The New York Times ran an opinion story by Edward Niedermeyer, known to us in the EV blogosphere as The Truth About Cars.  In that article, Edward runs down the weak economics behind the Chevrolet Volt (a 4-seater and, many conclude, #EpicFail) that can’t even rival its all-electric competition in the Nissan Leaf – which reportedly has larger interior space, more seating, and so forth.

While General Motors is powering forward with their glitzy marketing and over-hyped Volt, the reality is that many see GM as Government Motors, for which their future tax dollars will be collected to keep in business.  GM recently upped the number of Volts to be produced (due to “strong consumer interest”) by 50%, though not ’til 2012, in what is obviously a staged plan to get more press for the car just before it releases.  After all, everyone will want one if it’s obvious that everyone wants one.  Right?

This despite the car’s $41,000 price tag and questionable economics.  The Volt made headlines when Chevy detailed the warranty on the car too, which is at 8 years or 100k miles.  This means it doesn’t qualify for California rebates.  There’s a reason GM couldn’t go beyond 8 years… those batteries are expensive and 8 years is their best expected lifespan on average.  After that… the car becomes a hunk of plastic and sheet metal sitting in your driveway. This is the real elephant in the room that most EV enthusiasts don’t want to talk about: battery lifespans.  Most research seems to be towards storage and weight, not lifespan extension.  More’s the pity.

Now consumers might find they’re going to have a hard time getting a Volt for that promised MSRP of $41k, high as that is.  Why?  Because apparently some dealerships are gouging and adding on “service fees” (or whatever else they can come up with to name them).

Consumer Reports had a staff member genuinely interested in purchasing a Volt for personal use.  Guess what?  The dealer wants an extra $20,000 to make that happen.  Now the questionable $41,000 Volt just became a $60+ thousand lump.

Might be time to call the BBB and maybe Chevrolet themselves and let them know what you think of that dealership.

Meanwhile, back to Niedermeyer, who sums it all up nicely:

If G.M. were honest, it would market the car as a personal donation for, and vote of confidence in, the auto bailout. Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of cross-branding that will make the Volt a runaway success.

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