Volt deemed cost inefficient

[Rsv1000R]

linky

Electric car unlikely to rain on Toyota's parade. Battery is more expensive, heavier than one in Prius

By Alan Ohnsman
Bloomberg News


Published on Sunday, Mar 08, 2009

General Motors' Volt electric car might be too expensive to buy and operate to displace Toyota's Prius hybrid as the industry benchmark for cutting fuel use and carbon exhaust.

A rechargeable auto with the Volt's target range of 40 miles on electricity is ''not cost effective in any scenario,'' a study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found. Plug-in cars with smaller batteries might be a better value, according to the study, which doesn't cite the Volt by name.

''Forty miles might be a sweet spot for making sure a lot of people get to work without using gasoline, but you're doing it at a cost that will never be repaid in fuel savings,'' Jeremy Michalek, an engineering professor who led the study, said.

The study is an attempt to test how prices and driving habits might shape consumer choices among current hybrids and new models such as the Volt and a Prius able to be recharged at a household outlet.

With lighter, cheaper batteries, a plug-in with 7 to 10 miles of electric range or a conventional hybrid might provide the best mix of price, faster charge times and efficiency, Michalek said. His study was accepted for publication in a future issue of the journal Energy Policy.

Although plug-in hybrids aren't in mass production, President Obama is pushing carmakers to sell vehicles that cut U.S. use of imported oil and emit fewer gases tied to global warming. Automakers and suppliers are vying for $25 billion in low-cost U.S. Energy Department loans to help build such models.

Best option

GM believes ''40 miles, based on all the data we've seen, covers roughly 78 percent of consumers in the U.S. and is the best option'' for reducing gasoline use, said spokesman Robert Peterson, who hadn't read the Carnegie Mellon study.

A battery big enough to propel a car for 40 miles, such as the 400-pound pack for Volt, might cost $16,000, based on current industry and academic estimates. GM hasn't set a price for the Volt, though the company backed off a year ago from an initial goal of selling the car for less than $30,000.

The Volt, planned to reach the U.S. market in late 2010, will have a small onboard gasoline engine to recharge the battery while driving.

Detroit-based GM also plans to sell a plug-in version of its hybrid Saturn Vue sport-utility vehicle that will travel 7 miles on battery power alone, Peterson said.

''We're developing two different plug-ins and definitely see a need for a range of vehicle types,'' Peterson said. ''You don't want to buy too much battery, but we believe 40-mile range is the right size.'' GM is seeking $8.3 billion in Energy Department loans.

Toyota, the world's largest automaker and biggest hybrid seller, this year adds a revamped Prius that is to get at least 50 miles per gallon of gasoline in combined city-highway driving. Toyota also plans tests this year on a plug-in Prius able to go more than 10 miles on a charge.

The final range is likely to be less than half that of the Volt, said Bill Reinert, U.S. national manager for advanced technology for Toyota. The Prius now sells for $22,000 to $24,270.

''We believe that if you have a smaller battery charged more frequently, you can run on electricity more of the time, then your carbon emissions are going to be lower overall,'' Reinert said.

Reinert sure seems like a poster child for a Nobel Prize.....

[Rider]

Last year I read an article that put the Volt at $40K. Because of the price tag GM was going to release it as a Cadillac, not a Chevy. When I heard that, I thought to myself it will never be cost effective. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks that.

[pauldun170]

Wonder what car is cost efficient?

[Rider]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

Wonder what car is cost efficient?

Compared to what? Taking the bus, a taxi? I can think of several if you break it down by cost/mile traveled.

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by Rider

Compared to what? Taking the bus, a taxi? I can think of several if you break it down by cost/mile traveled.

With each of the stupid cars that comes out the question comes up cost efficiency.

A diesel is not cost efficient but compared to a Prius it is
Prius is not cost efficient but compared to a Volt it is
Volt is not Cost Efficient but .....


Basically the only cost efficient route is to grab the smallest cheapest car that fits your immediate needs.

All these idiots screaming cost efficiency should just go ahead and import a used Tata Nano. That's as cost efficient as you can get.

The cheapest vehicle that can reach the maximum stated speed limit in the areas you regularly drive.


Buying any car that exceeds those requirements become an emotional decision..not a logical decision subject to cost efficiency.

Condeming someone who purchase one these stupid hybrid asshat BS cars for lack of cost efficiency is retarded. People buy them because the features make their privates swell. Same reason someone buys a car with an optional engine or radio. Buying a 4dr VW for a single person house hold...not cost effective vs buying a 2 dr Hyundai accent.

Toyota hit it big in the market because they offered a car with a feature that appealed to lots and lots of non-car people who think that buying bottle water with word "Green" on it is saving the environment.

Big deal.
Don't blame the car. Don't blame the manufacturer for finding a niche.
Attack the airheads who think they are saving the world by purchasing a new car when their old one runs fine. Attack the politicians who think offering an asshat vehicle will save "American Car" manufacturers when the real issue is image.

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

Buying any car that exceeds those requirements become an emotional decision..not a logical decision subject to cost efficiency.

But this is America. People spend a third of their paycheck on a machine they only spend an hour a day in, because you're nothing unless you can impress the opposite sex or your co-workers with a cool car. Also, the more money you make, the better car you should purchase......Otherwise you won't fit into your social strata. Dress the part! And if you're young, make sure to add some aftermarket rims, because it's important to set yourself apart from old, boring people who roll on stockers. Wouldn't want the chicks to think you're a family man.

Never mind that a lot of foreclosures could have been avoided if people hadn't abided by those values.

[Rsv1000R]

While the volts battery is expensive, what do they expect it to cost? And of course a hybrid can get by with a smaller one.

[Destitute]

What is the cost efficiency of ensuring political stability in the Middle East?

Catalytic converters are not cost efficient. Neither are air bags, anti-lock brakes, crumple zones, crash testing, roadside barriers, signs, traffic enforcement or pot hole repair. Money is a means, so I'm not sure why it's the end of an efficiency analysis.

It's an interesting read, nonetheless. I imagine the battery packs are modular - why not allow consumers to buy the capacity they want/need (e.g., 10, 20, 30, 40 mi)?