Chevy Volt Forums

[Andy]

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Hey Guys,

A good buddy of mine started a forum for the Chevy Volt. If you are interested you can check it out here: Chevy Volt Forum.

Andy

[howam00]

No love for the Leaf?

[Bugman]

I saw something on the news about what it cost to charge one. An 8hr charge uses as much electric as I think it was 3 average home use in the same time or maybe 3 average home use in a moth. Maybe I should have paid more attention, any way I'll volunteer to not buy one so there will be enough for the tree huggers to all have one ..lolol

[bobwilson]

I saw something on the news about what it cost to charge one. An 8hr charge uses as much electric as I think it was 3 average home use in the same time or maybe 3 average home use in a moth. Maybe I should have paid more attention, any way I'll volunteer to not buy one so there will be enough for the tree huggers to all have one ..lolol

The Volt uses about the same amount of electricity as a common household deep freezer and costs under $1.50 a day to charge. Wherever you heard that report about it somehow using the same power to power up 3 homes for a month is pretty far off.

[howam00]

no kidding. We know how much it uses. It is defined in the battery capacity at 50% (GM makes it so no more than 50% of the battery can be used). It has a battery at 16kWh so at 50% its 8kWh maximum. 8kW is a pretty nominal amount. At my electricity rates of 6 cents per kilowatt it would be about $0.48 per day assuming i need a full charge all the time.

the Leaf has a much bigger battery and it can use sometihng like 70% of its capacity but I still would expect it to be a minimal charge since I would still only use the same amount of electricty per mile as the Volt, only difference is I could do 100 miles on electricity in the Leaf versus about 35 in the Volt before I need to recharge so I may only be discharging the battery and charging it every 3 days as opposed to every day.

[Bugman]

Originally Posted by bobwilson

The Volt uses about the same amount of electricity as a common household deep freezer and costs under $1.50 a day to charge. Wherever you heard that report about it somehow using the same power to power up 3 homes for a month is pretty far off.

I admit I only caught the last part of the report, the $1.50 a day seems way to low, and if you calculate the $41,000.00 price for a car the size of a Hyundai Accent that sells for $10-12,000.00 that get in the upper thirtys mpg, well it wouldn't be much of a decision for me to make...

[howam00]

Originally Posted by Bugman

I admit I only caught the last part of the report, the $1.50 a day seems way to low, and if you calculate the $41,000.00 price for a car the size of a Hyundai Accent that sells for $10-12,000.00 that get in the upper thirtys mpg, well it wouldn't be much of a decision for me to make...

I think that is what will ultimately happen for a lot of people when it comes to the Volt. Will they still sell some, they sure will. Will it be any significant volume or a money maker, nope. Pure electric is way cheaper with less running costs. It will still be more than the Accent or other similar sized econo car but the tech is coming down in price rapidly.

My prediction is that the Leaf v.2.0 will have at least a 30% increase in range and a 15% cost reduction. By time I will be looking to replace the wife's Prius the second gen electrics will be out.