2012 Volt on order in Portland, OR. area

[Sunny Boy]

Hello All,

I am a long-time reader, first time poster. I’ve been following the site almost daily for the past 3 ½ years.

Just submitted my order for a 2012 Volt at Suburban Chevrolet in Sandy, OR. (SE of Portland) Viridian Joule, Black Leather seats, Bose Stereo.

I’ve been waiting for this day since I was pushing my car in gas lines in Southern California in the 70’s from the oil embargo. At that time I was thinking there had to be a better way, it only took 40 years to come true. Was involved with a hobbyist electric car club in the 90’s. Got to ride in one of the first EV1’s. Almost cried when GM pulled the plug on the program.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, conditions are ideal for this car. With ample Hydro and Wind power, we can drive nearly emissions-free. I work for the world’s largest owner/operator of wind turbines and pv solar plants. We have 5 Gigawatts (nameplate) of wind and solar in the U.S., 500 MW of that is on the Oregon/Washington border. For the naysayers out there that say this car has higher CO2 emissions, that’s total bull, especially here in the PNW. In fact, we need as many Volts and Leafs in this area as possible, as we have TOO MUCH renewable energy available during the evening hours.

I look forward to sharing my Volt experiences with the rest of the Volt Community.

Sunny Boy

[DonC]

Congrats on your order. You'll definitely not regret your decision. And Viridian Joule is a neat color. Now all you have to do is wait, which always seems like forever.

FYI the grid in the NW is better than average but less green that what you'd find in SoCal, mostly because the NW uses a fair amount of coal. You can check out exactly how clean the grid is where you live on this EPA site: http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energ...how-clean.html

[kickincanada]

Way to go Sunny Boy!!

[jeffhre]

I’ve been waiting for this day since I was pushing my car in gas lines in Southern California in the 70’s from the oil embargo.
Sunny Boy

You wrote a line there that describes me exactly. Congratulations on your order, enjoy - Jeff

I also remember waxing the car while I was waiting in line...interesting days.

[Luvthevolt]

Congratulations! We are all excited for you! Hydro and wind power is a perfect fit for the Volt. Wish we had a lot of that in the north east. I get tired of people telling me coal is just as bad as gas!

[beechnut]

Congratulations! I ordered mine in Coos Bay (Ken Ware Chevrolet) On 6/6! I test drove two Volts in California over spring break and I am excited to get my hands on mine!
I totally agree. The pacific northwest it a perfect environment for the Volt with our sources of electricity here. We should have some kind of event when these vehicles arrive. I would meet other Volt owners and swap stories in person.

[pjk447]

Sounds like you are finally going to be driving your dream car... congratulations... enjoy.

Solar and wind are nice.. but novel... making up about 2% of the power needed in the US after decades and many billions in "incentives".
The smallest coal fired plant is 500mw .. like the one near our home that supplies electric for our area. I worked there for a few days as a subcontractor doing some design for upgrading lighting at the plant. Never smelled anything .. never saw any smoke and no noise.. and it was running at full capacity. The air in Pa is cleaner than it was 100years ago.... I like the idea of wind and solar .. but we need our major sources of power until we come up with a viable replacement and I certainly do not want one of those monsters near my home. I've been looking into solar for my house... but the initial investment ($41K)is just too much right now.

[Paul Slazas]

Congratulations, Sunny Boy:
You will have the most fun ever with your Volt. I just hit 3700 miles and with the gas that I have used to date my lifetime MPG is 101. Picked up my Crystal Red Volt on April 5th at Mangino Chevy, a fantastic dealer in Amsterdam NY,
I drive 36.9 miles to work and if I am carefully driving I can arrive at work with up to 17 mile left on charge.
So on my 72 miles or so round trip, i use from 0.46 gallon of gas up to an absolute maximum of 0.86. I am still discovering new things about the Volt. This weekend I finally will have a chance to load music into the 30 GB hard drive.
Look forward to hearing of your experiences.

Paul S. Red Volt #2169, Albany, (Hudson), NY