AutoBlog reports that the Chevy Volt has sold under 500 units since the start of 2011:
Peruse Chevrolet’s February sales release, and you’ll notice one number that’s blatantly missing: the number of Chevy Volts sold. The number – a very modest 281 – is available in the company’s detailed data (PDF), but it certainly isn’t something that GM wants to highlight, apparently. Keeping the number quiet is a bit understandable, since it’s lower than the 321 that Chevy sold in January.
Nissan doesn’t have anything to brag about here, either (and it didn’t avoiding any mention of the Leaf sales in its press release). Why? Well, back in January, the company sold 87 Leafs. In February? Just 67. Where does that leave us? Well, here’s the big scorecard for all sales of these vehicles thus far:
Volt: 928
Leaf: 173
fully justifiying my complaints about the vehicle. By comparison Ford sold more than 60,000 Explorers last year and sales of the new 2011 version are so strong that they’re talking about 100,000 units.
Megan McArdle lists some possible reasons for the low sales:
Is this just the slow ramp-up of new production? Are the dealers falling down on the job? Did weather and the short month keep buyers off the lots? Did we simply need to see higher gas prices to goose demand, meaning that sales will now take off? Or did two major auto manufacturers dump huge sums of money into a technology that is struggling to get its sales volumes into the four figures?
Let me propose some other possibilities for the low sales.
- Consumers are still wary of GM.
- Half of all Americans have a one-way commute that strains the range of a Volt.
- The Volt’s payload capacity is too small.
- The Volt is too expensive.
- People are worried about the suitability of the Volt in cold climates.
I don’t know if this played much of a role, but Consumer’s Union (the group that publishes the magazine Consumer Reports) has said the Volt is not a good value.
The difference in price between the Volt and other non-EVs in its class will buy a heckuva lot of gasoline at any foreseeable price.
Having recently and unexpectedly found myself in the new car market, I don’t think consumers are still wary of GM. I ended up buying a Chevy Equinox, and it doesn’t appear that Chevy is yet able to produce enough to meet demand.
I never saw a Volt in a dealer’s inventory or display, so no interest is being drummed up that way. There is also probably a brand identity mismatch and maybe consumers are wary of G.M.s ability to produce this particular type of vehicle.
I’m really tempted to drive my 911 into a Chevy dealer, park it where all the salesmen can see it……..and tell the guys I want to trade it for one of those fantastic new Volts. ……………..NOT!!
The car has no consumer appeal on various levels. It requires subsidization. Its nowhere. It reminds me of the pitched battle I had with Paul Scott on another blog that ended up – after I told him he was promoting a religion based auto that could only exist with taxpayer subsidy – with him basically telling me I was a cold blooded murderer for not seeing it his way (Middle East Oil), and in a moment of honesty and clarity, admitting that only through government subsidy could electric cars ever gain a material portion of the market……………and that was OK by him, because by God he was right, the government had to force us to do the “right thing” and all us nonbelievers would surely roast in hell.
And he’d get 78 virgins, or sumthin’……..
Unfortunately, the greenest vehicle on the market runs on compressed natural gas and doesn’t get the big electric car subsidies:
http://www.greenercars.org/highlights_greenest.htm
Looking at that list, the Chevy Volt isn’t even in the top ten. I suspect that’s because ACEEE considers it to be powered by big chunks of dirty coal.
I think the problem with this vehicle is twofold: it’s too niche and too expensive. As a family guy with three kids, this vehicle is at the bottom of my list. At most it might serve as a commuting vehicle but why would I pay over $40k for that when I can get a reliable used Corolla for 1/3 the cost – vehicle that is almost as efficient and is more versatile? Heck, we bought a pretty decent minivan as our family hauler back in 2005 and only payed $30k for it – a top-of-the-line model today costs the same as the volt and comes with every feature and gizmo one could imagine.
I don’t think these kinds of cars are going to be viable until gas rises way above the cost of electricity. The economics and the sacrifices need don’t justify it otherwise.
I’d give it a try but it’s too small for my taste.
That said there’a halo effect. It makes me think GM may be on the radar for me. I’ve started thinking seriously about Caddies, something I’d never have done 10 or even 5 years ago. And when it’s time to make a choice I’ll give GM and Ford a shot.
Chrysler not so much. I love Eminem, but I’m not driving a spruced up Sebring whatever they call it.
Here’s what I would love: a true 4-seater convertible under 80k with a trunk that can at least carry a suitcase or a couple bags of groceries with the top down. (My kids are not munchkins or amputees: they have legs.) Have not seen that creature yet.
Michael,
Forget the new stuff, go with a classic. I could see you in one of these.
Andy:
Hah! You know what’s funny, is I used to drive one of those — hardtop unfortunately. It was a hand-me-down from my grandfather who was a used car dealer. (He was also a slumlord by the way. How managed to avoid adding divorce lawyer to his resume, I’ll never know. It would have been the trifecta!)
You could do 90 and not even feel the road. It was like you were levitating. Until you tried to brake and then God help you.
Michael,
Yeah, the engineering isn’t quite up to today’s standard. But the thing is, you can buy a classic convertible for fairly cheap, give it to a competent shop and for less than 80 grand you’d have a fully-custom car with modern brakes, modern suspension, even a modern engine fuel-injected engine if you want. Or you could buy one from someone like Barrett-Jackson.
Hey, I never even knew that was possible. Interesting. Hmmm.
It was funny watching the full Volt cycle, as a hybrid owner.
Recall first that the hybrids were put down in a number of ways, ranging from being too small, too expensive, and even anti-environmental.
That was I guess understandable, given that the US companies had no hybrids, and the now-MPG drivers were feeling some angst about the rising gas prices.
Into this came a mock-up, a show car that was all skin and no guts. IT was low, mean, and had fat tires. GM told people that this was the “volt” and that it would be cheap get 100 MPG.
Really, go look at that skin.
The hybrid haters turned on a dime, and believed all that crap. In fact, the old school hybrids were now both good and bested. It was a classic human solution to a problem.
Hybrids are bad. Hybrids are bad. Our hybrid is better!
Except, as Dave notes, to make “better” they had to abuse the current cost/benefit trade-offs.
This is the bottom line, that the Volt misses: Given current battery price and performance, the sweet spot for pay-back is in the Honda Insight, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, and Ford Fusion range.
No one is buying the Volt, because to make it “better” they had to make it stupid.
“Unfortunately, the greenest vehicle on the market runs on [pasta and olive oil]”
😉
BTW, I told ’em that skin could never get 100 mpg. I didn’t have the ugly “hybrid hump” necessary to bring down the drag coefficient, and it didn’t have the skinny tires necessary to reduce rolling resistance.
Fan boys declared my analysis flawed.
Of course the reason the Volt is no (IMO) one of the ugliest cars on the planet is that it has the hump, the skinny tires, and really bad “GM Family” accents applied atop.
BTW2, given how big states are out here, it was fun to tank up in Beatty Nevada, spend some time in Death Valley, and drive back to the California coast, on about 7 gallons of gas.
Michael,
You might want to search on “restomod” – that’s the term for restoring classic cars with upgraded systems.
John,
If they made a hybrid minivan, we’d seriously consider it. We looked at the hybrid Toyota Highlander, but don’t really like SUV’s. We really liked the Prius, but our frugal nature doesn’t let us get rid of a perfectly good and reliable corolla for a new commuting vehicle. The difference in gas saved is marginal compared to the cost of upgrading.
I’m not sure the battery weight and capacity would add much benefit to a minivan. The Ford Escape Hybrid shows how “helper effect” declines with increased weight and vehicle cross section. It’s great mileage for a small SUV, but that’s ~30 mpg, and a fairly small SUV.
When you’ve already got a Toyota it’s hard to justify replacement with dollars and cents … until you get about 300,000 miles on the clock 😉
BTW, I’ve got 90K miles on my Prius now. Let’s assume that gas averaged $3 over that time, and that my Subaru got 16 MPG in mixed driving (hard to keep my foot out of the turbo, WRX).
90,000 miles / 50 mpg * 3 $/g = $5400 total fuel cost
90,000 miles / 16 mpg * 3 $/g = $16875 total fuel cost
Pretty crazy, huh? $11K in fuel savings.
I’m not sure what you’re mix is jp, but here’s a non-hybrid Chevy Cruze Eco (28mgp city; 42mpg highway). Assume a 50/50 split:
90,000 miles / 35 mpg * 3 $/g = $7,714 total fuel cost
Fuel savings for Prius: $2,314
2011 Chevy Cruze Eco has $18,175 MSRP
2011 Toyota Prius One has has $21,650 MSRP
Difference = $3,475
So, the hybrid might be the more expensive option, though I suppose one could chalk up the extra $1,000 for “style” and other value intangibles.
There was no Cruze Eco in 2005, and in 2005 the Prius had some intangibles. It was kind of an acceptable opt-out car from status games. Here in coastal Orange County, you have Prius (my preferred plural) parked at $10M homes. It says at some level, “no, I bought a Prius.”
I understand that there’s some Renault model that has similar positioning in France. “No, I bought a Renault 5” or some such.
So while the Prius has worked out pretty well in dollars and cents, the “signalling” hasn’t been all bad. Though of course, some still run at the South Park “Smug” level.
BTW, the current Insight is a bit smaller, but gets about 40/40 mpg, and has a base around $18K. I think it’s a good looking car.
From my perspective, jp, you’re a high mileage user. My wife and I commute less than five miles one-way to work. I drive less than 8,000 miles per year; I think my wife is probably around 3,500 miles. I could see us switching to a hybrid for one of these vehicles, but one way or their other it would probably only absorb the 3,500 miles.
I just drove the I-10 as an outing, so I guess I am 😉
PD Shaw,
We’re in the same position. Our 2002 Corolla has 70k miles and our 2005 van has about 65k miles.
I can see us going on a family trip from Upstate, NY to the Fl Keys…first off, our family wouldn’t fit and second, we’d have to rent a hotel every 50 miles while the car “refules” with electricity!
A slightly more than 1 day drive will turn into months. Better start accumulating more vacation time! LOL!
What a joke.
The Chevy Volt is a new category of vehicle, a plug-in electric car that has a gasoline generator that can extend the all-electric range while still providing the same torque/feel of an electric.
The simple serial-hybrid concept is muddied because they also use the generator as a second traction motor within the planetary gear setup at very high speeds (so that the Volt doesn’t need a very expensive, single 0 to 125 mph electric motor that goes up to 14,000 rpm like Tesla uses). To keep electric motor rpm (and thus losses) down, the Volt uses both electric motors connected by the planetary gear system to drive the wheels, and thus the range-extender generator is sometimes locked to the gasoline engine and driven directly, or sometimes powered just by the battery in all-electric mode – confusing lots of auto journalists and potential customers.
It will be nice when Volt perfects its high rpm traction motor – then it’s back to “one electric motor to always drive the wheels, one genset to extend the range”. Simple, elegant, and will allow more software tricks to improve extended-range mpg.
Simplifying the design of the Volt should help sales to all Americans, not just the ones who know 321 + 281 > 500
“AutoBlog reports that the Chevy Volt has sold under 500 units since the start of 2011”
321 (January) + 281 (February) = 602
BamBam March 8, 2011 at 5:18 am
I can see us going on a family trip from Upstate, NY to the Fl Keys…first off, our family wouldn’t fit and second, we’d have to rent a hotel every 50 miles while the car “refules†with electricity!
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And I can see your 8 year old kid finally reading the Volt User Manual in the glove compartment, and explaining to you that you can put gasoline in the car and drive it like a regular hybrid, getting 37 mpg combined city/hwy, and never have to worry about plugging it in during your entire trip:
http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/2011-Chevrolet-Volt-EPA-sticker.jpg
LOL ! Are you smarter than an 8 year old ?
The volt is too much money to own. I would say to wait 2012 and buy a plug in prius but even this car is going to be expensive. A Honda Fit is proably the best value for the money as a green car.