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Comments
I would think the Volt would be the same or very similiar, engine had to run for charging the batteries or for heat, or both?
In your case, there probably ISN'T a way RIGHT NOW. But there WILL BE later.
Do you have an assigned car parking spot? Some apartments do that.
How it will work in some places is this: Apartment buildings will put in a limited number of charging stations on their property, or at least where they have their tenants park. Each charging station will have a method of identifying YOUR CAR - either a token card, or a FOB, a code to enter, or something. When you plug in YOUR car, it will measure and then charge the electricity usage to YOUR apartment.
How it will work in others is this: People who own cars which need a plug will be assigned a parking spot with access to a charging station or a plug. That electricity, again, will be assigned to YOU, and YOU will be billed for when your car is plugged in. If you enter your code properly, the charging will occur. That way, they can prevent people from "stealing electricity" and charging it to you.
These systems are all under consideration and design right now. Many companies are working on it.
The extent of this infrastructure development will depend on how popular "cars with a plug" become in the next few years.
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110518/CARREVIEWS/110519834
If you have cheap electricity, have a high income tax bill, and want to beat the gas tax, it would be a decent choice.
I have not been able to gain the Volt's charging information from the sales personnel in the dealerships, and I was told by a Chevy factory rep that the Volt requires 12kv to fully charge its battery. The Chevy sales personnel in the bay area are misinformed about the true cost of electric power and they are quoting their customers at the lowest tier prices to make their point.
How do you get your natural gas free. That would be a real plus for me. My Propane and water cost more than my electricity many months of the year.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11134237/1/chevrolet-volt--the-art-of-driving-for- -free.html
And Gary - HE managed to charge only at FREE PUBLIC CHARGING STATIONS, so the propulsion of his Volt so far has cost him ZERO dollars.
The money to provide "free" charging stations is coming from somewhere. You get one guess where.
No, I don't think it is.
I bet you are not complaining about the FICA tax break you are receiving in your paycheck this year. ( Or, you might be. )
I pay for gas, EV users can pay for their electricity. besides, the EV acolytes keep telling us how cheap it is to "fill up". It's high time we stop paying people for things they should pay for themselves. I would put fuel/energy for personal vehicles in that category.
Wouldn't EVERYONE?
$150 parking ticket for any non-EV that parks in the reserved-for-EV spots.
To answer your question, lars-b, no, it's better not to pay for these things (or mot anything) via taxes because that includes/mandates all the govt inefficiencies along the way.
Volt is on my short list for next-car, hopefully cross-shopping against 2013 diesel Cruze. But there's no way there will be charging stations at my employer (33 miles away from home).
Also I'd be considering leasing it - would be the first time I've leased.
http://nlpc.org/stories/2011/04/25/taxpayer-rip-dealerships-taking-chevy-volt-ta- x-credit
I recently set out to determine how honest General Motors is being when it claims that demand for the Chevy Volt is exceeding supply. It was not hard to discover that this is not the case as retail sales remain dismal. A web search on vehicle locator sites such as Autotrader and Cars.com exhibit sufficient supply of the Volt, one dealership within 70 miles of my location had six new Volts available for sale.
Even Ebay lists vehicles, many had no bids and one listing in Texas hadn't even met reserve with only one day of bidding time remaining. But I discovered something far more disturbing during my search. Many Volts with practically no miles on them are being sold as "used" vehicles, enabling the dealerships to benefit from the $7,500 credit supplied by the American taxpayers on each car. The process of titling the Volts technically makes the dealerships the first owners of the vehicles, which gives them the ability to claim the subsidies. The cars are then offered to retail customers as "used" vehicles.
The practice of dealerships purchasing from one another is not uncommon. "Dealer trades" are done all the time in the industry. What is very unusual is for the receiving dealership to be able to maximize profits at the expense of taxpayers by claiming tax credits of $7,500. It is also very rare for dealerships to part with any model that has higher demand than supply, as GM claims is the case with the Volt. In addition to qualifying dealerships for a $7,500 tax subsidy, the titling process also allows GM to record Volt sales even if the cars are sitting on dealership lots.
While most of the dealerships offering "used" Chevy Volts for sale are Chevy dealers, I also found other manufacturers selling Volts with low mileage as "used" cars. A Kia dealership in California that I contacted seemed to suspect that they were doing something a bit underhanded when I called them to inquire about a "used" Volt for sale with only 30 miles on it. After I identified myself as being an associate with the National Legal and Policy Center, I was placed on hold. I was then told by a sales manager that the Volts offered at that dealership were rental cars with higher mileage on them. I later called the same dealership back posing as a potential customer and confirmed that a "used" Volt with only 30 miles on it was available. This also raises the question of why GM or Chevy dealerships would be selling Volts to other manufacturers' dealerships when they claim that there are not enough of the cars to meet retail demand.
A Chevy dealer in Chicago was more upfront with the info given on a "used" Chevy Volt with only 10 miles on it. The vehicle was being offered at MSRP. When I asked if I was eligible for the $7500 tax credit, I was told that I probably wasn't since the dealership was applying for the subsidy. This practice is one of the more egregious abuses to date purloined upon taxpayers as a result of the GM bailout. The intent (even if misguided) of the $7500 tax credit offered on the Chevy Volt is to encourage consumers to buy "green" vehicles, not to offer an opportunity for dealerships to game the system and maximize profits at the expense of the taxpayers. I also suspect many purchasers of "used" Volts will attempt to claim the $7500 tax credit for themselves, thus bringing the total tax subsidy on such transactions to $15,000 if not disallowed by the IRS.
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f2315b9/
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I checked on cars.com for the entire country. There were 17 "used"
Volts for sale and a total of 622 new Volts for sale,
That is in the entire country and represents about one volt for 5 Chevy
Dealerships. That means only 20% of them were advertising a Volt.
That seems to me to prove they are in short supply.
They could be dealer trades from Michigan or another participating state. Anyway, the 7 state thing I don't think can be considered a hard & fast rule at this point.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Your math you did sounds way off. Did a decimal point get misplaced? What is your KWH rate?
http://www.dteenergy.com/residentialCustomers/productsPrograms/electricVehicles/- eVCalculator.html
13.2 X .40 = $5.28 to go from 25-50 miles. Even at the maximum 50 miles it is higher than several gas and diesel vehicles, for those of US that live in the land of fruits, nuts and flakes.
Keep in mind that the current real cost for solar electricity is $.55 Per KWH. That is where this state is headed.
PS
We just got notice our rates will be going up due to some kind of bill passed by our state government.
me 48K before any rebates. The panels are guaranteed for 25 yrs and the inverter for 15. Conservatively speaking they will produce 16000 KwH per year. If you assume 20 yr life that comes to $.15/kwh not $.55. Solar panel cost is now $1.5/watt and dropping. After rebates the cost will be $0.09/kwh which is cheaper than coal I think. It is lower than current PG&E baseline rates. I plan to buy two Volts and use no gas in day to day living - only some during long drives and vacations. My commute - 7 miles, wife's commute 11 miles.
Second point. $48,000 invested in a Jackson Annuity will pay you $200 per month forever. When you die your heirs are guaranteed that $48,000 death benefit. I would rather leave that to my kids than some worn out solar panels. I see them here in San Diego all the time. Many are eyesores to the neighbors. Does your 9 cent per KWH include the distribution charges from PG&E?
Solar PV is still very expensive compared to other forms of generation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_cost_of_electricity_generated_by_different- _sources
I probably wouldn't have done it if it weren't for the SREC program here in NJ, though. So far, I've sold 2 of them for about $600 each, and I will be producing about 9 per year. That's in addition to me using the electricity. I'm saving roughly $1700 per year on my electric bill.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
As for the annuity that income will be taxable for me at 37%. Also PG&E rates will only increase over the next 20 years. My costs are locked in. The panels will be at the back of my roof and certainly not visible from outside.
The wikipedia article is mostly for large scale solar and not small distributed roof top solar. Its makes many assumptions on cost. My calculations make no assumptions except power output which is fairly well modeled by now. The study does not account for the fact that over the last 2 years panel costs have gone down by 60% mainly due to the entry of China into the market.
After state and federal rebates my cost will be 30K. You can add the depreciation. I still do better after 20 years even after assuming no power rate hikes.
would be cool if you let us know how your fleet of volts works out.
I settled for the "gas version of the volt".
here are some thought experiments for the back of an envelope or cranium.
how long would it take to charge a volt using whatever amperes can be squeezed out of a telephone line's 48 volt ring voltage? ( or, go all-out and charge twice as fast using two phone lines which I will gladly call repeatedly. )
alternatively, how long would one have to ride an electric-generator treadmill or stairmaster or stationary bike similar to _soylent green_ ?
Also, some Prius geeks use their Prii as generators.
Maybe that's the best use for a Prius, to remain stationary and used as a generator to charge a Chevy Volt. (how long would the Prius have to fast-idle to fully charge the Volt via inverters or whatever it takes?)
don't know if this means much or not.
At this point, the GM marketing machine will be driving all the new sales. You'll have to get them on the lot and THEN convince them to buy it. You'll have fewer people coming in saying. "I *WANT* a Volt" and more saying, "I'd like to take a look at a Volt."
Once they start offering them in more states, you'll see a huge burst of sales.
The (still) poor economy is not helping either.
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/transportation/gms-most-luxurious-volt-yet-cadil- lac-elr/797?tag=mantle_skin;content
You know electric cars are making a mark when the luxury auto market decides to get involved. General Motors announced today that it plans to create a production version of the Cadillac Converj Concept. Built on the gasoline-electric Voltec platform - that also powers the Volt - the Cadillac ELR will be the company’s second extended-range electric vehicle. Some of you may have seen the concept at the the Detroit Auto show last year.
Like the Volt, the Cadillac ELR will feature a four-cylinder 1.4L generator and a lithium-ion battery. In all likelihood, the car will use electricity for the first 35-40 miles after which it will switch to an extended-range mode.
Specific details about the car’s price, specs or release date weren’t announced, but the Coupe is rumored to go into production in 2013.
From all the details we’ve received though, the car seems like a Chevy Volt in a new skin.
Though Don Butler, vice president-Cadillac Marketing said, “Like other milestone Cadillac models of the past, the ELR will offer something not otherwise present – the combination of electric propulsion with striking design and the fun of luxury coupe driving.”
Cadillac isn’t the first company to enter the luxury-electric company and GM is likely to face competition from car manufacturers like BMW and Volkswagen who’ve both announced extended-range electric vehicles of their own.
Yet even years after the model was discontinued, the Cimarron's legacy remains negative. The car has become a staple of books and articles about bad cars. Forbes placed the Cimarron on its list of "Legendary Car Flops,
Will a luxury car buyer want a Cadillac Cruze. :sick: If the Volt was a runaway success rather than a flop in the making, I would say maybe try a Buick version and see how that sells. I am sure it all has to do with Tax Payer subsidies keeping the concept alive and on life support.
"GM considering Chinese Volt Assembly" :lemon:
Meanwhile, one of the Volts competition is doing the opposite...
LEAF To Be Built Alongside Maxima and Altima in US
Oh the irony...
UAW
Leaf to TN
RTW