You just made my point. Averages from some random survey(which doesn't necessarily reflect reality)don't mean jack. All that matters is how you use your car. For me the Volt is the worst of both worlds. Expensive for what it is, no power(my standards), and you still have oil changes, spark plugs, muffler, air filter and so on. I still have to visit a gas station, and the car is made by a company that is known for building junk. What a deal!SanDust said:Actually the fallacy lies in failing to use the average. Anyone can come up with a scenario where any car works better than another. It's easy to "prove" that a PIP will use less gas than a Volt or a Leaf if you get to pick the numbers. The question at the moment, and the only relevant question really, is whether the average driver could get more zero emission miles from a Volt or a Leaf. That answer is very straightforward. They'd get more zero emission miles from a Volt.qwk said:Generalizing isn't smart at all. I drive about 30 miles 3 times a week, and over 120 miles the rest of the time. The Volt would make absolutely no sense in my case. Here is the kicker, I have burned exactly 0 gallons of gas driving even more than that since March. I could have done it in a Leaf, but it would have been a great inconvenience. That's why a car with over 200 miles of range has such great VALUE. Sure it's more expensive in the beggining, but over time, you get much closer to the cost of an ice; no other vehicle needed.
If you think that spending $100K on an additional car is an answer to anything -- much less the nutty claim that this has "VALUE" in any economic sense -- then there isn't much to say other than religious people will believe what they want to believe.
The Leaf has most of the same problems, but at least it doesn't use gas, ever.
Now the Model S is expensive, but you get what you pay for. Only a fool can expect mind blowing performance, looks, touchscreen, no gas usage, for cheap. The car is worth every penny and more. Nobody is going to save any money buying a Model S, or a volt/leaf for that matter. If you really want cheap transportation, you buy a used gas car that gets good mileage. The problem is, those are not very fun to drive because mileage and performance don't go together in and ICE, but they can in an EV(as Tesla has shown).