After paying an extra $10-15 grand for what is essentially a two seater with mediocre performance one will probably feel like they've been laid...although not in a consensual manner.

This should be their new marketing slogan: "Chevy Volt. It will get you laid."

(believe it or not, the general public would actually buy more Volts if this was the marketing slogan)
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The Volt will be a four seater. Performance will be whatever the electric motor can produce. Should be faster than a Prius in the 0-60MPH.

Getting laid? Talk about a layaway plan, Volt's won't be available to the general public in sufficient quantities until 2016.

I predict that 20,000 will be made by 2015, and if demand is high enough, GM will mass market, or else, production will remain in the 20k cars made per year.

NO doubt that sex sells. Kinda makes you wonder why GM didn't take the sex ad angle when the EV1 was available. In stead, they advertised with black and white commercials showing egg beaters, toasters, and other sundry appliances

What a pathetic excuse for an executive, and an ad campaign. Or maybe it's our own Pavlovian response to skin that short circuits our thinking process that's more worthy of contempt. Anybody who needs a car to help them get laid probably isn't worth the effort. Besides, 50 grand (or is it 60 now?) will pay for far more than a back seat.

In the end the Volt will represent all that is horrible and corrupt about American Car Companies.

Cool, it must come with an OEM inflatable sex doll.

Otherwise, methinks someone high up at GM has confused "service" with
"being serviced."

Oh yeah, to save weight and battery load, a hand pump is standard.

Does anyone know what happens if one buys two or multiples?

Ok lets do some math based upon his talk

Quoting him mind you
Cost per mile: "anywhere between 3 and 8 cents per mile depending upon.." ok fair enough
Gas equivalent: "it'd be the equivalent of 70 to 80 cents per gallon"

Now here's where it gets dicey.. are we comparing to SUVs? Say 12 miles per gallon, so 3 x 12 = 36 cents per "gallon" to 8 x 12 = 96 cents per "gallon" However the volt is a "mid-size" sedan without a ton of power, so you're looking in the 30mpg range of cars (or so says their commercials they like to advertise with).. 3 x 30 = 90 cents per gallon... or the other end of that 8 x 30 = $2.40 per gallon.

Now to clinch things off... what if I dunno... I drove a fuel efficient car already... lets say a Prius... and hell lets say I get 45 mpg on average, after all I live in San Francisco and the hills do kill my mileage, I filled up the other day at $3.83 per gallon (which is one of the higher costs in the country)... $3.83 per gallon / 45 miles per gallon... = 8.51 cents per mile. WOW, I rock, I already get Volt like cost effectiveness, I mean my electricity ain't cheap here either, I pay some of the highest costs for fuel, and my car gets worse mileage than most other places that aren't so hilly.

Volt, an America Dream, an America Inspiration, an American who's now trying to catch up to what's already out there.

I wonder how much the 400 lbs lithium pack is shielded. It might give you more EMF radiation than getting laid.

I've seen the images of the rear seats and it's only a four seater if two of your passengers don't have legs. The loss of ~2 inches in height won't help either.

Nine seconds is what they've stated, and that is only when the battery is providing the power. When it's on gas it will be a lot slower because it appears that it will be heavier than the Prius and produce less horsepower in ICE mode than the what the Prius can muster with both its gas & electric running. The inability to recharge the battery while driving is going to be problematic in that regard.

or, if you believe this article, it won't...
Science Proves Exotic Cars Turn Women On | Autopia from Wired.com

:lol:

Some truth exists here...

Premium priced vehicles appeared to have aided with this goal for centuries...even though this goal can be for only short term reasons. Whether its a gold chariot or a "treehugger" automobile that has a "sporty look" about it for an eco-machine, expensive vehicles have helped to a certain degree. Unless the lady in question is an avid bicycle rider, showing up for date on the mountain bike is not advised...even then, you probably want to confirm first that the transportation is going to require some pedaling.

But of course, do not let this response ruin the fun of bashing GM yet again. It does make some folks feel good about their brand selection (1995 Toyota 4x4 Pickup). On the same note...sorry guys even though the Prius is a great vehicle…as for overall appearance, the concept and Production Volt wins for me against the current and past model Prius'. However based on recent reliability data of these 2 successful companies’ vehicles and the fact that GM is attempting to break new ground for the mass production auto industry , the Volt may be the slightly, more likely candidate that causes the evening to end with a fun filled ride in a tow truck.

In conclusion...as for the Volt, I say...Go GM!

P.S. I've not watched the video...so I have no idea if Lutz intentionally drove the Volt down into the proverbial gutter or not. While it might be questionable that Mr. Lutz should speak about aspects of his martial relationship on television, maybe his wife just likes the Volt.

Oh, you really know how to break a guy's heart, don't you? So, it really was the motorcycle after all. I'm crushed.

A better way to look at it is to come up with an estimate of how many Wh/mile the car will use and multiply that by your electric rate. Historically many EVs have been in the range of 200-450 ACWh (wall to wheels efficiency). A plugin Prius should be in the 250 range, one could assume that the Volt will be as well. In AZ, my offpeak power is ~4c/kWh, and summer on peak is 15c/kWh. That works out to 1-3.75 c/mile. By comparison at $3.50/gallon a 48mpg Prius is 7.3c/mile, a 25mpg car is 14c/mile, and a 16mpg SUV is 21.9c/mile. Installing solar to offset your charge works out to about 2c/mile (depends on incentives), though you have to deal with the upfront cost. If you finance your solar doubling the overall cost you are still only looking at 4c/mile for emissions free, domestic sourced fuel. Plus your fuel costs will be fixed for the next 20+ years.

Bear in mind CA electric rates are high, but most CA utilities have special programs in place for EVs. You get a separate meter for EV charging, usually at something like half the regular rate.

For reference, here are some efficiency numbers from DOE testing:

1997 PbA GM EV1:
http://avt.inl.gov/pdf/fsev/eva/genmot.pdf
Battery to Wheels:
115 Wh/mile@45mph range 135.2 miles
164 Wh/mile@60mph range 89.1 miles
164 Wh/mile Driving Cycle range 78.2 miles
Wall to Wheels:
248 ACWh/mile

1999 NimH GM EV1:
http://avt.inl.gov/pdf/fsev/eva/ev1_eva.pdf
127 Wh/mile@45mph range 220.7 miles
168 Wh/mile@60mph range 160.6 miles
179 Wh/mile Driving Cycle range 140.3 miles
Wall to Wheels:
373 ACWh/mile
Note, its generally agreed that the NimH efficiency suffered due to poor pack design. This was due to it being retrofitted into the space designed for lead acid, which provided insufficient ventilation and required active cooling.

1996: PbA Toyota RAV4EV:
http://avt.inl.gov/pdf/fsev/eva/toyrav96.pdf
198 Wh/mile@45mph range 81.7 miles
289 Wh/mile@60mph range 54.7 miles
235 Wh/mile Driving Cycle range 68.2 miles
Wall to Wheels:
412 ACWh/mile

1998 NimH Toyota RAV4EV:
http://avt.inl.gov/pdf/fsev/eva/toyrav98.pdf
210 Wh/mile@45mph range 110.9 miles
316 Wh/mile@60mph range 86.9 miles
245 Wh/mile Driving Cycle range 94 miles
Wall to Wheels:
432 ACWh/mile
This number seems to give credence to the EV1 note above. The RAV4EV charge efficiency only dropped 4.8% from PbA to NimH. On the EV1 it dropped 50.4%. Pretty fishy.

2007 Hymotion PHEV Prius:
http://avt.inl.gov/pdf/phev/toyotaPriusHymotionFact.pdf
147-199 ACWh/mile, although a small amount of gas was consumed (129-167MPG). Worst numbers are with Max Air Conditioning.

Prius Simulator Data:
http://privatenrg.com/
181.3 Wh/mile@45mph
215.5 Wh/mile@60mph

Rob

General Motors? Ah ...... I think I'll pass. :nono:

... Brad

Why not give a way a night with a mid price prostitute as a sweetener with every Volt? Then you can give a guarantee that a Volt will get you laid!!

I don't follow. The car is ALWAYS to be in electric mode. The ICE never drives the wheels. When the battery is depleted, the ICE provides the energy that powers the electric motor... which is the only thing pushing you down the road. I was not aware that the ICE would not be capable of powering the electric motor at its full output potential.

The Volt Isn't A Prius. It Might Even Be Better | Autopia from Wired.com

"The heart of the car is a T-shaped 16-kilowatt-hour battery comprised of 220 lithium-ion cells and a 111-kilowatt (150-horsepower) electric motor good for a top speed of 100 mph."

"Bly (director of hybrid drivetrain engineering) says the engine will produce less than 100 kilowatts (134 horsepower) but promises that's enough to do the job."

Volt's top speed is 100 mph? That will make it slower than Prius. At least Volt will go 1 mph faster than Hummer H2.