I did this on Saturday. It's only been 48 hours, but so far I am super excited. An EV is not for everyone, but it works for me right now.
it all depends on conditions. My friend who has one gets between 80-100 depending. My onboard calculator pins me at about 80 on a 95% charge. Yesterday I drove about 65 miles and it took me down to 29%. But it's super new and hasn't really calibrated yet. I don't have a fancy charger, I just use the 120V home trickle charger that comes with it. Last night I charged from 29% to 93% in about 9 hours while I slept. Supposedly, if you drain it all the way, it will take 20hours to charge fully on the regular house plug. If I buy a 240V charger (which I may do at some point) it takes about 4-6 hours. I'm also working on getting my employer to install a charger in the parking lot. We'll see if he bites.
We were looking at a Volt for a bit, but settled on a Prius. Our neighbor has a Volt, and there was a 100% tax-credit to install the faster charger. I wonder if that's available for you. I'm not sure if it was a state or Federal credit. My neighbor was also leasing. He said the sales person suggested leasing over buying, as the expectation is that the range will significantly increase over the next few years, and that will hurt resale of EVs. Also, what kind of credit is available for leasing?
Did you test drive the volt? Did you like it? Why did you choose Prius > Volt? I'm so sick of my 11 mpg Explorer piece of shit. I've heard the same about leasing over buying for now. The leasing offer here is about $260/month and considering I spend $180/month on gas, it's making a lot of sense. I just have to figure out how to run a cable from my apartment. There is an outlet outside so as long as I don't get caught, I could not even pay for the electricity. :P
This is exactly why I did it. My numbers are a bit different, but in the end - it just made a ton of sense for me. As long as you have access to another car for road trips (yours, friend's family's, rental, etc) then the EV is only going to get more appealing.The leasing offer here is about $260/month and considering I spend $180/month on gas
I am definitely lucky to have a family who would be willing to swap cars for a few days if I needed to take a long drive. Although one of the major advantages of the Volt is that you have gas as a backup.
Yes, it's really nice to drive. Better than the Prius really. We chose the Prius for two reasons: 1) our 80 mile round trip to work was too close to the Volt range (any detour could strand us), and 2) the Volt only seats 4 and has little storage. With a 20 month old, we need the space. The Volt is a nicer car, however. Still, the Prius saves us money. I filled up today. It was $30. I do that about once a week. Our previous car was 1.5 times per week, and each fill up was about $50.Did you test drive the volt? Did you like it? Why did you choose Prius > Volt? I'm so sick of my 11 mpg Explorer piece of shit.
Good shit. My work right now is only 10 miles from me so it would work nicely. Plus, in CA you don't get an HOV sticker for a Prius but you can for electric. It's a nice incentive, especially since the 10 mile LA morning commute can be about an hour.
The federal 7500 still happens, which makes the lease super affordable. The state I live in has a really appealing credit, but I'm not sure if/how it will affect me on the lease. The Volt is really, really nice. And I think the prius as a plug-in would be pretty sweet. I'm still looking into the charger options. SO EXCITING. It feels a little like the future.