Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle? | Page 4 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

You don't HAVE to jump through those hoops ... you could just leave it on "comfort" and accept the reduced EV-only range. For the first 40 - 50 km it will still use no gasoline. After that it's more or less the same as driving a hybrid car anyhow.

A lot of EV (and hybrid) owners play games to get as much EV range as they can or use as little fuel as they can ... "because they can" and because it's something to do. You don't HAVE to drive it that way - you can drive a Volt the same as any other car.
 
Brian P said:
You don't HAVE to jump through those hoops ... you could just leave it on "comfort" and accept the reduced EV-only range. For the first 40 - 50 km it will still use no gasoline. After that it's more or less the same as driving a hybrid car anyhow.

A lot of EV (and hybrid) owners play games to get as much EV range as they can or use as little fuel as they can ... "because they can" and because it's something to do. You don't HAVE to drive it that way - you can drive a Volt the same as any other car.
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Right on!
 
SunnY S said:
^^^^^^^^



wow, so much hoop jumping.... hybrids make much more sense and less hassle and still get pretty good mileage and no worries about heat!
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Yesh yeah I get it - you don't like GM or the Volt, but there need not be any "hassle" at all (as LBV explains below) if you don't want it and you'll STIll save money every kilometre driving the Volt vs a Hybrid.

Based solely on my wife's commute alone the Volt will save us $4.20 everybody single day.

Thats $21/week, $84/month, over $1000/year.

And thays assuming she can't plug in at work which is likely, then the math is $6.00 a day saved.

Thats $30/week, $120 a month, $1200/year.

And if the planned feee EV charging at home arrives, $6.95/day savings.

Thats $34.75/week, $139/month, $1668/year.

Over 5 years of ownership that's potentially $8300 SAVED vs an Accord Hybrid. And that's *just* on her commute. Weekend running around on electricity exclusively can expand that a *massive* amount.

Thats a no brainer and if you want to just discount that based on the "pretty good mileage", "less hassle", and "makes more sense" argument you have your fingers in your ears and simply want to ignore the facts.
 
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LBV said:
Right on!
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Hey, can you post some rough info
cost of car + the rebates = final price (list rebate $)
maintenance
cost of gas
cost of electricity

list the cost for gas and electricity for 20,000km
 
PrivatePilot said:
Yesh yeah I get it - you don't like GM or the Volt, but there need not be any "hassle" at all (as LBV explains below) if you don't want it and you'll STIll save money every kilometre driving the Volt vs a Hybrid.

Based solely on my wife's commute alone the Volt will save us $4.20 everybody single day.

Thats $21/week, $84/month, over $1000/year.

And thays assuming she can't plug in at work which is likely, then the math is $6.00 a day saved.

Thats $30/week, $120 a month, $1200/year.

And if the planned feee EV charging at home arrives, $6.95/day savings.

Thats $34.75/week, $139/month, $1668/year.

Over 5 years of ownership that's potentially $8300 SAVED vs an Accord Hybrid. And that's *just* on her commute. Weekend running around on electricity exclusively can expand that a *massive* amount.

Thats a no brainer and if you want to just discount that based on the "pretty good mileage", "less hassle", and "makes more sense" argument you have your fingers in your ears and simply want to ignore the facts.
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Do you account for the purchase price of the car difference? I know it's a savings in maintenance but how does it compare over lifetime of car?
 
PrivatePilot said:
Over 5 years of ownership that's potentially $8300 SAVED vs an Accord Hybrid. .
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$8300 saved? thats about the cost for a replacement battery pack on a used Volt in 5 years isn't it?


Listen, I truly believe electric cars are the future, I just don't think we are quite there yet.

Tesla is very close, but give it a few more years. For "now" Hybrids make the most sense to fill the gap until then....
 
-D- said:
Hey, can you post some rough info
cost of car + the rebates = final price (list rebate $)
maintenance
cost of gas
cost of electricity

list the cost for gas and electricity for 20,000km
Click to expand...

Hard to nail down for a vehicle that can operate in pure EV. Those 20K if run on solely electric (theoretically possible, I've read stories of people with 1-2 year old volts with the original tank of gas still in them) will be vastly cheaper than 20K run on a depleted battery solely on the gas backup. Of course the "typically" use will obviously fall somewhere in between, in which case some of the math I showed on page 2 explains the savings.

mimico_polak said:
Do you account for the purchase price of the car difference? I know it's a savings in maintenance but how does it compare over lifetime of car?
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Also mentioed in an earlier response on page 2. At least for the used market - new market, again, needs to compared fairly - EREV vs a traditional Hybrid for example, not EREV compared to a bare bones 4 cylinder econobox.

Yes, the math doesn't look as good in the latter scenario, but even a cheap Civic only gets 30MPG, or 7.8L/100K. For those who've been reading my Volt figures in this thread it should be evident there's a notable saving for every K driven that can & quickly will offset the initial higher cost.
 
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SunnY S said:
$8300 saved? thats about the cost for a replacement battery pack on a used Volt in 5 years isn't it?.
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It's evident you're not reading any of my earlier replies.
 
So let's try to get a general sense.
Cost of a small 4 seater econobox that is comparable to the Volt.

Elantra? Civic? Kia whatever?

cost of cars (stick with bare bones)
cost to go 20k on gas (low grade gas) for fosil cars
cost for electricity and gas (rough gas amount is fine) for 20k

we don't need to be exact, just a general ballpark
we can add maint costs after e.g. oil changes
 
-D- said:
Hey, can you post some rough info
cost of car + the rebates = final price (list rebate $)
maintenance
cost of gas
cost of electricity

list the cost for gas and electricity for 20,000km
Click to expand...

In the same order:

$34k out the door as I recall after taxes (rebate was just over $10k) ... HST is applied before the rebate is taken fyi.

Annual oil change = $40

Gas per my app = $234 over my 18,901 km annual average so $247 for 20,000 km

Electricity usage per my monthly Onstar e-mails is averaging 25 kwh per 100 km, so over 20,000 km that's 5,000 kwh. My overnight rate is 8.7 cents/kwh so that's an annual cost of $435 for electricity.

So annual cost of ownership (not incl dep'n) is $722.
 
The heater issues would definitely be a show stopper for me. I'm with Sunny, Hybrid is the way to go, best of both worlds.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my 3.0L Twin Turbo along with the wonderful exhaust noises it makes.
 
Snobike Mike said:
The heater issues would definitely be a show stopper for me. I'm with Sunny, Hybrid is the way to go, best of both worlds.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my 3.0L Twin Turbo along with the wonderful exhaust noises it makes.
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BMW 335i I assume? I used to lease a 2005 330i.
You should try the new Mustang GT if you like hearing the exhaust on a vehicle (I do).
 
LBV said:
BMW 335i I assume? I used to lease a 2005 330i.
You should try the new Mustang GT if you like hearing the exhaust on a vehicle (I do).
Click to expand...

Actually C43 with perf exhaust. Bang's bigtime on upshift and crackles on downshifts. It even regen's on braking..... :) so it's kinda a hybrid.
 
I thought the C43's were V8's?? Unless the 3.0 is a small V8 but never heard of that.

The C43, like my GT, is a different animal ... no comparison ... but hey, if it's Mike's daily driver why not! Let's see those gas costs lol.
 
-D- said:
cost?
and maint costs?

we are trying to compare
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Cost=Not inexpensive
Maint Costs- $995 for 3 years (plus tires I'm sure.........)
Mileage - approx. 10.5L/100kms much of this run in Sport+.
Scaring little children and snowflakes at full throttle? Priceless :)
 
Great thread. It's nice to see actual factual experiences rather than peoples "opinions". Thanks LBV.

I've been eye'ing the new Volt. I think it looks great and the lack of any destination anxiety trumps it over other choices. I'd seriously think about getting one if I didn't still owe monies on my current car.

I admit the cold weather stuff sounds odd but so what if the engine runs a bit when it's cold out. Still not using alot of gas.

I have a 50-60km roundtrip to work so it seems feasible...and with 10 and 14 hour shifts, if my work allowed me to plug it in I'd be golden.

However in my rental unit I doubt I could get them to install a 240V for me in the garage...or let me install one.


LBV said:
In the same order

$34k out the door as I recall after taxes (rebate was just over $10k) ... HST is applied before the rebate is taken fyi.

Annual oil change = $40

Gas per my app = $234 over my 18,901 km annual average so $247 for 20,000 km

Electricity usage per my monthly Onstar e-mails is averaging 25 kwh per 100 km, so over 20,000 km that's 5,000 kwh. My overnight rate is 8.7 cents/kwh so that's an annual cost of $435 for electricity.

So annual cost of ownership (not incl dep'n) is $722.
Click to expand...

I'll add my annual costs for my daily driver G37x as an example:

In the same order:

$22k used out the door (IIRC) after taxes

Oil changes for the year = $200 ish

Gas per my app = aprox $4,300 for 29,000kms last year

Averaged 11L/100kms

So annual cost of ownership (not incl dep'n) is $4,500.

You can't compare a G37x and a Chevy Volt, I know that...but these are my operating costs regardless.
 
LBV said:
I thought the C43's were V8's?? Unless the 3.0 is a small V8 but never heard of that.

The C43, like my GT, is a different animal ... no comparison ... but hey, if it's Mike's daily driver why not! Let's see those gas costs lol.
Click to expand...

The last gen AMG C-Class (w204) only came in with a V8 (C63) The new w205 AMG can be optioned v6 or v8 (C43 and C63)
 
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