If the Chevrolet Volt was a Toyota - how much of a premium would you pay to own it?

[eddiehaskell]

I've heard a lot of talk about the financial sensibility of driving the Volt and the resulting opinions that go back and forth. Regardless, lets leave all bias against GM aside. If Toyota made the Volt and it could legitimately go 40 miles without gasoline, how much of a premium over the Prius would you pay to own it? To give us something to work with, lets use a 5 yr cost of ownership.

Here is what I've come up....

'11 Prius = $27,000 (lets say a IV to guesstimate equal equipment)
Plug-in = $40,000

Difference = $13,000

With a 5 yr residual value of 50%:

'11 Prius = $13,500
Plug-in = $20,000

Difference = $6500

--------------------------------------

$13,500 - $6,500 = $7500

Lets say the energy savings is something like $2,500 over 5 yrs...

$7,500 - $2,500 = $5,000

So, assuming you can afford the purchase price of both, both fit your needs and most other things are equal - would you shell out an extra $5,000 for the plug-in? If so, how would you justify the extra cost? The pleasure of driving the latest tech? Reduced emissions? Image? Coolness?

Comments?

[MarinJohn]

I would not pay much of a premium at all. From what I feel, the Prius came with no-to-very little 'premium'. Although that's not what the anti-Prius articles claimed, still my opinion. The car companies will either make the vehicles we WANT at a price we can AFFORD or they will be sitting on the lot unsold. (We want a cheap electric car and it's in their interest to make one) It's their job. They should do it right. I'm self-employed and do my job without a 'premium'. Now if I were interested in being an early adopter of new technology I may be willing to pay less than $2000 premium, but the tradeoff would be an extended warantee to alieve my trepidation of adopting a new technology. That warantee would have to be, say, 200,000 miles bumper to bumper, and included in the purchase price.

[JimN]

$0. I passed on a 2010 Prius because, IMO, it didn't significantly improve FE. My estimate is that the Volt will have a FE between a 2006 & 2010 Prius so I'm not interested in it as a 2nd car. If I have to replace my 2006 then I'm looking for the highest FE midsize hatchback. For a 2nd car I'm waiting for the Model S which seems reasonably priced and should hold its value.

[bluetwo]

Nothing. The hey-look-at-me-because-I'm-saving-the-world-by-driving-a-hybrid image does nothing for me at all. And I realize we're not really calling the Volt a hybrid so much anymore but it still kind of is.

I keep wondering how much money GM is going to waste with this whole - lets call it an extended range electric vehicle thing before it's all over. Simply calling it a hybrid wouldn't be good enough, they have to coin a whole new word or phrase to hype it up even more.

[Rokeby]

"If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."

If the Volt were a Toyota...

then I would have won the Merlin State Lottery and I could buy a Tesla
and keep my Prius to use on the scant few days of inclement weather in
La-La land.