The upcoming Chevrolet Volt has
been big news in the auto industry and also has caused some
criticism. It's not your typical hybrid like the
Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. According to GM, it's an
'Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV). What the hell is an
E-REV you ask? Well to put it simply, it's a hybrid that uses
only battery power to propel it rather than a combination of gas
and battery like the Toyota Prius. Once the battery gets
depleted, a gas generator is used to recharge the battery only,
not power the vehicle. The Prius on the other hand, uses gas and
battery power to power the car (but can still run on battery
power alone but not for extended distances). Basically, the Volt
uses electricity as its primary power source and gasoline as its
secondary power source whereas the Prius (and nearly all other
hybrids) use electricity and gasoline as its primary
source.
So what's the point of an E-REV? Well, GM is touting the Volt
for it's battery only range which is up to 40 miles. Here's
where the criticism comes in. A range of only 40 miles seems
ridiculous but that's why a gas generator is used to extend the
range a lot farther. The exact range is still unknown at this
point but GM claims "hundreds of additional miles"
(expect around 300). Next
criticism? GM claims a fuel economy rating of 230 mpg. That's
according to current EPA test standards which have no way of
factoring in these new E-REVs (Nissan's also working on one
called the Leaf which supposedly gets 376 mpg). Although this
new technology theoretically gets better mileage than
traditional hybrids and therefore saves gas and money, it
doesn't come cheap hence the next criticism. President of Audi
of America, Johan de Nysschen bashed the Volt saying "No one is
going to pay a $15,000 premium for a car that competes with a
Corolla. So there are not enough idiots who will buy it.” Those
are some harsh words but he may have a point. Pricing hasn't
been announced yet for the Volt but word is that it'll come in
around $40,000. That's nearly 20 grand more than a base Prius.
How's it going to work? Unlike traditional hybrids, the Volt is
one that you'll have to plug in. You can plug it in to any 120v
or 240v electrical outlet for charging and will take about three
hours to recharge on a 240v outlet and eight hours on a 120v
outlet. Chevy claims that charging the Volt once a day would use
less energy annually than your average home refrigerator and
freezer. Electricity rates fluctuate a bit but GM says it'll
cost less than a cup of coffee to recharge it and about two
cents per mile to drive it. GM compares it to a cost of 12 cents
per mile for gas but that's based on gas prices at $3.60 per
gallon. That's a high estimate for the current average gas price
(about $2.75 per gallon at the time this article was written),
but considering a strengthening economy and resurging SUV sales,
we might be at $3.60 or even more sooner or later. Look for the
Chevrolet Volt to hit showrooms late this year. |
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So if you base your calculations at $3.60 per gallon for gas
and drive 40 miles per day (15,000 miles per year), GM
calculates that you'll save about $1,500 annually over a
comparable car getting roughly 30 mpg. By that calculation, it
would take you over 12 and half years to recover the initial
$19,000 price premium over a Prius and other competitors. Twelve
years is a long time for any car and considering these new E-REVs
are new technology, their durability is unknown at this point.
But that's just one scenario though. Let's see some other
examples of how much (or little) you can save.
First Scenario: Chevrolet Volt vs Toyota Prius ($21,000,
50 mpg combined)
Driven at $2.75 gas prices for 15,000 miles per year
Savings: $525 annually
Time to recover costs: 36 years
Driven at $2.75 gas prices for 18,000 miles per year
Savings: $630 annually
Time to recover costs: 30 years
Driven at $3.60 gas prices for 15,000 miles per year
Savings: $780 annually
Time to recover costs: 24 years
Driven at $3.60 gas prices for 18,000 miles per year
Savings: $936 annually
Time to recover costs: 20 years
Second Scenario: Chevrolet Volt vs Toyota Prius
($27,670, 50 mpg combined)
Driven at $2.75 gas prices for 15,000 miles per year
Savings: $522 annually
Time to recover costs: 23 years
Driven at $2.75 gas prices for 18,000 miles per year
Savings: $630 annually
Time to recover costs: 19 years
Driven at $3.60 gas prices for 15,000 miles per year
Savings: $780 annually
Time to recover costs: 15 years
Driven at $3.60 gas prices for 18,000 miles per year
Savings: $936 annually
Time to recover costs: 13 years
Third Scenario: Chevrolet Volt vs Toyota Corolla
($18,960, 30 mpg combined)
Driven at $2.75 gas prices for 15,000 miles per year
Savings: $1,075 annually
Time to recover costs: 19 years
Driven at $2.75 gas prices for 18,000 miles per year
Savings: $1,290 annually
Time to recover costs: 16 years
Driven at $3.60 gas prices for 15,000 miles per year
Savings: $1,500 annually
Time to recover costs: 14 years
Driven at $3.60 gas prices for 18,000 miles per year
Savings: $1,800 annually
Time to recover costs: 11 years
These calculations are rough estimates and years were rounded
down but basically, it might take you anywhere from 11 to 36
years to recover your costs for paying for this new technology.
That's a long time and hopefully by then, we'll have
solar-powered flying cars (but considering electric cars took
over a decade to get going, don't get your hopes up).
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