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Author Topic: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....  (Read 8661 times)

cujet

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Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« on: December 24, 2018, 01:23:33 AM »
I'm in the market for a car. No particular need for anything special, other than I don't want to spend a lot for an appliance. (Note, I prefer performance cars, but this will be a third car for my Florida home) The $7500 EV (electric vehicle) tax credit would be really helpful this year. Since the Chevy Volt is now heavily discounted, at about $24,500-$25,500 for a base model, it's worth considering. The tax credit brings the total out of pocket cost to just under $20K. Not bad at all for an efficient car.

The Volt goes about 50 miles on a charge, and after that, the gas engine kicks in.

If I purchase one, it might be very interesting to see just how effective the 6/1 is in charging the thing.

Note 2: The 2018 Volt takes 13 hours to charge on 115V and 4.5 hours on 240 (the charger is 3.6KW) .   My 6/1 has somewhat increased RPM (770) and makes about 4400W max, 4000 with clear exhaust. HMMMMMMM :) So I think it would be just fine charging at 240V.
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BruceM

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #1 on: December 24, 2018, 01:52:14 AM »
Great deal!

dieselspanner

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #2 on: December 24, 2018, 09:01:24 AM »
Sounds interesting at the very least.

Is there enough sun in Florida to make a Glort style array of second hand panels viable? Come to that is there a big enough market in second hand panels in the US?

With a bit of adjustment to the lifestyle, like going shopping in the evening etc. it could be well worth mixing it up with a veg oil powered CS.

Cheers
Stef
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LowGear

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2018, 05:36:02 PM »
I'm not a new car kind of person but if I were I'd surely look hard at this deal.  I kind of prefer the 2016 model but they all seem a smart decision for this time in our history.  I wonder how much the extended warranty costs?

We should all set down and think about how many days 50 miles would cover our total driving needs for that day.  A second thing to remember is how many days we would only need a partial charge.  How much does it actually cost to plug it into your friendly power utility for a 50 mile ride?  15 Amps at 240 Volts is about 3600 Watts for 4.5 hours is close to 16,200 total.  In Seattle that would be $1.62 @ ten cents a kilowatt.  Does my math this morning match yours?

If you're using diesel to generate that recharge I think you should just buy an F-350 and spend the next ten years mainlining the petroleum industry with those 10 plus quart oil changes.
« Last Edit: December 25, 2018, 10:38:41 AM by LowGear »
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cujet

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2018, 10:18:09 PM »
I drive a lot.  My commute alone in FL is 75 mi round trip.  My commute in PA is 110 round trip.  I can’t charge an electric at work.  Generally 6 days week.  Plus the trip between FL and PA a few times per yeast. 

The volt could be charged by the Listeroid and my 550 gal of waste jet A while in FL.

Really, I’d love a performance car.  But this is interesting. 
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LowGear

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #5 on: December 25, 2018, 11:02:20 AM »
Just as a point of information the oil change in an F-350 really scares $150.  10 quarts I last heard.

It's a shame you don't have charging at both ends of your recurring commutes.  I wonder what the gasoline mileage is on the Volt?  A cheap 50 miles every day would catch up with you pretty fast.  $5 a day, $30 a week, $1,500 a year.  The world is also becoming much more EV friendly so who knows what your charging situation will be in two years. 

They've sold over 100,000 of them.

You might drive one to see how much of a slug it really is.  We'll want a review.

How much is a new Prius?  You might be very pleasantly surprised by the LE AWD.
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dieselspanner

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #6 on: December 25, 2018, 11:33:38 AM »
I have the answer, Cujet!

Buy two and charge them on the solar rig on alternate days!

Cheers
Stef
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LowGear

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #7 on: December 25, 2018, 06:08:52 PM »
I think you can also get a pretty neat lightly used Corvette for about the same money.  What to do with all that jet fuel?
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BruceM

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #8 on: December 25, 2018, 06:54:10 PM »
Why not find a 1963 Chrysler turbine engine car to burn that surplus jet fuel!
50 were made, Jay Leno has one. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2A5ijU3Ivs

dieselspanner

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #9 on: December 25, 2018, 08:04:52 PM »
HA!

Rover had it cracked in 1950.........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_JET1

Then check out Youtube for umpteen videos.

We had Rover gas turbine fire pumps back in the 70's to discharge fresh water from 90' landing craft, they were hand crank start, two blokes, one either side, and it was as much as they could do to flash one up.

They could shift 10 tons ashore in a few minutes and empty a 5 gallon tank in about the same time....

Cheers
Stef
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BruceM

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #10 on: December 25, 2018, 08:28:35 PM »
Ear protective gear required for the Rover Jet 1!  Awesome. 


LowGear

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #11 on: December 26, 2018, 05:34:12 PM »
Attention span alert.  Attention span alert.  Attention span alert.

Back to the Volt.

How about going for a test ride and giving us a review?



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broncodriver99

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #12 on: December 26, 2018, 10:33:48 PM »
Attention span alert.  Attention span alert.  Attention span alert.
What's a span alert? Something too wide?  ;D

cujet

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2018, 12:07:19 AM »

Back to the Volt.

How about going for a test ride and giving us a review?

The test drive was pretty good, with both I-95 highway and fast back roads. Not much city stuff except by the dealer.

The Volt has good acceleration, but better than that, it's instant response at any speed is quite pleasing. It's quieter and more refined than most cars I rent. (I rent 1 or 2 different cars per week and know what I like)  I had to listen hard to know if the engine was running. Cornering is acceptable, responsive and flat, but it's clearly not a sports car.

Overall, a true pleasure to drive, although seat comfort on the LT (low end model) was not as good as today's typical rental Altima or Camry. However, the big drawback: it's a smaller car than I'd like. This might be my only car in my FL location for a while. It will be called upon to transport me, mama and big doggie, along with whatever we need to carry (from groceries to aircraft parts and maybe bags of concrete) . For that it's likely to be too small.

I'm still on the fence about it. I need the tax break. I need another vehicle. I really could use something a little larger and more capable.

I own a 4x4 pickup and don't care for SUV's. My preference is performance cars.






« Last Edit: December 27, 2018, 12:11:12 AM by cujet »
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M61hops

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #14 on: December 27, 2018, 09:41:22 AM »
I keep hoping GM or somebody would make a mini-van with the Volt drive train, or maybe a full size van.  This just seems like a good way to go for what my driving needs are, I could do at least half my driving without needing to start the engine.
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