Plug-In Vehicle Roundup | Edmunds.com


The number of plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles continues to grow. But does anyone have this new and growing market segment figured out?
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The number of plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles continues to grow. But does anyone have this new and growing market segment figured out?
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Understatement of the century...
That thing was in about a dozen times and had its motor and other major parts swapped out.
That is like getting stage 4 lung cancer and saying "it was a bit worse than a cough".
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Certainly not true. You are forgetting that the Volt has two levels of 120VAC charging available, 8 amps and 12 amps. A simple push on the touchscreen sets the 12amp mode (the 8amp mode is the default). My Volt is charging outside my office right now at 12 amps on a 120v cord. The 12kw needed (a full charge) will take about 7 hours. You really do not need the optional 240v charger for normal circumstances.
Assuming a 240v charger/installation cost of $1000 and electricity cost at 9 cents a kw, you can plug-in to 120vac and get the equivalent of 35,185 miles of electric propulsion for free.
In addition, you failed to mention that Volts built after January 1st, 2014 have a 17kw capacity battery, up slightly from previous years (although only 12kw is available for use). GM also left the 2015 model pricing unchanged. See chevy/com/volt for more details. I have 4300 miles on the car with an 89.6% electric only use rate.
One more thing to note: Here in New York, ALL of the government incentives are subject to sales tax. Sales tax on the $7500 maximum incentive here in New York comes to: $ 665.63. That buys almost 7,000 free miles of gasoline for a ICE Chevy Cruze or Fusion.
The Volt is a fantastic vehicle, I would lease one again without a second thought.
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Airpower: Certainly not true.
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I totally agree with Airpower, as do the majority of Volt owners. According to Larry Nitz, GM Powetrain Executive Director, 60% of volt customers only charge on 110v rather than 240V. See details in article linked below.
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http://insideevs.com/gm-exec-better-every-way-2nd-gen-chevrolet-volt-media-encounters-coming-soon-video/
Ethanol isn't so green, either.
"It's kind of hard to beat gasoline" for public and environmental health, said study co-author Julian Marshall, an engineering professor at the University of Minnesota. "A lot of the technologies that we think of as being clean ... are not better than gasoline."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_CLIMATE_FUEL_EFFECTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-15-15-01-37
Surprised me....
I loaned out my Kill-A-Watt a while back and it's getting mailed back to me soon. Going to try to lower my usage down to your standards. I really have a hard time seeing how solar would pencil out, but who knows. The shade in front of the attached garage would help with house cooling and I could get a couple of electric space heaters and mostly mothball the propane furnace. Another expense (besides doing a carport instead of solar on the existing rooftop) is that our electrical service is only 100 amp and it's maxed out. That's another two grand.
The bad thing about this house is that it's 15 minutes from town. I'm just about ready to flip it next year and move close in so I can switch back to my bike and sneakers. We did more walking for errands in the UP even with 144 average inches of snow on the ground. Unfortunately my wife loves it.
Yeah, good points about the electrician being needed to remove the panel(s) to fix or replace the roof (or a micro-inverter if you go that route and one dies), and the cooling air flow under the panels on a carport helps the solar efficiency. We have plenty of yard to put panels in but we figure why pay for a copper run when you do a carport for a bit more (the existing electrical panel is at the end of the garage too).
Oh, one installer we talked to has a C-Max Energi like @cmaxacon has. Loves it for the road and in town; major downside is the lack of storage in the back since the battery takes up so much space.