Chevy Volt Buyers Guide

So you decided to do the right thing, huh? You no longer want to leave mother nature another smear of pollution and decided to jump into the electric car playground. I promise you’re going to like this playground, especially if you jump in it with the Chevrolet Volt.

The Volt is out. Jay Leno Drives one, everyone wants one and if you know what they are all about you’d be asking where can you could pick one up. To help you learn more about what you can expect from the Volt we put together this handy little Chevy Volt buyers guide.

MPG/Fuel Mileage:

The Volt is an Electric Vehicle… accompanied by a “range extender” which is essentially a gas-powered engine that kicks in when the electric charge drains out.

While on full charge you can expect to get 40 miles out of just electricity alone, after the first 40 miles the range extender will kick in and allow you to travel an extra 300 miles on a 9-gallon tank.
Overall MPG: While in electric mode the Volt gets an equivalent of 95 MPG, when in Gas it gets 40MPG. The overall Average ends up being 60MPG.

Features:

Many people would think that an electric vehicle would have very little power. Many people think wrong. The Volt offers
 150 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque! People that drive the volt say that it is extremely responsive and has great acceleration. In addition to the great power, you can look forward to these features (information from Chevrolet.com):

•  4-wheel anti-lock, 4-wheel disc, electro-hydraulic power with StabiliTrak, regenerative braking system  
•  StabiliTrak w/Traction Control  
•  Tire Pressure Monitor  
•  17″ 5-spoke forged painted aluminum wheels  
•  Controls, center, touch-sensitive with Driver Mode Control switch  
•  Display, center, 7″ diagonal LCD touch screen    
•  Bluetooth® wireless technology for select phones
• 6 USB Ports
•  Bose® Premium speaker system
•  Audio System with Navigation, DVD and MP3 playback capability, includes voice recognition, Radio Data System (RDS) and timeshift function.
•  Hard drive, 30 GB of audio data storage  
•  8 Airbags include Passenger Sensing System 
• OnStar®(9) with 5-years of Directions & Connections Plan  

Warranty:

Bumper-to-Bumper Limited Warranty:  3 Years/36,000 Miles 
Powertrain/Drivetrain limited warranty:  5 Years/100,000 Miles 
Rust Warranty:  6 Years/100,000 Miles 
Roadside Assistance Program:  5 Years/100,000 Miles 
Battery and Voltec component limited warranty: 8 years/100,000 miles 

Price:

According to our Chevy Volt buyers guide, the car retails for $41,000. But you can knock off $7,500 in Federal Tax Credit making it  $34,000. Plus several states offer incentives and tax credits for purchasing an electric vehicle. For example, In Illinois you can get a rebate for 80% of the incremental cost of purchasing an electric vehicle up to $4,000 making the Volt only $30,000!(http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/laws/law/IL/4368) Be sure to check your State’s Tax Incentives to see if you qualify for additional discounts!

Aside from the cost of the vehicle itself, you may be wondering how much it would cost to re-charge a Volt. While it varies on several factors the general consensus is that it would take about $1.50 to fully charge a Volt and takes about 10-12 hours for a full charge to complete.

Media

The following video demonstrates and explains almost all of the features of the Volt, including a tutorial on how to charge the vehicle.

If you are within the Tri-States, you’ll also be interested to know that we are now taking orders on the Volt. Give us a call at (815) 747-3011 with any questions you may have.