[ChrisBelieves]

Good morning all, my name is Chris (the fellow suggested in my username )

I'm new to GM-Volt.com, and I do not own a Volt, yet, but I am intrigued by the concept and by the passion of those wanting to do more with less, and from what I've gathered so far, that's most of you! I've learned a lot just in passing while browsing the forums for info, and I hope that I can eventually take a more active role in the conversations as I become more knowledgable.

At present I drive an old Camry, getting about 26mpg with my current load and driving style. It's a great car, and I likely wont give it up until it gives up! At this stage in my life however, I'm finally in a place where I can begin to consider buying a new car, and as a commuter, aspiring green thumb, and forward thinker, the Volt and EVs are very enticing.

At any rate, I'm glad I found you! Looking forward to learning more about the Volt and your discoveries and... well, just about everything else!

All the best,
Chris

 

[bonaire]

Welcome and enjoy the learning process.

If you are considering a Volt down the road, consider getting a GM Card which gives you 5% of purchases towared earnings for any GM purchase or lease. For me, worked out well - enough end up getting $2500 off the purchase of a Volt (1K + bonus earnings mailer last June). Far better "payback" than any other credit card you could use.

 

[Skip]

Chris Welcome. I too have been watching this forum since the beginning and followed the development of the Volt. Finally purchased one in January of this year and am having a ball with it. I purchesed it for purly selfish reasons. I wanted to save money. It is saving me $300 a month in gas. I was filling up my two cars once a week to the tune of $50 to $60 a fillup. I now drive the Volt 80% of the time and leave my Traverse for the long trips when I need to haul a lot of luggage. I have owned 5 Corvettes in my life and the Volt is as fun to drive as they are.

Skip

 

[Kup]

Hey Chris,

Welcome to the forum! I'm obviously just a little south of you and am coming up on nearly 2 years of ownership of my Volt. I still love getting into it everyday and that is saying something.

To give you a little more info regarding performance in the DC area, I would say that there isn't much impact on range in the summer months but during the winter you will get down in the high 20's to low 30's in all EV range (should you ever pull the trigger and get a Volt. Of course, with the newer Volts you might get a little bit more range due to the bigger battery). And for comparisons sake, my prior car got about 30 MPG and I'm saving about $2,000 a year (calculated at $3.50 per gallon) in operating costs (which includes electricity costs). With that said, my commute is 50 miles round trip but I get to charge up at work for free and your mileage will definitely vary.

The point being is that depending on your commute and the re-sale value of your Camry, it may soon (or already) make sense to step up to the Volt and enjoy the beauty of driving a car with an electric motor.

Have fun further exploring the website and learning more about the car that most of us really love.

 

[jfkirk]

Hi Chris,

My break even point on fuel costs vs. last summer's lease was just over 4 bucks (where diesel is now) I drove the Volt and found it to be be a wonderful experience. The car, for want of a better description, glides. Try driving one. Depending on lease money and gas prices sticking with another car may be a false economy. However, at this point I doubt I will ever go back to a non-ev, it isn't about the money now, its the driving experience. The peace of gliding.

 

[ChrisBelieves]

If you are considering a Volt down the road, consider getting a GM Card

Great, thanks for the advice! Being that I've just started a new job -- and will need to see what my budget is looking like before jumping into any big purchases -- this may be a good idea for my delayed, and likely inevitable, decision to get a Volt I'll keep this in mind.

 

[saghost]

Welcome. My only advice is make sure your finances are sorted out before you take a test drive. The car tends to sell itself very well and we're 93% certain you'll want to buy it immediately (that's the percentage of customers very happy with Volts on the survey - the best of any car both years it's been out.)

Some salesmen are pretty good at selling Volts, a lot are still baffled by the remarkably complex and unique technology of the car.