2012 Silicon Valley Auto Show?

Anyone from Priuschat going to be there? You can get a free weekday ticket along w/a free year of Motor Trend magainze at 2012 Silicon Valley International Auto Show.

I might go... if I do, I'll probably be going on the 6th.

 

FWIW, 2012 Silicon Valley International Auto Show - General Info implies there will be some test drives available. That's something I look forward to.

It'd be cool to meet some local Priuschatters there...

 

So, anyone going?

I'm probably going and plan to be there Friday.

 

I probably won't be there until 2 pm or so myself.

 

That should work. You should've gotten my PM.

I can check my PMs and emails from my iPhone 4, while I'm there.

 

It was good meeting and talking to Jeff N. I didn't realize he had a Volt nor did I know about his previous Prius history. Apparently, he also attended the BayLeaf meeting w/the Leaf's chief vehicle engineer + whole bunch of Nissan folks.

Anyhow... if anyone goes, do the test drives first. They all have limited hours and (on my day) w/Ford and GM ending at 5 pm while Toyota ended at 6. I think I should've skipped my Volt test drive (have driven it before) and gone to try out some Fords, esp. some of their cars w/their maligned automated manual transmissions. By the time I was done w/the Chrysler and GM test drives, Ford was done for the day.

Unfortunately, for all the automakers I tried (Chrysler, GM and Toyota), all the test drive loops were pretty short w/the Scion iQ being really short.

If you were planning to subscribe to Motortrend magazine, it might be worth going as there are cards you can fill out in order to get a free year's subscription.

Oddly enough, I don't think Audi was there but Mercedes was. At the recent SF auto show, Audi was there but Mercedes was absent. Nissan got a really odd area to exhibit their cars and I almost missed it. Jaguar's was also in a semi-weird spot. Coda was there. I do wonder if their cars will sell, based on their interior and exterior styling vs. the increasingly crowded space of EVs and PHEVs.

The Ford Focus Electric was there but I couldn't open the trunk (hatch). I asked if they could open it. Their reps said no and gave me an excuse of "fire marshal regulations". (Right... trunks and hatches are open on tons of other cars there, including theirs.) I asked them how much of the trunk area was taken up by the battery and their reply was "a lot". I was able to fold down the rear seat and confirm that. I do wonder how these FFEs are going to sell when people look at the cargo area and price vs. a Leaf.

Also, for whatever reason, it seemed like the hood cable was disconnected so I couldn't pop the hood.

 

One thing that annoyed me was that the GM reps for the Volt test drives were perpetuating lies and misleading folks. The rep spoke to the guy in front me claiming that the engine never drives the wheels.

When that guy asked about the price, the rep said the Volt started at $39K. In response, the other guy said "Does GM not want to sell the Volt?" He then asked the price of the Cruze and the rep lied saying it's about $23K. Right.... On the front of 2012 Chevy Cruze | Compact Car | Chevrolet, it says MSRP starting at $16,800.

The rep also told a statement that could be a lie for Bay Area Volt owners, depending on your electricity schedule (due to ripoff PG&E). He stated that it'd cost $1.50 to drive 40 miles on electricity alone.

I haven't run the numbers nor gotten typical kwh/mile efficiency figures for the Volt yet but I do know the Volt's less efficient than the Leaf. From my earlier estimates at My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - "typical" Miles/KWh figures for a couple scenarios?, even if the Volt were as efficient from the plug as the Leaf, if I assumed 0.20/kwh, it'd be ~$2.50 for that 40 miles. At the highest tier on non-TOU billing, that 40 miles would cost ~$4.59.