Will the Chevrolet Volt be a failure or a success?

Sales numbers just in for August: 302 cars. 300 sales: Kinks in Chevy Volt production? - Hybrid Cars and Plug-in Vehicles - Hybridcarblog

Something is terribly wrong with movement of the Volt into consumers' hands. Whether it's production or demand, 3100 Volts have been sold through 2011 so far. Anybody still think Chevy has any chance of 10,000?

Here: Still electric: Nissan Leaf sales hit 1,362, Chevy Volt at 302 in August

says "Volt production is whizzing along at "roughly 150 units per day,""

Still, I am not in a big city and there are currently 36 volts within 100 miles ostensibly for sale on autotrader. Within "any distance" there are 738.

 

I prefer to multi-task -- then the time spent on the car is zero. For me this can mean listening to the radio while I perform the work, or combing jobs that require me to lift the car.

I also tend to view work like changing tyres as an opportunity to get a little exercise.

 

another reason the Leaf is quieter; the several hundred "missing parts" that cannot rattle

 

It's your call!
Buy this new Chevy Volt for the price of 3 new Cruzes!

Cars for Sale: 2011 Chevrolet Volt Premium in Sarasota, FL 34239: Hatchback Details - 297628709 - AutoTrader.com

 

Two-Mode hype died shortly after rollout began, when shortcomings of expectations became apparent. Sales sputtered along following that. Sound familiar?

2,400 Volt were produced in August. Supposedly, there are many consumers waiting for delivery still. If true, we should see that entire inventory accounted for in the next month's sales results. With only 3,172 purchased so far this year, that would represent the massive increase enthusiasts have been claiming would finally happen.

That doesn't seem likely, especially with 21,807 sales of Cruze in August. Coincidently, details of the production model plug-in Prius will be revealed in just 2 weeks. Think about the impact that will make. If nothing else, it should stir quite a response from those holding out for a miracle from Volt.
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I have long thought (as have many) that the plug in prius will make the Volt even less attractive unless its price is absolutely disgusting (which it probably won't be).

Volt has been leaking out units for three quarters of a year. I would guess that if its sales do not pick up by magnitudes within the next 6-12 months or so GM will have to roll out a plan to cancel it. They cannot hemorrhage money indefinitely as they surely must be with such a low volume vehicle, that is unless they are making huge margin on the Volt, which seems very unlikely.

EDIT: GM still confirming 10,000 by end of year: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/09/02/is-chevy-volt-already-out-gas/?test=faces

 

Agreed

 

Or it is underwritten by Cruze profits, and GM is willing to take the long view on it.

 

What other choice do they have at this point?
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Yeah, the Cruze is an impressive #5 on the list at Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: August 2011 - KickingTires.

Perhaps that's GM's business strategy... they might be willing to take a bath on Volts just to bring people in to buy other cars like the Cruze. For GM, it at least gives them a "halo car" (to some degree) for people and the press to talk about. A few months ago, I kept hearing about EVs in the press and yet they mainly kept using and showing the Volt as an example and would mention the Leaf as an afterthought.

edit: Found http://green.autoblog.com/2011/09/02/chevy-volt-availability/.

 

I agree entirely. GM sold 3172 Volts in 7 months when supposedly there was a waiting list from the preceding 4 years of hypes.

When I compare and adjust the mileage of the prius(Premium for Volt, Regular for Prius), the current Prius mileage (in terms of cost of the Volt's premium) is about 55mpg per gallon. And the Prius plug-in may have a higher HV combined mpg with EV regen.

Can you imagine next year if the very first boatload shipment of ordered Prius plug-ins is more than the 3172 Volts sold in 7 months or Volt's total for the year.

 

How exactly are you adjusting it, and why? If it's for the cost, then it's simplistic and misleading. Gasoline has more properties beyond the mpg you get. Shelf life is one, and that may be worth the extra price in an application like the Volt.

If cost is what is to be studied, it is better to use a cost per distance unit in the discussion than distance per volume. Many cars that are premium recommended get better fuel economy on higher octane. Adjusting their regular mpg numbers for fuel price may erronanously give them the appearance of burning less fuel than with the higher octane. Cost per mile is the best way to determine if the premium is worth the extra cost.

For more, the regular v. premium breaks even in cost per mile. If so, and your goal is to reduce oil dependence and environmental impact, it is better to use premium.

 

Regular gas at $3.40, premium at $3.70, calculation based on putting $3.70 worth of regular gas in a Prius.

 

This is really posted not because I care, but because I want to have post 1234 and 2000.

It all depends. On most of these h8rs, they would never plug it in. Which means you can use regular. It would be good if the next gen engine was flex fuel and could run on really stale fuel.

That doesn't make the prius more efficient than if the volt didn't exist. We have others that are worse

You can talk about the higher price of gas and lower efficiency on CS milage, but don't make it sound that since the volt exists that the prius gets more efficient, although it may make toyota actually ship a phv prius next year.

Does the prius also get 55mpg because it doesn't burn premium like the lexus ls? Or does the volt get 111mpg because that is how much gas the typical user has been using, well and adding lots of electricity.

 

You raised some good questions, but the point was just mileage for same cost using fueleconomy.gov with 2 different grades of gasoline; $3.40/$3.70. To drive 25 miles, Volt in EV mode is just 0.99 cents, in HV mode = $2.50, and the current Prius = $1.70.

 

This idea that the Volt is a piece of bait that leads people into GM showrooms who then buy other vehicles is a fantasy as far as I'm concerned. Is there any legitimate proof it does that at all?

 

Then say you got X amount miles in the Prius on the cost of one gallon of premium. The math the other way isn't much different than the math used for E85 and CAFE calculations.

 

What we won't see will be even more impressive. Prius is at the top of the sales chart in Japan. With 24,998 cordless models sold there last month, there's a great deal of potential for the plug-in model.
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I think you are right, hybrids in Japan = 14% of total car sales. The Japanese will buy a lot of PHVs.

"The US hybrid market is slowly recovering from a low of 1.21% of the total market in June to 1.86% in July—to 1.98% in August. The hybrid market are nearly 12 percent down compared to a year ago, while the overall auto market is up by 7.5 percent from last August."

I just read these!
August 2011 Dashboard: Hybrid Sales Remain Sluggish | Hybrid Cars

American dysfuntion: Hybrid adoption at 14 percent in Japan, small cars rule - Hybrid Cars and Plug-in Vehicles - Hybridcarblog

 

Fuel-Sipper Smackdown 4: Which Car Gets the Best Fuel Economy? - Edmunds.com

Edmunds found Volt had best mileage and cheapest fuel costs (factoring premium and electric) of the cars tested.