The Chevrolet Volt received favorable reviews at the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend, where its price was announced, and it received a bonus plug from American car enthusiast Jay Leno.
The “world’s first E-REV car” will cost £28,545 (including £5,000 government grant), when it is released though UK dealers some time in spring, 2012.
If the exchange calculators are correct, this is about $45,726 (with pre-incentive price being around $53,735 before the British government kicks in an $8,009 grant).
The occasion for the Volt’s presence was Chevrolet’s celebration of its centenary, and the company said the car represented the ideal symbol for another hundred years of innovation.
Chevrolet Volt. Due for sale in UK next spring.
“We wanted to back up a century of progress with our vision for the next century,” said Chevrolet UK Managing Director, Mark Terry. “Except it’s more than a vision, it’s a reality.”
As for one of America’s most famous celebrities and collectors of many cool vehicles, Jay Leno shared his enthusiasm for the Volt with Telegraph UK writer Chris Knapman from the seat of a 550-horsepower Jaguar.
Here’s the exchange recorded by Knapman:
That’s a great car,” yelled Jay Leno through the window of his Jaguar XKR-S.
“Is he talking to us?” I say to my passenger, Hoss Hassani, who incidentally has the amazing job title of “head of iconic products, Chevrolet,” as well as the slightly less amazing task of being my passenger for a run up the hill.
“I drive everywhere in mine. I’ve only had to put gas in it twice,” beamed Leno, confirming that he must be talking about my Chevrolet Volt, rather than the Pagani Huayra, Covini C6W, Lamborghini Aventador or Ferrari FF that were surrounding us.
“Do I need Mountain mode to get up the hill?” I asked.
“Sport mode,” he replied. “You’ll have great fun. I’m trying to drive my Volt for a year without putting any gas in it. I love it.” And with that he was gone.
Leno has already shown himself to be a fan of the Volt.
Leno – and the Volt – apparently had a positive effect, as Knapman had only good things to say.
“Judging from this brief blast at Goodwood it’s going to be an impressive machine,” Knapman wrote, “not to mention a genuinely viable alternative to traditional petrol and diesel models, and a different approach to the hybrids offered for sale by Toyota and Honda.”
Chevrolet is similarly emphasizing the basic virtues of the Volt, prepping journalists and would-be Volt buyers to fully grasp the car that will run on (exorbitant) petrol, but does not need to.
“The Volt is a truly incredible car – the first ever compromise-free electric car with zero-emissions capability,” said Chevrolet’s Terry. “You can use it for going to work and back during the week without ever putting fuel in, but it’s also an electric car that you can use for a family holiday. There are never any concerns that a flat battery will leave you stranded.”
Of the Volt’s pricing, Chevrolet said it is “less expensive than some traditional petrol or diesel engined five-door hatchbacks. Of course, by plugging it in, you’ll save yourself a fortune.”
All UK Volts will come with full leather interior as standard. The Volt is due to cost a little less than a Vauxhall Ampera.
Source: GM UK, Telegraph UK.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 at 5:55 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
+1
Jul 5th, 2011 (6:39 am)If you look closely at the driver console during the Jay Leno video, notice the 500+ mpg on the display. Even though it was a pre-production model, the video is perfect reporting about the Volt.
The United Kingdom should love the Volt as much as the drivers here in the United States are loving their E-REV vehicles. Since 230-240 volt 50 Hz is the standard voltage in the UK it will be interesting if the charger cord included with the Volt will be able to charge the car in 4 hours or less.
Jul 5th, 2011 (8:46 am)How available are120/220V plugs in the UK? I have not heard too much about cities like London putting up public charging stations, but I don’t watch BBC too often.
Just out of curiousity, does anyone know the electricity rates in the UK and contrast that with the gasoline & diesel prices?
+2
Jul 5th, 2011 (10:12 am)That’s exactly what we should do in the US. The $7500 should be a ‘grant’ not a tax credit.
Back when we were discussing the MSRP for Volt (a very heavy couple days of comments!) and it came out at over $40k, there were predictions of that high a price due to the tax credit. In other words, GM is getting some profit from Volt due to this government incentive. There has to be a way for the consumer to get a grant without the manufacturer profiting from it.
The same thing happened with the $8k incentive for buying a house a couple years ago. Since the consumer had more cushion, the prices were up a little.
I don’t know how to get around this pricing issue, but, there has got to be a way to structure the incentive so that the consumer gets the incentive not the manufacturer.
Jul 5th, 2011 (10:34 am)The government could do the same thing GM does. GM will take a vendors cost numbers (material & labor) and put at 5% profit on it and say “This is the price you will sell to us at”. So the government could take the Volt’s cost #’s and put some profit on it and state that will be the MSRP, no matter how much incentive the government gives. If the Volt costs go down, so does the MSRP, regardless of the incentive.
This is a bit controlling, but GM does the same thing, and the incentives are coming from the goverment (a big stockholder), so I dont really have a problem w/it.
+7
Jul 5th, 2011 (10:55 am)I think it is great to have a car guy like Jay Leno be an advoate for the Volt. A couple of kind words from Jay holds a lot of power and sway with people who follow him.
On a personal note, this morning I saw my first Volt driving in the “wild”. I couldn’t believe THAT was the car that was following me to work this morning. My plan was, that if the driver of the Volt pulled into a gas station along the way, I would stop and talk to him about it. But then I thought, wait a minute, he’s driving a Volt….He doesn’t need to stop for gas!!!
Jul 5th, 2011 (11:02 am)Off topic: Does anyone know when the Volt plant will be up and running again?
+4
Jul 5th, 2011 (11:35 am)#5
Absolutely! +1 You go Jay!!
As to the Volt driver not stopping for gas, LOL!
+2
Jul 5th, 2011 (11:58 am)Yeah, but he might stop for a donut or for coffee! B-)
WVhybrid
+1
Jul 5th, 2011 (12:14 pm)Turbo(bio)diesel Cruze less than 29k in the Phillipines.
http://business.inquirer.net/4159/two-from-chevy-diesel-cruze-and-2011-spark
It’s fun to drive. Why is this not offered in the States?
+7
Jul 5th, 2011 (12:15 pm)I’m carefully following how the Volt and Ampera do overseas. GM may find an even stronger market for EREV technology there, where gas is sky high and driving tends to be more local–as long as people can find places to plug in. Could the Volt see more exports than domestic sales?
I think they also don’t have to face (over there) the ridiculous right wing headwind against GM, the electric car, and anything that smacks of concern for the environment. Unless they have lying sacks like Limbaugh, Beck, etc. over there, too.
+5
Jul 5th, 2011 (12:25 pm)I’m most interested in this statement:
“The Volt is a truly incredible car – the first ever compromise-free electric car with zero-emissions capability,” said Chevrolet’s Terry
It’s taken them several years but I think GM has finally gotten its elevator pitch down. Nice job! Is “Compromise-free Electric Car” more impressive than “More Car Than Electric” or what?
+3
Jul 5th, 2011 (12:27 pm)For the same reasons you don’t see that many diesels in NA — higher emission standards and the relatively high price of diesel fuel.
Jul 5th, 2011 (12:32 pm)The UK uses 240V.
Not really unless you want to make the rebate contingent on the dealer selling at MSRP. Without price controls, if the government kicks something in there is no fool-proof way of dividing it up. In this sense the rebate may work better in that a lot of customers will discount it heavily. Also note the issue isn’t so much having the rebate go to the manufacturer as it is having the incentive go to the dealer.
+4
Jul 5th, 2011 (12:44 pm)I saw that and thought the same thing, DonC! Compromise-free Electric Car says a lot in few words. I really like the fact that the Volt is an electric car, though it sometimes seems GM is concerned that “electric” needs to be downplayed lest it scare people away. Compromise-free Electric Car acknowledges what it is (electric) and what it isn’t (a compromised car experience). “Brilliant” as they say in the UK.
+2
Jul 5th, 2011 (1:16 pm)“If the exchange calculators are correct, this is about $45,726 (with pre-incentive price being around $53,735 before the British government kicks in an $8,009 grant).”
My first question is… why is the Volt $53K in the UK?
My first guess would be tariffs.
I would also like to know what the Volt will cost in Japan Korea and Germany.
This information should be published.
+2
Jul 5th, 2011 (1:17 pm)It’s a much better tagline. Unfortunately, I have zero faith in it actually showing up in commercials.
+1
Jul 5th, 2011 (1:40 pm)220~240V is the same thing. Poh-tay-toh / Poh-tah-toh. Same as saying 110V/115V/120V or 460V/480V. My point was, where are the plugs? I spent my time in cities like London, Dublin, Edinburgh. I don’t recall seeing places to plug in, and most people lived in flats. I can’t speak for the countryside. GM kept repeating that they would roll out the Volt in areas that are prepared for it. Is the UK prepared? Are there lots of charging stations being installed? I’m not saying there isn’t, but I just haven’t heard anything about it.
Jul 5th, 2011 (1:44 pm)I like “No-compromise” vs. “Compromise-free”
+1
Jul 5th, 2011 (1:58 pm)DonC,
Modern (bio)diesels meet or exceed US emission standards and for the usable energy content, diesel is cheaper than E-85 and E-10 (what you probably call gasoline).
Jul 5th, 2011 (2:27 pm)If you do some googling, you may be able to find GM’s response to why so few diesel cars in the US. I believe one of the factors was availability of diesel. It seems to be available all around me, but maybe that is not the case everywhere. I forget the rest of the reasoning, but GM has been asked point blank about this topic.
Here’s an interesting article http://www.autoobserver.com/2010/09/gm-may-be-cozying-to-diesel-but-markets-still-inconclusive.html
and another from Popular Mechanics http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/diesel/4330313
“So even if more diesels are coming, when will we see the small, 50-mpg-and-better economy diesels that populate Europe? Don’t hold your breath. Except for VW, the manufacturers we spoke with said that at current fuel prices, American small-car buyers aren’t willing to pay extra for diesels. What we’ll have in the future instead is a mix of powertrains. Gas engines will, for the foreseeable future, dominate our cars. According to JD Power’s Omotoso, hybrids are projected to become 9.5 percent of the passenger-car market by 2015 (up from 3 percent this year), yet diesels will grow to become just 3.5 percent of the car market here by 2015, up from less than 1 percent this year. However if the U.S. fuel prices take off more abruptly than analysts predict, we could see a deeper penetration of both diesel and hybrid vehicles.”
+1
Jul 5th, 2011 (2:43 pm)#10
I’m sure they do. +1 I think that they’re a plentiful commodity, world wide, LOL. The specific lies just probably vary from region to region, depending on the political objectives.
+1
Jul 5th, 2011 (3:17 pm)GM is totally nuts in Germany! The Ampera is offered for orders starting today but only with a “premium” setup for breathtaking 48900 EUR!!! The base model is still priced with 42900 EUR but has nothing inside, not even a park assistance system!
And one cannot order the basis version before Q1 2012 comes up!
I really wanted to buy an Ampera, but not for this conditions!
On the other hand they write the Ampera has been solt out for 2011 alreay. But, noone could order it till today. They just take people on a their waiting list as sells!
GM, vorget about it. No better way to kill this great car even before a single one has been shipped in Germany.
I’m really pissed of!
Greetings from Germany
Ulrich
+2
Jul 5th, 2011 (3:18 pm)kdawg,
Thanks.
“American … buyers aren’t willing to pay extra for diesels.”
Too bad reality doesn’t support GM’s claim above.
Maybe someday they will get tired of being continually caught with their pants down and on fire?
In the meantime, the Volt is progress but production is too small scale to date and thus pricey and the Cruze Eco is improvement but 39 years late to the game.
Jul 5th, 2011 (5:21 pm)I thought you were asking whether the UK standard was 120V or 240V. Yeah all the 2xx are the same. I think technically your’e supposed to call it 230V but usually I call it 240V and sometimes 220V.
Anyway, I think it’s a big deal that 240V (whatever) is the standard. I don’t think the UK is that different than the US in terms of the availability of plugs. It’s just that you automatically see faster recharging from those plugs.
+1
Jul 5th, 2011 (7:00 pm)Ulrich,
Ulrich… talk to your German government about the tariffs put on the Ampera.
In the US we don’t put any tariffs on German cars… plus we give $7500 for each electric car.. plus we let German companies build plants in the US and pay no US taxes…..
What do they do in Germany to US vehicles? How much does a Chevy Malibu cost in Germany after tariffs?
I think you should post what costs are added to US vehicles that you try to buy.
Jul 5th, 2011 (7:04 pm)In addition, the European plugs use round pins and holes for the line contacts, while America uses flat blades and slots.
Raymond
-1
Jul 5th, 2011 (7:11 pm)My brother-in-law worked for BP for many years, he says that American refineries are set up for gasoline and enough diesel to keep the trucks rolling. If there were a lot of diesel cars there wouldn’t be enough diesel to go around. It’s very expensive to convert a refinery to diesel and besides, we need all the gas they can produce anyway Such a shame. Some European countries are just the opposite. You’d think with all our SUVs we’d be the same.
Jul 5th, 2011 (9:30 pm)Eco_Turbo,
When you consider that gasoline is a waste product from inefficient refineries that we used to dump in rivers and burn, that’s pretty funny. It’s not cheap any more for a waste product, so it’s maybe not that funny any more.
Jul 5th, 2011 (11:36 pm)I would be careful about the wording on what you’re asking for… If the government provided a $7500 grant, that would be taxable income, and you would pay the government roughly 1/3 of that back in taxes.
I know because I have a grant I’m receiving for a solar panel installation, and it’s 100% taxable. Side note: I can’t wait for my Volt to be 100% fossil-fuel-free.
join thE REVolution
+1
Jul 6th, 2011 (12:03 am)kdawg,
It can be a significant difference if your level 1 charging is done on an outlet that has only 110 volts available.
An outlet that has 120 volts or even 124 volts available have a really great loss buffer compared to one that has only 110 no-load yet volts available.
Lots of equipment may list that 108 volts is the minimum loaded voltage specified. But that is not a long term 8 hour time frame type of load.
If you are starting out with 120 or 124 volts, there is a very good difference in efficiency that is available.
If you have a voltmeter, you can measure what the loaded voltage goes down to in the other outlet when the Volt is charging. If it goes down to around 109 or 110, check it again in an hour, then two hours. If it stays at 110, then there might not be an issue, but you may consider the overnight hours for charging instead if the line comes up to 115 late at night for older neighborhoods or for an overworked grid in the high heat of the peak load hours within Summer months. (I do **not** recommend a plug in watt meter, because there are just more contact surfaces to come into question with their contact surface losses.) I do not have data on the 220 volt dynamics.
Jul 6th, 2011 (4:21 am)How do you make a profit by investing 3/4 of a billion dollars and only selling 3000 cars. With $38,500 for each car, that’s about $115 million returned from about a billion in costs. Seems like they should be entitled to at least try to make a profit from the risks they took? For making a step in the direction of getting off foreign oil?
Jul 7th, 2011 (1:35 am)Nice poetry-sounds good. Though in real showrooms, right now, the Cruze is proving competitive with the very best cars available. And packed with technology not even thought of 39 years ago.
Jul 7th, 2011 (1:07 pm)In fact, in June 2011 the Cruze was the best-selling car in the United States.