According to a report from USA Today, the firm CNW Marketing Research has made the claim that consumers are beginning to lose interest in the Chevrolet Volt — an interest that was seemingly white-hot just yesterday. CNW notes that the biggest reason for the Volt’s drop in appeal continues to be its $39,995 price tag (before rebates and incentives), putting it out of reach for most hoping to own one.
However, those of you with a fairly good memory will recognize CNW as the same market research firm that presented the report that a Hummer is more environmentally-friendly than a Toyota Prius, which several outlets have proven to be bunk.
Have a look around you: is the Chevrolet Volt’s sheen fading among you and those you know? Tell us in the comment section below.
Source: USA Today
Comments
Sorry to say that CNW research can’t really be trusted remember they also reported that Prius uses more energy than Hummer awhile back. Editor-in-Chief (EV.com)
We took notice.
40000 Euro’s for the Volt over here in Europe and battery’s who last only 50000-80000 Km…….
And your information is based on what?
Mr. CruzeBe,
What ??
The Amazing Chevy Volt Comes With an 8 Year, 100,000 mile Propulsion Battery and Voltec System Warranty in addition to the 5 Year, 100,000 Ice Powertrain Warranty With Roadside Assistance at o cost plus the standard 3 Year, 36,000 mile Bumper to Bumper Warranty.
Gm Tech established battery durability to 10 Years, 150,000 miles in the field estimates results….What are you talking about ???
Well……………………….?
Mr .Tom Thias
The warranty works always what ever comes first the 100000 miles of the 8 Years . After more than five years Your batteries has far lesser capacity expacialy if You live in a country where you have very high temp. changes .
I want to see the first Volt our any other electrical car that drives 100000 miles without any troubles and with the same power like the first day You bought it, this is new technology and even if I had the money I would wait a other years to buy one . I wonder what the resale value will be after 5 or 10 years.
“A Standard (Cobalt) Li-ion cell that is full most of the time at 25 °C (77 °F) irreversibly loses approximately 20% capacity per year. Poor ventilation may increase temperatures, further shortening battery life. Loss rates vary by temperature: 6% loss at 0 °C (32 °F), 20% at 25 °C (77 °F), and 35% at 40 °C (104 °F). When stored at 40%–60% charge level, the capacity loss is reduced to 2%, 4%, and 15%, respectively.[51][citation needed] In contrast, the calendar life of LiFePO4 cells is not affected by being kept at a high state of charge.[52]” source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery
Mr Cruzbe,
Yes you are right in your concerns…
“A Standard (Cobalt) Li-ion cell that is full most of the time at 25 °C (77 °F) irreversibly loses approximately 20% capacity per year. Poor ventilation may increase temperatures, further shortening battery life. Loss rates vary by temperature: 6% loss at 0 °C (32 °F), 20% at 25 °C (77 °F), and 35% at 40 °C (104 °F). When stored at 40%–60% charge level, the capacity loss is reduced to 2%, 4%, and 15%, respectively.[51][citation needed] In contrast, the calendar life of LiFePO4 cells is not affected by being kept at a high state of charge.[52]” source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery
However…….This is not what is under the hood or in the undercarriage…
Nor does the wikipedia page that you quoted above address the high tech energy systems now in the MY2011/My2012 Amazing Chevrolet Volt EREV.
Here we go…
GM and ABB Demonstrate Battery Re-Use Applications
http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/cn/en/2011/Jul/0722
2011-07-22
Companies test Chevrolet Volt battery for storage, back-up power and selling power back to the grid.
First device to combine commercial electric vehicle battery and power inverter could save money for consumers and utilities.
A secondary use application for the high-voltage battery systems used in the Chevrolet Volt could store electricity from the grid during times of low usage to be used during periods of peak demand, saving customers and utilities money. The battery packs could also be used as back-up power sources during outages and brownouts.
RALEIGH, N.C. – The expected growth in vehicle electrification poses a challenge: What will happen to the battery systems after they reach the end of their useful life in the vehicle?
Earlier this year, General Motors signed a definitive agreement with ABB Group…
( http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/news/news_detail.brand_gm.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2010/Sept/0921_volt )
to identify joint research and development projects that would reuse Chevrolet Volt battery systems, which will have up to 70 percent of life remaining after their automotive use is exhausted.
Recent research conducted by GM predicts that secondary use of 33 Volt batteries will have enough storage capacity to power up to 50 homes for about four hours during a power outage.
On Tuesday, GM and ABB demonstrated an energy storage system that combines a proven electric vehicle battery technology and a proven grid-tied electric power inverter. The two companies are building a prototype that could lead to Volt battery packs storing energy, including renewable wind and solar energy, and feeding it back to the grid.
The system could store electricity from the grid during times of low usage to be used during periods of peak demand, saving customers and utilities money. The battery packs could also be used as back-up power sources during outages and brownouts.
“GM’s battery leadership position doesn’t stop at the road – it extends throughout the life of the battery, including ways we can benefit society and the environment,” said Micky Bly, GM executive director – Global Electrical Systems, Electrification and Infotainment. “As we grow our battery systems expertise, we need to assure we’re optimizing the development of our battery systems with secondary use in mind from the start.
“Partnerships with organizations such as ABB provide real-world applications that prove what we’re doing is real, not fiction,” Bly said.
Using Volt battery cells, the ABB and GM team is building a prototype system for 25-kilowatt/50-kWh applications, about the same power consumption of five U.S. homes or small retail and industrial facilities.
ABB has determined its existing power quality filter (PQF) inverter can be used to charge and discharge the Volt battery pack to take full advantage of the system and enable utilities to reduce the cost of peak load conditions. The system can also reduce utilities’ needs for power control, protection and additional monitoring equipment. The team will soon test the system for back-up power applications.
“Our tests so far have shown the viability of the GM-ABB solution in the laboratory and they have provided valuable experience to overcome the technical challenges,” said Pablo Rosenfeld, ABB’s program manager for Distributed Energy Storage Medium Voltage Power Products. “We are making plans now for the next major step – testing a larger prototype on an actual electric distribution system.”
As part of sharpening its focus on reuse and recycling, GM has appointed Pablo Valencia to the new position of senior manager for Battery Lifecycle Management. Valencia and his team will focus on assuring battery systems used in future Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles provide environmental and societal benefits beyond their use in the vehicle. Single-source responsibility assures the design of future battery systems is compatible with reuse and recycling applications.
General Motors (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM), one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 202,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 30 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Italy. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services.
I’m still interested in the Volt, but I think I’m going to wait for some more practical variants of the Voltec powertrain…something in the form of a wagon or AWD would be nice.
It should be pointed out that I am a long-time member of the Electric Auto Association and Oregon Electric Vehicle Association. If anyone is interested in the full spreadsheet on Volt’s deteriorating intentions, all you need to do is ask.
Art — I’m interested in getting my hands on that info. If you could send it to alex at gmauthority dot com — I’d love to publish it on the front page of GM Authority!
Alex
Founder, GM Authority
Alex, Damn glad that I stumbled apon this magnificent site of yours. Pleeeze keep this going as the Carbon special intrests have political intentions against the Amazing Chevrolet Volt EREV such as this most recent Forbs attack Op ED as linked below:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmichaels/2011/08/19/chevy-volt-flagship-model-of-the-government-industrial-complex/
Best in EV TT
Auto consumers are notoriously fickle. I think the shortage of Volts is a significant factor as many people don’t want to wait months for one. I think price is an obstacle. Lots of would-be customers can’t use the $7,500 fed tax credit because they don’t have that much tax liability and here in California, the generous $5,000 tax credit is gone as the allocated funds have been depleted. I’m sure that a price drop or a reworking of the federal/state tax credits scheme may help. But the biggest help would be inventory. Once you drive one, you understand how truly drivable it is on a daily basis.
Mr. Bianco. I concur and our research also shows you have pinpointed critical issues. Personally, unrelated to our research, I believe the Volt has an excellent future once GM finds a way to bring the cost into line with comparably sized and fuel-efficient models.
Art
2012/ 2011 Amazing Chevy Volt to Costly…Think Again!!
Let’s try this one more time…………………$8800 ?
>We now know that the Volt Lease is back for model year 2012.
> We know that in most states the lessee pays a use tax only on the scheduled lease payments and NOT the MSRP or MSRP+.
>We know therefore that the 3 year lease is ideal also because the turn in time may well happen as Volt Gen 2 arrives……….No 5-6-7 year contracts.
>We know that the Fed $7500.00 is captured by the Lessor, US Bank and they state “Us Bank as the lessor holds title to the vehicle . The lessee receives the benefit of the tax credit as an ENHANCEMENT TO TO THE RESIDUAL VALUE…”
…No side loans or other fancy arangements…the $7500.00 credit is yours as lessee now!
We have yet to see if the MY2012 equal the MY2011 payments as published. If so the following can be deduced:
>>>>>Chevrolet announced the MY2011 Chevrolet as $350.00 a month with $2500.00 down…
( assuming base Volt with destination included plus up fronts at MSRP )
>>>>>Roll $2500.00 into lease at $20.00 per thousand…$400.00 month/ 12000 miles a year.
>>>>>36 months at $400.00 per month =$16000.00.
>>>>>Estimated cost to drive the Volt 40 miles a day at $1.20 a charge=$36.00 a month,
Plus some gasoline.
>>>>>Not spending $200.00 a month for gasoline. $200.00 a month net cost to drive
reduction equals $2400.00 a year or $7200.00 over the three year lease!
>>>>>$16000.00 lease payment over 36 months minus $7200.00 gas not bought equals…
$8800.00 net cost to drive the Amazing Chevy Volt EREV
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I