Chevy Volt

> > Cost to operate a Chevy Volt
> >
> > Eric Bolling (Fox Business Channel's Follow the Money) test drove the Chevy Volt at the invitation of General Motors.
> >
> > For four days in a row, the fully charged battery lasted only 25 miles before the Volt switched to the reserve gasoline engine.
> >
> > Eric calculated the car got 30 mpg including the 25 miles it ran on the
> > battery. So, the range including the 9 gallon gas tank and the 16 kwh battery is approximately 270 miles.
> >
> > It will take you 4 1/2 hours to drive 270 miles at 60 mph. Then add 10 hours to charge the battery and you have a total trip time of 14.5 hours. In a typical road trip your average speed (including charging time) would be 20 mph.
> >
> > According to General Motors, the Volt battery holds 16 kwh
> >
> > of electricity. It takes a full 10 hours to charge a drained battery. The cost for the electricity to charge the Volt is never mentioned so I looked up what I pay for electricity. I pay approximately (it varies with amount used and the seasons) $1.16 per kwh.
> >
> > 16 kwh x $1.16 per kwh = $18.56 to charge the battery. $18.56 per charge divided by 25 miles = $0.74 per mile to operate the Volt using the battery.
> >
> > Compare this to a similar size car with a gasoline engine that gets only 32 mpg. $3.19 per gallon divided by 32 mpg = $0.10 per mile.
> >
> > The gasoline powered car costs about $15,000 while the Volt costs
> > $46,000.........
> > So the Government wants us to pay 3 times as much, for a car that costs more that 7 times as much to run, and takes 3 times longer to drive across the country.....
> >
> > REALLY ????? And what does a battery replacement cost?

You could probably rebuild a v8 gas engine for less than the cost of a replacement battery for the Volt

Very good post Bruce, most folks don't do the math.

Hey PS,

It will save $ if you've got short commutes. At 240v it will fully charge in 4 hours.

I've got a friend with a volt that's a car guy and he loves it. He charges at home over night at off peak hour which is cheaper. At work he charges too. He Almost never buys gas. Works for him.

You are right Randy, but wait until the next crop of people grow up having learn to do math the Common Core way. I had a friend way back in the '70's during the gas shortage who was driving a fully paid car that got 15 miles to the gallon. His wife only drove the car to the market and beauty shop. At 6 years old the car had but 20,000 miles on it. He felt justified to buy a new car on credit just because it would give him 24 miles to the gallon. Even when I broke it down for him and showed him what his yearly operating cost was for the old car vs the yearly cost of operating the new one plus the note, he still couldn't see it. He bought the new car.
"gene"

ha. let me throw my two cents into the ring. I bought a 2013 ford F250, 4X4, king ranch and I got ford to outfit it with a CNG (compressed natural gas) kit at the tune of 10,000$. now before you choke on your tongue, the state of La reimbursed me for half of the CNG kit. so I got 5000$ back extra when I filed my state taxes. here is the kicker. my CNG tank is a 24 gallon tank. this is measured in GGE (gallons of gasoline equivalent). it will never hold 24 GGE of CNG but when it si cold outside it will hold about 19-20 GGE. when it is really hot it holds about 16 GGE. it is all done on psi. hot gas expands and you can't hold as much. anyway-----a GGE of CNG is between 1.70$ and 1.89$. therefore I can fill up my big old truck for less than 30$. and the gas mileage and torque and performance is the same whether im using CNG or gasoline. I didn't mention that it has a regular gasoline tank in it as well. natural gas is an endless commodity. the haynseville shale will still have natural gas in it 100 years after I am gone. if anyone has ever thougth of going the CNG route, I would highly recommend it. I figure I have already gotten my 5 grand back the cng kit cost me and I have less than 15K miles on my truck. and the resale value of the truck will hold higher than a comparable truck with out CNG.

doc :)

How close is a CNG filling station for you??

Hey Doc,

Your maintenance cost are lower too. IE oil changes and engine wear.

We teach Alternate fuels here at school. I have a ford pickup conversion ngv and gasoline. Also a Honda civic that's dedicated ngv. High compression engine.

As you probably know you can install ngv fuel station at home with a slow fill and you price will drop in half from the pump price. Tax credits for fuel stations too.

If I had natural gas available at the house I would by one of the civics to drive to work with.

NGV would work for a lot of folks. IMO

Quote:

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Originally Posted by docwaldo

ha. let me throw my two cents into the ring. I bought a 2013 ford F250, 4X4, king ranch and I got ford to outfit it with a CNG (compressed natural gas) kit at the tune of 10,000$. now before you choke on your tongue, the state of La reimbursed me for half of the CNG kit. so I got 5000$ back extra when I filed my state taxes. here is the kicker. my CNG tank is a 24 gallon tank. this is measured in GGE (gallons of gasoline equivalent). it will never hold 24 GGE of CNG but when it si cold outside it will hold about 19-20 GGE. when it is really hot it holds about 16 GGE. it is all done on psi. hot gas expands and you can't hold as much. anyway-----a GGE of CNG is between 1.70$ and 1.89$. therefore I can fill up my big old truck for less than 30$. and the gas mileage and torque and performance is the same whether im using CNG or gasoline. I didn't mention that it has a regular gasoline tank in it as well. natural gas is an endless commodity. the haynseville shale will still have natural gas in it 100 years after I am gone. if anyone has ever thougth of going the CNG route, I would highly recommend it. I figure I have already gotten my 5 grand back the cng kit cost me and I have less than 15K miles on my truck. and the resale value of the truck will hold higher than a comparable truck with out CNG.

doc :)

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Thanks for posting your two cents!! I have been contemplating CNG for the last 2 years. Lots of CNG stations here in Oklahoma. I have been waiting for Ford to have them setting on the lot ready to sell, may have to go the conversion route instead.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by prefers shiners

> > Cost to operate a Chevy Volt
> > REALLY ????? And what does a battery replacement cost?

---

There's a growing hubbub in the plug-in vehicle community over what looks like some ridiculously cheap replacement batteries for the Chevrolet Voltgoing up for sale. GM Parts Online, for example, is selling a replacement Volt battery with an MSRP of $2,994.64 but, with an online discount, the price comes down to $2,305.88. For the 16-kWh pack in the 2012 Volt, that comes to a very low $144.11 per kilowatt hour (kWH). But is it a real deal? How can it be, when a Chevy dealer may quote you a price of up to $34,000 to replace the pack?