Gen 1 GM Volt Plug-In Hybrid (2011-2015)

[mwalsh]

I guess we're shopping for a Volt sooner than anticipated...the transmission in Naomi's Focus has gone out. Any tips for the best deals out there right now? We're probably going to end up leasing this one rather than buying...can't afford a large down OR a large monthly just at the moment.

Penske in Cerritos locally has masses of inventory (140+), so I've already reached out to them. Maybe I'll give Connell a call too, since I bought my LEAF from their sister Nissan dealership and was treated well.

 

[scottf200]

I guess we're shopping for a Volt sooner than anticipated...the transmission in Naomi's Focus has gone out. Any tips for the best deals out there right now? We're probably going to end up leasing this one rather than buying...can't afford a large down OR a large monthly just at the moment.

Penske in Cerritos locally has masses of inventory (140+), so I've already reached out to them. Maybe I'll give Connell a call too, since I bought my LEAF from their sister Nissan dealership and was treated well.

Bummer about the tranny. You may be able to find out some deals on the holiday weekend. Probably some great 2013 deals still.
Some dealers will have cars shipped from one dealer to another as I recall.
Check out this subforum: http://gm-volt.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?24-Buying-Leasing-amp-Selling-Chevy-Volt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Stoaty]

I guess we're shopping for a Volt sooner than anticipated...the transmission in Naomi's Focus has gone out. Any tips for the best deals out there right now? We're probably going to end up leasing this one rather than buying...can't afford a large down OR a large monthly just at the moment.

Penske in Cerritos locally has masses of inventory (140+), so I've already reached out to them.

140+ cars or 140+ Volts???

 

[mwalsh]

I guess we're shopping for a Volt sooner than anticipated...the transmission in Naomi's Focus has gone out. Any tips for the best deals out there right now? We're probably going to end up leasing this one rather than buying...can't afford a large down OR a large monthly just at the moment.

Penske in Cerritos locally has masses of inventory (140+), so I've already reached out to them.

140+ cars or 140+ Volts???

They have 146 Volts. 138 of which are 2013s. They are offering me a 10k mile 36 month lease at $249 per with $1050 due at signing (which I'm assuming is tax, license, first month, etc... Probably on the base model, but I'll be sure to talk to them tomorrow about what extras/options would add to the monthly.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

^^^ pretty similar to the deal I got. I put a bit more down but got leather and a couple extras, backup camera and shiney wheels. Having some regrets over the 10k miles per year, since this is now the road trip car we're pushing that limit. Mileage over limit is steeper than the leaf, 25 cents per instead of 15.

Make sure and tell them about your nissan lease they can use "conquest cash" to improve the pricing.

 

[MrIanB]

Between this forum and the GM-Volt forum, I am seeing a lot of new buyers and I think the Aug 2013 sales will show about 3,500 units sold.

Incredible,

Ian B

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Car / #Sold / EV miles / EV miles per car
LEAF / 50000* / 161,000,000* / 3220
Volt / 40250 / 135,000,000 / 3354*
* = higher number of the two

all stats "can" have meaning. unfortunately the meaning usually ends up being someone's armchair analysis so I will give mine.

What we really want is total EV miles driven per month. the numbers above say a LEAF drives 3220 EV miles during what period? its entire lifetime? this means the stat is skewed to the Volt simply because Nissan has sold more LEAFs recently so that puts too many LEAFs on the street with near ZERO EV miles...

Now there is no date on this stat (or is there?) but if their were, we could assume that people who allow their data to be logged would do so nearly 100% of the time which could allow a calculation determining the %'s of people participating in either monitoring program since we know how many cars were sold.

But that would be step one. we dont know how many are still being driven. So calculations for wrecks, lease returns, etc would have to be tossed in. (or taken out... )

Either way, I can say I have over 39,000 EV miles and I do participate in Carwings mostly for this very reason. I want to be counted and added into data that may allow a watershed moment which I truely believe we are all experiencing right now

 

[surfingslovak]

Car / #Sold / EV miles / EV miles per car
LEAF / 50000* / 161,000,000* / 3220
Volt / 40250 / 135,000,000 / 3354*
* = higher number of the two

all stats "can" have meaning. unfortunately the meaning usually ends up being someone's armchair analysis so I will give mine.

Oh, believe that these are total fleet numbers, and they include vehicles of all ages. The car that was purchased last month won't contribute 20,000 miles to the statistic. Yes, I agree, having a shorter point of reference and timeframe would help in this context. However, I believe that the manufacturers own this data, and they can disclose or not disclose anything they please. That's why something akin to voltstats.net might be very important to the LEAF community, since it would allow independent analysis. I'm not sure if I like your term "armchair analysis". This forum has proven to be a great sounding board, and most of the active contributors are knowledgeable and level-headed. I think it's fair to say that these fleet EV miles are not a great datapoint, with that I agree, especially if the LEAF stat comes from the worldwide fleet and the the Volt stat comes from the US. We also don't know how reliable the transmission and data collection might be. All that said, it's surprising to see that the fleet EV totals are so close. Especially given the bias against the Volt (or any PHEV) that MNL was known for in its early days. Hopefully, better data will be available in the future.

The Case For The 20-Mile PHEV
(this article was written by a forum conributor)

Ford Finds 60 Percent Of PHEV Trips Are Gas-Free

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

the "armchair" analysis comment is based on using the data to state just about anything.

a per car EV mileage means nothing. lets do the same with any car released in the past month. bet those #'s are low. we cant ignore the fact that a HUGE increase in sales for the LEAF lowers that average so to use those #'s to say that Volt drivers better ultilize their EV range is ridiculous.

the data compares #'s that are simply uncomparable.

lets take 100 Volts and 100 LEAFs put into service at the same time with people who have similar commutes and look at the #'s. bet we see a much different picture but that picture depends on the commute. make the commute far enough and the LEAF will most likely win by a near 2 to 1 margin which not coincidentally is the same difference in range.

 

[surfingslovak]

the data compares #'s that are simply uncomparable.

Dave, if I may ask, what new perspective or insight has your most recent post added to the discussion? It is already known and understood that total EV fleet miles are not the best or most represenstive metric for manufacturers to share. However, that's all we have. Perhaps it will change in the future. Infer from that what you will.

 

[GRA]

the "armchair" analysis comment is based on using the data to state just about anything.

a per car EV mileage means nothing. lets do the same with any car released in the past month. bet those #'s are low. we cant ignore the fact that a HUGE increase in sales for the LEAF lowers that average so to use those #'s to say that Volt drivers better ultilize their EV range is ridiculous.

the data compares #'s that are simply uncomparable.

lets take 100 Volts and 100 LEAFs put into service at the same time with people who have similar commutes and look at the #'s. bet we see a much different picture but that picture depends on the commute. make the commute far enough and the LEAF will most likely win by a near 2 to 1 margin which not coincidentally is the same difference in range.

Why limit it to just commutes? You can cherry pick statistics to prove almost anything. Obviously, most people (who can afford to) will buy a car with sufficient AER to make their commute and routine errands. The issue is what happens on trips beyond that routine range, where the AER isn't enough. You either take a PHEV like the Volt, or an ICE. If you take the PHEV, then all the miles up to your AER are added to the amount you do while commuting, so it makes no sense to only consider electric miles during the commute.

As to the 'Huge' increase in LEAF sales, both cars have seen sales surges at various times when their prices were reduced. This happened last year starting in August for the Volt, and in October IIRR for the LEAF. And then again for the LEAF when the 2013s came out, and now the Volt is seeing its end of year clear-out/price reduction sales jump. So both cars' fleets will have a different mix of miles in any given month, and you could probably prove that one or the other fleet drove more EV miles/car based purely on which month you chose as the starting point.

 

[Weatherman]

As both a LEAF and a Volt lessee, I would never take the LEAF on a trip that was more than 50 miles (assuming I was absolutely confident of the distance). If there was any question about how far I would need to drive, anything beyond 40 miles would be out of the question. It's just not worth the risk, given the extremely limited number of public charging stations available (L2s are few and far between, and there are no QC stations anywhere within 200 miles).

Since a vast majority of my trips are very predictable 35-40 miles, both the LEAF or the Volt would work perfectly fine and would both run the same amount of 100% EV miles.

So, as far as I'm concerned, since I always have a choice of which car I can take for a trip, I'd say the number of EV miles I'll get on both will be just about equal.

 

[mwalsh]

Well, we did it. We bought a Black base car with Pebble Beige cloth. Didn't end up leasing...I would have to leave both the $7500 tax credit and the $4000 off MSRP the dealer was offering on the table, and my head just wouldn't let it happen. So with $0 drive off, we've a rather large monthly, but it's no different that the monthly was on my LEAF when I first got it, so it'll be manageable. Maybe even more so because Naomi should save at least $150 a month on gas.

We ended up at WIN Chevrolet in Long Beach and were treated very well (ask for Bill Rogers). But if you want a 2013 get there soon...between the $4000 from the dealer and the $5500 from GM, they've sold 6 just this morning!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Congrats Michael! Looking forward to your experiences and views on your Volt

 

[scottf200]

Well, we did it. We bought a Black base car with Pebble Beige cloth. Didn't end up leasing...I would have to leave both the $7500 tax credit and the $4000 off MSRP the dealer was offering on the table, and my head just wouldn't let it happen. So with $0 drive off, we've a rather large monthly, but it's no different that the monthly was on my LEAF when I first got it, so it'll be manageable. Maybe even more so because Naomi should save at least $150 a month on gas.

We ended up at WIN Chevrolet in Long Beach and were treated very well (ask for Bill Rogers). But if you want a 2013 get there soon...between the $4000 from the dealer and the $5500 from GM, they've sold 6 just this morning!

Nice job. Long term when the car is paid off you will look like a genius. I love driving electric and "buy" the gas stations. Looking forward to a long range BEV in my future. Looking forward to future reports.

 

[mwalsh]

Congrats Michael! Looking forward to your experiences and views on your Volt

I probably won't have many...it's Naomi's car and it's likely she may not want me to drive it. LOL!

 

[TomT]

Yep, a friend of mine just traded his Leaf with 11 bars for a Volt last week... He said he was "tired of playing battery roulette..." He got the $7,500 and $2,500 credits of course, and $4,500 off from the dealer... They even gave him way too much ($15,300) for his 2011 Leaf with 30K on it...

But if you want a 2013 get there soon...between the $4000 from the dealer and the $5500 from GM, they've sold 6 just this morning!

 

[blackmamba]

I'm going to buy some more shares in GM. Record shattering August Volt sales results are going to be trumpeted by the media in headline stories, will quiet the naysayers about the Volt being a failure, and will further both public and industry interest in electrified automobiles.

Also I predict August EVSpark sales to be 4x last month sales of 103. With an inexpensive and hot pure EV and a now-acceptably priced extended range EV in the Volt, Chevy is positioning themselves to be on everybodys shopping list for battery powered cars.

 

[DaveEV]

We ended up at WIN Chevrolet in Long Beach and were treated very well (ask for Bill Rogers). But if you want a 2013 get there soon...between the $4000 from the dealer and the $5500 from GM, they've sold 6 just this morning!

Nice - so you got it for around $31k before taxes and rebates?

Have to say I'm tempted to add another plugin at that price...

 

[mwalsh]

Nice - so you got it for around $31k before taxes and rebates?

Yep. $30,499.