Earlier this month GM announced that the Volt’s li-ion battery will pack an eight year or 100,000mile guarantee. This far surpasses GM’s conventional engine and transmission warranties by far. Although Toyota’s Prius and Ford’s Escape Hybrid have fairly similar warranties, the Volt’s battery pack will be working harder because it’s the car’s only power for up to 40miles before the Volt’s gas motor fires up. GM is hoping this news will further inspire confidence among potential buyers and EV skeptics.
Volt battery warranty will be transferable
A new Volt battery, weighing in at a hefty 400 pounds, will be in the thousands range to replace but GM is assuring the battery pack will last much longer than anyone is anticipating. A GM spokesman told CNN that Chevy Volt lithium-ion battery pack warranty will be transferable to new auto loans if the original owner wishes to sell the car.
Charge it up!
Finally we get some hard facts about what is needed to charge the battery and just how long it will take to get you back on the road again. With your standard 120-volt hookup, you will be looking at an overnight charge of 8-10hours, but only 4hours using a 240-volt hookup. Believe it or not but there are more than 150 components of the lithium-ion battery and more are covered by the GM warranty. Included in the warranty is the charging system, electric drive components and thermal management system. GM’s confidence in this new battery pack comes from a new technology that keeps the pack at optimal temperatures unlike the Nissan Leaf electric car which has an air-cooled battery. The Volt, being the first and only automobile, has a liquid-powered thermal management system.
Where’s the waiting list you say?
Unless you know someone it doesn’t look very promising to be able to get your hands on one of these Chevy Volt’s and that’s because it looks like GM is only going to build 10,000 Volts in 2011. They plan to increase that number 3 fold for 2012 but that isn’t expected to meet demand. GM will also be limiting where the car will be sold as well. Undecided as of now except for the District of Columbia and six states. Being that the Volt is new technology many are already expecting to pay sticker price or maybe in more, but in this case as it’s all unfolding that will an unfortunate expectation that almost undoubtedly be met. Initial advertised sticker price is hovering around $40,000 — or about $32,000 after Uncle Sam’s tax credit for electric cars.