At the end of the article the author states that "you will not buy the Volt if you wanted to save money".
I think this depends upon the individual owner's driving habits.
I drive up to 29,000 kms per year of which 17,000 are city kms and 12,000 are country kms. I have jotted some numbers into a spreadsheet to compare the cost of owning the Volt against a high spec economical ICE (for my situation).
Figures I have used are:
ICE:
purchase price $34,000
6 litres/100 km
Volt:
Purchase price $60,000
City kms would be totally EV (I have a PV system so I am assuming no cost for electricity at home charge)
Country kms a conservative 4.5 litres/100 km
Assumptions for both vehicles:
5 year time frame
0% finance
Depreciation 40%
Fuel price $1.50 per litre
Service costs over 5 years $3000 the same for both vehicles
Cost of ownership for the Volt is $31,000
Cost of ownership for the ICE is $29650
Purchase price $57,000 for the Volt would put the numbers equal.
Over 10 years the Volt is ahead by $3000
I am hoping that in 6 months or so Holden will be doing deals similar to what Nissan are doing with the Leaf.
Interestingly at 6% finance and Volt purchase price of $65000 (which is what I would be looking at if I purchased the Volt today) the ICE is ahead by $13,000 over the 5 year period