Did you calculate how long you could have driven a Carolla, with the $5,000 premium you paid to buy your Pruis, before you would have spend any additional funds on gasoline? I seems to me you could have driven the Corolla for at least four years on that $5,000 before you spent ANY money for gas
There are several ways to figure the economy of the Volt, but perhaps the
> most realistic is to forget about published MPG (really intended as a
> comparative datum) and consider $ per 10k miles. Such a calculation will
> include your local rate for electricity, and will consider your driving
> habits over a period of time.
>
> I did that for my Prius, and discovered that it costs about 5c a mile for
> fuel. Remember, 100% of the Prius propulsion energy comes from gasoline.
> There is no other source whatsoever, but the hybrid system permits the use
> of a highly efficient ICE that has poor acceleration characteristics,
> supported by an electric motor which has maximum torque at zero rpm. The
> Volt, on the other hand, can be 100% plug-in for average days (for me),
> with the ICE entering the equation only when I drive further than, say, 40
> miles between charges.
>
> If GM's Volt project delivers its promoted configuration, it will cost ME
> less than 3c per mile.
>
> Neither figure includes maintenance, depreciation, (in)convenience, etc.,
> but an ICE that is designed to run at constant rpm can be amazingly
> durable, and electric motors are usually good for hundreds of thousands of
> hours. I won't talk about the battery...
>
> Does it make sense to pay $40k to save $0.02 per mile? At 20k miles per
> year that's $400, or 1% of the car's purchase price. So, the answer is NO.
> But it's an engineering wonder that fascinates this early adopter - which
> is why I bought my '04 Prius in Oct '03 when it first hit the market. $$
> benefits over time were secondary but gratifying.
>
> I'd order a Volt today if my local Chevy dealer would accept the deposit. >
> Ike