,780

Lease deal: $349 per month, 36 months, $1995 down.

Battery size: 24 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion

Battery warranty: Eight years or 100,000 miles

Range: Up to 100 miles

Charging time: 8 hours at 220-volt outlet (also optional 30 min. fast charger)
On sale: December

Chevrolet Volt:

Vehicle type: Electric four-door sedan with engine to generate power after battery runs down

Base price: $41,000

Lease deal: $350 per month, 36 months, $2,500 down

Battery size: 16 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion

Battery warranty: Eight years or 100,000 miles

Range: Up to 40 miles on battery. Then gas motor kicks in to generate power for another 300 miles.

Charging time: Four hours at 220-volt outlet

On sale: November




OK lets discuss.....

Yea, the Leaf is the clear winner here. Why?
Alright, it's time to look through demographics here. At 41k, Volt is not in the Leaf ev segment, it's more in the Tesla Luxury EV segment (Tesla's upcoming sedan). With Volt, you need to appeal to the rich folk...But the rick folk would rather have the unique, "exotic" Tesla as opposed to the Chevy.
On the other hand, average joe who wants an electric car because he only works 40 miles away from home...Oh wait, the Volt only covers you one way. The Leaf can cover you both ways.
Average Joe likes to buy cars, not rent (lease), so it looks like at 25k as opposed to 33k, the Leaf makes more sense. Sure, navi and some of those other features seem appealing, but is it worth the additional 8k? Especially when the Volt will not have as great range and therefore will cost him in gas money.
Alright, putting buying aside, let's talk about leasing.
This is a much closer deal, but once again, Average Joe has to pay an additional 500 for the Volt's lease deal. And chances are the leases are relatively low mileage, but at the end of the day, as an ev buyer, your primary concern is green and efficiency, and at the end of the day, no matter how you put it, the Volt and Leaf are both ev's, and the Leaf does the job better. It gets more range and will take people a lot farther for free.
The Leaf will appeal to the vast majority, and will sell a lot more...And GM knows that. That's why they are only going to be selling 10k the first year, and 20-30k over the next few years.The Leaf on the otherhand will be selling in the 100k's. (Already planned for production of 70k a year in Tennessee)

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by HeHasReturned

Yea, the Leaf is the clear winner here. Why?
Alright, it's time to look through demographics here. At 41k, Volt is not in the Leaf ev segment, it's more in the Tesla Luxury EV segment (Tesla's upcoming sedan). With Volt, you need to appeal to the rich folk...But the rick folk would rather have the unique, "exotic" Tesla as opposed to the Chevy.
On the other hand, average joe who wants an electric car because he only works 40 miles away from home...Oh wait, the Volt only covers you one way. The Leaf can cover you both ways.
Average Joe likes to buy cars, not rent (lease), so it looks like at 25k as opposed to 33k, the Leaf makes more sense. Sure, navi and some of those other features seem appealing, but is it worth the additional 8k? Especially when the Volt will not have as great range and therefore will cost him in gas money.
Alright, putting buying aside, let's talk about leasing.
This is a much closer deal, but once again, Average Joe has to pay an additional 500 for the Volt's lease deal. And chances are the leases are relatively low mileage, but at the end of the day, as an ev buyer, your primary concern is green and efficiency, and at the end of the day, no matter how you put it, the Volt and Leaf are both ev's, and the Leaf does the job better. It gets more range and will take people a lot farther for free.
The Leaf will appeal to the vast majority, and will sell a lot more...And GM knows that. That's why they are only going to be selling 10k the first year, and 20-30k over the next few years.The Leaf on the otherhand will be selling in the 100k's. (Already planned for production of 70k a year in Tennessee)

Most industry experts have pretty much laughed at Nissans sales estimate for EV's.

[FenwickHockey65]

I still say GM needs to make a Voltec-powered Silverado converted into a tow truck specifically for all the Leafs that will be stranded on the side of the road in the coming months.

[Revo1]

Volt seems overpriced. I was expecting low 30s....

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by HeHasReturned

The Leaf will appeal to the vast majority, and will sell a lot more...And GM knows that. That's why they are only going to be selling 10k the first year, and 20-30k over the next few years.The Leaf on the otherhand will be selling in the 100k's. (Already planned for production of 70k a year in Tennessee)

100k Leafs/year is like saying GM is going to sell 100k ZR1s/year.

[GrnMchin]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Most industry experts have pretty much laughed at Nissans sales estimate for EV's.

70k will be very hard to pull off w/ EV market having very limited consumer base..

[HeHasReturned]

Originally Posted by GrnMchin

70k will be very hard to pull off w/ EV market having very limited consumer base..

Only time will tell...Maybe Nissan is being too optimistic...Or maybe Nissan is a company of geniuses. Too soon to tell...

[GrnMchin]

Originally Posted by HeHasReturned

Only time will tell...Maybe Nissan is being too optimistic...Or maybe Nissan is a company of geniuses. Too soon to tell...

guess we will wait and see..

I for one was leaning to the Volt till the 41k price tag was announced. I drive 30 mile round trip and the wife 8 and I love the fact the you had options to use the Volt on extended trips w/ out having to pug it in... I know GM will be losing money on each Volt even w/ the big price tag. The R&D that went into the car was costly.. I hope that the platform does well, but not for me at this time.. The Cruz or VW TDI might be our next car in a few years or some type of EV if it's cost effective.. The bottom line all boils down to cost.. I can buy a ton of fuel at $4 per gal, like 8-9 years worth w/ the money saved over the Volt or Leaf when compared to the Cruz..