At least this one didn’t explode while in front of me!
44 Replies to “Seen In California Yesterday”
Parked, of course 🙂
No LED taillights? Or just bad wiring. Welcome to the “peoples car” a la Obama. $50 000 cheap.
The only place I’ve ever seen a Volt was also in California.
I wonder how it would do in Saskatchewan in February?
I can see why you blurred the plate – didn’t want to shame the owner. Then again, since you need to be well off to buy one, and your getting subsidized, perhaps they have no shame.
I was wondering what they did with all of those left-over Chevy Aztek parts. The Volt looks kinda similar, in a stunted and ugly sort of way.
Let’s completely ignore the fact that there’s never been an incident when a Volt “exploded”. One had its batteries catch fire during a government crash test. In another case, the batteries caught fire while charging, not while the car is on the road. Neither car “exploded” – nice hysterical and misleading headline, there, Robert. I’m sure the Toronto Star or the NDP could use your talents.
Let’s completely ignore the fact that NO gasoline powered car EVER has caught fire after a crash AT ANY TIME IN THE LAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS. /s
Let’s ignore the fact that GM tested the Volt during the winter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which is the same latitude as Montana and North Dakota. Are you seriously contending that a winter in SK is significantly colder than a winter in MT or ND?
Let’s ignore the fact that this is the Volt’s first year of production. Forty years ago, working at a garage, all the mechanics told me you should never buy a car in its first model year – “that’s when they fix all the problems”.
No, let’s all jump on the anti-Volt bandwagon instead. It has its problems. Yep, on today’s prices, it’s expensive. The payback, at $5CAD/US gal – what we’re paying for gas in Toronto today – is over seven years, and there’s no guarantee the battery pack lasts that long. If you DON’T live in a city, and you DON’T have a daily commute less than 25 miles, and you DON’T happen to be a 2-car family (unlike the vast majority of Canadian and US families), then a Volt isn’t for you. But for urban 2-car or more families with short commutes, a Volt may make sense. But because it’s not the PERFECT car for every SDA reader, let’s all make fun of it.
My wife’s Toyota dealership sells 1-2 Priuses each week. They sell a lot more Camry’s, Corrolas, and Highlanders, but the Prius doesn’t rust on the lot. If the group of idiots in the US that seems intent on provoking war with Iran have its way, and gas heads up to $2/l, my guess is her dealership will sell a lot more. In another ten years, as the technology improves and the cost differential comes down, I’m guessing they will sell a lot more regardless of what happens with Iran.
I expect small mindedness from the left. Sad to see it here.
Obviously Kevin’s dictionary is missing the page with “sarcasm” on it.
mike
I was wondering what they did with all of those left-over Chevy Aztek parts. The Volt looks kinda similar, in a stunted and ugly sort of way.
~Lickmuffin
The first iteration of the Aztek had a propane stove built into the flip-down tailgate, but they changed that out because it was a fire hazard.
They sure learned their lesson…
*crickets*
I think the biggest concern is, if you do get into a accident with the volt, it takes special training to extradite the occupants. You can expect to hear this :
OnStar: We’ve Sensed an Accident; Emergency Responders Will Be There in Three Weeks.
kEVINb
“electric” cars have been around for about 120 years, and they still ain’t gots it rite
what part of that is beyond yer brain power????
What NME666 said!
And NOT! to mention no electric heater. (See fossil fuel for interior heat.)
And NOT! to mention sales would be in the crapper without taxpayer subsidies.
And NOT! to mention you would be better off with an $8000 golf cart
.
And NOT! to mention fossil fuels could be in for a huge price drop that would decimate sparky’s sales. (As in nat gas.)See vid below.
And NOT! to mention you must be from Trana.
And NOT! to mention Zero Hedge is your ‘down the garden path’ bible.
Even if only half of the following video comes to pass – just saying. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vOImnCrKPZ8
@ KevinB
You make some good points on where electric cars can be a logical alternative. That still leaves out the Volt as the base price of 42M is still ridiculous unless one has money to burn. Unlike many other cars the Volt would be a problem for resale or even trade in once the warranty expired. You could buy a new small car for the price of a Volt battery pack. At the 10 year mark you would probably be driving toxic waste on wheels and when it finally dies and goes to car heaven I would bet there are 10 forms to fill out and one large cheque to write before someone even takes it away. A poor investment. Probably why they have difficulty in selling them even with incentives.
What Tesla hasn’t accounted for is,as in a lot of buisness’s, their customers are stupid.
And there’s always a microphone nearby, to prove it.
@ eastern paul at February 23, 2012 6:50 PM
I dunno Paul. These are very expensive toys. Tesla roadster lists at $ 109 M in the USA. Don’t know too many stupid people that can afford that type of car. No logic involved here. They want it. They can afford it and it’s different. That’s all.
Excuse me, sir.
You’re tail-light is out.
Kevin
After 25 miles, no problem. Dead as a hammer.
Doesn’t it say Ontario at the bottom of the license plate holder?
India’s 1.3 billion move around in Tuk-Tuks,Tato Nanos and tractors, but their trains are all electric.
KevinB
I don’t mind anyone buying one; it’s the fact the government is trying to ram them down car buyer’s throats, and using taxpayer money to subsidize this hobby of the radical left.
Honestly, the power density of existing batteries is a limiting factor that limits the usefulness of ( and the magnitude of improvements possible for ) battery powered vehicles.
The weak point for every battery powered device ever developed was the battery.
Thomas Edison himself told Henry Ford, then an engineer at Detroit Edison, that he should pursue his idea of internal combustion powered vehicles because of the limitations of batteries which Edison had been unable to overcome. That was said over a 100 years ago, and is still true, and seems unlikely to change.
I have no idea what a Chevy volt even looks like since no one is buying them. Maybe I should Google it to see an image of this POS…..
“Doesn’t it say Ontario at the bottom of the license plate holder?”
Ontario California. Ontario, CA, population 171,603, is located in California’s San Bernardino county, about 4.5 miles from Rancho Cucamonga and 5.8 miles from Pomona.
Robert L, thanks for that. I had forgotten about that city. It fits though, as both the state of California and the province of Ontario have the same progressive ideology in control of the government.
What, no Obama sticker?
I’m going to change the side badges on my Ford. “Powerstroke” will become Death Stroke, “Ecoboost” will become Evil Boost, and the little green leaf thing becomes a skull with green flames on it.
I mean, if you’re going to be offend the greenies just by having one, why not go all out?
Against all evidence, enviro-nuts favour wind generated electricity and an electric car similar to Grandma Duck’s, at the same time.
Both of course with lavish government subsidies.
KevinB, go and learn some basic thermodynamics and physics….
Volt’s range does make it viable as a daily driver for an urban commuter but unless they can get that up, it’s probably not going to take off.
The Prius and other gasoline-electric hybrids are the way of the future.
FWIW I met a Volt owner in a parking lot a few months ago in Markham. He had the car for a couple of months and was very satisfied with it – he was averaging 3.1 litres/100 km. overall. During a trip to Montreal he averaged 5.1 litres/100 km. one way and 5.5 on the return.
That said, I think the approx. $8,000 rebate in Ontario is ridiculous (and obscene) and the thought of replacing the battery after 160,000 km. gives me shivers. Nicely finished though, I checked one out last night at the car show in Toronto.
The Prius and other gasoline-electric hybrids are the way of the future.
~Hood
You do know that Toyota is losing money on every Prius they sell, yes?
Do you understand that that is a failing business model and is what is known as unsustainable?
The depreciation on the volt is phenominal when compared to a fossil driven vehicle. Although battery life is estimated at 10 yrs.+ , that is a leap of faith for the buyer. My mechanic said it will be around $15M for the Volt and $40 M for the Tesla. Labor in. At least the Tesla is private enterprise with only about 450 million taxpayer subsidy while the Volt is all taxpayer and a bottomless pit.
Maybe if folks gave the sign of the cross or equivalent every time one of these machines is seen. Lives would be saved. They would get the idea the volt is a bad bad idea. (O:}
List price for a 2012 Toyota Sienna: $25,000 US.
Carries 7.
List price for a 2012 Chevy Volt: $40,000 US.
Carries 2.
Hmmmm….
@kevin – you still have to burn some type of fossil fuel (oil, nat gas), coal or nuclear to create electricity. Now imagine every single house in your neighborhood plugging in for 8 hours every night and if they’re smart, plugging in every time they park their car at work. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that electrical usage would SKYROCKET and more oil, nat gas, coal would be required to provide this demand. By the way, on a full tank of gas I can drive for 500km in my Pathfinder SUV, on a full charge the Volt can go 25km. How many hockey bags can you fit in a Volt?
Favill: “By the way, on a full tank of gas I can drive for 500km in my Pathfinder SUV, on a full charge the Volt can go 25km. How many hockey bags can you fit in a Volt?”
You are aware aren’t you that the Volt has a gas engine? See my post above regarding an owner I met who drove to Montreal from Toronto. And yes, it is a hatchback so it has decent luggage capacity.
Steve B. “List price for a 2012 Chevy Volt: $40,000 US. Carries 2.”
At least get your facts right, the Volt seats 4 http://www.gm.ca/gm/english/vehicles-2012/chevrolet/volt/gallery-photos-interior01
Oz: “You do know that Toyota is losing money on every Prius they sell, yes?
Do you understand that that is a failing business model and is what is known as unsustainable?”
Nonsense. http://tinyurl.com/7y7bfk5 http://tinyurl.com/7gfm4t5 http://tinyurl.com/ca9uga
John, are you aware that the Volt gets at best 30mpg, while the lowly Volkwagen Jetta with a TDI diesel gets 45-50mpg? You can do better with a little modification of the engine, maybe 55mpg with increased power output as a happy bonus.
Its a ton cheaper too. Oh, and you don’t have to replace the $20,000 battery after five years. TDIs can go 200,000+ miles without a rebuild.
Electric cars are strictly 1920’s, hybrids are great for earth-moving machinery and locomotives. Cars, not so much.
The payback, at $5CAD/US gal – what we’re paying for gas in Toronto today – is over seven years
Posted by: KevinB at February 23, 2012 4:48 PM
——————————————–
I’m not so sure about that. GM noted that Fox has issues with the Volt. They give Eric Bolling a Chevy Volt for a week. He reports:
According to General Motors, the Volt battery hold 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 only that
gets 32 mpg.
$3.19 per gallon divided by 32 mpg = $0.10 per mile.
The gasoline powered car cost about $15,000 while the Volt costs
$46,000.
So Obama 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 as long to drive across country.
REALLY?
Forgot to mention the subsidy of $250,000 per Volt.
Phantom:
And where exactly did I say the Volt was a good deal (read my post at 10:12)?
A constant criticism of the left you read on this blog is their inability to fact check or to report as fact what is really their feelings. One minute of fact checking would have shown the three posts I critiqued were absurd in their conclusions.
Would I buy a Volt? Hell no. The thought of taking a subsidy of $8,000 (approx. in Ontari)o is obscene and replacing the battery at roughly 160,000 km. is crazy. BTW – I drive a new Mazda3, 6 speed manual, etc. and love it.
As for fuel mileage, the EPA (http://tinyurl.com/8yyhwpe) reports fuel consumption at 6.4 litres/100 km. combined on gasoline. EPA numbers are generally not bad estimates after they changed their testing procedures and are very close to what I get on my Mazda3.
The EPA also tests the Golf diesel at 6.9 litres/100 km. combined although it does excel on the highway. My nephew has one as well.
Hey Dirtman
You ought to move to Manitoba where we pay $.07 per kwh.
Here, my cost to charge the Volt would be $1.12, which comes to about half your gasoline powered cost.
Parked, of course 🙂
No LED taillights? Or just bad wiring. Welcome to the “peoples car” a la Obama. $50 000 cheap.
The only place I’ve ever seen a Volt was also in California.
I wonder how it would do in Saskatchewan in February?
I can see why you blurred the plate – didn’t want to shame the owner. Then again, since you need to be well off to buy one, and your getting subsidized, perhaps they have no shame.
I was wondering what they did with all of those left-over Chevy Aztek parts. The Volt looks kinda similar, in a stunted and ugly sort of way.
Let’s completely ignore the fact that there’s never been an incident when a Volt “exploded”. One had its batteries catch fire during a government crash test. In another case, the batteries caught fire while charging, not while the car is on the road. Neither car “exploded” – nice hysterical and misleading headline, there, Robert. I’m sure the Toronto Star or the NDP could use your talents.
Let’s completely ignore the fact that NO gasoline powered car EVER has caught fire after a crash AT ANY TIME IN THE LAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS. /s
Let’s ignore the fact that GM tested the Volt during the winter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which is the same latitude as Montana and North Dakota. Are you seriously contending that a winter in SK is significantly colder than a winter in MT or ND?
Let’s ignore the fact that this is the Volt’s first year of production. Forty years ago, working at a garage, all the mechanics told me you should never buy a car in its first model year – “that’s when they fix all the problems”.
No, let’s all jump on the anti-Volt bandwagon instead. It has its problems. Yep, on today’s prices, it’s expensive. The payback, at $5CAD/US gal – what we’re paying for gas in Toronto today – is over seven years, and there’s no guarantee the battery pack lasts that long. If you DON’T live in a city, and you DON’T have a daily commute less than 25 miles, and you DON’T happen to be a 2-car family (unlike the vast majority of Canadian and US families), then a Volt isn’t for you. But for urban 2-car or more families with short commutes, a Volt may make sense. But because it’s not the PERFECT car for every SDA reader, let’s all make fun of it.
My wife’s Toyota dealership sells 1-2 Priuses each week. They sell a lot more Camry’s, Corrolas, and Highlanders, but the Prius doesn’t rust on the lot. If the group of idiots in the US that seems intent on provoking war with Iran have its way, and gas heads up to $2/l, my guess is her dealership will sell a lot more. In another ten years, as the technology improves and the cost differential comes down, I’m guessing they will sell a lot more regardless of what happens with Iran.
I expect small mindedness from the left. Sad to see it here.
Obviously Kevin’s dictionary is missing the page with “sarcasm” on it.
mike
Then there is this.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/01/05/lorne-gunter-electric-car-makes-300-km-trip-in-6-hours-with-4-stops/#Comments
Good thing he/she didn’t buy a Tesla:
http://inhabitat.com/bricked-tesla-roadster-battery-launches-electric-vehicle-debate/
I was wondering what they did with all of those left-over Chevy Aztek parts. The Volt looks kinda similar, in a stunted and ugly sort of way.
~Lickmuffin
The first iteration of the Aztek had a propane stove built into the flip-down tailgate, but they changed that out because it was a fire hazard.
They sure learned their lesson…
*crickets*
I think the biggest concern is, if you do get into a accident with the volt, it takes special training to extradite the occupants. You can expect to hear this :
OnStar: We’ve Sensed an Accident; Emergency Responders Will Be There in Three Weeks.
More on Tesla posted on the 22nd under Readers tips.
http://jalopnik.com/5887265/tesla-motors-devastating-design-problem
kEVINb
“electric” cars have been around for about 120 years, and they still ain’t gots it rite
what part of that is beyond yer brain power????
What NME666 said!
And NOT! to mention no electric heater. (See fossil fuel for interior heat.)
And NOT! to mention sales would be in the crapper without taxpayer subsidies.
And NOT! to mention you would be better off with an $8000 golf cart
.
And NOT! to mention fossil fuels could be in for a huge price drop that would decimate sparky’s sales. (As in nat gas.)See vid below.
And NOT! to mention you must be from Trana.
And NOT! to mention Zero Hedge is your ‘down the garden path’ bible.
Even if only half of the following video comes to pass – just saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vOImnCrKPZ8
@ KevinB
You make some good points on where electric cars can be a logical alternative. That still leaves out the Volt as the base price of 42M is still ridiculous unless one has money to burn. Unlike many other cars the Volt would be a problem for resale or even trade in once the warranty expired. You could buy a new small car for the price of a Volt battery pack. At the 10 year mark you would probably be driving toxic waste on wheels and when it finally dies and goes to car heaven I would bet there are 10 forms to fill out and one large cheque to write before someone even takes it away. A poor investment. Probably why they have difficulty in selling them even with incentives.
What Tesla hasn’t accounted for is,as in a lot of buisness’s, their customers are stupid.
And there’s always a microphone nearby, to prove it.
@ eastern paul at February 23, 2012 6:50 PM
I dunno Paul. These are very expensive toys. Tesla roadster lists at $ 109 M in the USA. Don’t know too many stupid people that can afford that type of car. No logic involved here. They want it. They can afford it and it’s different. That’s all.
Excuse me, sir.
You’re tail-light is out.
Kevin
After 25 miles, no problem. Dead as a hammer.
Doesn’t it say Ontario at the bottom of the license plate holder?
India’s 1.3 billion move around in Tuk-Tuks,Tato Nanos and tractors, but their trains are all electric.
KevinB
I don’t mind anyone buying one; it’s the fact the government is trying to ram them down car buyer’s throats, and using taxpayer money to subsidize this hobby of the radical left.
Honestly, the power density of existing batteries is a limiting factor that limits the usefulness of ( and the magnitude of improvements possible for ) battery powered vehicles.
The weak point for every battery powered device ever developed was the battery.
Thomas Edison himself told Henry Ford, then an engineer at Detroit Edison, that he should pursue his idea of internal combustion powered vehicles because of the limitations of batteries which Edison had been unable to overcome. That was said over a 100 years ago, and is still true, and seems unlikely to change.
I have no idea what a Chevy volt even looks like since no one is buying them. Maybe I should Google it to see an image of this POS…..
“Doesn’t it say Ontario at the bottom of the license plate holder?”
Ontario California. Ontario, CA, population 171,603, is located in California’s San Bernardino county, about 4.5 miles from Rancho Cucamonga and 5.8 miles from Pomona.
Robert L, thanks for that. I had forgotten about that city. It fits though, as both the state of California and the province of Ontario have the same progressive ideology in control of the government.
What, no Obama sticker?
I’m going to change the side badges on my Ford. “Powerstroke” will become Death Stroke, “Ecoboost” will become Evil Boost, and the little green leaf thing becomes a skull with green flames on it.
I mean, if you’re going to be offend the greenies just by having one, why not go all out?
Against all evidence, enviro-nuts favour wind generated electricity and an electric car similar to Grandma Duck’s, at the same time.
Both of course with lavish government subsidies.
KevinB, go and learn some basic thermodynamics and physics….
Volt’s range does make it viable as a daily driver for an urban commuter but unless they can get that up, it’s probably not going to take off.
The Prius and other gasoline-electric hybrids are the way of the future.
FWIW I met a Volt owner in a parking lot a few months ago in Markham. He had the car for a couple of months and was very satisfied with it – he was averaging 3.1 litres/100 km. overall. During a trip to Montreal he averaged 5.1 litres/100 km. one way and 5.5 on the return.
That said, I think the approx. $8,000 rebate in Ontario is ridiculous (and obscene) and the thought of replacing the battery after 160,000 km. gives me shivers. Nicely finished though, I checked one out last night at the car show in Toronto.
The Prius and other gasoline-electric hybrids are the way of the future.
~Hood
You do know that Toyota is losing money on every Prius they sell, yes?
Do you understand that that is a failing business model and is what is known as unsustainable?
The depreciation on the volt is phenominal when compared to a fossil driven vehicle. Although battery life is estimated at 10 yrs.+ , that is a leap of faith for the buyer. My mechanic said it will be around $15M for the Volt and $40 M for the Tesla. Labor in. At least the Tesla is private enterprise with only about 450 million taxpayer subsidy while the Volt is all taxpayer and a bottomless pit.
Maybe if folks gave the sign of the cross or equivalent every time one of these machines is seen. Lives would be saved. They would get the idea the volt is a bad bad idea. (O:}
List price for a 2012 Toyota Sienna: $25,000 US.
Carries 7.
List price for a 2012 Chevy Volt: $40,000 US.
Carries 2.
Hmmmm….
@kevin – you still have to burn some type of fossil fuel (oil, nat gas), coal or nuclear to create electricity. Now imagine every single house in your neighborhood plugging in for 8 hours every night and if they’re smart, plugging in every time they park their car at work. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that electrical usage would SKYROCKET and more oil, nat gas, coal would be required to provide this demand. By the way, on a full tank of gas I can drive for 500km in my Pathfinder SUV, on a full charge the Volt can go 25km. How many hockey bags can you fit in a Volt?
Favill: “By the way, on a full tank of gas I can drive for 500km in my Pathfinder SUV, on a full charge the Volt can go 25km. How many hockey bags can you fit in a Volt?”
You are aware aren’t you that the Volt has a gas engine? See my post above regarding an owner I met who drove to Montreal from Toronto. And yes, it is a hatchback so it has decent luggage capacity.
Steve B. “List price for a 2012 Chevy Volt: $40,000 US. Carries 2.”
At least get your facts right, the Volt seats 4
http://www.gm.ca/gm/english/vehicles-2012/chevrolet/volt/gallery-photos-interior01
Oz: “You do know that Toyota is losing money on every Prius they sell, yes?
Do you understand that that is a failing business model and is what is known as unsustainable?”
Nonsense.
http://tinyurl.com/7y7bfk5
http://tinyurl.com/7gfm4t5
http://tinyurl.com/ca9uga
John, are you aware that the Volt gets at best 30mpg, while the lowly Volkwagen Jetta with a TDI diesel gets 45-50mpg? You can do better with a little modification of the engine, maybe 55mpg with increased power output as a happy bonus.
Its a ton cheaper too. Oh, and you don’t have to replace the $20,000 battery after five years. TDIs can go 200,000+ miles without a rebuild.
Electric cars are strictly 1920’s, hybrids are great for earth-moving machinery and locomotives. Cars, not so much.
The payback, at $5CAD/US gal – what we’re paying for gas in Toronto today – is over seven years
Posted by: KevinB at February 23, 2012 4:48 PM
——————————————–
I’m not so sure about that. GM noted that Fox has issues with the Volt. They give Eric Bolling a Chevy Volt for a week. He reports:
According to General Motors, the Volt battery hold 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 only that
gets 32 mpg.
$3.19 per gallon divided by 32 mpg = $0.10 per mile.
The gasoline powered car cost about $15,000 while the Volt costs
$46,000.
So Obama 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 as long to drive across country.
REALLY?
Forgot to mention the subsidy of $250,000 per Volt.
Phantom:
And where exactly did I say the Volt was a good deal (read my post at 10:12)?
A constant criticism of the left you read on this blog is their inability to fact check or to report as fact what is really their feelings. One minute of fact checking would have shown the three posts I critiqued were absurd in their conclusions.
Would I buy a Volt? Hell no. The thought of taking a subsidy of $8,000 (approx. in Ontari)o is obscene and replacing the battery at roughly 160,000 km. is crazy. BTW – I drive a new Mazda3, 6 speed manual, etc. and love it.
As for fuel mileage, the EPA (http://tinyurl.com/8yyhwpe) reports fuel consumption at 6.4 litres/100 km. combined on gasoline. EPA numbers are generally not bad estimates after they changed their testing procedures and are very close to what I get on my Mazda3.
The EPA also tests the Golf diesel at 6.9 litres/100 km. combined although it does excel on the highway. My nephew has one as well.
Hey Dirtman
You ought to move to Manitoba where we pay $.07 per kwh.
Here, my cost to charge the Volt would be $1.12, which comes to about half your gasoline powered cost.
That was a quote from the US. Read my post again.