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Chevy Volt Offered at $350 Per Month, Matching Nissan LEAF Lease

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:19:15 +0000

General Motors announced today that the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid will be offered for sale at $41,000, or for a surprisingly low monthly lease cost of $350 per month (with a $2,500 initial payment.) The sticker price for the Volt is $8,200 higher than that of the $32,800 all-electric Nissan LEAF—though the two vehicles’ lease prices are virtually identical.

The Volt’s $41,000 sticker cost doesn’t actually reflect what early buyers will pay for the car—the federal government is subsidizing the price of both it and the LEAF to the tune of $7,500. That brings real price of the Volt down to $33,500. For California drivers in particular though, the economic attractiveness of buying a LEAF versus a Volt is even stronger—the Volt plug-in hybrid isn’t eligible for the state’s $3,000 Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle rebate for plug-in hybrids.

When Does a $41,000 Car Cost the Same as a $32,000 Car?

GM says that the apparent disparity between the Volt’s sticker and lease prices is a reflection of the company’s calculation that the vehicle will maintain a very high residual value after three years—significantly higher than that of the LEAF. Even if that is the case, it’s probably more than just a coincidence that the result of that calculation was a monthly lease that matches up so closely to the LEAF’s.

But there also seems to be bit of a hitch in GM’s residual value logic. If electric vehicle incentives are still being offered three years from now, will any original lessees be interested in buying their used Volt when they can get a brand new plug-in for almost the same price?

Remember, the $7,500 federal credit only applies to new vehicles, and is subtracted from the monthly payment of the original lease. That means that whether or not the lessee decides to purchase the car at the end of 36 months, the Volt will effectively come full circle—from a $41,000 car that leases for the price of a $32,000 car, to a used car that resells for the price of a $41,000 car.

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GM Prices Volt At $41,000 Before Incentives, Pre-Ordering Begins Today

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:14:29 +0000

There has been so much speculation surrounding the Chevy Volt’s eventual price, that I’m just going to cut to the chase. GM has placed an official price on the Chevy Volt, its plug-in hybrid with a 40 mile all-electric range: $41,000. That is before any tax incentives, like the $7,500 Federal tax credit, (which would take the price down to about $33,500). This is pretty much what everybody was guessing the Volt would cost, so is it really any surprise?

The Volt will come with lots of standard features as well as add-ons, to a top-price of around $44,000. Even with tax incentives, the four-passenger Volt will be about $8,000-10,000 more than its nearest competitor, the Nissan LEAF. Yet GM says there is”no competitor”. O RLY?

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Solar-Powered Van To Drive Itself 8,000 Miles

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:11:31 +0000

As much as I love driving, I know a lot of people aren’t all that fond of it. Need proof? Look at all the people who talk, text, read, or are otherwise distracted from driving behind the wheel. The Next Great Thing just might be cars that drive themselves, as so many sci-fi films have teased us with. The idea may still be rather far off, but a team of Italian engineers is taking a big step towards the future with a long-term, self-powered test of driverless capabilities.

Two pairs of vans, powered by the sun, will trek from Italy to China during a 3-month excursion to test the capabilities of self-driving technology. Will they make it?

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