i was saying same thing for at least 4 years. diesel is way to go,if you are looking for 40-50mpg. at today's techno level hybrid make no practical sense. green? fuck that..making and disposal of those batteries probably create more pollution and waste than just simple gas engine
It's like solar panels. The avg ROI is 7 years. How many people want to spend 20k hope they have a job to pay for them, and can get their money back on solar if they need to move for work? My wife and I chuckle when watching HGTV they have all this BS about green this and recycled cork board, WTF! Seriously you want to go green go back to the size homes ppl lived in 50 years ago. Or build ICF concrete not recycled counter and floors. Maybe there is something to VOC paint but people are living into their 80's now and they grew up with VOC paint. Those same people ate non organic growing up and they are living longer than the previous generation. I grew in OC, CA 30 miles north of where there is nuclear power on the coast. That's what I want its safe and cost effective. Hell put in Denver. As long as there is an objective study on the pros and cons great. They say ppl bitch about transmission lines I say that's a great use for imminent domain. I will stop ranting now.
I'm a pretty big fan of hybrids and electric and plan on buying nothing but hybrids or electrics going forward........but even I have a limit on the size of premium I'm willing to pay and as usual GM is not even close to making a desirable vehicle for me. A new insight can easily be purchased for around 20K, prius for around $23-$25K, and even the leaf comes in at $26K with the tax incentive......and GM comes up with $33500 after incentives. WTF are they smoking, I guess lets see what Ford comes up with otherwise I'm going foreign cars again.
I don't even know if this thing is worth the lease. 2500 down; 350/month for 36. You're in for about what 16-17Kish when turning it in? Rather just buy the Corolla new, or a year old for that price.
I am sure some here remember the great success the ev1 had back in the early 90's. Here we are 20+ years later and gm is trying it all over again, funny how it took this long to start introducing electric vehicles once again. Kind of interesting don't you think. http://www.ev1.org/ The car that nobody wanted: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YCBc8pL1SGc&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YCBc8pL1SGc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> [/QUOTE]
So the technology was there a decade + ago, what happened to this great technological advance, wonder why they just gave up and pushed this advancement behind. For the 1999 model year, GM released a Gen II version of the EV1. Major improvements included lower production costs, quieter operation, extensive weight reduction, and the advent of a nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery.[7] The Gen II models were initially released with a 60 amp-hour (18.7 kilowatt-hour) Panasonic lead-acid battery pack, a slight improvement over the Gen I power source using the same 312 V voltage; later models featured an Ovonics NiMH battery rated at 77 Ah (26.4 kWh) with 343 volts. Cars with the lead-acid pack had a range of 80 to 100 miles, while the NiMH cars could travel between 100 and 140 miles between charges. For the second-generation EV1, the leasing program was expanded to the cities of San Diego, Sacramento, and Atlanta; monthly payments ranged from $349 to $574.[7] 457 Gen II EV1s were produced by General Motors and leased to customers in the eight months following December 1999.[20] According to some sources, hundreds of drivers wanted to but could not become EV1 lessees.[7]
The residual projections on the volt are insane based on the models I've seen. They will hold their value exceptionally well. Making the purchase then amortizing the cost over the time you have the vehicle , assuming 5 years, and you end up paying 160-210 USD/mth for the vehicle all-in including electricity.(at current prices and of course with the govt. tax credit)
There was a free video on Google a while back - "Who Killed The Electric Car?" The testers wanted to buy them from GM when the trial was up, but GM wouldn't let them and crushed them all to scrap. At $40K the Volt is almost like building a car so no one will buy it. Maybe the price will come down with competition from Tesla (if they ever get their act together).