Why do you want a plug-in Volt?

[Fulgerite]

Environmental + Patriotic + Financial. All three.

[e-reverend]

I don't care who makes it. There are good and bad people in every country and every company. I do care about the environment and have just gone solar, which makes total sense in Tucson. I can't justify the rate of consumption in this society having lived in a number of developing countries. I have bad allergies and pollution aggravates them. I've never owned a "nice" care in my life, just old Toyota Corollas and used Volvo 240s, but I finally paid off debt from a failed marriage. Once I test drove the Volt (right after trying the Cruze Eco) I never looked back. I generally don't care what other people think but my black Volt gets a lot of comments and I confess my chest swells when people react to me telling them "I'm averaging over 400 mpg."

[tedbe]

Point of clarification: there is no such thing as "foreign" and "domestic" oil -- there is only the global oil market. If we allowed Anwar to be dug up to get all the oil out, it would not be sold in Alaska or the Lower 48, it would be dumped into the global oil market, as all oil is. The only beneficiaries to attempting to increase U.S. oil production above the current 4% of the global market are the global oil companies. The United States and the people of the United States don't really benefit much. To the contrary.

One of the main reasons to buy a Volt, in addition to reducing pollution, is to diminish the political power of the oil companies, which is distorting our national priorities. If enough people move to electrification, the profits of Exxon and the others will take a big hit. Oil will be diminished to a specialty boutique fuel. With the political influence of the oil companies diminished, we may see the return of inner-city mass transportation like streetcars, which were removed from our transportation infrastructure in the 1940's thanks largely to oil influence. We'd also have less reason for military adventures.

[ShannonVolt]

I just want to quit letting the oil companies rape my bank account every time I drive somewhere. The execs. of those companies are just so smug. they sit there in Congressional hearing, listen to our elected representatives tell them what their obsene profits are doing to the citizens of this country and to our economy, and smugly spout back dribble about how they "reinvest" those profits in dry holes in the ground or whatever. I just want to stick the screw to them for once. I want to show them that I don't need what they sell.

I'm mad as hell and I won't take it anymore!

Now GM, hurry up and give me the tools to make this happen.

That's what I'm talking about!

[Skotty]

Like many others here, multiple factors contribute. Yes, I prefer to use domestic energy in a car from a domestic company. Yes, I prefer to spend more on up front capital costs and less on the transient costs of fuel and maintenance, even if the overall cost ends up being a wash. Yes, the car is cool, and I like it's style. But ultimately, I have to put the environment as the top reason, and here is why:

We have achieved a lot through the industrial revolution and the technological advancements of our time. But we are slowly beginning to realize that this is not enough. The next phase is to keep that level of advancement indefinitely (or advance further) by doing it in a way that is environmentally benign and sustainable.

Is our current level of oil usage environmentally benign? No. Global warming or not, the data indicates we are changing the composition of the atmosphere, and I can't imagine anyone would say that this is okay without knowing what the consequences might be. There is only one atmosphere for the entire planet, and we shouldn't be so cavalier about what we do to it.

Is our current level of oil usage sustainable? No. Again, I look at the available data. Argue about the when, but pretty much all the data I've seen says that the current level of consumption far exceeds sustainable levels. There are some technologies such as biofuels that can help, but each of those seem to have their own problems that make them unsatisfactory as a global solution (for biofuels, the land usage required for a significant contribution is too extreme).

Is the use of electric transportation environmentally benign? It isn't now. But it can be, and I'm hopeful that it will be in the future with the greater roll out of advanced nuclear (gen3+, gen4, and eventually fusion) and renewable energy. In the meantime, studies indicate it is still better than oil.

Is the use of electric transportation sustainable? Absolutely. The power that can be provided by renewables, gen4 nuclear, and fusion is more or less unlimited.

Is there a point to making the conversion now, or can we rely on market forces to lead the way? It's nice that market forces generally lead us in the right direction, but I don't think it is always a good approach. Markets are reactionary. Things don't change until bad things start to happen. And when you are dealing with global energy and environmental issues, you are dealing with issues of enormous scale and potentially dire severity. In such situations, I believe it is better to plan ahead and begin making the move to better solutions as soon as possible.

[jbfalaska]

I've watched far too many of my friends go to the middle east to protect people who actually despise most of our values. No, I'm bringing the jobs here - Chevy Volt, American-made, American-fueled. GO USA. The quicker we stop importing oil, the quicker America will steer away from the malaise of debt and deficits.

[Solarwind]

Plugin cars are the only vehicles you can own your own fuel refinery for; and maybe have some left over for the house.

[raj7]

For me multiple factors
1. Environmental
2. I prefer not to burn fossil fuel
3. Love the technology
4. Biggest of all , I have solar panels producing clean renewable energy every day, so I burn what I produce no brainer there
5. I want GM to succeed, never owned american car before but this has changed my perception of GM, hopefully they will keep as their customer for a long time

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Primary reason is environmental, assuming resource issues are environmental. I guess you could call it environmental/patriotic/other.

To me the fundamental benefit would shifting from a resource with a limited, unstable supply to a much more stable system with fungible inputs that can vary by region, with those fungible inputs including renewables.

I also think that widespread use of PEVs would have synergistic benefits for the electric grid and numerous other direct and indirect environmental benefits.

Look at it the other way: imagine if all vehicles were PEV.

[dukecola]

For me it is simply to drive the most fuel efficient vehicle. I'm not "green", that excuse is nothing more that emotion. Bottom line, is to pay the least amount to power my vehicle. I've always been this way my entire adult life. My 1981 Chevy Chevette diesel got darn near what a Prius gets. My 1981 VW diesel got near 60mpgs. My 1985 VW diesel and 1997 VW diesels got 55mpg's. I was pissed when my 2001 VW diesel got only 50mpg's. If i had a second choice it would be to F OPEC. Way too many of my friends and military have died protecting oil. I would like to see our dependence reduced.