Anonymous: I am sorry, but
Anonymous: I am sorry, but you are mistaken. 1) The Volt only uses the battery for 10.4 kWh of the 16.9 capacity, and for that I get 30-48 miles (very cold and mild weather.) My electricity cost to charge the full 10.4 (plus 10% lost in charging process) in the Volt is under 70 cents at non-summer rates in St. Louis, $1.25 at summer rates. 2) The Volt battery is under warranty for 8 years or 100,000 miles. There are thousands of first generation Toyota Prius cars still on the road still running on their original batteries or with only minor repairs (individual cells can be replaced for minimal cost: roughly $20 each plus labor). 3) The main battery in the Volt weighs 435 pounds, not 750, but it IS a battery PACK, not a solid chunk that must be replaced en-masse. 4) CO2 emission produced by burning coal for 50% electricity generation is lower than the CO2 emission from a fossil fuel only vehicle. 5) I am about to install solar panels, so my cost of charging will drop as I sell power back to the utility and my CO2 emissions will approach zero 6) diesel fuel costs more than gasoline, so there is added expense there. 40 MPG is cost equivalent to 35mpg in a gasoline with higher smog emissions. 6) Fuel based cars are STILL running on foreign oil, which does not reduce our vulnerability to volatile geopolitics. 7) The military, life, and tax consequences of fighting wars to protect our oil interests are a hidden cost of driving diesel or gasoline only cars. 8) 90% of my lifetime miles have been on electricity. 9) oil changes are once every 25,000 miles or 2 years in the Volt. 10) brakes may never need to be replaced or major service performed because regenerative braking recharges the batteries and the friction brakes are rarely used. Finally, I wanted a US name car made in America, comparable in ride and features to my Cadillac CTS. The Volt did that and saved me $212 in fuel costs in December alone over 1570 miles