Read here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Want to buy a GM Volt or Nissan Leaf? Wait a few months and you'll get one really, really cheap on eBay. Of course, if Obama gets gas prices up to his desired level of Europe's gas prices, then eBay Volt/Leaf values may go from "really, really" to just "really."
"...how many Chevy Volts were sold [for February 2011]. The number – a very modest 281.....Nissan doesn't have anything to brag about here, either (and it avoided any mention of the Leaf sales in its press release). Why? Well, back in January, the company sold 87 Leafs. In February? Just 67.....Well, here's the big scorecard for all U.S. sales of these vehicles thus far: Volt: 928, Leaf: 173"
"None the less, the federal government keeps trying. DOE provided Nissan Motors with a $1.4 billion loan to help with the cost of manufacturing the Leaf. If Nissan is convinced that the Leaf is a next generation vehicle, it should be willing to use investor money to demonstrate that, not taxpayer dollars."
"Chevy Volt Gets panned by Consumer Reports. “When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn’t particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it’s not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy.”"
"Officially, the Leaf's range is 100 miles, but that's only in city driving. On a highway, it's less, much less. I got warmings after about 60 miles, and a dead battery at 82. Going 65 mpg to keep up with traffic cut my driving range...Note even if the reporter made it to a charging station, it takes 21 hours to fully recharge the Leaf on 110 volts, and 7 hours on 240 volts."
“While the Volt holds promise, it is currently projected to be much more expensive than its gasoline-fueled peers,” read a Task Force report, “and will likely need substantial reductions in manufacturing cost in order to become commercially viable.”
"The Volt is not a true electric vehicle, it is another form of hybrid, administration gave it the $7.5k credit anyway, which was wrong.....They cost twice as much as equivalent gasoline vehicles. If customers won’t pay an extra 5k for a hybrid that gets 50mpg, why will they pay an extra $15-20k for an electric one?"
"The only real downer with the Volt and other electrics is the effect of cold weather on the battery’s endurance. During my test-drive period the temperature rarely got above 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and the battery range never went higher than 26 miles."
"Lane points to a study from J. D. Power and Associates that says there will be very little demand for electric vehicles over the next decade, even with lucrative federal handouts. If coal produces the electricity that powers the electric vehicle while it runs, the reduction in greenhouse gases is negligible. Other environmental headaches include how to depose of exhausted batteries. The lack of charging infrastructure presents another problem."
"REPORT: Ford Losing Interest in Electric Vehicles."
Previous electric vehicle (EV) postings.