Drew Dowdell

After driving the Volt for a week, my answer is easy.. and it's already being discussed as a future purchase we like it that much.

Adequete? In most of their refreshed models they at least exceed many of the market leaders. The Avenger may not be there yet, but in upper trims the 200 certainly is. What SUV has a vastly better interior than the Jeep Grand Cherokee or the Dodge Durango? I'll gush over the 300c again. It could very well end up in my driveway... and you know how I felt about the last one.

If your goal is purely least cost per mile, you're better off looking at a low mileage 2008 Cobalt XFE rather than anything new.

First: It was the Terrain. Second: It was a comment about inconsistent quality between two models from the same production line from the same manufacturer. Perfectly valid to talk about given GM's history there. Third: It had nothing to do with styling.

After driving a Volt for a few days.... I can tell you.

Looking at these interiors, only the Fisker, the Jaguar, and the Porsche look compelling enough to get me to consider spending $50,000 more than a n STS. From a visual design perspective, none of them are much more imaginative than the first RWD STS.

the.... flat... lower portion... of the dash.... looks ..... unimaginative? wtf? Are you mad that the bottom of the cupholder doesn't have some swirly design in it too? What is imaginative about the flat lower portion of any of the dashboards that DF posted? Look at the passenger side of the dash on the S-class.... what is that? an '01 Malibu?!?

Waaaait a mullet!! Those are GM steering wheel buttons just on swapped sides!

There is a local Security System installer here near me who used to have a fleet of Saturn LS wagons, started replacing them with HHR Panel vans and just recently added two Transit connects. A Granite could be a useful little contractor vehicle. I think it's the most likely successor to the HHR.

Are you just making up numbers again?

"Sport" isn't always about doing in a straight line. I could put a 455 in my Toronado and it wouldn't make it a sports coupe.

Found on Ebay: 1973 Chevrolet Caprice 4-door Hardtop We find a 1973 Chevrolet Caprice 4-door hard top on e-bay with the starting bid of $5,500. This black bomber is in immaculate condition with just 31,000 miles on the 400 cubic inch V8. It's been repainted in it's original color and the A/C still works.

Only drove 11.5 miles today. No gasoline used.

This falls in rather nicely with our article earlier about the Crossover shakeup coming to GMC where the Acadia and Terrain are getting downsized.

The 2011 Charger gets a hint of that. as does the Challenger

To be fair, the Volt chassis is based on the same platform as the Cruze, which is in the compact class. Compact cars really aren't meant for non-compact people. *cue Reg ranting about rear seat room in Cruze and how wonderful the rear seat room in the Hyundai _______ is for the same money while ignoring all the other interior foibles*

I don't think diesels are un-fun at all... but it will require a strong marketing campaign by GM and I'm not sure they have the capability of that yet.

Finally... someone brings back the push button transmission selector.

Huh? Can you post a picture example? I can't think of what you're describing.

I'm not sure it is something I'll even be able to notice on the bill as I'll only have the car for a week. FromWikipedia entry on the Chevy Volt: To extend the battery's life span, GM plans to station charge the lithium-ion battery to a SoC of approximately 90%. Then, once the battery depletes to a low set-point (ca. 25%), the on-board ICE powered generator maintains the state of charge between the lower setpoint and an upper set-point above the 30% SoC level (see figure 5 of reference[2]). So, its charge state actually varies between 25% SoC and 90% SoC. This translates to the following analysis of battery capacity: theoretical capacity 100% 16.0 kW·h (not realized under normal conditions) highest recharged level 90% 14.4 kW·h (after being plugged in) charge sustaining level 25% 4.0 kW·h (after ~40 miles of driving) Empty 0% 0.0 kW·h (not realized under normal conditions) My total utility charge for electricity is about 13.25 cents per kWh. Which means that every full charge will cost me $1.378 = ( (Highest recharge level - charge sustaining level) * cost per kWh) After one week, it would cause my electric bill to fluctuate by only $9. My Bill already fluctuates by more than that, so any change will likely get lost in the noise. I'll try to remember to post any difference in my next bill, but I doubt there will be any noticeable difference. Keep in mind that recharging the Volt from empty is equal to running one of those 1000 watt oil filled space heaters for about 10 hours a day.

Update on day 2 with the Volt: After sitting on the charger for 3 hours, Albert and I leave to go to his brother's house for his niece's birthday party. In those 3 hours of charging, the EV range has moved from 1 mile range to 9 miles range. His brother's house is 8 miles away, so I expect we'll be back into regen mode by the time we get there. Thanks to the topology of Pittsburgh, most of the trip to his brother's is downhill. When we arrive, EV range is listed as 6 miles. The regenerator never kicked on. Coming back, we managed to make it all but the last 1.5 miles without using the regenerator. We used 0.1 gallons of gas for the entire 48 miles we traveled today for an effective rate of 480 mpg. If we had the 220 volt charger installed in the house, that 3 hour charge time would have brought the Volt a 3/4 full charge and we wouldn't have used any gasoline at all for the day. 48.0 miles traveled 46.4 EV miles 0.1 gallons of gasoline used

not that it hasn't been done already.....

Remember guys. This is just version 1.0 for the Voltec. As the technology continues to grow, it will filter into other models. Electric gives awesome low end torque. It would work very well as a sporty car.

For those is you who have run it for a while; How often do you maintain your K&N?

Just a reminder that all entries need to be in by the 28th.