Attended the Santa Monica Expo yesterday and saw the Volt. Took 32 photos and really enjoyed talking with the GM staff and onlookers. If the Volt comes to your area, have a look. The up close, in person, view does it good.
Sorry, the photos won’t post with this comment. I get a “spam message”.

no plug =D~ no sale

Upon perusal of the 1997 GM Precept, I’d still have to say that the Prius is extremely groundbreaking – due to three factors: A) The Prius, at great financial risk, was actually commercially marketed-and hugely successfully at that. B) The Precept concept was a very forward-thinking science project which never saw much more than a photo studio or a GM test track. C) My main point regarding the significance and even superior market penetration versus the Volt ( and the Precept concept) is utility. The Precept clearly is chock-full of drive gear and, even with it’s huge rear overhang, doesn’t represent the clever cab-over, short hood, short f/r overhang packaging the Prius does.

After owning a Prius now for one year, it still often surprises me the people and stuff I can carry in it, that it’s extremely close to the inside measurements of an ICE Camry, and with it’s hatchback and folding seats-even more useful.

The upcoming Honda Insight hybrid four door, while not a “full hybrid” is indicative of the Prius design success—it’s nearly a dead-ringer for the Toyota!

Again I’ll say—Volt vs. Prius. The Volt is a proof-of-concept machine that seats four, with limited utility. Yes, it’s incredible if an actual 40 miles can be obtained sans foreign oil. Still, it falls short of the potential market success of a Prius due to it’s intrinsic shortcomings in practicality.

It’s not hard. Many have owned a Prius for 5 years now, including me… Your guesses were way off.

Oil changes every 3,000 miles is just plain nonsense. No one with a hybrid does it that often. Heck, the automaker suggested interval is 5,000 and many owners wait until 7,500 since oil is used so lightly.

You quoted 30K service from dealer at $400. It was actually just $247.77 for me.

You quoted 60K service from dealer at $1000. It was actually just $114.08 for me.

There’s a standard 90K service too, but that was only $159.97 for me.

Also, you never provided any gas or electricity numbers for Volt… which is clearly going to be a difficult sell for the mainstream. And obviously, Volt will require some standard maintenance by 60K. That “none” is quite unrealistic. Use these opportunities as practice. First round didn’t go so well…