The average American doesn't even spent $30,000 on a car, so the price range of these new vehicles is still in the realm of the rich for toys and games.
The average price of a new car in America is $31,252. A $40,000 vehicle is not remotely out of reach for a large percent of the population.
A Volt is $35K - tax credit ($7.5K to $9K depending on the state). So the actual cost of buying a Volt is less than the average cost of a new car.
Which electric cars don't support Level 1 charging? Not the Leaf, Volt, or Tesla.
^ This...
I only need 50 miles a day of range almost the entire year. But about 5% of the time, I need 300+ miles of range with the ability to "recharge" in 15 minutes.
Owning a single vehicle that does both tasks costs less than buying two vehicles. It also costs less than buying the EV and renting a truck for the road trips, we don't really have in place a system to do that well, and frankly I don't want to take someone else's beater rental vehicle on a family road trip, I want to take MY vehicle on a family road trip.
A Volt does this now. Quit making excuses...
While you are correct in the sense that if you drive enough, the savings of not buying fuel do add up...
The use case where that is true is narrow...
There are plenty of very efficient small cars that can be purchased for $10K+ fewer dollars than the Volt. Over 5 years of ownership, you'll be hard pressed to burn $10K in gas in a small 4 person car over the cost of recharging a Volt.
Add to that the resale of a Volt in 5 years is likely to be terrible as they keep dropping the price, it makes for an even worse investment.
It may well get there, but the people pushing for it today like to ignore a few details that explain why EVs are hardly a rounding error in vehicle sales.
It isn't because people want to waste money, it is because people have done the math and it makes no sense, unless you're "a true believer".
Riiiiiiiiight, so that bargin $15K ICE car is never going to need maintenance? I have a Volt and my maintenance cost is 0 so far for 2 years. I doubt I will reach the first scheduled maintenance (which can be at 75,000 miles depending on usage patterns) and is just an oil change for the generator which can easily be done myself for $10 in oil. The parent said its about COST, not price. Costs like maintenance that EVs don't really have in practice are not free for ICEs. EVs are cheaper for 90% of drivers daily usage patterns at this point. Not some minor slice of the market, but most of the market. You would have to drive less than 1000 miles a year for an EVs to not to pay off at this point. You are just considering gas costs, but maintenance costs can easily exceed gas costs, especially for cheaper or older ICE cars. Plus the time I don't spend waiting at tollbothes (yea HOV lanes). Just make sure not to lease the Volt as you don't get the $7500 federal tax credit that way.
Range is the issue.
My commute is 40 miles each way. What EV do I buy that ensures me I can get to work and back home on a single charge, accounting for common traffic jams and problems that causes for actual range, and accomodates the lack of charging slots at work?
It would be OK if I paid less than a 30% premium over typical retail price, even better if I pay only a 50% premium over the typical price of a 5-year-old used vehicle, though I generally drive 10-year-old vehicles. I know, that rules out lots of vehicles.
Electric is still not for me.
A Volt would cut your gas usage in half, and if you have charging at the office, then it would be probably 90%. And its $26K after tax credits. Quit making excuses, your choices are about you and not about the EVs available anymore if you can afford a new car. If not, then it will probably be another 3-5 years for you.
All reasonable points...
Offer the Chevy Volt for $20K and they could sell half a million of them a year...
At $35K, it is a non-starter...
It begins and ends there, all other arguments are really academic...
Its $25K after the tax credits. Quit making excuses...you sound like the ranchers in TX that pray for rain as they deny Climate Change.
If the night security guard at a bank falls asleep, and someone robs the bank without him noticing- you wouldn't charge the security guard with bank robbery.
At least they should be fired for falling asleep while the bank is robbed. Where those involved fired?
Non-compete agreements are typically illegal in California.
Not illegal, just unenforceable. Big difference.
If MIT had to give up some of their IPv4 addresses, maybe we'd get IPv6 openafs this century
AFS (in OpenAFS) stands for Andrew File System. Andrew, as in Andrew Carnegie, as in Carnegie Mellon, not MIT.
The fact that president Obama has ancestors that were clearly discriminated against does not mean he is discriminated against.
Uh, you might want to check up on your history a little.
So might you, his father was from Kenya, not Mississippi
Never ask two questions in a business letter. The reply will discuss the one you are least interested, and say nothing about the other.
