[Volt779]

Allan, thank you for this great piece and look forward to seeing you post more often on this board!

 

[Dyohn]

That's an excellent article. You forgot to add that the Nissan Sentra is boring to drive (at least the one I rented a few weeks ago on a business trip) and it a noisy econo-box on the highway, and the Volt is not.

 

[ravadac]

Love the article. Great to see Volt owners with a soap box to announce its laurels. Hopefully articles like this will bring more 'sheep' into the fold.

 

[DonC]

Thanks for posting the link to your article, Allan. It was nicely done.

Personally the numbers are OK but what seems to me to always be missing in these discussions is how nice it is to drive an electric. It's just nice and quiet. In traffic, it's very responsive. We pretty much buy whatever cars we want though cars aren't a big focus. Traditionally we've bought higher end German or Japanese cars. Compared to those cars, which have much higher sticker prices, what we've found is that, other than adaptive cruise control and nicer materials in the interior, we don't lose much if anything with the Volt. The ride is every bit as nice, which is shocking. And nothing is as great as driving the Volt on a two lane road with the windows down. The smoothness and quiet are quite wonderful.

I can't see going back to an ICE. Part of that is that not having to go to the gas station is terrific, but part of it is also not having to deal with all the issues that come with an ICE.

 

[Dyohn]

Excellent article, but stand by for hundreds of "those discounts are tax-payer's money paying for your car" nonsense.

 

[allanroth]

Thanks. I erred to come out as objectively as possible as stating that I am totally in love with the Volt would have been edited out and maybe even gotten the story killed - rightfully so.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

Thank you for writing the positive article in CBS MoneyWatch. Someone else on this list pointed out that the IRS will consider the Colorado tax credit as income in the the year taken. I'm not sure how valid their logic is, but leave it to the IRS to make tax decisions that favor themselves at our expense. My state doesn't offer a tax credit or rebate, so I was not faced with that problem. I wonder how much of the $6,000 tax credit the average buyer would have to pay the United States Treasury and how that would impact the savings shown in your article. Anyway, welcome to the "club" and happy driving. I love my Volt! 8^)

 

[volt3939]

Again with the "kicks in"! I think I have only seen one piece that did NOT say that. Hardly sums up the silent spin-up and very muted operation of the ICE under _my_ hood.

 

[gofobroke]

distrust and contempt for the government's "patronizing and big brother liberal influence" has hurt the volt's reputation. I would venture to guess that as many people are lost as gained by the tax incentives.

 

[Dyohn]

A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

 

[emartin00]

That's an excellent article. You forgot to add that the Nissan Sentra is boring to drive (at least the one I rented a few weeks ago on a business trip) and it a noisy econo-box on the highway, and the Volt is not.

My dad had a rental Sentra for a few weeks after a tree fell on his truck. I would agree, it is pretty boring, although I didn't find it overly noisy.

 

[btown]

Very nice article Allan and thank you for posting it to the forum.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

distrust and contempt for the government's "patronizing and big brother liberal influence" has hurt the volt's reputation. I would venture to guess that as many people are lost as gained by the tax incentives.

I'm not sure how to take your post. Are you saying that there are people who would not purchase a Volt based on the fact that they have the option to get a $7500 federal tax credit? Or that they would not make the purchase to demonstrate their opposition to the fed's offering a tax incentive? I would suspect that even without any federal tax incentives, some of those people might still find fault with the new technology and still chose the tried and true gas guzzlers, IMHO; Texas crude forever, and all that (it's pretty hard to mount a gun rack in the back of the Volt 8^).

Disclaimer: My comments are meant to be light-hearted and not flaming. Please don't take offense.

 

[aventineavenue]

Allan: A big thank you for writing this excellent and carefully crafted piece!

 

[HiFlite]

By that logic, those opposed to the "patronizing and big brother liberal influence", should be driving 12 mpg cars without seatbelts, airbags, crash protection, stability control and so on. They should also be refusing to take the mortgage interest tax deduction, partly paid for by people who either don't borrow or rent. Schools are mostly paid for by people without school-age children as well. Cheap gas is paid for in part by the military budget and the lives of American soldiers. Somehow, such things get conveniently overlooked.

But logic has little to do with the Volt hatred.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

By that logic, those opposed to the "patronizing and big brother liberal influence", should be driving 12 mpg cars without seatbelts, airbags, crash protection, stability control and so on. They should also be refusing to take the mortgage interest tax deduction, partly paid for by people who either don't borrow or rent. Schools are mostly paid for by people without school-age children as well. Cheap gas is paid for in part by the military budget and the lives of American soldiers. Somehow, such things get conveniently overlooked.

But logic has little to do with the Volt hatred.

In addition to the large military budget and the lives of American (and other nationalities') soldiers being lost in fighting for oil, there are the oil tax subsidies and relatively low federal tax on gasoline contributing to the cheapness of gas in these United States.

 

[rhodomel]

Kudos to Allan Roth!

 

[allanroth]

Kudos to Allan Roth!

Kudos to all of you on this forum for educating me, and continuing to do so!

 

[Yatesvolt]

Great article Allan.. I plan to copy and send to others thinking about the true cost of ownership