Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Chevrolet Volt Will the Chevy Volt Succeed?
544 messages, Last post on Oct 28, 2009 at 1:11 PM
You are in the Chevrolet Volt Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
|
Replying to: larsb (Aug 16, 2009 10:13 am) You are not paying attention. If I owned a Volt today it would be costing me 34 cents per KWH to charge. If it only allows an 8 KWH charge on the 16 KWH battery that is still as much or more than a Jetta TDI or Prius will cost to drive. You can also bet they will require road tax when they hit the ground. Making them an expensive option to drive, at least in places like CA. And we are not the highest in the nation. It would be a total non starter in Hawaii where current charges for the low end is 28 cents per KWH. How many people work at night and would be able to use solar to charge during the day? I entered my home on Solar City website. They estimated my savings at minus $108 per year. Looks like I would have a total loss over 15 years of $457. Solar is not ready for prime time yet. I have a huge South facing roof also. So if it will not save me money. I am not sure who it would benefit. Plus it will not charge my EV at night. See the rates we pay in San Diego: http://www.sdge.com/customer/rates/baselineTierExamples.shtml They will be going up when SDG&E cannot meet the 2012 alternative energy mandate.
|
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Aug 16, 2009 8:58 pm) Like I said - 10 cents is the US average. 6 cents is the average off-peak charge. MOST Americans will be able to drive a Volt for less than any other car on the road.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: larsb (Aug 17, 2009 5:35 am) Those of us in the heartland tend to prefer plain ol' gas or diesel powertrains, as they do not require band-aids to travel several hundred miles comfortably and efficiently. Give me a TDI, or for that matter a midsize sedan with a direct-injection gas four-cylinder, and I'll outlast and outrun your Volt.
|
|
|
Replying to: stephen987 (Aug 17, 2009 6:21 am)
|
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Aug 17, 2009 7:47 am) Hold on, while I double over in laughter, fall off my chair, and hyperventilate from a giggle attack.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LOL . . . . . . . . ROFLMAO . . . . . . . . LOL . . . . . . . LOL . . . . . . OK, back to business. I DO see the big picture - that picture is that our dependence on gasoline is on the way down. It cannot be stopped. It should not be stopped. The EREV Volt is another step, just as were the gasoline-electric hybrids before it. Is the Volt the perfect car for EVERYONE? No, and that car is impossible to build. If not, we would all be driving the perfect car already. You can only build a car to meet a certain need for a certain group. I'm not worried about electricity rates going up - I just insulated myself from that problem by leasing a solar panel system. For 5 months out of the year, I'm going to be feeding the grid from my roof. Gary says, "No one has posted which states have smart meters that can lower the rates at night. " It's not "state by state" it's "utility company by utility company." Some companies have it, others do not. I would doubt there is a valid list showing them all.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Aug 14, 2009 5:41 am) |
|
|
Replying to: larsb (Aug 17, 2009 8:48 am) Not only that, it seems to be "by utility company by state". And in my state, it's not even all year. But when the off peak is in effect it's dirt, dirt cheap. I look at the first Volts like TV's. The first ones were really expensive. People with money bought them because they were cool and made a statement. Regular people went to bars or looked through store windows, waiting for them to become affordable. Like every other electrical gizmo they started getting cheaper. Eventually TV killed the radio star and so electric cars will also take over. It's just a matter of time... this is the dawn of a revolution. |
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Aug 16, 2009 8:58 pm) I do not know why people are still ignorant about grid-tied solar. You do not need to charge at night using solar. You generate during the day, feed that power to the utility company to accumulate credits and then draw that credit at night, At 8kwh and 300 days/per year if your solar panels are designed to generate 2400KwH over and above your residential needs, you charge the Volt for free. With residential time of use metering where the utility company pays you more during peak day hours between 12-6 you may only need to generate about 2000KWH extra throughout the year. In my area (silicon valley) that translates to 1.3KW of solar capacity - current cost of that after rebates is 5K. You can do the math - payback is 5 years, Panels are guaranteed for 25-30 yrs. |
|
|
For those worrying about the "climbing" capabilities of the Volt, here's some new data to digest: Chevy Volt heads to Pikes Peak to practice mountain climbing
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: larsb (Oct 08, 2009 12:36 pm) |
|
You are here:
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Chevrolet Volt Will the Chevy Volt Succeed?
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2011 Chevrolet Volt
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
