thinking about getting a Volt for a commuter car....

[SARAFIL]

I'll admit that even I have considered it as a commuter given the mileage I've been driving lately and the cheap lease deals. Can't quite justify 2 cars yet, but its awfully tempting.

[ZBB]

I drove a Volt a couple weeks ago -- Motoman had one when I visited LA. The gas engine didn't come on at all in the ~15 miles I drove it (and he kept it plugged it in whenever parked if feasible).

It actually felt decent to drive. Helps that the steering is nicely weighted (almost a bit heavy). Electric motor torque is nice too. The dash has a green ball that moves up or down depending on how heavy your foot goes -- it was actually kind of fun trying to be more efficient...

[lemming]

Originally Posted by ZBB

I drove a Volt a couple weeks ago -- Motoman had one when I visited LA. The gas engine didn't come on at all in the ~15 miles I drove it (and he kept it plugged it in whenever parked if feasible).

It actually felt decent to drive. Helps that the steering is nicely weighted (almost a bit heavy). Electric motor torque is nice too. The dash has a green ball that moves up or down depending on how heavy your foot goes -- it was actually kind of fun trying to be more efficient...

Like J and C were saying, one person reported adjusted mpg of 3038 miles per gallon of gas.

If you live within range of work, it's pennies per day to operate based on kWh charges.

And you have that security blanket if you run beyond the range.

I'm looking into it more and more......

[SARAFIL]

We have charging stations at work (my employer's venture capital arm invested in one of the leading charging station makers so I think they are doing this as a marketing thing), so I could charge this for free. Tempting.

[lupinsea]

My neighbor a few houses down has one and let me drive it.

It's definitely some cool tech and the car is eerily quite as it launches down the road. The brakes feel slightly different as you can tell that there is something going on with the regenerative braking.

If you're looking for a commuter sedan they are awesome.

But I don't think i'd want one. I'd rather drive something more invigorating.

Still, I do hope the tech gets incorporated and refined into other product lines.

[John V]

IMO, the brakes in the Volt feel a lot more natural than those in a Prius. Whenever I drive my mom's Prius I try to just avoid using the brakes as much as possible... they feel like shit.

The Volt also feels like more of a real car. The Prius steering is frightening. It has absolutely no feel, and the steering ratio seems bizarrely non-linear. Oh, and it doesn't have enough balls to get out of its own way operating in electric mode.

It baffles me that Toyota sells so many of them, especially given that there wasn't a plug-in option until recently.

[lemming]

Originally Posted by stuka

230? That's 4 tanks of gas!

they've had enough on the road, too, for issues to pop up. thus far, nothing scary, such as bricked powerplants.

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by lemming

Like J and C were saying, one person reported adjusted mpg of 3038 miles per gallon of gas.

If you live within range of work, it's pennies per day to operate based on kWh charges.

And you have that security blanket if you run beyond the range.

I'm looking into it more and more......

The one Motoman had was averaging over 120 MPG over ~5 days, including a "trip" to Orange Country to visit Fisker (the man and the company). Over the ~15 miles I drove it, the MPG went up about 6 MPG... He'd used under 3 gallons of gas.

My round-trip commute is ~60 miles. In the Boxster, that means about 2.7 gallons of gas per work day

GM's Volt FAQ says the Volt gets 35 MPG city when the engine is used, and that it has a 35 mile range on battery. Based on that, I'd expect to use 0.7 gallons per work day in a Volt -- although I'd need to charge it some at home (16 kWh battery, although you'd only need to charge 80% -- so 12.5 kWh).

For cost, I fill up the Boxster about every 5-6 commutes and put in 15-16 gallons to fill up -- so $55-$60 per fill up and 3.5 fill-ups per month, ~$200 per month. A Volt holds just over 9 gallons, so I'd guess a fill-up would be 8 gallons every ~2 weeks -- so $30 per fill up or $60 per month, plus a bit more electricity -- we pay ~$0.08 per kWh off-peak (9pm to 9am + weekends), so about $1 per day in electricity to charge a Volt each night. Call it ~$100 per month total.

That's pretty favorable math...

[lemming]

Originally Posted by ZBB

The one Motoman had was averaging over 120 MPG over ~5 days, including a "trip" to Orange Country to visit Fisker (the man and the company). Over the ~15 miles I drove it, the MPG went up about 6 MPG... He'd used under 3 gallons of gas.

My round-trip commute is ~60 miles. In the Boxster, that means about 2.7 gallons of gas per work day

GM's Volt FAQ says the Volt gets 35 MPG city when the engine is used, and that it has a 35 mile range on battery. Based on that, I'd expect to use 0.7 gallons per work day in a Volt -- although I'd need to charge it some at home (16 kWh battery, although you'd only need to charge 80% -- so 12.5 kWh).

For cost, I fill up the Boxster about every 5-6 commutes and put in 15-16 gallons to fill up -- so $55-$60 per fill up and 3.5 fill-ups per month, ~$200 per month. A Volt holds just over 9 gallons, so I'd guess a fill-up would be 8 gallons every ~2 weeks -- so $30 per fill up or $60 per month, plus a bit more electricity -- we pay ~$0.08 per kWh off-peak (9pm to 9am + weekends), so about $1 per day in electricity to charge a Volt each night. Call it ~$100 per month total.

That's pretty favorable math...

your math is same as I was doing for myself.

using that much fuel when i don't need to.......i don't know.

it's somewhat soulless, but at the same time, so frugal and responsible. i'm torn.

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by lemming

your math is same as I was doing for myself.

using that much fuel when i don't need to.......i don't know.

it's somewhat soulless, but at the same time, so frugal and responsible. i'm torn.

I'm going to see how the production Cadillac ELR looks and costs. Might give the Volt a bit of soul...

Plus, I'm committed to keeping the Boxster for at least another year. But who knows after that...