When I was a kid I used to love watching the Jetsons on Saturday mornings.  Oh, the thought of little cars scootering through the skies from one point to another.  I wondered when such technology, such sheer magic, would become available in my life, as my family went on vacations in whatever car we owned.

Over 30 years later, I have a car not that much different than my parents, especially when we take a look at what is under the hood.  Oh, I understand that the souped-up, high-efficiency powerhouses of today’s automotive world are very different, but most still burn the same fuel.  I lowered my expectations since my Jetsons days, and have for many years now wondered when I would at least get my hands on a decent 100% electric car.

Introducing the Volt (and its price tag)

Just the other day, Chevrolet released the price of their new Volt, GM’s very first offering of an all-electric car.  The asking price is  $41,000 – $44,600, depending on your chosen options package.  I’ve been chafing at the cost of cars ever since my first bright, shiny brand-new acquisition many years ago, and a $40K plus car seems absolutely obscene to me.

I know there will be a number of environmentally conscious folks who will look past the price tag in order to help the environment.  In a tough economy, the average consumer wants to know the financial bottom line.  So let’s take a look at the overall cost of a Chevy Volt versus your typical gas-powered vehicle.  Let’s look at the real cost of owning the machine.

How does this compare to a regular car?

My first thought after seeing the price tag was that there would be a savings in not having to purchase gas.  Would there, really?

• The average price tag of a new car last year was $28,400 – I’ll bump the number up to $30,000 just to be conservative for 2010.
• If you drove this new gas-driven vehicle for 5 years at a modest 12,000 miles per year, you would drive 60,000 miles.  Some of may drive more, but I’ll bet you don’t tell your insurance company that!
• The average fuel efficiency of new cars today is just under 20 mpg, which means you will use up about 3,000 gallons of gas over the 5-year period.
• At the average price of $ 2.75/gallon of gas, 3,000 gallons of gas would cost you $8,250.  Let’s tack that on to the price of our new car, and we get $38,250 (not including servicing the vehicles, replacement tires and parts.)

What a Volt will cost you

Which brings us to the Volt.  The goverment is offering a tax rebate of up to $7,500 towards the purchase of cars in the category the Volt fits in.  Most taxpayers will qualify for this.  So let’s assume a purchaser of a low-range Volt:

• We purchase a low-end Volt for $41,000, and get $7,500 off, so the total cost would be $33,500.
• The Chevy Volt ought to be plugged into a 240V outlet, but can be plugged into your typical 120V home outlet.  Now, 240V comes into our home, but it is split up into two separate lines serving up 120V, so should you choose to put in a special 240V outlet in your garage, the typical cost  is $300 – $800.  Let’s call it $500.
• Scientific American did a study last year and found that to charge a car was the equivalent of paying $ 0.75/gallon of equivalent gas power.  This is based on 8.5 cents per KWH and the estimated distance a car could travel on one charge – although night-time costs of electrical usage might be as low as 1/3 – 1/4th the price.  At a comparative 3,000 gallons (see above for a gas-powered car,) the cost of actually driving the Volt car could be as low as $900 and as high as $2,250 over the same five-year period.  Let’s go with $1,500 to be conservative.
• So one could look at paying around $33,500 + $500 for the outlet + $1,500 for the electricity, or a total of $35,500 (not including servicing the vehicles, replacement tires and parts.)

Not bad.  A net savings overall of $38,250 – $35,500, or $2,750.  Because I used conservative figures, we could say in the plus or minus range, that the overall cost is about even.  Now I realize I have left out service plan charges and maintenance fees, taxes, licensing fees, etc.  Let’s hope they are the same for each in the long run.

What about other electric cars out there?

Now there is a cheaper 100% electric vehicle out there, called the Nissan Leaf, which is all-electric and runs around $25,280 after tax rebate.  It gets 100 miles on a full charge, but after that you are out of luck, unless you find a place to charge up far from your home…

You might think the Volt is a lot like a Toyota Prius, but it’s actually very different.  A Prius, right from the get-go, transfers power requirements from its battery to the built-in gas engine, swapping back and forth based on road and acceleration requirements.  So you’re burning some gas from the get-go, albeit at a far more efficient manner than a typical car.

What makes the Volt different is it’s built-in ultra-efficient gas-powered electrical generator, which will kick in only after 40 miles of electric-only driving (what a full charge will provide,) allowing you to keep driving for hundreds of more miles on one tank of gas.  As long as your daily commute is under 40 miles, you will never use a drop of that gas.  Longer family trips?  Then gas will help you along, until you plug in at a motel for the night (if they’ll let you…)

Get a Volt, already!

Based on the comparison in pricing, you are pretty much left to your environmental conscious.  Do you want to drive something that makes you feel like you’re doing your part?  That lowers your carbon footprint?  Then I’d go with the Volt as your next car purchase.  Note: I did not go into the cost of leasing your Volt, which may change things around a bit for your average cost.  Consumer Reports did an article a few years ago, and determined it was cheaper overall to buy…

With a Chevy Volt, you won’t be zipping around in the skies as you head back home after a long day at work, but at least when you look out the window, you can know you are keeping those skies clearer for the day when George’s zippy sky car is a reality…