Three years ago today, I took delivery of my Chevy Volt. I had ordered it sight unseen, based only on research, and I ended up being the first Volt owner in the state of Georgia.
Today, the three year lease is up, and so yesterday I turned the car back into the dealer.
The Volt has been a great car for me. The 35-mile electric range easily covered my commutes and typical errands, and the gas mode took care of the odd long day that went beyond that 35 miles range. I burned gas about once a week (or three) and only had to gas up the car when we were out of town on a roadtrip (which the Volt handled fine as well). In fact, the last time I bought gas in Atlanta was for my previous car in December 2010. For the last three years, the gas I was always carrying around in the Volt was left over from the last roadtrip.
Our electric bill went up about $5-$10 per month, a small fraction of what I would have paid for the comparable amount of gasoline.
For the first year, I maintained a website www.FirstVoltInGeorgia.com, a very simple website that introduced people to the concept of EVs, offered some specifics about the Volt, and generally provided a variety of EV information. Check out the pictures posted there. (Last year I started up the more general www.ElectrifyAtlanta.com and I have a lot more information there now.)
The Volt (and indeed just about any EV) is a pure thrill to drive. With full torque at zero RPM, it is raring to go at every stoplight, and without the roar of an engine to alert anyone that you're having way to much fun out there.
Once GM dropped the price on the Volt (this year, by $5000), there was pretty much only one valid reason why someone wouldn't get this car: it has two bucket seats in the back, not a bench seat. So you can't fit three kids, which was a dealbreaker for some people I knew.
For the last year I've been evaluating what I was going to do next. I had two basic options: buy out the Volt lease, or turn it in and get another car. I decided I didn't want to buy out the lease because while the Volt is truly a fantastic car, this particulr Volt was a very early unit, from the first batch out of the factory. As an engineer I know that they certainly found and fixed lots of little problems during the production, even if they don't announce them. So I just didn't want to be saddled with what could have turned into a problem car. By 2012 and certainly 2103, though, they had worked out the kinks, and added some key features, and now I say without reservation that the Volt is a great car for anyone. Seriously, if you are looking for a car, you have little reason to dismiss the Volt. At a price of about $28K after tax credit, it's way more affordable than when I bought mine, it saves you money week after week, and it's more fun to drive than anything else you'd buy in that class. It's the perfect "starter EV" for anyone intrigued by the benefits but worried about getting stranded.
So, that left me with getting a new car. Certainly it was going to be an EV; I just wasn't sure which one. Also I wasn't sure if I really needed to get a "range extended" model like the Volt, that can fall back onto a gas engine when the big battery for pure electric mode runs out of charge. Through the summer I had three cars on my short list:
- another Chevy Volt (newer and better)
- a Cadillac ELR
- a BMW i3
Yeah yeah, the Cadillac. Ha ha, it's an old man's car. Look at the pictures, it's actually a sports coupe. It was supposed to be an evolved version of the Volt, with two doors instead of four, more aggressive in styling and performance, and that sounds perfect for me. Over the summer I got a chance to get a look at it, and certainly it's a nice looking car. But the drivetrain is basically warmed over Volt (no major improvements from 2010) and the ELR performs about the same as the Volt. Which means it's peppy but I want a lot more than that. But the real howler was the price point: $75,000. Ha, you have got to be kidding! Well, with that pricepoint it might actually help to sell Volts. And Tesla Model S's!
So it came down to the BMW i3. That's a very interesting car, and I guess I'll write about it some other time. For now, I needed to decide if I liked it enough to wait for it, because it's not out until April 2014. Earlier this month I had a chance to test drive the i3, twice, and decided that indeed it will be my next car. I actually noted this on a Facebook group of i3 fans, and was then invited to write an article about it. You can read it at this link, but note that it was written for an EV-enthusiast audience, indeed for an audience of BMW i3 fanboys, so I zipped right past the background and even praise for the i3 and got into the nitty gritty: The First Volt Owner in Georgia Explains What He Doesn't Like About the BMW i3... and Why He's Buying One!
Now, since the BMW i3 doesn't come out until April, that leaves me with no car for four months. And so, starting today, I am beginning a grand experiment in creative transportation. For the next three months I will be commuting without a car, meaning rapid transit or bicycle. Fortunately I live and work close to a transit (MARTA) rail line, and my commute distance is pretty short so I could even bike it in about 30 minutes. I'll miss my car time, for sure, but it'll be an adventure. (I will probably need to remind myself that it's an adventure when it's cold and rainy.) For errands that require a car, I will try to accumulate them together and then rent a car for a day -- there happens to be a car rental business two blocks from my workplace and they have EV options ...
Stepping back, where have we been and what has been achieved in the last three years?
Three years ago there were ZERO charging stations in metro Atlanta, and now there are over 200. Three years ago there were just a handful of electric vehicled (EVs) in the whole state, now there are around 5000 -- and 160,000 nationwide. EV sales are exploding, thanks in part to the Georgia tax credit (which may go away, so don't dawdle).
You might get into an EV because it's better for the environment, or you are tired of giving your money to oil companies, or you are tired of sending your children to die in oil wars, or you are looking to save money on operating costs, or you just love the guilt-free thrill ride. Either way, EVs are a revolution whose time has finally come, and the haters just can't hold back the groundswell any more. It's not just a car, it's a movement.
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For more background, see my earlier EV posts here, some of which have aged better than others ...
part 1 from Sept 2008: my first thoughts on EVs
part 2 from April 2009: I test drive a Tesla Roadster!
part 3 from Jan 2010: the Nissan Leaf roadshow comes to Atlanta
part 4 from Mar 2010: grab bag of news and analysis
part 5: why I am buying a Volt
Oct 2010: "Electric Vehicles, part 6: the waiting game"
Feb 2011: "Electric Vehicles, part 7: loving the Volt, missing the Audi"