Will the Chevy Volt Revolutionize the Automotive Industry?

In late fall of 2010, general Motors will be launching the Chevy Volt. The Volt is unique as it offers the environmental benefits of a standard galvanic car, without the small range. Volts can travel up to 40 miles on galvanic power alone, before a gasoline motor kicks in to help recharge its batteries. Will the Chevrolet Volt revolutionize the automotive industry, or will it help fill a small niche store of green cars alongside other plug ins and hybrids?

To analyze the inherent success (or failure) of the Chevy Volt one needs to peruse both the economic costs (and savings), and vehicle features like size, performance, and availability.

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*Vehicle Cost: The Chevy Volt is predicted to have a list price of ,000. However, all Volt purchasers will qualify for a ,500 Federal Tax Credit, bringing the total cost down to ,500. The Volt's traditional galvanic car competitor, the Nissan Leaf, is predicted to have a list price roughly ,000 less than the Volt's. The most similar gas powered vehicle is the Chevrolet Cruze, with a price tag in the ,000 range. Favorite hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda understanding cost roughly ,000 less than the Volt will. Clearly, if Gm hopes to sell to more than just the first adopters, they will need to find ways to cut output costs and bring the price down.

Will the Chevy Volt Revolutionize the Automotive Industry?

*Gas Savings: The Volt can save customers ,500 per year in fuel costs based on a daily commute of 40 miles. This represents the maximum fuel savings, as no gasoline is needed when the vehicle is driven up to 40 miles a day. A more reasonable appraisal would be each year fuel savings of 0 given the fact that citizen will be driving more than 40 miles on determined days, and driving conditions will not always be ideal.

*Electricity Cost: It is commonly standard that Volt drivers will use 8 kW-h of power when driving 40 miles. Assuming that the midpoint sell price of electricity in the U.S is .11/kW-h, it will cost less than per day to fee the Volt, or a small over 0 a year if the vehicle is fully charged every night. The first 4,400 Volt purchasers will be given free 240-volt fee stations, and in some cases, free home installation. This will give Volt owners the selection of charging in a standard 120-volt wall socket, or decreasing the fee time and using the 240-volt fee station. Charging using the standard 120-volt outlet will take up to 6.5 hours, and using the 240-volt fee station will cut the fee time to 3 hours. The 240-volt charging stations have a store value of anywhere from ,000 to ,000. general Motors recently announced that there will be an 8 year or 100,000 mile warranty on the battery. Gm expects the battery to last 10 years of 150,000 miles.

*Vehicle Size and Comfort: The Volt seats only four. Part of the lithium-ion battery pack runs between the seats, so the rear of the car offers two bucket seats instead of one traditional bench seat. The Volt has a trunk size of 10.6 cubic feet. This is over 30% smaller than the Toyota Prius' trunk and slightly smaller than the trunk of the Honda Civic sedan.

*Performance: The Chevrolet Volt will have a top speed of 100 mph, and has the equivalence of a 150 horsepower engine. It is estimated that the Volt will be able to go from 0 to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds. Because of where the lithium-ion battery pack is mounted, the car has a very low center of gravity, giving the car a sporty feel colse to corners.

*Availability: Gm is predicted to have 10,000 Volts available for sale by the end of 2011 and output for calendar year 2012 will be 30,000. Initially, the Volt will only be available in California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, metro Washington Dc, and Texas. The Volt will be available nationwide by the end of 2012.

At ,500 (with the Federal Tax Credit) many inherent car shoppers will view the Volt as too expensive, even given the fuel cost savings Volts will achieve. Unless output costs come down, which will in turn drive down the Msrp, it is predicted that the Volt will help fill a small niche store for now. In addition, it was recently announced that Toyota would be cutting output in Japan by roughly 20% because the Japanese government would be ending subsidies on purchases of "eco-cars". If the U.S. Government decides at some point to end the ,500 tax credit on purchases of the Volt that will by all means; of course have an impact on Volt output and sales.

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