Volt Pricing

Not sure how new this info is, but Bob has said “Lutz said the first-generation Volt will retail for about $40,000 and generate no profit for GM. The company hopes to make money as it rolls out later versions of the vehicle and other plug-in models.”
Link to article.
http://gm-volt.com/2008/06/18/lutz-40000-is-breakeven-price-for-the-chevy-volt-and-first-generation-will-not-make-money-for-gm/

What are your thoughts on the pricing? fair? too much? think it may hurt GM if what Bob says is true?

I wonder if that is no profit when considering paying for their R&D costs, which are no doubt massive right now, or if that's just taking into consideration everything but R&D.

Not sure how new this info is, but Bob has said
Link to article.
http://gm-volt.com/2008/06/18/lutz-40000-is-breakeven-price-for-the-chevy-volt-and-first-generation-will-not-make-money-for-gm/

What are your thoughts on the pricing? fair? too much? think it may hurt GM if what Bob says is true?

Fair? Not enough info to know that. It would be a fair price if it's quality/features are inline with other $40,000 cars.

I look at it in terms of how much you spend in fuel costs for a Volt compared to a....I'll use a Malibu.

Say you buy a Malibu for $25,000. And you use 7,500 dollars worth of fuel over a 5-year span (1500 a year in fuel). Add that 7500; you spend 31,500 for 5 years of ownership.

Now buy a Volt for 40k, and say you only spend 300 dollars in fuel every year for 5 years (less if you don't drive over 40 miles a day). That's a savings of 6000 over 5 years; so you'd spend the Volt's cost of owership would be about $34,000.

$2500 difference is not a big deal. Plus this will diminish to nothing, and the Volt will actually start paying for itself in the 6th year of ownership. Also consider that, like an ipod or a cell phone, this is brand new technology -- so it's going to be a on the expensive side at first. AND consider that you're using a fraction of the amount of oil/gas a normal car uses....

A $40,000 pricetag is unfortunate because at face value, it seems like it's a lot more expensive than a regular car. But I think the car is priced VERY fairly, and I'd buy one if I wasn't getting a Camaro :p.

I guess $40,000 from GM is better than $30,000 from GM with a $10,000 dealer markup. Good thing they are not being sold as Pontiac's.

Fair? Not enough info to know that. It would be a fair price if it's quality/features are inline with other $40,000 cars.

You mean like the ability to drive only on electric and never buy gasoline again? The only other car close to having this is what comes from Tesla and they only have the $100,000 car and a $60,000-$75,000 car coming out in late 2010.

I look at it in terms of how much you spend in fuel costs for a Volt compared to a....I'll use a Malibu.

Say you buy a Malibu for 25,000. And you use 7,500 dollars worth of fuel over a 5-year span (1500 a year in fuel). Add that 7500; you spend 31,500 for 5 years of ownership.

Now buy a Volt for 40k, and say you only spend 300 dollars in fuel every year for 5 years (less if you don't drive over 40 miles a day). That's a savings of 6000 over 5 years; so the Volt's cost of owership would be about $34,000.

$2500 difference is not a big deal. Plus this will diminish to nothing, and the Volt will actually start paying for itself in the 6th year of ownership. Also consider that, like an ipod or a cell phone, this is brand new technology -- so it's going to be a on the expensive side at first. AND consider that you're using a fraction of the amount of oil a normal car uses....

A $40,000 pricetag is unfortunate because at face value, it seems like it's a lot more expensive than a regular car. But I think the car is priced VERY fairly, and I'd buy one if I wasn't getting a Camaro :p.

Lets not forget depreciation. 2008 base Ford Escape Hybrids are already showing zero depreciation after 20,000mi. If gas is $5+ in 2010 Volt will be the same way.

You mean like the ability to drive only on electric and never buy gasoline again? The only other car close to having this is what comes from Tesla and they only have the $100,000 car and a $60,000-$75,000 car coming out in late 2010.The Volt won't do that either. Its not an electric car like the Tesla, but a different type of hybrid. If you only drive 40 miles a day, you could consider it an electric car. :D

You mean like the ability to drive only on electric and never buy gasoline again?

Nope. If it's going to be a success people will need to see it as a car that gives them all the creature comferts they are used to for the price. Otherwise it won't sell.

I look at it in terms of how much you spend in fuel costs for a Volt compared to a....I'll use a Malibu.

Say you buy a Malibu for $25,000. And you use 7,500 dollars worth of fuel over a 5-year span (1500 a year in fuel). Add that 7500; you spend 31,500 for 5 years of ownership.

Now buy a Volt for 40k, and say you only spend 300 dollars in fuel every year for 5 years (less if you don't drive over 40 miles a day). That's a savings of 6000 over 5 years; so you'd spend the Volt's cost of owership would be about $34,000.

$2500 difference is not a big deal. Plus this will diminish to nothing, and the Volt will actually start paying for itself in the 6th year of ownership. Also consider that, like an ipod or a cell phone, this is brand new technology -- so it's going to be a on the expensive side at first. AND consider that you're using a fraction of the amount of oil/gas a normal car uses....

A $40,000 pricetag is unfortunate because at face value, it seems like it's a lot more expensive than a regular car. But I think the car is priced VERY fairly, and I'd buy one if I wasn't getting a Camaro :p.

You are doing the math wrong. You are charging 7500 to the Malibu's cost of ownership but then for some reason crediting the difference to the Volt's cost. If you're saying the Malibu is 25k+7.5k= 32.5k... then the Volt would be 40k + 1.5k = 41.5k. Making the difference between the two cars based on your method of thinking, 9k instead of 2.5k.

Granted as was already mentioned you have to also consider resale value... almost without a doubt unless the Volt develops a reputation as a maintenance nightmare or something, it will be worth quite a bit more than the Malibu after 5 years.

The Volt very well might also be a nicer and/or more fun to drive car. The novelty value at the very least must be worth something!:D

So I still agree with your conclusion... despite the Volt costing $15k more than a Malibu up front, you could still easily make a case for its actual cost and value.

Depends how much you drive.

If you drive ~40 miles per day, 7 days a week...that's over 14k miles per year.

@ $5/gallon (gas will likely cost this much by the time Volt is out, maybe more)...your malibu (assuming a 27mpg average...I didn't look up actual numbers) will run you $2,700/year in gas.

The volt will run you close to zero (electric will cost you something, probably on the order of $20-40/month). So let's say $480/year.

Over 5 years that's $5,400 in gas for malibu, $2,400 in electricity (or maybe some gasoline too) for the volt.

Still doesn't make sense, especially not for $40k. However, the price of the car will go down as demand increases and batteries become more common place (wel, i hope it will). For $25k it would be well worht it...particularly if gasoline were say $8/gallon.


EDIT: If I was wealthy I'd buy a volt even if it didn't make sense, just so I could avoid using gas. I think there will be peopel who buy it just like people bought the Prius...whether it makes economic sense or not. To them it's like giving the finger to big oil, or if nothing else just to be the first guy on the block with one.

I wonder if that is no profit when considering paying for their R&D costs, which are no doubt massive right now, or if that's just taking into consideration everything but R&D.

ED&T costs, along with tooling, are going to be heavily dependant on volume - and if you burden the first few units with those costs (despite the fact that the knowledge can be re-used on future programs), you can start making the business case look very, very ugly.

Separating out those costs, the Volt has two major problems ahead of it - the cost of the pack (at any volume), and the cost of components at such a low starting volume.

@ $5/gallon (gas will likely cost this much by the time Volt is out, maybe more)...your malibu (assuming a 27mpg average...I didn't look up actual numbers) will run you $2,700/year in gas.

The volt will run you close to zero (electric will cost you something, probably on the order of $20-40/month). So let's say $480/year.

Over 5 years that's $5,400 in gas for malibu, $2,400 in electricity (or maybe some gasoline too) for the volt.

Math, math, math... :)

If annually the cost of gas for the Malibu is $2700, then the cost over 5 years is $13,500. The cost of electricity for the Volt is $2400. So in 5 years time, you spend $11,100 on gas in the Malibu that you wouldn't have spent on the Volt.

Math, math, math... :)

If annually the cost of gas for the Malibu is $2700, then the cost over 5 years is $13,500. The cost of electricity for the Volt is $2400. So in 5 years time, you spend $11,100 on gas in the Malibu that you wouldn't have spent on the Volt.

Oh crap, the "2" key is right under the "5" on the keypad...i multipled by 2 instead of 5 for the malibu.
Good catch. I set out to prove the Volt could be economical @ $5/gal...then halfway through my post I went "well crap, this still doesn't make sense" :lol:

Math, math, math... :)

If annually the cost of gas for the Malibu is $2700, then the cost over 5 years is $13,500. The cost of electricity for the Volt is $2400. So in 5 years time, you spend $11,100 on gas in the Malibu that you wouldn't have spent on the Volt.

This is where things get interesting. If you take an assumed cost of $1300/kWh for an automotive lithium-ion pack, then the Volt will carry about $20,000 just in its pack. Assume that it lasts for 10 years and 100,000 miles (40 miles per day, 250 days per year). Ignoring electricity costs for recharging the Volt, it'll take 10 years to pay for the Volt's pack.

would your electric bill go up from plugging your car in every night?

Are you asking seriously, or are you being sarcastic?

In case you're serious...anything that uses electricity will increase your electric bill - you are getting charged on what you use which is determined based on your meter reading.

Your computer, probably will use mroe electricity.

Based on no scientific study whatsoever.

Your computer, probably will use mroe electricity.

Based on no scientific study whatsoever.

I promise the volt will use far more energy than your personal computer, unless you leave your computer on 24x7 running benchmarking software and only drive 1,000 feet per day.

Your computer, probably will use mroe electricity.

Based on no scientific study whatsoever.

Then go do the study. The Volt will use about 8kWh during a 40-mile drive. That's enough electricity to run a desktop computer for about 65 hours, based on a consumption of 120W (this doesn't factor in any use of standby mode). Engage your brain once in a while, 'k?

a 25K Prius..or a 40K Volt..

Sorry GM just priced itself outside of the uniformed treehugger community..Sorry to say but I would say 90% of the go green population will go "I can do the same thing with a prius for 15K less" even if it is not the same..to them it is..this is GM's direct competition AND the people they are trying to get in the seat..and not to mention Toyota is brining out thier own plug in electric car..and guess what the targer price will be below 40K..

This cars is going to fail and fail big time..

^^^I agree

I have high hopes for this car and really want it to make a market inpact. $40K is a bit steep though, and the target market who are trying to save money by not consuming as much gas won't go for the high price IMO. I doubt the majority of people will look at long-term savings, especially over the period of 5 years, when faced with a high up-front cost.

Hopefully I'm wrong.

I suspect that the Volt will only be available as a lease, at least at first. Probably only a three-year lease at that.

a 25K Prius..or a 40K Volt..

Toyota and the DOE both have stated that something like the Prius makes more sense if gas is less than $10/gallon. Fuel has to get damn expensive - or unavailable - for long-range plug-ins to make economic sense.

So, where's gas going in the next three years? You can see where some companies are placing their bets.

ohh I know that Eric..but I am talking about the people that practically recycle thier bathwater cus a magazine said so..these people just see the "trendy" eco thing to buy and at a good price..and that trickles down to the just "trendy" people that want to look like they give a crap about the enviroment..making a statement..and a Prius is the big rolling billboard of me too's..Prius is a hot selling car not for its great read in what it can and can't do its selling because people think they are buying the greenest car out there..at a great price..

Then go do the study. The Volt will use about 8kWh during a 40-mile drive. That's enough electricity to run a desktop computer for about 65 hours, based on a consumption of 120W (this doesn't factor in any use of standby mode). Engage your brain once in a while, 'k?

120W is kinda low don't you think? More like 250-400. My machine uses 312 just idling with the 2 19" LCD monitors and powered bookshelf Speakers. It does have 10 hard drives attached to it, but since they are just spinning, they aren't using that much power.
At 80-100% load playing a game, it uses 390watts.

Prius is a hot selling car not for its great read in what it can and can't do its selling because people think they are buying the greenest car out there..at a great price..

Regards for the well-publicized reasons that some highly-visible people have bought the Prius, it really is quite an appropriate car for many households. Toyota's done a fine job with it, and despite the technological superiority of the Two Mode (which addresses the HSD's efficiency problems at highway speeds), GM has yet to find any traction with buyers.

120W is kinda low don't you think? More like 250-400. My machine uses 312 just idling with the 2 19" LCD monitors and powered bookshelf Speakers. It does have 10 hard drives attached to it, but since they are just spinning, they aren't using that much power.
At 80-100% load playing a game, it uses 390watts.

Uh, not exactly a typical system, wouldn't you say? The extra monitor itself probably uses 75-100W.

We can go in the other direction and look at the average consumption of a laptop (which is what I use 100% of the time), which is in the neighborhood of 20-40W.

a 25K Prius..or a 40K Volt..

Sorry GM just priced itself outside of the uniformed treehugger community..Sorry to say but I would say 90% of the go green population will go "I can do the same thing with a prius for 15K less" even if it is not the same..to them it is..this is GM's direct competition AND the people they are trying to get in the seat..and not to mention Toyota is brining out thier own plug in electric car..and guess what the targer price will be below 40K..

This cars is going to fail and fail big time..

Treehuggers aren't as misinformed, imo. It will spread that the car is a plugin hybrid, and Prius is not.

I'd like to see what plug-in hybrids will cost from other automakers first. Wasn there a rumor that Toyota lost money on every Prius initially?

ohh I know that Eric..but I am talking about the people that practically recycle thier bathwater cus a magazine said so..these people just see the "trendy" eco thing to buy and at a good price..

When gas is $10/gallon, those aren't the people Chevy will be relying on to sell this vehicle. Hell, even at $6/gallon...there will be prestigious people who want to be the first to own it just for the "I had it first" factor.

People will buy it for coolness factor...just like people buy exotics, hummers, ultra luxury cars etc. All these vehicles have things they don't need, and likely features/utility they will rarely or never use. But they still sell.

You are doing the math wrong. You are charging 7500 to the Malibu's cost of ownership but then for some reason crediting the difference to the Volt's cost. If you're saying the Malibu is 25k+7.5k= 32.5k... then the Volt would be 40k + 1.5k = 41.5k. Making the difference between the two cars based on your method of thinking, 9k instead of 2.5k.

...it's kinda quirky thinking. I was comparing the two; you're NOT paying into the Volt what you would otherwise be paying into a normal vehicle for fuel...that's why I was discounting the Volt the way I did. Money that would otherwise be going towards fuel costs of a normal car are instead going towards the Volt's car payments (ideally). Kinda like trading in a car, but your getting it's value over period of time as opposed to up front. It's fuzzy...but I think it makes sense.

:think: And to think I always hated math class...now I'm trying to prove something with it - go figure.:p

how will the volt not be successful?? the volt will attract buyers that drive less than 40 miles each day. you're going to see tons of volts in urban areas. the volt will be the new gotta to have car of 2010. all of the tree hugging hollywood folk will drive this car. i bet fidy cent will throw 20's on his volt (he is die hard gm). 40k isnt too bad for a plug in hybrid but the volt better have a good list of standard features and cts quality interior.

texas..that is what I am afraid of...if it does not and it looks bad inside..

As I said in another thread a few weeks back. My dealer is telling me $50k. So maybe its $40k plus $10k for the dealer mark-up. (Although my dealer claims they won't sell any car for over MSRP.)

...it's kinda quirky thinking. I was comparing the two; you're NOT paying into the Volt what you would otherwise be paying into a normal vehicle for fuel...that's why I was discounting the Volt the way I did. Money that would otherwise be going towards fuel costs of a normal car are instead going towards the Volt's car payments (ideally). Kinda like trading in a car, but your getting it's value over period of time as opposed to up front. It's fuzzy...but I think it makes sense.

:think: And to think I always hated math class...now I'm trying to prove something with it - go figure.:p

It's not quirky thinking... it's wrong thinking.:p

You can't charge 7500 in gas costs to the ownership costs of the malibu and then not charge the gas/electricity costs to the Volt the same way. If you want to 'credit' the volt for what it doesn't use relative to the Malibu, then you would not 'charge' anything to the Malibu. So you're either going to compare 25k to 34k or 32.5 to 41.5k but comparing 32.5k to 34k is not a balanced equation.

I'm not trying to be an ass... just giving you a hard time and trying to explain to you why the Volt isn't quite as good of a deal as you might be thinking.

It's not quirky thinking... it's wrong thinking.:p

You can't charge 7500 in gas costs to the ownership costs of the malibu and then not charge the gas/electricity costs to the Volt the same way. If you want to 'credit' the volt for what it doesn't use relative to the Malibu, then you would not 'charge' anything to the Malibu. So you're either going to compare 25k to 34k or 32.5 to 41.5k but comparing 32.5k to 34k is not a balanced equation.

I'm not trying to be an ass... just giving you a hard time and trying to explain to you why the Volt isn't quite as good of a deal as you might be thinking.
No assiness detected. :p (Hope I'm coming off the same way:))

I was charging gas costs to the Volt (I wasn't going to get into the electricity side of things). That's why I only deducted $1200 as opposed to $1500. I took into account a $300 cost in gasoline to fuel the range-extender. But that $1200 difference would otherwise be going towards the fuel costs in a Malibu -- instead it could be used to pay off the Volt.

I do see what you're getting at, just so you know -- it's not wrong. But you're charging fuel costs to the Malibu and Volt, regardless of their differences and ending up with the final amount of money the owner puts INTO the car; doing that assumes that the owner is going to pockets the fuel savings, or ignore them. I'm assuming that the owner puts those fuel savings directly back into paying off the Volt. And really, either way when you think about it, the money's going to pay off the Volt. Directly, or indirectly.

[QUOTE=Caps94ZODG;5437886]texas..that is what I am afraid of...if it does not and it looks bad inside..[/QUOTE

the quality control of the volt will make or break it.

If your #1 goal is to spend as little money as possible to get from A to B then you can't beat a used Focus or Cobalt.

If your goal is to consume almost no gasoline then Chevy Volt and Tesla are about your only choices.

No assiness detected. :p (Hope I'm coming off the same way:))

I was charging gas costs to the Volt (I wasn't going to get into the electricity side of things). That's why I only deducted $1200 as opposed to $1500. I took into account a $300 cost in gasoline to fuel the range-extender. But that $1200 difference would otherwise be going towards the fuel costs in a Malibu -- instead it could be used to pay off the Volt.

I do see what you're getting at, just so you know -- it's not wrong. But you're charging fuel costs to the Malibu and Volt, regardless of their differences and ending up with the final amount of money the owner puts INTO the car; doing that assumes that the owner is going to pockets the fuel savings, or ignore them. I'm assuming that the owner puts those fuel savings directly back into paying off the Volt. And really, either way when you think about it, the money's going to pay off the Volt. Directly, or indirectly.

We can tell that you didn't like math class. This sounds like the math a dealer uses to convince you that you can afford a car you can't. You HAVE to use the same method for calculating the cost of ownership for both cars.

I don't agree with using 5 years as the time period for comparison either. I'd cost both out for the average # of miles that a vehicle sees before being junked. By doing this, you don't have to guess at resale value. It truely becomes and individually determined costing because you have to factor in the % of miles that are driven off of plug-in electric power versus miles driven off of gasoline generated electric power.
And you certainly CAN NOT ignore the cost of electricity! It isn't free!

Here's my math:
$30,000 Volt might sell 100,000 units.
$3,000,000,000
$40,000 MIGHT sell 10,000 units. ( i bet a dollar they cant sell 1 over 7500)
$400,000,000

Just a guess though.

Here's my math:
$30,000 Volt might sell 100,000 units.
$3,000,000,000
$40,000 MIGHT sell 10,000 units. ( i bet a dollar they cant sell 1 over 7500)
$400,000,000

Just a guess though.

Yah, but can they possibly source enough batteries to produce 100,000 units? I doubt that's possibly for at least the first 1-2 years of production.

Good point.

Blah blah blah
I see what you're trying to do, but it's wrong. Threxx's comparison is the only fair (not to mention that it's correct) way to do it.

If your #1 goal is to spend as little money as possible to get from A to B then you can't beat a used Focus or Cobalt.

Um, neither Cobalt nor Focus has been around long enough for that to be true.

Buy a $1500 beater that gets 30+ mpg. An early 90's Saturn SC is a good choice. Drive it into the ground. When you encounter a repair that costs more than the car is worth, junk it and repeat.

That's by far the best way to spend as little money as possible (while still actually purchasing a car).

I see what you're trying to do, but it's wrong. Threxx's comparison is the only fair (not to mention that it's correct) way to do it.

Why?:think: It's not taking into account the primary advantage of the Volt over a 'normal' car: The money that is *not* spent on gas. Does that just disappear? You have to take account for it, and that's the only difference between what Threxx and I am saying.

EDIT: I'm gonna revamp everything I said tonight, when I have the time to sit down and do it. I'll take into account everything I didn't the first time. And I'll do it Threxx's way, too.

Yah, but can they possibly source enough batteries to produce 100,000 units? I doubt that's possibly for at least the first 1-2 years of production.

LG Chem (Compact Power) might be able to pull it off, considering the huge number of batteries that they already produce for the portable electronics industry. The cells aren't the same, but I assume that they would be processed in a similar fashion.

A123 has a huge new plant in China - not sure what the capacity is, but it's probably rather substantial.

Regardless, no one in the battery industry sees GM building any substantial number of these vehicles until 2015 at the earliest.

Why?

Because you can't subtract money not spent from the cost of something. It was never there to begin with. The savings is already present via its absence.

Because you can't subtract money not spent from the cost of something. It was never there to begin with. The savings is already present via its absence.
Okay, here goes.

First off, I want to apologize for arguing...I was making a mistake, but didn't see it until I started writing this stuff down.:bang:

I'm going to do everything from here on out based in *total cost (monthly cost)* format. That's what showed me where I was going wrong.

So let's start over:
$25,000 ($417.00) Malibu v. $40,000 ($667.00) Volt. (is it okay if we ignore interest, delivery, etc for now?)

The Volt's battery pack is said to be a 16Kw/h unit. And GM wants the computer to only allow a 50% drain before turning on the range-extender. So that's 8kw/h of power to go 40miles. Taken from: GM-Volt.com (http://gm-volt.com/2007/08/14/what-will-it-cost-to-drive-a-chevy-volt/)
I'm using an arbitrary $0.15 per Kw/h. At that rate it will cost $1.20 to "fill up" per night. Assume that the owner drives a total of 11,000 miles a year (me). Also assume that he/she can take advantage of the less than 40-mile per day clause. Trust me, it sounds idealistic -- but it all works out in the end. Using the above parameters; the Volt owner will only need to spend $330 ($27.50) in 'fuel'.

Now, the Malibu is much easier, :p. At an average of 27mpg, the Malibu will get an approx. of 400miles on a tank before you'll need to fill 'er back up.(who actually runs the tank dry at the station??). So, leaving a gallon and a half of fuel in there (40mi. range), you'll need to pay for 15 gallons. That turns out costing you $61.5 per tank. Again, assuming an 11,000 miles driven, that equates to $1690.00 ($140.80) in gasoline.

Now, this is where I was screwing up. I was deducting the fuel savings of the Volt the wrong way. It's already factored in, but I couldn't actually SEE it, so I did it again. My bad, and again -- sorry!:(

Malibu
$417 + $140.80 = $557.80 per month.

Volt
$667 + $27.50 = $694.50 per month.

Over the first 5 years (assuming that gasoline stays at $4.10...laughable), you will pay $163.70 more every month, to own the Volt. That's a $8202 Premium to own the Volt over the course of the payment plan. But after the first 60 months is where it gets interesting. Because at the 10 year mark, that premium will decrease to a mere $1404 thanks to the fuel savings. But chances are, GM's going to improve the Volt significantly every year (better range/lower price/etc), so I can't see anyone besides collectors owning this car for 10 years.

Take into account a $7500 rebate from the feds, and the car will pay for itself after 6 years. Or if gas goes up, then this whole process will be accelerated.

But the bottom line is that a $40,000 Volt is only good for displacing petroleum usage. And to do that, you (right now) have to pay a pretty penny. It won't make any sense for a buyer looking to reduce his/her automobile costs.

Did I do it right, now? No silly subtractions, no "quirky-thinking" :p.

Well...so much for getting a Volt as my first-ever new car.

My example: 14,000 miles per year for 5 years.
Malibu (4-cylinder/6 speed) avg. 30 mpg/purchase price of $25,000
Volt purchase price of $40,000
With a 20% down payment and 60-month financing @ 6%:
Malibu $28,220 ($23,220 + $5,000 down payment)
Volt $45,140 ($37,140 + $8,000 down payment)
Gas for Malibu over 60 months (assuming 14,000 miles per year, 30 mpg and $4/gallon):
$9,335
Electricity for Volt (assuming .10 per Kwh, 8 Kwh consumption for 40 miles, 14,000 miles per year):
$1,400

Total cost for Malibu: $37,555
Total cost for Volt: $46,540

If you increase the down payment on the Volt by $7,000 (possible tax credit) the Volt cost would drop to $38,380, part of which is less interest paid from smaller financed amount. With a $7,000 tax credit, it makes it pretty close, cost-wise, over 5 year period. Of course, this assumes you are using no gasoline at all in the Volt (unlikely). And after they are both paid for, the Volt would cost $132 per month less to operate (assuming $4 gas and .10 Kwh electricity).