Chevy Volt's Pricing Could Provide Sticker Shock

[Perian]

Link: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...014/BUSINESS01

The price of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car will reflect high warranty expenses to cover the lithium-ion batteries that power the cars, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told Bloomberg News last week.

"We are going to bake in a very substantial warranty cost for the battery in our overall pricing calculation," Lutz said. "We need to be conservative, simply because it's the first time we've done anything like this."

GM is racing to deliver the Volt by the end of 2010, and its key challenge is finding a lithium-ion battery pack that is durable and safe enough for automotive use while delivering 40 miles of all-electric driving on a single charge.

[CJ Thunder]

So, it should be a caddy? Maybe...

Anyway, the only thing new about this is the battery. I commend them for trying to jump ahead, but if there is no appeared immediate cost benefit then this is going to flop.

So, nice high warrenty cost. A revolving lease on the batteries. Those two alone make sure of a higher insurance premium.

Yet I still want one. I drive 25 miles to work, can charge up there and never use any gas. I swear it better be faster than a Cobalt sport.

[member12]

Toyota sold the first generation Prius at a loss.

GM should do the same for the Volt. It's an emerging technology that will dominate the market. Experience should be what should try to attain now.

And no, I don't think it should be a Cadillac.

[jcgable]

If this ends up happening then the Volt will be DOA.

[Minnesota Nice]

I think a lot of people are going to be expecting a price in the Prius range, and are going to be completely shocked and turned off when they see a much more hefty price tag.

If GM is going to put a huge price tag on the car, which you can't blame them for: new technology always comes at a price, as a concession, they should make them fully loaded.

PS: I love that the forum now says what members are viewing a particular thread. Great touch that I've always wanted to see added here!

[PontiacBixler]

No one has thought about the consequences yet of what CJ THUNDER just said....

I drive 25 miles to work, can charge up there and never use any gas.

If people think that they are going to be able to go somewhere and just plug in without paying anything for it, they are going to be sorely mistaken.

You really think your employer is going to soak up the cost of recharging your car for you to come to work and go home??? You really think malls and stores are going to make outlets available for people to recharge their cars on the mall's dime?

Some places do already offer outlets but only for engine block heaters which don't take as much juice as these cars will need.

Don't be surprised if they make a toll based parking area that you have to pay a pretty penny to recharge a battery at the simplest of places.

People seem to forget that they have to pay for electricity sometimes when they make purchases. All these people also went out and bought widescreen HDTVs that actually use more juice than their old tube-styled TV's and now wonder why their bill each month went up by $10-$30 in some cases.

Just wait for the backlash when people's monthly bills go up over $200/month more because they now plug in their cars at night or their raises at their jobs are smaller than previous years because of added cost from outlets out in the parking lot.

[EldoFan]

Originally Posted by member12

Toyota sold the first generation Prius at a loss.

GM should do the same for the Volt. It's an emerging technology that will dominate the market. Experience should be what should try to attain now.

And no, I don't think it should be a Cadillac.

Agreed......I hope Putz & co. stick to their guns on this one.....

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by Minnesota Nice

I think a lot of people are going to be expecting a price in the Prius range, and are going to be completely shocked and turned off when they see a much more hefty price tag.

If GM is going to put a huge price tag on the car, which you can't blame them for: new technology always comes at a price, as a concession, they should make them fully loaded.

PS: I love that the forum now says what members are viewing a particular thread. Great touch that I've always wanted to see added here!

?? IIRC, it's done that for years.

[Minnesota Nice]

Originally Posted by Buick61

?? IIRC, it's done that for years.

Really? Somehow I never noticed it. I must not have scrolled down enough. Haha, oh well!

[spykebn]

GM should sell the volt at a loss the first few years as the get production (and thus economies of scale) up. GM needs to see this initially as a advertising and image builder expense not necessarily a profit building product. Keep it below $30k otherwise the mainstream public will ignore it and then it won't cast a nice glow over all other GM vehicles to them.

They have stated that they plan on building only 10,000 the first model year. So if this costs them $35k to build but they sell it for $27k they will only lose $80 million. That is a drop in the bucket for GM's advertising budget, yet it would be more effective in turning around perceptions then the entire advertisng budget.

[Hurricane]

I commute 14 miles round trip each day to a metrorail station - the Volt would work great for this commute!

[PeteM143]

Originally Posted by PontiacBixler

No one has thought about the consequences yet of what CJ THUNDER just said....


If people think that they are going to be able to go somewhere and just plug in without paying anything for it, they are going to be sorely mistaken.

You really think your employer is going to soak up the cost of recharging your car for you to come to work and go home??? You really think malls and stores are going to make outlets available for people to recharge their cars on the mall's dime?

Some places do already offer outlets but only for engine block heaters which don't take as much juice as these cars will need.

Don't be surprised if they make a toll based parking area that you have to pay a pretty penny to recharge a battery at the simplest of places.

People seem to forget that they have to pay for electricity sometimes when they make purchases. All these people also went out and bought widescreen HDTVs that actually use more juice than their old tube-styled TV's and now wonder why their bill each month went up by $10-$30 in some cases.

Just wait for the backlash when people's monthly bills go up over $200/month more because they now plug in their cars at night or their raises at their jobs are smaller than previous years because of added cost from outlets out in the parking lot.

I don't think anyone who would have interest in buying a Volt expects that the 'juice' will be free. The truth is that the price of oil will continue to be unstable. As the supply gets tighter, the price wil gyrate and the traders will push the price ever higher. Gasoline is simply going to get more expensive.
Anyone who has taken a college level course in Economics, knows the law of substitution. The more unstable the price of fuel, the more folks will gravitate to alternatives. The Volt is a viable alternative, and for anyone to speculate what it will cost, including the warranty cost for the battery pack is simply foolish. No one knows what gas will cost in 2010, and no one knows if the government will subsidize the cost of Hybrids and Electric Cars as it is in the Nation's security interest to generate the energy for transportation in the US as opposed to buying it from nations bent on our destruction. We spend billions to defend these tin pot governments in Arabia, so why not take some of that money we waste there and put it to use helping ourselves. Those dollars spent helping folks off their gasoline dependence multiplies itself when spent in the US to buy American made products. We flush money down an big fat oil well protecting our oil interests in foreign countries. Those dollars go there and generally don't return to re-invest here.
I will buy one even if it costs $50K, because I prefer my energy coming from the power plant in New Jersey, not some terrorist supporting, repressive regime in the Middle East or anywhere else for that matter. The quicker we make the conversion, the better off we will all be.

[member12]

Originally Posted by PontiacBixler

Just wait for the backlash when people's monthly bills go up over $200/month more because they now plug in their cars at night or their raises at their jobs are smaller than previous years because of added cost from outlets out in the parking lot.

Thank you.

We won't be able to charge our cars at work, and the charging cost will be like running a washing machine non stop all night. It will add significantly to our electric bills...but if your commute is, say, 10 miles or less this car will be perfect for you.

However, with new nuclear power plants and clean coal, I think this is a viable alternative that will save money on fuel cost.

I also anticipate this Volt to be in the $28K-$30K to start if GM sells it at a loss, so it will be a niche car.
The Li-Ion battery will probably cost $4,000, and the two mode hybrid system will probably cost another $4500 over a regular car....so...what would otherwise be a $22,000 car will now be $30,000. I'd hope that it at least seats 4 people.

This car making since to my wallet depends on how expensive fuel gets. We need to promote nuclear powerplants and supplemental solar panels on homes so we can at least replace fossil fuels with clean energy....and if the electricity goes out or we have to take a long trip...the car still has a gas engine. We all know that making monetary since isn't going to stop someone from dumping money in this to be "clean" or "environmentally friendly".

[jkennedy293]

Originally Posted by PontiacBixler

No one has thought about the consequences yet of what CJ THUNDER just said....


If people think that they are going to be able to go somewhere and just plug in without paying anything for it, they are going to be sorely mistaken.

You really think your employer is going to soak up the cost of recharging your car for you to come to work and go home??? You really think malls and stores are going to make outlets available for people to recharge their cars on the mall's dime?

Some places do already offer outlets but only for engine block heaters which don't take as much juice as these cars will need.

Don't be surprised if they make a toll based parking area that you have to pay a pretty penny to recharge a battery at the simplest of places.

People seem to forget that they have to pay for electricity sometimes when they make purchases. All these people also went out and bought widescreen HDTVs that actually use more juice than their old tube-styled TV's and now wonder why their bill each month went up by $10-$30 in some cases.

Just wait for the backlash when people's monthly bills go up over $200/month more because they now plug in their cars at night or their raises at their jobs are smaller than previous years because of added cost from outlets out in the parking lot.

A lot of the big employers are starting to encourage the use of green technologies. IBM here in RTP, NC have preferred parking for electric vehicles. They even offer free electricity to charge up the vehicles. I wouldn't be suprised to see more business that have campuses or own their own buildings.

I think your doom and gloom about huge electricity is a little premature. Also, if my electric bill only went up $120/month, I would still save money as I spend $160 or more in gas. As more and more plug-in vehicles come on the market, I'm sure the electric companies will come up with a way to let them charge up cheaply, because most vehicles would charge at night during a period where energy producers have to "vent off" the extra electricity that is produced.

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by member12

The Li-Ion battery will probably cost $4,000, and the two mode hybrid system will probably cost another $4500 over a regular car....so...what would otherwise be a $22,000 car will now be $30,000. I'd hope that it at least seats 4 people.

The Volt is not going to have a two-mode hybrid transmission in it.