The New Chevy Volt - A Frugal’s Dream Come True?

It’s been interesting to read about the new Chevy Volt.  Headlines about the car, which will (maybe) begin production in 2010 are screaming it gets 230 mpg.  Is this, then, the frugal automotive holy grail?

Apparently you can plug this puppy in and drive up to 40 miles before it needs to resort to its gasoline-powered engine.  Gas is actually the “alternative” fuel source on this car.

At first I wasn’t too impressed with the 40 mile electric limit.  But that was just my old California way of thinking.  Back when I lived in California, I drove a lot.  30 miles to work.  15 or 20 miles to see my parents and sister and brother.  Another 45 miles to see my other sister.  25 miles to see my best friend.  65 miles for a boring meeting.  And I did this all the time, every single day.  In those days 40 miles on one electric charge wouldn’t be too impressive.

But now that I’m a lazy Texas housewife, a 40 mile trip would be something alright.  I can’t remember the last time I drove 40 miles at one time.  (And nowadays I can always use my scooter, which can get up to 70 mpg). As it is I fill up the tank in my station wagon about every three months.  But even so, with my new (improved?) lifestyle it’s entirely realistic, if I owned a Volt, that I could go an entire year or more on one tank of gas.

So, yes, I’m impressed.  But is this car Power to the People?  Well, the thing is  $40,000.  That’s a high barrier to entry that leaves out a lot of the People.  And actually it’s probably more than that because that’s the advertised price, and usually you end up paying more when it comes time to seal the deal.

And I’m not any sort of expert on how electricity is produced, but I have the impression that coal and possibly nuclear reactors have a role in creating it.  Coal is a fossil fuel, and atomic energy is SCARY.  Wind turbines are neato but they kill a lot of birds, which is sad.

What about those big batteries that run the car?  Are they filled with acids that will someday end up in our landfills?  (I don’t know.  I’m just asking - I’m not an automotive engineer, either).

Oh, and last but not least, how much electricity will it cost to charge it up?  This is a biggy, because my electric bills are already pretty high.

Even with all that I think this car is definitely a step in the right direction.  But not enough to tempt me away from a Camaro, which gets about 27 mpg.  I think that’s pretty good, though, for an 8-cylinder muscle car.  My 5-cylinder Volvo station wagon gets about the same.

But let’s face it, only walking or bicycling are truly “green”. Any other form of locomotion, even hot-air ballooning, is going to have a negative environmental impact.

That’s a lot to think about but that 230 mpg is really impressive.   So I have to give kudos to Chevy especially considering all their recent troubles. For now, though, I’ll keep my $40,000 and my Camaro dreams.  That’s cheap, and doesn’t use ANY gas or electricity.