If the Chevrolet Volt was a Toyota - how much of a premium would you pay to own it?

I would not pay much of a premium at all. From what I feel, the Prius came with no-to-very little 'premium'. Although that's not what the anti-Prius articles claimed, still my opinion. The car companies will either make the vehicles we WANT at a price we can AFFORD or they will be sitting on the lot unsold. (We want a cheap electric car and it's in their interest to make one) It's their job. They should do it right. I'm self-employed and do my job without a 'premium'. Now if I were interested in being an early adopter of new technology I may be willing to pay less than $2000 premium, but the tradeoff would be an extended warantee to alieve my trepidation of adopting a new technology. That warantee would have to be, say, 200,000 miles bumper to bumper, and included in the purchase price.

 

$0. I passed on a 2010 Prius because, IMO, it didn't significantly improve FE. My estimate is that the Volt will have a FE between a 2006 & 2010 Prius so I'm not interested in it as a 2nd car. If I have to replace my 2006 then I'm looking for the highest FE midsize hatchback. For a 2nd car I'm waiting for the Model S which seems reasonably priced and should hold its value.

 

Nothing. The hey-look-at-me-because-I'm-saving-the-world-by-driving-a-hybrid image does nothing for me at all. And I realize we're not really calling the Volt a hybrid so much anymore but it still kind of is.

I keep wondering how much money GM is going to waste with this whole - lets call it an extended range electric vehicle thing before it's all over. Simply calling it a hybrid wouldn't be good enough, they have to coin a whole new word or phrase to hype it up even more.

 

"If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."

If the Volt were a Toyota...

then I would have won the Merlin State Lottery and I could buy a Tesla
and keep my Prius to use on the scant few days of inclement weather in
La-La land.

 

None. I don't differentiate between Toyota and Chevy in terms of desirability. I feel the Volt is currently too much money, even given the tax credit. It's brilliant engineering that won't save the average driver any money. I'd not consider it any more if it were a Toyota. For me, it's a bridge too far right now; a leap I'm not yet ready to take. My new Prius 2 is a lot cheaper and more sensible for me at the moment. However, I hope the Volt stays around until GM can get the price down enough to move more of them and increase unaugmented battery range.

 

Nothing.
The manufacturer is not by issue. Pure and simple, the Volt is an extremely limiting niche vehicle that does not fit my niche.

 

I think I'd rather have a Chrysler turbine car.

 

None

 

Jeff, I agree with your entire post almost word for word. In fact over a year ago on a cool Oct. morning, I test drove (4 times and twice more as passenger) the pre-production volt on its cross country tour and then bought my 2010 Prius by the afternoon. Just too much $$$ to justify at my level. I'm glad for those that can as it's a very cool car.

 

I almost took one out but I felt it would be a disservice to the dealer since I knew the price was well above what I was comfortable with. That's why I went with a low-end Prius but I much admire the Volt, especially from the accounts I've read of its seamless powertrain. Someone living in my area (Morris County, NJ) was the first in NJ to take delivery of a Volt from Gearhart Chevrolet in Denville, NJ. I gave it a longing lookover one morning when it was parked at the Gold's Gym in my town. Seems like a good car in search of more buyers. Hopefully, it will find some more soon so it can stay in production long enough to become almost mainstream.

 

The same, maybe a little more.
For me it isn't a Toyota/GM issue. It is who builds the car that allows our family to save the most gasoline while meeting our driving needs.

 

Can I fit all my gear in a Volt?

If no, no chance I would buy one at any price.

 

Yep, there's something about a four door hatchback bodystyle, like the Prius, that make a lot of sense.

 

I was reluctant to ask for a test drive since I had no intention of buying. But the salesman assured me that they wanted people to drive the car, regardless. Even if you won't buy, you will tell people about your experience. So I was wrong to be reluctant.

Of course, it helped that I gave rides in my Roadster to three of their salespeople. Still, tell them you are just curious, not going to buy, too expensive, don't need a car now; and see if they still offer you a test drive.

On topic:

Three years ago I'd have paid $50,000 for the Volt. I wanted to be driving electric, and before I bought the Xebra, my EV range in the Prius was about half a mile, and all of that was ultimately gasoline powered. I wanted to be able to drive electric to Coeur d'Alene and back, which the Volt cannot do from here, but with the range-extender I'd be able to make the drive mostly electric. It wouldn't have mattered whether it was GM or Toyota, though I'd have been happier and more comfortable with Toyota quality.

Two years ago I think I'd have paid your suggested $5,000 over the Prius. My Xebra was working beautifully for me, but I could not make the trip to C d'A in it, and that would have been worth it. Again, regardless of who built it, though I'd be happier with Toyota.

Now, I'm not interested in the REEV concept, so I will not buy either a Volt or a PiP as long as my 2004 Prius remains reliable. Again, doesn't matter who builds it. If something happens to my Prius, I'd probably buy another regular Prius. The PiP has no value to me when I'd only use it for road trips. That 15-mile EV range is meaningless on longer drives.

Maybe I'd pay $5,000 more if the car I did want was built by Toyota as compared to GM, because of my perception of the value of quality. Except that now I do own the two cars I want. And the car I might some day trade my Roadster for (when I can no longer get in and out of it due to age and arthritis) is about to be made by Tesla, not Toyota or GM.