I am not bashing the product. It may very well be a great car, but the propaganda that it's selling well is in diametric-opposition to the facts. They'll never reach the current sales targets, but the lease is a great idea for the public. Rent the thing out at a cap-cost in the low $30k while keeping a sticker of $41k. You're moving ALL potential buyers (excluding fleet sales) into leases. The residual value will be so low that nobody will buy these when you can lease at $32-$33k. It allows GM to defer the losses until those leases terminate.
Sorry I have been busy. Some of us actually have jobs and work all day. It's meeting my needs just fine. I live just 4 miles from work, so it works out perfectly for me. Everywhere I go is within a 5 mile radius. But it would work just as well for somebody with a 25 mile commute who can charge it while at work.
From Nissan website: LEAF⢠lease$379$379 a month - 36 month lease MSRP $35,200 â 2012 Nissan LEAF⢠SV $7,500 manufacturer incentive already included for federal tax credit available to NMAC ($2,599 initial customer payment) Excludes tax, title, license, and destination charge. From Chevy website: Low-Mileage Lease for Qualified Lessees $349/month 36 month lease. $2,499 due at signing (after all offers). Tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment extra. Mileage charge of $0.20 /mile over 36,000 miles. Read full offer details Example based on survey. Each dealer sets own price. Your payments may vary. Payments are for a 2012 CHEVROLET VOLT with an MSRP of $39,995... So the Leaf has an upfront payment of $3449 ($2599 plus $850 destination). The Volt is $2499. The Leaf is $379 and the Volt is $349, same lease details. So actually the Volt lease is way cheaper than the Leaf and it's a more expensive car. But that may be due to other factors besides manufacturer discounting, such as residuals and the money factor.
As far as I can tell, Chevy has had the lease option for $350/month since 2010: http://gm-volt.com/2010/12/15/chevrolet-volt-lease-terms/ http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/27/autos/volt_price/index.htm I thought you were talking about this new program that offers the same monthly lease cost but with zero down, seems substantially better: http://www.greencarreports.com/news...sales-efforts-with-quad-0-lease-in-california "According to Chevy salesman and certified Volt specialist Randall Blaum, the company has come out with what it calls the "Quad $0" lease program for the 2012 Volt. That means no down payment ($0 down), no security deposit ($0 deposit), no payment for the first month of the lease ($0 first payment), and no cash due when the sale is completed ($0 at signing)."
Well I do most of my charging at work on the 240V (the dealership I work at has 4 of them). I just pull it upfront a couple hours before we close and let it charge. SPX called me the other day to see if I wanted to set up a time for them to come out and examine my house to install a 240V. There are some tax credits out there to get it installed. Honestly I can plug it into my bathroom with an extension cord and it charges just fine (about 10 hours). So unless I can get a 240V installed for less than a couple hundred bucks, I don't see the point.
Free charging at work - that is sweet. With your limited distance commute you can probably skip charging at home most times and just charge at work.
Leases change every month. That "Quad $0" lease is only available in California. When the Volt first came out, Chevy was putting up some rebate. Then it got really popular (6 month waiting list in a prime launch area) and they cut it back to almost nothing. Then they started making a few more and then the whole fire thing happened and just a few weeks ago they increased the lease rebate to $2600. Also, both US bank and ALLY are leasing, so that creates a little competition. You don't have to put down a few thousand. You could do as little as first payment and security deposit. Just roll the downpayment and taxes etc. into the monthly payment.
what a joke..propaganda machine at it's best- GM records its highest profit ever: $7.6 billion General Motors earned its largest profit ever in 2011, two years after it nearly collapsed into financial ruin. http://news.yahoo.com/gm-records-highest-profit-ever-7-6-billion-123523501.html
Somebody please work out the payback for the Volt compared to a normal internal combustion car. As for my company we have two employees at my company of 400 staff and they are charged for charging their cars at work otherwise it is a fringe benefit and risks our not for profit tax free status. There is nothing free in this world. Including EV power.