# Chevy Volt Price Fail **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218 "2010-07-27T19:47:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/81 "2010-08-02T22:19:21Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > There is certainly a niche market for people who like new technology (there’s a name for them and I can’t think of it off hand). Neophiles, though the marketing types call them “early adopters”. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/82 "2010-08-03T00:32:26Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > > [@Magiver](#): > > > > There is certainly a niche market for people who like new technology (there’s a name for them and I can’t think of it off hand). > > Neophiles, though the marketing types call them “early adopters”. thank you. That was driving me crazy. I was trying to remember “early adopters”. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/83 "2010-08-03T00:46:59Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes to tow your boat/snowmobile to. People who are in the market for something to tow their boat don’t buy little commuter cars, they buy SUVs. Hybrids and EVs aren’t competing with the towing market. I was thinking more in line with people who pull small trailers and bike racks but point taken. Volt drivers can always use a trunk mounted bike rack. > [@Dangerosa](#): > > I think it will fail, but I think its a prince and time to market issue - plus that GM couldn’t manage to market beer at a football game, not that it can’t tow or only goes 40 miles as an EV. > My commute is kind of long - 26 miles. But if I could only use 12 miles of gas a day in a car that got 30 miles to the gallon as a gas car once the batteries were more or less drained, it would still be a “savings” in gas and reduce my carbon footprint. And that is how people are going to look at it. Early adopters may buy this for that reason but the government should fund vehicles that are more practical in order to bring more cars to market. Diesel fits that more closely as does bio-diesel fuel which is both self sustaining and recycles co2. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/84 "2010-08-03T01:08:01Z")
Early adopters better be prepared to fork over some serious cash if [this](http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/02/report-chevrolet-dealer-ready-to-charge-20-000-over-msrp-for-v/) report can be believed. > [@](#): > > Researchers from Edmunds decided to drop their local Chevrolet dealer a line to inquire about staking a claim for one of the first available Volts, and the response was shocking at best and galling at worst. Here’s the email, sans names: > > ``` > Hello ***** > > Thank you for your online request, as you know the Volt is going to be a very limited production vehicle for the first 2-3 years. Demand is going to far exceed supply for this vehicle, initially our asking price for the Volt is going to be MSRP plus $20,000, we are expecting only receive 9 Volts all of next year. > > ``` Click link for rest of the article. Is it accurate? I don’t know, but I do remember dealers charging a $5,000 premium for the Miata back in the late 80s. It’ll come down to supply and demand. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/85 "2010-08-03T01:15:44Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Early adopters may buy this for that reason but the government should fund vehicles that are more practical in order to bring more cars to market. Diesel fits that more closely as does bio-diesel fuel which is both self sustaining and recycles co2. There’s currently one company making non-luxury compact cars- VW. Both of them are rated 24-35MPG. Your cite regarding the “70 MPG Ford Diesel” is worthless, they are not talking normal driving but a contest to see who can get the best milage out of a car. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/86 "2010-08-03T01:26:21Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Magiver](#): > > > > Early adopters may buy this for that reason but the government should fund vehicles that are more practical in order to bring more cars to market. Diesel fits that more closely as does bio-diesel fuel which is both self sustaining and recycles co2. > > There’s currently one company making non-luxury compact cars- VW. Both of them are rated 24-35MPG. > > Your cite regarding the “70 MPG Ford Diesel” is worthless, they are not talking normal driving but a contest to see who can get the best milage out of a car. VW Polo gets 60-70 - I don’t think its sold in the U.S. But we don’t need government financing of diesel tech research, Europe has been successfully making them and marketing them for years. We need people in the U.S. to want diesel cars, which they don’t. The Jetta diesel only gets 30-40. I get 60 in my Prius. My Jetta gas engine got 28. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/87 "2010-08-03T01:50:20Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > VW Polo gets 60-70 - I don’t think its sold in the U.S. But we don’t need government financing of diesel tech research, Europe has been successfully making them and marketing them for years. We need people in the U.S. to want diesel cars, which they don’t. > > The Jetta diesel only gets 30-40. I get 60 in my Prius. My Jetta gas engine got 28. Sure. :dubious: My Dad used to brag his car got 35MPg. After he died, I found his milage log (he kept it religously). On one trip, he got 34.5 MPG. The rest of the time he was mostly in the high 20MPG or just over 30. The Germans rate milage more generously that we do, and often Euro sites use Imperial gallons. Show me the **EPA** cite that shows the Polo at 70MPG. Yes, they do rate the Jetta and such at 30-41 MPG. Prius is rated 51-48 MPG. > **[Jalopnik | Obsessed with the culture of cars](https://www.jalopnik.com/)** > > From cars to motorcycles, Jalopnik is your go-to site covering everything with an engine—including automotive news, buying guides, and expert commentary from our staff. "_UPDATE: Edmunds translated using British Imperial gallons, which are bizarrely larger than US gallons. The actual mileage is closer to 62 mpg. Not bad, but not quite “Prius-smoking.”"_ And I think the Blue Motion is a concept car, not a production car. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/88 "2010-08-03T02:05:25Z")
U.S. site on Polo milage: [http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/diesel/4219904](http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/diesel/4219904) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/89 "2010-08-03T02:21:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There’s currently one company making non-luxury compact cars- VW. Both of them are rated 24-35MPG. > > Your cite regarding the “70 MPG Ford Diesel” is worthless, they are not talking normal driving but a contest to see who can get the best milage out of a car. the range was 64 to 87 in the contest. [Real world tests](http://www.egmcartech.com/2007/12/05/european-ford-focus-diesel-fuel-economy-rated-at-42-mpg/) against the Prius puts it 4 miles under in combined driving. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/90 "2010-08-03T02:35:25Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > The Jetta diesel only gets 30-40. I get 60 in my Prius. My Jetta gas engine got 28. I get 30 around town in my Saturn automatic and 37 on the highway (38 without air conditioning). The car responds to a very narrow band of power so I learned to put my foot down to a pre-set position and let the computers do their thing. The nice thing about a diesel is that you can dog it through the gears with all the torque and run the mileage up. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/91 "2010-08-03T05:39:00Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > U.S. site on Polo milage: [How to Build a 100 Mile-Per-Gallon Car ... Right Now](http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/diesel/4219904) Actually, they do not appear to have measured the milage, just quoting VW figures. VW is likely using Euro estimate, which are very much like the **OLD** EPA estimates, the ones that were not based upon real world driving. The newer EPA “real world” estimates are 10-20% lower than their old figures and thus the Euro estimates are 10-20% higher. They also could be using the Imperial Gallon. The old EPA figures are much liek what you might get today under nearly ideal conditions and driver, more or like about that 60MPG figure you quoted for a Prius. You _can_ get 60 in Prius. But few drivers will do so day after day in real traffic. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/92 "2010-08-03T05:48:01Z")
[quote=“Magiver, post:89, topic:548218”] > [@DrDeth](#): > > T the range was 64 to 87 in the contest. [Real world tests](http://www.egmcartech.com/2007/12/05/european-ford-focus-diesel-fuel-economy-rated-at-42-mpg/) against the Prius puts it 4 miles under in combined driving. The estimates Ford seem to be using are 42 MPG. Note that the actual figure was _"Even during CarMagazine’s high-speed testing, they managed an average fuel-economy of 34mpg "_. 34 MPG is _half_ of 70 MPG. So, you started with 70MPG, then it’s 42 MPG, but your own cite sez 34. The contest figures are meaningless in the real world. Hey there’s a car that gets nearly_infinite_ MPG. It’s solar. It only goes around 5 MPH, a stiff breeze will roll it, and it only works during the daytime. But it does get at least 1,000,000 MPG (I assume they use some lubricant). Real cars in real driving, only. There- diesels do damn good- almost as good as a hybrid. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/93 "2010-08-03T14:19:32Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > Early adopters better be prepared to fork over some serious cash if [this](http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/02/report-chevrolet-dealer-ready-to-charge-20-000-over-msrp-for-v/) report can be believed. > > > [@](#): > > > > Researchers from Edmunds decided to drop their local Chevrolet dealer a line to inquire about staking a claim for one of the first available Volts, and the response was shocking at best and galling at worst. Here’s the email, sans names: > > > > ``` > > Hello ***** > > > > Thank you for your online request, as you know the Volt is going to be a very limited production vehicle for the first 2-3 years. Demand is going to far exceed supply for this vehicle, initially our asking price for the Volt is going to be MSRP plus $20,000, we are expecting only receive 9 Volts all of next year. > > > > ``` > > Click link for rest of the article. > > Is it accurate? I don’t know, but I do remember dealers charging a $5,000 premium for the Miata back in the late 80s. It’ll come down to supply and demand. If you got that from Edmunds I’d say it’s probably accurate. Simple price gouging, nice… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/94 "2010-08-03T15:37:30Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > > [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > > > Early adopters better be prepared to fork over some serious cash if [this](http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/02/report-chevrolet-dealer-ready-to-charge-20-000-over-msrp-for-v/) report can be believed. > > Click link for rest of the article. > > > > Is it accurate? I don’t know, but I do remember dealers charging a $5,000 premium for the Miata back in the late 80s. It’ll come down to supply and demand. > > If you got that from Edmunds I’d say it’s probably accurate. Simple price gouging, nice… :mad: Same thing happened with the Prius, the difference than was Prius was kind of alone in the market, the Volt, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/95 "2010-08-03T16:06:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Real cars in real driving, only. There- diesels do damn good- almost as good as a hybrid. Yep, which is why I wonder why the diesel/hybrid hasn’t come out. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/96 "2010-08-04T02:09:57Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Real cars in real driving, only. There- diesels do damn good- almost as good as a hybrid. > > Yep, which is why I wonder why the diesel/hybrid hasn’t come out. In large trucks they have them. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/97 "2010-08-04T02:31:36Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Real cars in real driving, only. There- diesels do damn good- almost as good as a hybrid. > > Yep, which is why I wonder why the diesel/hybrid hasn’t come out. There is a lower return on investment. Why throw $10K into an engine that will return a fuel savings of $2K? You could throw a 2nd battery in and use that to cover engines shutting off at stop lights. The extra cost would be minimal. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218/98 "2010-08-04T03:47:15Z")
> [@Minnie\_Luna](#): > > I doubt the current electric technology will get me up the driveway to the house when there is snow on the ground. Why? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chevy-volt-price-fail/548218.md?page=4)