Volt and iMEV drive/review

[tboult]

http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/09/...omment-page-1/
mitsubishi-i-miev-car-picture1.jpg

Nice comments on the volt in it..

The Chevy Volt is very cool. It looks modern and fast. And it is. I handed it over to a couple of friends who are long term members of the Porsche Club of America. They drove it hard and came away impressed. The car stacked up as a reasonable daily driver for a Porche aficionado.

Plus, this Volt draws favorable attention. I parked it at an upscale restaurant with a parking lot filled with BMWs and Mercedes. The car immediately drew a crowd. What was really fun was to see a $200,000+ Bentley convertible drive by without notice from the enthralled Volt crowd!

Rest of the article is iMEV as a value category car. Seems like they are differentiating iMEV as low-cost
volt as high-end..

[Raymondjram]

The Chevy Volt isn't so "high end" as an EV. We still have the Tesla Roadster, and soon we will have the Tesla Model S, and the Fisker pair (Karma and Surf) taking up the high end. If most of the other manufacturers also take up the EV high end, as to get the maximum profits sooner, then the Volt will be the best deal as the middle range EV.

Mitsubishi can share the low cost with the Nissan Leaf.

We will see by next year how Ford and Toyota fair in the EV price range. Then, as a public service, this forum can publish a list of EVs on sale according to the MSRP.

[DonC]

Because BEVs are range limited they need to compete either at the very high end, like the Audi E-Tron, or the low end, like the Nissan Leaf or the Mitsubishi i-Miev. Because EREVs aren't range limited they can compete anywhere. For example, the Cadillac ELR should compete nicely against the BMW 5 series. The current Volt competes well against the BMW 3 series. The BMW i8 will compete well against the BMW 7 series.

[MTN Ranger]

I have seen the Mitsubishi i in person and let me tell you, it makes the Leaf look like a luxury car. It is very bare bones and has very cheap plastic.

IMGP4412.jpgIMGP4413.jpg

[theflew]

The Chevy Volt isn't so "high end" as an EV. We still have the Tesla Roadster, and soon we will have the Tesla Model S, and the Fisker pair (Karma and Surf) taking up the high end. If most of the other manufacturers also take up the EV high end, as to get the maximum profits sooner, then the Volt will be the best deal as the middle range EV.

The Roadster is expensive, but there are very few on the road. And I'm sure even less people know about it's existence. I agree the Model S and Karma are high end, but once again your chances of seeing one on the road are about nil at this point. So that basically leaves the Volt at this point and the foreseeable future as the "high end" EV.

[therfman]

I like the concept of the iMiev. It's designed to be a good second car, and I would certainly consider it if we ever decided we need a second vehicle. In Ontario, Canada, it will sell for about 25k$ after rebate (which is about 5000$ less than the Leaf). It's small enough to be really easy to park downtown and will fit with the Volt in smaller urban driveways. Creature comforts aren't really essential to drive 5 miles to the market or 10 miles to a doctor's appointment.

Of all the EVs on the road, the iMiev is the most efficient to date. If they could manage to shave another few thousand off the price, they would be very attractive as a second car for many households.

In my case, we only need two cars every second weekend or do, so it makes more sense to just rent one at 25$ for the weekend at Enterprise.

[wainair]

As I've mentioned over in another post about the iMEiV, I sat in one at the autoshow in Toronto last Feb. and I as very unimpressed with the interior of the car. It might have a lot of Tech underneath but they have gone very cheap in the interior. I usually like quirky little cars like that but I thought that it is just to cheap inside for me to be happy with that as a daily driver. And that was my opinion before I saw the inside of the Volt. The inside of a Kinder egg is less cheap and plasticy feeling than that iMeiv. Though it is a neat little toy. Reminds me of a Kei Car. I have a Kei truck, a Subaru Sambar and it is great. There is a place for vehicles like this in our cities!(though maybe not on our highways, I don't scare easy but you'd be toast in a Kei vehicle if in an accident at highway speeds)

[DonC]

When I say high end I mean $100,000+. Tesla or Audi R8 (E-Tron) territory. By low end I mean under $30,000. The Volt doesn't compete in either of these segments. My point is that it doesn't have to because of the range extender. If you make it cheap enough, like the i-Miev, then it's a second or third car and who cares about the interior and the limited range. If it runs it works and you're not buying it for long trips anyway. At the high end you can make a BEV very hot looking and have it go to 60 MPH in 3 or 4 seconds and who cares that you can't take it on a trip. It's just for show in a restaurant parking lot anyway.

If this is correct then the Tesla S may be a hard sell. Twice as expensive as it needs to compete at the low end and not hot enough to compete at the high end. Hopefully not but it's hard to see a big demand for a limited range $60K BEV which isn't completely a "look at me" model.

Agree with the assessment of the i-Miev. Spartan is charitable. On the other hand, if it's under $20K after credits and rebates, which it will be in CA, people will figure out pretty quickly that it's pretty neat and cheap transportation. It has surprising interior space and is kinda cute. I could see people really liking it. It has something of the same appeal as the VW Bug did in the 60s.

[TeslaOwner]

At the high end you can make a BEV very hot looking and have it go to 60 MPH in 3 or 4 seconds and who cares that you can't take it on a trip. It's just for show in a restaurant parking lot anyway.

If this is correct then the Tesla S may be a hard sell.

It's already pretty clear that the Model S is not a hard sell. A year away from shipping and yet it has twice the reservation list of the Fisker Karma.

As for the Roadster being a parking lot show car, well, I'll wager money you've never driven one.

[DonC]

As for the Roadster being a parking lot show car, well, I'll wager money you've never driven one.

All this "you've never driven one" stuff makes me smile. The Roadster has no practical value and if you're honest you'll admit this. It's just designed to show how affluent and hi-tech you are. The reasons why people lust after expensive but impractical cars like the Roadster was explained a hundred years ago by Thorsten Veblen in his book, "Theory of the Leisure Class". If you haven't read it get yourself a copy. You'll find it enlightening.

I'm fine with conspicuous consumption. I understand it. I accept it's part of human nature. And I've been tempted to do it. But my point would be that the Model S will be terribly positioned. On the one hand not impractical enough and high end enough for conspicuous consumption. On the other too range limited and costly to be practical. That leaves it in a no-man's land without significant volume. Since you need volume to get unit prices down, it will remain a pricey niche vehicle which won't be able to generate enough profit to continue the necessary R&D.