Chevy Volt Will Sell For $41,000
Chevy Volt Will Sell For $41,000 – After more than three years of buzz and critics’ skepticism, General Motors on Tuesday finally put on sale the Chevrolet Volt – the company’s first plug-in hybrid electric car that many say represents GM’s future. The sticker price: $41,000.
That cost is higher than some had expected for a vehicle that can go 40 miles on all-electric battery power before an onboard gasoline engine kicks in as a “range extender” for 300 more miles.
Will consumers bite at a car that costs that much? Some assuredly will – at least initially: GM has legions of wannabe Chevy Volt owners in online and dealer waiting lists at almost any price. But what about a year or two from now, when competitors have electric cars on the road, too?
“I do have some questions about the long-term market reaction to that sticker price,” says Bradley Berman, editor and owner of HybridCars.com, which evaluates plug-in vehicles. “But the news is really the lease, which is very attractive.”
Indeed, GM is pushing leasing rather than buying the car. With $2,500 at signing, a three-year Volt lease is $350 per month – making it comparable to the Nissan Leaf, the Volt’s main competitor..
Leasing matters a lot this time around because nobody, not even GM, is sure just how durable or long-lasting the new automotive lithium-ion batteries are going to be. All anyone knows for certain is that they will be costly to replace if they go bad. So a lease deals with that uncertainty – taking the load off the consumer, GM officials say.
For those who want to buy, Uncle Sam is offering a big fat tax credit: $7,500. So the net cost to consumers would be $33,500.
Tags: Battery Power, Chevrolet Volt, Chevy Volt, Competitor, Electric Battery, Electric Cars, Gasoline Engine, General Motors, Gm Officials, Hybrid Electric Car, Lease Deals, Legions, Lithium, Lithium Ion Batteries, Range Extender, Skepticism, Sticker Price, Tax Credit, Uncle Sam, Waiting Lists
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