[llninja]

It's easy. My commute is 65 miles per day and with a few shopping trips here and there added, and only charging at home I'm getting 70MPG lifetime on the dash in my gen 1. Convert that to Kilometers and liters and account for the longer range of a gen 2 and the volt blows away any other hybrid out there.

But here's the kicker, go test drive one and mash the accelerator to the floor just once, you'll be hooked.

On the flip side, when I bought my volt, I got it for more than 50% off new because of a state rebate, fed tax credit, and GM Card rebate. The car paid for itself when fuel was $3.50-$4.00 per gallon when compared to my gas guzzler Cadillac Deville. But with lower fuel prices and your Masha 3 already being fairly efficient, the math will never work out in your favor where trading in for a new volt will pay for itself. You have to just want it and feel resigned to pay for it.

 

[llninja]

The exception I take to this statement is it assumes you'll keep your current car forever, and if that is normally your plan, then that's fine and this is true.

But if you buy a new car every 3-8 years, a Volt will be less expensive to own and operate than any non-plugin car you may choose. No car pays for itself, but the Volt can come close.

The cost to charge is, on average, approximately US$1.40 per US gallon equivalent when you calculate the cost of the electricity and how far it takes you. Oil changes are only once every two years. Brake replacements are rarely needed thanks to regenerative braking. And so on. Add in the instant torque and silent electric drive and it all makes for a very compelling case.

If you trade yourself our car in every few years, then you're obviously going to take a bath on the trade in or continually lease. I don't agree with the no car pays for itself statement. The volt did when gas was $3.50 per gallon and my previous car was a gas guzzler and I was spending $250-350 per month on fuel alone. Alas maintenance costs on my volt were minimal, but for some odd reason, multiple trips to the body shop far outweighed any fuel savings. My car seemed to attract all sorts of flying objects during its first two years while I was making payments. Then I just paid the whole damn thing off 3 years lay and the flying debris damage stopped. I'm taking this as the big guy upstairs telling me to never borrow money for a car again.