Twice in the last 3 months we've spent a week without electricity, once when hurricane Irine hit in August, and again in Oct when we got a very early snow storm that took down a lot of trees.
Both time is took eight days for JCP&L to restore power, we are the last house on our street serviced by JCP&L, our neighbors get their electricity from PSE&G and were back after only a day or two each time.
During those weeks the Volt preformed great, we didn't plug it in and only got 40mpg but it drove for 500+ miles without electricity when we needed it. We even used the built in DVD player to watch movies, and the USB plug to charge our phones.
The Volt is literally two cars in one, an electric car for great fuel economy and a gas car when needed, if only it could be a electric generator to power our house when the power is out.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
240 Volt Charger installed
Last week I got my 240 Volt 16A Voltec charger installed at my new house, it was a fairly painless process, just needed to run wires from one side of the Garage to the other. for the last 2 months I've been using the 110v charger, and for the most part I found 110v to be all I really needed. With the 110v charger it takes 10 hours to charge the Volt from 0 charge to full, and there were only a few times when this wasnt enough, and I could have used a faster charge.
The Volt's 230v 16A charger takes 4 hours to charge the Volt to full, and while I used it for 3 months at my old house, I'm not convinced its really that useful. Generally I'm either at home for a long time in which case the 10 hours for a 110v charge is good enough, or I'm only home for an hour or two, in which case the 240V 16A charger isnt enough. I hope the next generation Volt will have a 32A charger option, with that the Volt would be fully charged in 2 hours.
So why didnt GM make the Volt compatible with 32A chargers from the start, well for few reasons, cost a 32amp charger built into the Volt would be more expensive. battery life, GM stated higher speed charging reduces the batteries life expectancy and they want these batteries to last for 8 to 10 years with minimal degridation. Volt's gas engine, the Volt doesnt need electricity to opperate, it can run just as well on gas although it is cheaper to run it on electricity, so fast recharging isnt as nesiccary with the Volt as it would be with an all electric. Drain on the electric grid, Anti-electric car advocates preach that america's electric grid cant handle electric cars, and while thats just false electric cars charging at very high Amperages can put a load on the local nieborhood's power, but the Volt's fairly low power requirements makes this a none issue, a house with an electric heater, dryer or oven draws as much or more electricity then the Volt.
The Volt's 230v 16A charger takes 4 hours to charge the Volt to full, and while I used it for 3 months at my old house, I'm not convinced its really that useful. Generally I'm either at home for a long time in which case the 10 hours for a 110v charge is good enough, or I'm only home for an hour or two, in which case the 240V 16A charger isnt enough. I hope the next generation Volt will have a 32A charger option, with that the Volt would be fully charged in 2 hours.
So why didnt GM make the Volt compatible with 32A chargers from the start, well for few reasons, cost a 32amp charger built into the Volt would be more expensive. battery life, GM stated higher speed charging reduces the batteries life expectancy and they want these batteries to last for 8 to 10 years with minimal degridation. Volt's gas engine, the Volt doesnt need electricity to opperate, it can run just as well on gas although it is cheaper to run it on electricity, so fast recharging isnt as nesiccary with the Volt as it would be with an all electric. Drain on the electric grid, Anti-electric car advocates preach that america's electric grid cant handle electric cars, and while thats just false electric cars charging at very high Amperages can put a load on the local nieborhood's power, but the Volt's fairly low power requirements makes this a none issue, a house with an electric heater, dryer or oven draws as much or more electricity then the Volt.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Driving Unplugged the Volt's Gas Anxiety
I sold my house, took about 9 months but finally sold. Unfortunately the there were problems in closing on the House we are buying, and things have been delayed. Until things are straightened out I've been staying at hotels near work, during the week, and my Wife's house on the weekend. Which means little or no opportunity to recharge my car, non of the hotels have offered that option, and I've been told at work that I am not allowed to plugin there. Luckily, the Volt has a Gasoline engine to backup the batteries, but I've been seeing my Lifetime MPG rating which topped out at 117mpg slowly fall over the last week.
General Motors last year copyrighted the term "Range Anxiety" the fear people have of driving an all electric car, with a limited range, and running out of charge. The idea with the Chevy Volt is you dont need to worry the Gas engine will kick in when the batteries are depleted and keep you going as long as you need.
But I'm suffering from Gas Anxiety, I'm not afraid of running out of electricity, or even gas, I've been afraid to simply use gas, I know that whenever I do my lifetime MPG rating will drop, and I feel the pangs of guilt, I'm burning Oil, dirty smelly oil, that fills our air with pollutants and green house gases. Expensive oil, which will keep getting more expensive, with the money going to big oil company executives and foreign countries, while we fight wars to maintain our oil supply. And limited Oil, which we are burning up now, so there will be none left for our children.
My old Z3 only got 22 mpg, but I didnt worry about driving it, because I had to, and that was all I had to get around in. Even driving the Volt without plugging in, at its absolute worst its still getting Gas mileage much better then most other cars on the road. The new house we are getting has Oil heat, I read that the average US home heated by Oil burns 800 gallons a year, I'd have to drive the Volt 30K miles without ever plugging in to use that much gas. Every item of clothing, books, food, tech toy I buy was transported using Oil. So why do I feel guilty about driving the Volt in Gas mode? Because I know there's an alternative, and in this one little, almost insignificant matter, I can make a choice.
General Motors last year copyrighted the term "Range Anxiety" the fear people have of driving an all electric car, with a limited range, and running out of charge. The idea with the Chevy Volt is you dont need to worry the Gas engine will kick in when the batteries are depleted and keep you going as long as you need.
But I'm suffering from Gas Anxiety, I'm not afraid of running out of electricity, or even gas, I've been afraid to simply use gas, I know that whenever I do my lifetime MPG rating will drop, and I feel the pangs of guilt, I'm burning Oil, dirty smelly oil, that fills our air with pollutants and green house gases. Expensive oil, which will keep getting more expensive, with the money going to big oil company executives and foreign countries, while we fight wars to maintain our oil supply. And limited Oil, which we are burning up now, so there will be none left for our children.
My old Z3 only got 22 mpg, but I didnt worry about driving it, because I had to, and that was all I had to get around in. Even driving the Volt without plugging in, at its absolute worst its still getting Gas mileage much better then most other cars on the road. The new house we are getting has Oil heat, I read that the average US home heated by Oil burns 800 gallons a year, I'd have to drive the Volt 30K miles without ever plugging in to use that much gas. Every item of clothing, books, food, tech toy I buy was transported using Oil. So why do I feel guilty about driving the Volt in Gas mode? Because I know there's an alternative, and in this one little, almost insignificant matter, I can make a choice.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
3000 miles and rolling
Just passed 3000 miles driving my Chevy Volt, and its been great, my daily driving to and from work usually uses no gas at all. when I first got the Volt I was getting about 35 miles to a charge, but now that its warmed up I'm regularly getting 45 miles to a charge, which is more then I need most days.
Onstar sent me a report showing that I've driven 2054 electric miles and 1066 gas miles with a combined 106 mpg.
Going forward my commute is about to increase, I will be selling my house in another week and my Wife and I just bought a new place that is half way in between where we both work, which will mean a daily commute of 80 miles, I'm expecting to use a little over a Gallon of gas a day, with my combined mpg dropping to 75, as I'll be driving all electric to work and all gas home. Someday I hope to convince my Company to install charging stations at work, even if I have to pay a premium of double the going rate for electricity it will be worth it plugging in at work, but I've gotten a lot of resistance to this so far, and until I get a VP or someone high up in the company to push this its just not going to happen.
But lack of charging stations where needed is one of the reasons I went with the Volt over a pure electric, once there are charging stations at work, and the Rockaway Mall (where I meet my friends regularly) I'll probably be looking at a Electric car more seriously
Onstar sent me a report showing that I've driven 2054 electric miles and 1066 gas miles with a combined 106 mpg.
Going forward my commute is about to increase, I will be selling my house in another week and my Wife and I just bought a new place that is half way in between where we both work, which will mean a daily commute of 80 miles, I'm expecting to use a little over a Gallon of gas a day, with my combined mpg dropping to 75, as I'll be driving all electric to work and all gas home. Someday I hope to convince my Company to install charging stations at work, even if I have to pay a premium of double the going rate for electricity it will be worth it plugging in at work, but I've gotten a lot of resistance to this so far, and until I get a VP or someone high up in the company to push this its just not going to happen.
But lack of charging stations where needed is one of the reasons I went with the Volt over a pure electric, once there are charging stations at work, and the Rockaway Mall (where I meet my friends regularly) I'll probably be looking at a Electric car more seriously
Monday, February 28, 2011
First Fillup
I had my first fillup of Gasoline after two and a half weeks with 835 miles on the Odomiter ( I recieved the car with 13 miles on the Odometer) I filled it up with 7.672 gallons of premium gas for a calculated 107.1 mpg. but according to the trip computer which I reset when I purchased the car I traveled 821.7 miles but used 8.8 gallons for a 92.6 mpg rating, and finally the Volts lifetime rating say I'm at 102 mpg.
no matter how you calculate it the car is using very little gas and thats what I like to see.
no matter how you calculate it the car is using very little gas and thats what I like to see.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
One week with the chevy Volt
Its been one week since I bought my Chevy Volt, and its been a great experiance driving it so far I've driven 424 miles, 230 of which were in EV mode and have a lifetime gas milage of 93 mpg. Most days here in NJ have been fairly cold, which reduces the electric rangeto 30-35 miles per charge but yesterday it warmed up to 50 and I was able to drive the whole day (39 miles ) without using any gas. Over the weekend we took two long drives 80-100 which really lowered my mpg, but thats ok because with my old all electric MINI E I wouldnt have even tried the drive, and would have taken a gas car instead. With the Volt I have two cars in one, a short range electric and a longer range gas hybrid.
So what's it like to drive an electric car, in a word smooth, there is no roughness from the engine, no roughness from transmission shifting, and very little roughness from road. Sometimes I can tell when the engine comes on, mainly from a light vibration near my foot rather then any noise, but mostly I only know its on by looking at the Gas/Electric milage screen.
So what's it like to drive an electric car, in a word smooth, there is no roughness from the engine, no roughness from transmission shifting, and very little roughness from road. Sometimes I can tell when the engine comes on, mainly from a light vibration near my foot rather then any noise, but mostly I only know its on by looking at the Gas/Electric milage screen.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
My Volt is Home
Well the day I've been waiting for has finally come, the brand new range extended electric vehicle Chevrolet Volt is mine. I purchased the car on Tuesday from Crane Chevrolet, they were a great group there who treated me well and made me feel like a valued customer, not like the guy we can stiff for extra money and we might consent to letting him buy the car from us, which is how I felt at Chevrolet of Jersey City.
Anyway the days, months, years of waiting are finally over, so many delays there were many times when I just wanted to go out and buy a new car any new car, but I didnt, I waited and waited. Looking back I wish I'd kept the MINI E, it was a fun car and I've really missed it, but now I'm back in an electric car again and things couldnt be better.
As you can see I got a Red Volt, but the picture doesnt do justice to just how how beautiful the Red color is, while at the dealership I saw a white one, which was my second choice, it looked nice, but when I saw my Red one I was so so glade I'd waited for a Red Volt. Also from the picture you can see our work parking lot has no shortage of Salt on it, I'm going to be spending a lot of time at the car wash, unlike the MINI E which couldnt have an undercarriage wash.
At Crane Chevrolet, Mike the salesman spent a few hours going over all the features on the Volt, can you say information overload:) It was great, so what all could we talk about for three hours? Well there's charging the batteries of course, and driving modes normal, sport, and mountain, then there is Onstar which is its own course, the infotainment system which will take weeks to truely understand it all, and climate control with auto this and auto that, oh and GPS navigation. Unfortunately someone forgot to plug my Volt in last night so I only had 16 miles of electric range when we started, and only 10 miles after 3 hours of playing with the systems, heating ourselves to stay warm, and a short test drive. I also found out later they forgot to pump up the tires, they were all low on pressure.
Finally it was time to drive off on my own, there's nothing more nerve racking then pulling out of a dealers lot in your brand new car, while every other car on the road is zooming by, luckly the Volt has serious power and I had no trouble merging onto busy Rt 46. One of the cool features of Onstar offers is the ability to press a button, and tell a person where you want to go, in my case Nauna's in Montclair, Tom's restraunt that has become the mecka of Electric Driving in Northern New Jersey. They quickly found the address and downloaded it to my Volt's Navigation system. So I followed the Voice navigation, with a couple wrong turns, and ended up at Nauna's just as the Gas engine kicked in. Unfortunately Tom wasnt in so I headed inot work, way latter then I had originally planned, the Voice navigation, guiding me through a section of New Jersey I'm not at all familiar with.
Eventually I got home and plugged the car into its 240 volt charger, and spent the rest of the evening playing with the infotainment system, and loading CD's onto the hard drive.
Anyway the days, months, years of waiting are finally over, so many delays there were many times when I just wanted to go out and buy a new car any new car, but I didnt, I waited and waited. Looking back I wish I'd kept the MINI E, it was a fun car and I've really missed it, but now I'm back in an electric car again and things couldnt be better.
As you can see I got a Red Volt, but the picture doesnt do justice to just how how beautiful the Red color is, while at the dealership I saw a white one, which was my second choice, it looked nice, but when I saw my Red one I was so so glade I'd waited for a Red Volt. Also from the picture you can see our work parking lot has no shortage of Salt on it, I'm going to be spending a lot of time at the car wash, unlike the MINI E which couldnt have an undercarriage wash.
At Crane Chevrolet, Mike the salesman spent a few hours going over all the features on the Volt, can you say information overload:) It was great, so what all could we talk about for three hours? Well there's charging the batteries of course, and driving modes normal, sport, and mountain, then there is Onstar which is its own course, the infotainment system which will take weeks to truely understand it all, and climate control with auto this and auto that, oh and GPS navigation. Unfortunately someone forgot to plug my Volt in last night so I only had 16 miles of electric range when we started, and only 10 miles after 3 hours of playing with the systems, heating ourselves to stay warm, and a short test drive. I also found out later they forgot to pump up the tires, they were all low on pressure.
Finally it was time to drive off on my own, there's nothing more nerve racking then pulling out of a dealers lot in your brand new car, while every other car on the road is zooming by, luckly the Volt has serious power and I had no trouble merging onto busy Rt 46. One of the cool features of Onstar offers is the ability to press a button, and tell a person where you want to go, in my case Nauna's in Montclair, Tom's restraunt that has become the mecka of Electric Driving in Northern New Jersey. They quickly found the address and downloaded it to my Volt's Navigation system. So I followed the Voice navigation, with a couple wrong turns, and ended up at Nauna's just as the Gas engine kicked in. Unfortunately Tom wasnt in so I headed inot work, way latter then I had originally planned, the Voice navigation, guiding me through a section of New Jersey I'm not at all familiar with.
Eventually I got home and plugged the car into its 240 volt charger, and spent the rest of the evening playing with the infotainment system, and loading CD's onto the hard drive.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Ordered a New Volt
On Tuesday Volt #593 arrived in Newark NJ it should be at the Chevrolet of Jersey City tomorrow, but I wont be getting it. The Dealership marked up the price of the Car by $1500 at the last minute, they've been frustrating to deal with and very low on GM's list so they havent recieved any Volts while other Dealerships in NJ have recieved many.
I called arround to a number of dealerships and got a lot of help from my Chevrolet Volt Advisor, he was able to track down which dealerships had cars in production that matched what I was looking for. He even found one Dealership with a Red Volt in their lot ready to sell, only it didnt have heated seats.
In all we found 7 dealerships in my area with Volts available and only charging MSRP. I put a deposit down with Crane Chevrolet for a Red Volt, with black Leather heated seats, dark trim, Parking Assit, and Polished wheels, just like my original order that they already had in production, for MSRP. It is due to be produced the week of 1/17/11 so I should receive it in early February.
So I have another delay, but I feel more comfortable about my order now, I'll be receiving the Volt I really wanted at a price I'm comfortable with (well almost, really wanted a bright Green one like the Green Camaro, but GM isnt painting them that color)
Mostly I want to say a Big Thank You to my Volt Advisor Micheal, he really went the extra mile to find the Volt I wanted.
I called arround to a number of dealerships and got a lot of help from my Chevrolet Volt Advisor, he was able to track down which dealerships had cars in production that matched what I was looking for. He even found one Dealership with a Red Volt in their lot ready to sell, only it didnt have heated seats.
In all we found 7 dealerships in my area with Volts available and only charging MSRP. I put a deposit down with Crane Chevrolet for a Red Volt, with black Leather heated seats, dark trim, Parking Assit, and Polished wheels, just like my original order that they already had in production, for MSRP. It is due to be produced the week of 1/17/11 so I should receive it in early February.
So I have another delay, but I feel more comfortable about my order now, I'll be receiving the Volt I really wanted at a price I'm comfortable with (well almost, really wanted a bright Green one like the Green Camaro, but GM isnt painting them that color)
Mostly I want to say a Big Thank You to my Volt Advisor Micheal, he really went the extra mile to find the Volt I wanted.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
May not be getting the car I have been waiting for
Well my car is almost here, but there's a problem. I called the dealership Chevrolet of Jersey City and spoke to my salesperson, I wanted to see if it was possible to complete the order before the end of the year. He said it was and we started to do the paperwork over the phone.
Then the bombshell, they wanted $1500 over MSRP, if you've been following my interest in the Volt, you'll know I had a very hard time getting them to set a firm price for the car, finally they gave me a price that was $535 over MSRP and I thought the issue was settled. Now the dealer is saying he doesnt remember giving me that price, I sent them the paper he wrote it on and he said that isnt his handwritting. anyway I'm upset, and we didnt finish the order before the end of the year meaning it will be spring of 2012 before I get the Federal tax credit back. I also have a deposit with Englewood Chevrolet, as my backup and they told me I could have first pick of the dealer cars they are getting in in a couple weeks at MSRP, but none of them are Red with Heated seats (what I most want)
So now I'm stuck, do I buy the car I've been waiting for for the last 6 months, from a dealership I dont trust at a price I dont feel is right. Or do I buy a car that may not be exactly what I want from a the same dealership Lyle used, that seems to have been very upfront with me. Or do I go through the order process again, this time with a good dealership, and get the car around March.
Anyone know of a dealership in the NYC area selling a Red Volt with heated seats, for MSRP?
Then the bombshell, they wanted $1500 over MSRP, if you've been following my interest in the Volt, you'll know I had a very hard time getting them to set a firm price for the car, finally they gave me a price that was $535 over MSRP and I thought the issue was settled. Now the dealer is saying he doesnt remember giving me that price, I sent them the paper he wrote it on and he said that isnt his handwritting. anyway I'm upset, and we didnt finish the order before the end of the year meaning it will be spring of 2012 before I get the Federal tax credit back. I also have a deposit with Englewood Chevrolet, as my backup and they told me I could have first pick of the dealer cars they are getting in in a couple weeks at MSRP, but none of them are Red with Heated seats (what I most want)
So now I'm stuck, do I buy the car I've been waiting for for the last 6 months, from a dealership I dont trust at a price I dont feel is right. Or do I buy a car that may not be exactly what I want from a the same dealership Lyle used, that seems to have been very upfront with me. Or do I go through the order process again, this time with a good dealership, and get the car around March.
Anyone know of a dealership in the NYC area selling a Red Volt with heated seats, for MSRP?
Friday, December 17, 2010
A New Volt is Born
I just got word from the chevroletconnect.com web site that my Red Chevrolet Volt has been built, I even have the VIN number the last 3 digits of which are 593 making it the five hundred and ninty third saleable Volt to be produced. The first 300 Volts have already been shipped and a few lucky souls have taken delivery of their Volts, including the very first delivery which was in Denville NJ less then 10 miles from where I work. I had the crazy idea that ordering from a dealership closer to New York City would mean getting the Volt sooner, as at first they were only selling it in NYC later they said NYC Area, then it was some of New Jersey, turns out they ment anywhere in northern New Jersey. But I'll be getting mine soon enough.
So what now. Well it goes into Quality and Control, where they test it, including the battery, many of the first Volts were in QC for almost a month, but it sounds like they have it down to a week, I think they need that time to verify the batteries are charging and holding charge correctly. Then they ship the Volt, which could take anywhere from a couple days to a few weeks, depending on how they ship it.
The Volt Chevrolet Advisor I spoke to mentioned the 27th, though I'm not sure if thats the date the dealer can expect the car, or the date they ship it out. Either way I'll probably be getting my car the last week of the year or the first of the next.
So what now. Well it goes into Quality and Control, where they test it, including the battery, many of the first Volts were in QC for almost a month, but it sounds like they have it down to a week, I think they need that time to verify the batteries are charging and holding charge correctly. Then they ship the Volt, which could take anywhere from a couple days to a few weeks, depending on how they ship it.
The Volt Chevrolet Advisor I spoke to mentioned the 27th, though I'm not sure if thats the date the dealer can expect the car, or the date they ship it out. Either way I'll probably be getting my car the last week of the year or the first of the next.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
My Volt is on the Production line
chevroletconnects.com offers a great service that allow you to track the progress of your GM car orders. And I just found out my Chevrolet Volt is actually being built right now. Below is a summery of the status of my order over time, the key dates are:
07/28/10 the Dealership takes my order and requests a allocation from GM
11/12/10 the Dealership uses an allocation with GM to place the order (this one took too long in my view, other dealerships were much faster to this stage)
11/16/10 GM starts ordering parts and preparing to build my car
11/30/10 my car enters the production line
next step a notice that its built in a week or two and a VIN number, then shipping which can take weeks, I'll probably get the car in early January just short of the end of year mark I was hoping for to get the tax rebate back right away, but I can hope.
Here is the official report from cheveoletconnects.com
07/28/10 the Dealership takes my order and requests a allocation from GM
11/12/10 the Dealership uses an allocation with GM to place the order (this one took too long in my view, other dealerships were much faster to this stage)
11/16/10 GM starts ordering parts and preparing to build my car
11/30/10 my car enters the production line
next step a notice that its built in a week or two and a VIN number, then shipping which can take weeks, I'll probably get the car in early January just short of the end of year mark I was hoping for to get the tax rebate back right away, but I can hope.
Here is the official report from cheveoletconnects.com
07/28/2010 - (1100) Order Placed at Dealership Order passed GM edit tables but dealers has not received allocation to place order
07/28/2010 - (1102) Order Entered via Web
08/23/2010 - (2030) Order edited or modified
09/20/2010 - (2030) Order edited or modified
09/24/2010 - (2030) Order edited or modified
10/19/2010 - (2030) Order edited or modified
11/12/2010 - (2000) Order Accepted by GM Dealer used allocation to place order into production
11/16/2010 - (2500) Order Preferenced Order pulled to the production system
11/16/2010 - (3000) Order accepted by production control. Parts being ordered and production process is underway.
11/30/2010 - (1102) Order Entered via Web
11/30/2010 - (3100) Order available to sequence.
11/30/2010 - (3300) Order Scheduled for Production Order is scheduled into the plant build cycle
11/30/2010 - (3400) Order Broadcast (Internal Plant Paperwork Order Produced) Order is sent to various build & supplier areas to bring order together
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sometimes I can be a pain
You know your in trouble, when your dealer's coworkers recognize your name.
I'd ordered my Volt from the dealer over the phone and had never actually been there, all my conversations had been by email or on the phone. As the start of Volt production has gotten closer and closer, I've heard from a few people that their orders had advanced in GM's tracking system, while mine had not. i'd also been unable to get a firm price from the dealer, and was convinced when the car did come in they would ask me for thousands over MSRP, which I was unwilling to accept. So I'd call the dealer trying to get any update in my status and the price, when that didnt work I tried contacting GM's social media representative, anything to push the order along.
Finally I decided I was just going to cancel my order and reorder from another dealership, I contacted a few and went to visit Englewood Auto Group, which was selling the Volt for MSRP. I had a very informative talk with them, turns out their initial allocation was all booked, but I could be first on a waiting list if anyone dropped out, but none of the cars where the color and options I most wanted. I did put a fully refundable deposit down though, and they could place a new order for a car with the options I want but not till January.
I also learned that most of their customer orders where at the same stage mine is, and this made me realize maybe my original dealership wasnt so bad.
There was only one way to find out, so we drove to Chevrolet of Jersey City, where Mike Rivera's co-worker recognized my name. At this point I was thinking maybe I'd been too hard on Mike, when I finally meet him, he assumed I was there for a refund of my deposit, and looked a bit sad to see me. I told I didnt want to cancel the order just yet, and he directed me to their Ordering Specialist John Sucato who showed me how their ordering system worked, and show me what he sees for my order, I also learned they have an allocation of 4 customer Volts for this quarter, plus their orders for the dealership, they cant even place the their first dealer until November 11th.
Afterwards John and Mike looked up the price for the options I ordered and wrote up a formal order with the price I'd be charged which was $530 over MSRP, which I'm ok with.
Mike and I were smiling as we shook hands, and I made a point of apologizing to him, he'd been getting the brunt of my anxiety over the ordering process.
I'm feeling much better about things, I wont be one of the very first people to get a Volt, but I will be getting it soon.
I'd ordered my Volt from the dealer over the phone and had never actually been there, all my conversations had been by email or on the phone. As the start of Volt production has gotten closer and closer, I've heard from a few people that their orders had advanced in GM's tracking system, while mine had not. i'd also been unable to get a firm price from the dealer, and was convinced when the car did come in they would ask me for thousands over MSRP, which I was unwilling to accept. So I'd call the dealer trying to get any update in my status and the price, when that didnt work I tried contacting GM's social media representative, anything to push the order along.
Finally I decided I was just going to cancel my order and reorder from another dealership, I contacted a few and went to visit Englewood Auto Group, which was selling the Volt for MSRP. I had a very informative talk with them, turns out their initial allocation was all booked, but I could be first on a waiting list if anyone dropped out, but none of the cars where the color and options I most wanted. I did put a fully refundable deposit down though, and they could place a new order for a car with the options I want but not till January.
I also learned that most of their customer orders where at the same stage mine is, and this made me realize maybe my original dealership wasnt so bad.
There was only one way to find out, so we drove to Chevrolet of Jersey City, where Mike Rivera's co-worker recognized my name. At this point I was thinking maybe I'd been too hard on Mike, when I finally meet him, he assumed I was there for a refund of my deposit, and looked a bit sad to see me. I told I didnt want to cancel the order just yet, and he directed me to their Ordering Specialist John Sucato who showed me how their ordering system worked, and show me what he sees for my order, I also learned they have an allocation of 4 customer Volts for this quarter, plus their orders for the dealership, they cant even place the their first dealer until November 11th.
Afterwards John and Mike looked up the price for the options I ordered and wrote up a formal order with the price I'd be charged which was $530 over MSRP, which I'm ok with.
Mike and I were smiling as we shook hands, and I made a point of apologizing to him, he'd been getting the brunt of my anxiety over the ordering process.
I'm feeling much better about things, I wont be one of the very first people to get a Volt, but I will be getting it soon.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Purchasing Frustrations
I've never ordered a new car through a dealership before and I'm finding the whole process frustrating.
Way way back when the Chevy Volt was first anounced a little web site http://gm-volt.com setup a Want List, for people who were interested in the Volt to sign up, the idea being that the list would be given to GM when they started taking orders, I was number 167 on that list, there are over 50000 names now, but GM never used this list for taking orders.
About a 6 months ago, GM announced that the Volt would nonly be sold in 3 initial markets when it first came out, California, Michigan and the DC area. I called up a few dealerships in DC and expressed an interest in the Volt, they didnt have any details but put me on their list. Then around July 1st GM announced that the NYC area would also be among the initial markets for the Volt with the rest of New Jersey recieving Volts in the Spring. So I sent emails to a number of dealerships in the NYC area, especially those in New Jersey but very close to the City, I figured they'd be the first to recieve Volts and I wouldnt have to deal with paying out of state sales tax. Chevrolet of Jersey City contacted me back right away saying they were taking orders with $500 down, that their price would be competitive ( the Volt pricing hadnt been anounced yet) and sent me a nice email emphasising that their purchase process was No Pressure, with no Surprises and no bait and switch etc... It all sounded good so on July 12th I put $500 down on the Chevy Volt.
A few weeks later GM announced the pricing and that they were taking orders, my Dealer at Chevrolet of Jersey City called to ask about what color choice and options I wanted, Red with black on black interior, leather heated seats, backup camera, and brushed aluminum wheels, the Volt doesnt really have that many options, tons of stuff are included standard. So The Dealership placed the order with GM saying I was #1 to recieve the Volt from them, and they should be getting the car in November. I had to call them a few times to but got the order number. They wouldnt give me a price, just that it would be competitive.
Since placing the order, there has been a lot of talk about some dealerships charging upto $20K over MSRP for the Volt, other dealerships have stated they will only charge MSRP, and fire dealers that try to charge more. so there is a fairly wide discrepancy in what dealerships are charging.
I've repeatedly called Chevrolet of Jersey City to get a firm answer on what price they will be charging me, with no luck. It seems like the Sales person I'm dealing with either doesnt know what the Dealership will be charging or doesnt have the athority to tell me, which has me VERY consirned. He try's to assure me that if I'm not happy I dont have to take the car, and they will refund my deposit, but then I'll have to start all over again with the order process, and many more people will be ahead of me at other dealerships.
I've called a number of dealerships, they were all charging MSRP to $1000 over, but none would expect delivery until March, if I placed an order now.
So my anxiaty level grows, should I keep my order with Chevelet of Jersey City, where I'm likely to get the Volt before the end of the year, but with an unknown mark up, or should I order with anouther dealership at MSRP, but have to wait even longer? I keep imagining my car will arrive, and they will ask for something outragous, just so they can turn arround and sell it to the highest bidder. I contacted a GM representative who said they would contact the dealership for me to get a fixed price, but havent heard anything back.
The next stage of the ordering process is when the Dealership hears from GM that they have X cars coming by Y, and the Dealership finalizes the actual order with GM. If I'm actually going to recieve one of the first Volts, this should happen within the next week or so. At which point I hope to get a firm answer on what they will be charging me, if not or if they dont place my order, I'll probably need to put a new order in with anouther dealer.
I really hate having to deal with Car Dealers, GM should allow people to order directly through them, and then pay the dealerships a fixed rate to handle the transfer, it would make the ordering process more fair, and would prevent outragous markups for people who ordered early, but allow dealerships to order a few cars on their own for which they could charge big markups to people who want to bypass GM's ordering process.
Way way back when the Chevy Volt was first anounced a little web site http://gm-volt.com setup a Want List, for people who were interested in the Volt to sign up, the idea being that the list would be given to GM when they started taking orders, I was number 167 on that list, there are over 50000 names now, but GM never used this list for taking orders.
About a 6 months ago, GM announced that the Volt would nonly be sold in 3 initial markets when it first came out, California, Michigan and the DC area. I called up a few dealerships in DC and expressed an interest in the Volt, they didnt have any details but put me on their list. Then around July 1st GM announced that the NYC area would also be among the initial markets for the Volt with the rest of New Jersey recieving Volts in the Spring. So I sent emails to a number of dealerships in the NYC area, especially those in New Jersey but very close to the City, I figured they'd be the first to recieve Volts and I wouldnt have to deal with paying out of state sales tax. Chevrolet of Jersey City contacted me back right away saying they were taking orders with $500 down, that their price would be competitive ( the Volt pricing hadnt been anounced yet) and sent me a nice email emphasising that their purchase process was No Pressure, with no Surprises and no bait and switch etc... It all sounded good so on July 12th I put $500 down on the Chevy Volt.
A few weeks later GM announced the pricing and that they were taking orders, my Dealer at Chevrolet of Jersey City called to ask about what color choice and options I wanted, Red with black on black interior, leather heated seats, backup camera, and brushed aluminum wheels, the Volt doesnt really have that many options, tons of stuff are included standard. So The Dealership placed the order with GM saying I was #1 to recieve the Volt from them, and they should be getting the car in November. I had to call them a few times to but got the order number. They wouldnt give me a price, just that it would be competitive.
Since placing the order, there has been a lot of talk about some dealerships charging upto $20K over MSRP for the Volt, other dealerships have stated they will only charge MSRP, and fire dealers that try to charge more. so there is a fairly wide discrepancy in what dealerships are charging.
I've repeatedly called Chevrolet of Jersey City to get a firm answer on what price they will be charging me, with no luck. It seems like the Sales person I'm dealing with either doesnt know what the Dealership will be charging or doesnt have the athority to tell me, which has me VERY consirned. He try's to assure me that if I'm not happy I dont have to take the car, and they will refund my deposit, but then I'll have to start all over again with the order process, and many more people will be ahead of me at other dealerships.
I've called a number of dealerships, they were all charging MSRP to $1000 over, but none would expect delivery until March, if I placed an order now.
So my anxiaty level grows, should I keep my order with Chevelet of Jersey City, where I'm likely to get the Volt before the end of the year, but with an unknown mark up, or should I order with anouther dealership at MSRP, but have to wait even longer? I keep imagining my car will arrive, and they will ask for something outragous, just so they can turn arround and sell it to the highest bidder. I contacted a GM representative who said they would contact the dealership for me to get a fixed price, but havent heard anything back.
The next stage of the ordering process is when the Dealership hears from GM that they have X cars coming by Y, and the Dealership finalizes the actual order with GM. If I'm actually going to recieve one of the first Volts, this should happen within the next week or so. At which point I hope to get a firm answer on what they will be charging me, if not or if they dont place my order, I'll probably need to put a new order in with anouther dealer.
I really hate having to deal with Car Dealers, GM should allow people to order directly through them, and then pay the dealerships a fixed rate to handle the transfer, it would make the ordering process more fair, and would prevent outragous markups for people who ordered early, but allow dealerships to order a few cars on their own for which they could charge big markups to people who want to bypass GM's ordering process.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Which came first the Chicken or the Egg?
Which came first the chicken or the egg? A riddle that has special significance when talking about Electric Vehicles. For a long time people have argued you cant have electric vehicles until there is a charging infrustructure, and you cant build a charging infrustructure without Electric Vehicles to use it.
I've had my own experiance with this, in trying to get the company I work for to install charging stations at work, I've been told we cant install them if there's no cars to use them, among other excuses.
But in a few months I will be getting a Chevy Volt, and hopefully buying a new house which will be 40 to 50 miles from where I work. While at first I'll only be able to drive to work on electric power, and will have to drive home using gas, I hope I'll be able to convince my company to install charging stations or at least install 120v outlets in the parking lot, but that may take some time.
If I'd kept my MINI E, I'd probably be able to commute with it without charging at work, at least on good days, as long as I was careful with my speed, but not in the winter because the range is reduced too much.
But with the Volt I can continue to drive to work year round, no matter how far away my new home is, while I work at convincing the powers that be of the advantages of installing Electric car charging stations.
Some day I hope all my driving will be on electricity generated by Solar Panels but until I can get an electric car with a 150 mile range in all weather, or my company installs charging stations where I work, its the Volt for me.
So to answer the question which comes first the electric car or the charging station? The answer is the Volt.
I've had my own experiance with this, in trying to get the company I work for to install charging stations at work, I've been told we cant install them if there's no cars to use them, among other excuses.
But in a few months I will be getting a Chevy Volt, and hopefully buying a new house which will be 40 to 50 miles from where I work. While at first I'll only be able to drive to work on electric power, and will have to drive home using gas, I hope I'll be able to convince my company to install charging stations or at least install 120v outlets in the parking lot, but that may take some time.
If I'd kept my MINI E, I'd probably be able to commute with it without charging at work, at least on good days, as long as I was careful with my speed, but not in the winter because the range is reduced too much.
But with the Volt I can continue to drive to work year round, no matter how far away my new home is, while I work at convincing the powers that be of the advantages of installing Electric car charging stations.
Some day I hope all my driving will be on electricity generated by Solar Panels but until I can get an electric car with a 150 mile range in all weather, or my company installs charging stations where I work, its the Volt for me.
So to answer the question which comes first the electric car or the charging station? The answer is the Volt.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Volt
I've been interested in the Chevy Volt for a long time, since well before I even heard of the MINI E. It's an Electric car with a battery and motor, but it also has a Gas Engine for long drives, the first 40 miles it is powered completely by electricity, after that the Gas motor kicks in giving it a total range of 340 miles.
The idea being that 78% of Americans drive less then 40 miles a day, so for most of your daily driving you never even need to burn a drop of Gas, but if you want to drive further the Volt will keep going in Gas mode, you dont need to have two cars a Gas and an Electric.
It's been developed by General Motors and while many people tend to look down on Americian Cars, I've done a good bit of research and have come to believe that the quality of GM and Ford cars is now on par with their foreign rivals.
During the development process of the Volt GM has been very open allowing the public a rare glimpse in to all thats involved in bringing a new Car with a completely unique powertrain to market. The Volt may be the most tested car every produced.
About a month ago I put down a deposit on a Red Volt, I am number one on the dealers list, and hope he will be one of the first dealerships to recieve the Volt this November. GM called me last week to verify that my order is in their system, but no word yet on when it will go into production.
I am really looking forward to driving an Electric car again, I miss my MINI E, it was fun to drive, very smooth, and quiet.
The idea being that 78% of Americans drive less then 40 miles a day, so for most of your daily driving you never even need to burn a drop of Gas, but if you want to drive further the Volt will keep going in Gas mode, you dont need to have two cars a Gas and an Electric.
It's been developed by General Motors and while many people tend to look down on Americian Cars, I've done a good bit of research and have come to believe that the quality of GM and Ford cars is now on par with their foreign rivals.
During the development process of the Volt GM has been very open allowing the public a rare glimpse in to all thats involved in bringing a new Car with a completely unique powertrain to market. The Volt may be the most tested car every produced.
About a month ago I put down a deposit on a Red Volt, I am number one on the dealers list, and hope he will be one of the first dealerships to recieve the Volt this November. GM called me last week to verify that my order is in their system, but no word yet on when it will go into production.
I am really looking forward to driving an Electric car again, I miss my MINI E, it was fun to drive, very smooth, and quiet.
Monday, August 9, 2010
New Blog Site
Welcome to my new blog site http://drive-electric.blogspot.com
While My old blog http://mini-e.blogspot.com focused on my MINI E experiances during the past year, I decided I wanted to keep on blogging even though I no longer have the MINI E. So I created this new blog site focusing on all things related to Driving Electric.
I've also copied over all my old blog entries from my great days with the MINI E
While My old blog http://mini-e.blogspot.com focused on my MINI E experiances during the past year, I decided I wanted to keep on blogging even though I no longer have the MINI E. So I created this new blog site focusing on all things related to Driving Electric.
I've also copied over all my old blog entries from my great days with the MINI E
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
goodbye #304
Well my one year lease of an all electric MINI E has come to an end they came and picked up the car today, after driving it 11716 miles it was a sad goodbye. But I'm planning to get the Chevy Volt this year and also moving so its for the best. Though I maybe in the market for a new car sooner then I planned, no sooner had they driven away with my MINI E, then my gas powered BMW Z3 decided not to start, hopefully it will be fixed soon I need it to last 6 more months until the Chevy Volt goes on sale.
Addition: got my Gas car running, wouldnt you know, they had to replace the battery :) I'm already missing the smooth feel of driving an electric car.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Kauai Marriage
MINI E #304 spent the last week and a half resting in the Garage as Glenda and I went to Kauai where we got married on the beach. It was an idyllic wedding with surfers in the background and a Ukulele player.
We had a great time hiking and kayaking through the rain forest, swimming under tropical waterfalls, learning to surf, having a close encounter with a momma whale and her baby, and eating some really great local foods.
Hawaii seems like a great place for electric cars, all the driving is local and the weather is perfect for the batteries. Unfortunately they get about 90% of their electricity from burning oil, so they really wouldnt be saving much, but there is a growing push towards solar power and other renewable energies there.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
3 month extension denied
When we first signed up for the MINI E Field trial, it was only for a one year lease, and we would have to return the car after that year. When the car came out without the 240 volt charger for many people, we were told we'd have the option to extend our lease so we could have a full year of driving with the 240 volt charger. Then around January it was announced that leases could be extended until the new Active E car was available.
I've been on the fence about whether to extend my MINI E lease. While I love the car, I must admit that driving it during the winter was problematic as the range dropped to the point where I was afraid to drive to my fiancee's house 80 miles away, with it. I'm also planning to purchase a Chevy Volt this November, so I want to return the MINI E before then. But I do enjoy the car especially during the summer months when its range is the best, and you can drive with the windows down and really hear nature, so I decided I'd like to extend the lease for 3 months.
I had contacted MINI USA, and my local sales rep asking if I could extend the lease for 3 months or if I'd have to sign up for a full year, but no one seemed to know. Today after speaking to MINI Financial Services I was told they are only offering lease extensions for a full year. So I had to tell them I would not be extending my lease.
I would have preferred to keep the MINI E a little longer, but now I'll be counting the days.
only 48 days left of clean quite electric driving.
I've been on the fence about whether to extend my MINI E lease. While I love the car, I must admit that driving it during the winter was problematic as the range dropped to the point where I was afraid to drive to my fiancee's house 80 miles away, with it. I'm also planning to purchase a Chevy Volt this November, so I want to return the MINI E before then. But I do enjoy the car especially during the summer months when its range is the best, and you can drive with the windows down and really hear nature, so I decided I'd like to extend the lease for 3 months.
I had contacted MINI USA, and my local sales rep asking if I could extend the lease for 3 months or if I'd have to sign up for a full year, but no one seemed to know. Today after speaking to MINI Financial Services I was told they are only offering lease extensions for a full year. So I had to tell them I would not be extending my lease.
I would have preferred to keep the MINI E a little longer, but now I'll be counting the days.
only 48 days left of clean quite electric driving.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Driving the Volt
As regular readers of this blog know, I'm very interested in the chevy Volt. I had been reading everything I could about it since well before the MINI E was even announced, and it was one of the reasons I decided to sign up for the MINI E.
A few weeks ago Lyle at gm-volt.com offered a contest entitled "Why I want a the Chevy Volt", with the 10 winners being invited to test drive the Chevy Volt. I submitted my essay and was lucky enough to be one of the 10 finalists.I only live 40 miles from NYC, so my first choice was whether to drive the MINI E, into the event. Its been warmer lately and it has the range, but honestly I hate driving into the city, especially during rush hour which is when I'd have to go, do I took a different electric vehicle, the train in.
GM started with a presentation giving us a look at its new fuel efficient up and coming cars, first was the Spark, an all electric compact car, about the size of the MINI, with nice styling that seemed to take ques from the Scion, no mention of its range or when it would be released. Next up was a Ario RS (SP?) a sporty traditional compact car, then the Chevy Cruise a treditional mid to small size car, which shares many of the same components and is the same size as the Volt, and finally the Volt.
The Designers talked about the engineering, and showed off key features that increased its aerodynamics on a non-functional Volt prototype. Then we got our chance to see the real thing. The first thing I thought was wow it actually looks cute, this doesnt come across in pictures but its length seems a little compacted, and the lines seemed to flow together very well, something that wasnt obvious from either pictures or even the prototype. There was a silver and a dark gray version, and although I've told my fiancée again and again how much I hate that 90% of the cars on the road seem to be silver, I have to say it looked good, much better then the dark gray, where all of the cool black accent panels blended into the gray.
It was a rainy day as we got into drive and I had a big shock when I say the wiper blades, each of them was twice as long as a normal cars wiper blades, we had no troubles seeing through the light rain while driving.
At first I had to sit in the back seat, and I'm afraid the limited leg room in the back was my biggest disappointment from the whole experience. Luckly I dont plan on sitting in the back when I get a Volt, thats going to be someone else's problem, still 2 more inches would have made all the difference in the world.
I got to drive second and it was a very pleasant experience it was all in pure electric mode, unfortunately we didnt get to experience range extending mode. The car was so quite inside, I couldnt hear any road noise from the tires or wind or the electric motor, it made the MINI E seem down right noisy, something no MINI E driver would normally imagine.
The car has two modes an economy, or normal mode, and a sports mode, we got to try out both, and even in normal mode, it was quite peppy, with no hesitation from the dead stop, but when you kicked in sport the car jumped forward and I couldn't keep the accelerator floored for long, on the short course.
Handling was fantastic, the Volt has some very wide tires, and a very low and balanced center of gravity, and it held up to some tight weaving and sharp accelerations, and a wet track without any tire slippage, or spin outs, or even a traction control system kicking in. This car is a pleasure to dive.
In low gear you get regenerative braking when you let off of the accelerator, but even in normal Drive gear you get regenerative braking when you press lightly on the brake, and friction braking as you press harder.
We folded down the rear seats and this give you a lot of room in the hatchback, enough room for a bike, or two, or over 4 full backpacks. Well thats what I'm planning to put in there.
Yes I'm hooked, this is a pleasurable full featured car, that just happens to be electric, and I'm going to buy one the first chance I get.
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