Volt costs becoming shocking?
$50,000 a Volt?I'm a big fan of the Chevy Volt. I think it will be a fantastic piece of automotive technology when it debuts in 2010/2011, but it won't be a Toyota Prius-killer. In terms of sales, it won't even be a contender. It's just too much technology, too fast. Ultimately, I'd say the Volt won't start hitting its sale's stride until 2014 or later.
Why? Now the Chevy Volt is going to cost more like $48,000, rather than the $30,000 originally hoped - an $18,000 increase in price projections since the Volt was debuted last year at NAIAS. And, with two more years before its launch, it seems the Volt is on pace for even more price increases.
While GM's Bob Lutz is hoping federal tax incentives might drop the price to $40,000, even at $40,000 the Volt is certainly not a car for the masses. Though I applaud GM's Volt efforts, how much longer can GM wait before challenging the Prius?
Labels: Chevy Volt electric vehicle concept, Hybrid Vehicles, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
1:18 PM
2 Comments:
I don't see how the Volt is "too much technology." For the most part it's exactly like a normal car, except it also has a big motor and a big battery, neither of which are exactly revolutionary. (Even the advanced A123 battery chemistry has been commonplace in power tools for years and years.)
If you want to see too much technology, just look at a Toyota/Ford/Nissan hybrid. Those things are jam packed with PSDs and CVTs and Atkinson cycle engines and whatnot.
A big battery - that's a lot technology in of itself that is quite expensive. Since the Volt will be rather heavy, it needs even more expensive lithium technology.
Likewise, the Volt will also have one of the most - if not the most - complex battery management systems ever engineered, for example.
Lots of advanced batteries + lots of advanced engineering = lot's of expensive technology.
I certainly didn't mean that GM is overusing technology, just using a lot of expensive technology.
The costs of that technology will be hard to swallow for most consumers for several years until economies of scale can bring down those costs.
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