Thanks.

- The Volt will be able to drive farther on a tank of gas (650 to ? miles).
- Less gas used means a smaller US trade deficit.
- Buying a Volt means a smaller US trade deficit.
- The Volt will run quieter than the Prius.
- The Volt can also use biofuels.

If economics are your only concern …why even buy a Prius when you could by a small ICE car for $10,000?

1) some folks are forgetting that the Volt is essentially an EV, which depending on the EV has between 70-90% fewer moving parts than a conventional ICE-V. A pure EV needs no oil/filter changes, air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, coolent, radiator, exhaust, catalytic converter, muffler, transmission, etc. As such, maint. costs (parts & service) are usually a lot less (the major reason big auto, the dealerships, OEM’s, etc helped kill their own EV’s [by killing CA's ZEV mandate], ie. $$$). True the Volt will have a range extender/generator powered by a small ICE… but such an ICE is less complex because it’s tuned to a fixed RPM… and for the 80% who drive on average less than 40 miles between charges, the ICE will hardly ever come on. The bigger problem as has been mentioned will probably be needing to use a gas stabalizer.

The Prius with a parallel hybrid design on the other hand for the most part is still an ICE-V, adding in the extra complexity of a parallel hybrid drive system.

And the savings in time and hassle of going in for oil changes and other servicing is something hard to put a $ price on.

2) Gas prices are most likely to continue going up at a much higher rate than electric power prices so that also reduces pay back.

3) CO2… even when accounting for CO2 emissions from the existing power mix of the power grid, an EV significantly reduces CO2. GXT’s hypothetical case, if accurate, has the Prius burning 255 more gallons of gas. And as has been mentioned, the money for that gas ends up going to oil rich countries that don’t like us… while only 2% of our electric power is generated from oil.

In my opinion, the Volt will appeal to a lot more people due to its styling and because it will not be switching back and forth between an ice drive train and an electric engine. I have heard many complaints about the feel of driving a Prius. The Prius is one of the ugliest cars on the market. The Volt is better from an environmental standpoint (uses less gas). Most people don’t buy cars purely from an economical stand point. If this were the case …no one would buy anything except for the smallest cars on the market. I won’t mind paying a premium for the additional benefits the Volt will offer.

What do you mean “4 times as efficient”?

Electric motors already are very efficient, many >90%.