We called up Keyes Chevrolet in Los Angeles and were quoted a broad price range of between $3,400 and $34,000 to replace a “drive motor replacement battery” in a 2012 Volt. Tellingly, perhaps, the dealer we spoke with was not sure what replacing a ‘drive motor replacement battery’ (and the ‘Grade B’ version, at that) entails, and told us we’d have to bring a Volt in to see what’s wrong with the pack to get a real estimate. We got the same confusion and numbers to replace the battery from Berger Chevrolet in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We asked GM to clarify what this $34,000 charge includes, but that information was not forthcoming.
@ $34k in the US, I think it must include a new Chevy Pick Up to tow your Volt around
$34,000 is the price of the battery. $3,400 is the guy at the parts counter thinking that’s gotta be a misprint.
Government cheese does not apply to replacement parts. They suck you in with the low, low purchase price, then they harpoon you on the maintenance. Most of the Volts sold are going to the scrapyard as soon as the warranty runs out, and the class action lawsuit against GM is going to be starting up right after.
Best part? Barry isn’t going to be there to bail them out.
It will be a Ford pickup. Chevy pickups are all on recall right now for fire hazard. 🙂
“Part no: 453Ba2211G456-B Battery” $3,400
“Part no: 453Ba2211G456-BC/M-X Battery and container/carrier module” $34,000.
“Part no: 453Ba2211G456-C/M-X 2013 Chevrolet Volt, w/o battery, specify code for color for X in part no. when ordering” $31,600 (order notes: Battery 453Ba2211G456-B must be ordered concurrent with carrier module).
Chevy Volt – It goes where its towed.
‘In 2008, Young revealed his latest project, the production of a hybrid-engine 1959 Lincoln called Lincvolt…Unfortunately, the car caught fire in November 2010, in a California warehouse, and along the way it burned an estimated US$850,000 worth of Young’s rock and roll memorabilia collection. Initial reports suggest the fire might have been triggered by an error in the vehicle’s plug-in charging system.’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Young#Continued_activism_and_brush_with_death_.282000s.29
The volt is essentially an exotic car – poorly understood by owners and oftentimes retailers. When that’s the case wild price variances and gouging happens. Just ask a Ferrari or high-end Porsche or Mercedes owner.
dealer employees are usually LIV LIVs, (low informed, low intelligence) drols, throw in the crook factor, and U come out with a sore butt
I had auto bus. for 15 years, so I speak from experience
You will very likely never buy an electric car because that is your choice in a free society, so then why do you care one way or another if someone else in that free society chooses to buy an electric car for whatever reason?
Freedom is not free;
Free men are not equal,
and Equal men are not free.
–Richard Berkeley Cotten
North of 60 said: “…why do you care one way or another if someone else in that free society chooses to buy an electric car for whatever reason?”
Because they are buying it with MY money. Government incentive program, remember? Canadian government bailed out GM, remember? My tax dollars at work.
I don’t care if somebody buys a Volt. I care if -I- have to buy a Volt. Particularly one that I never get to see, much less drive.
Same with solar and windmills. You want to have a windmill, that’s ok. You want -me- to pay for -your- windmill, that’s not ok.
Ah, so the real problem is government subsidies to any energy industry.
I couldn’t agree more.
Stop ALL government subsidies to ALL energy companies.
Give the O&G industry tax credits for alternative energy research and applications.
As an adherent of the pushrod V8, most hybrids don’t do a thing for me. Torque, horsepower, noise. That’s what I enjoy. And, leisure reading indicates these vehicles pile on environmental costs in a myriad of ways that gas burners don’t. Still, the Chevy Volt is a handsome vehicle with some cool innovations. Will I trade my Corvette or Wrangler Sahara? Not a chance. But if someone gave me one, I’d definitely take it.
Besides, didn’t you just publish an article about the numbers of fires on record in a single Volkswagen model which was exponentially greater than those occurring in Volts. Context is needed to avoid falling into the Huffpo syndrome.