Brought home a Volt.

[ChrisV]

driving quietly into the future.  Teaching me how to drive a whole new way. So far tested out Normal, Sport, and Hold modes. Sport's pretty fun, but it looks like it'll use up the battery power pretty fast. In hold mode, it maintains the charge and lets the gas engine run. Pretty weird hearing the gas engine do different things depending on it's need, not what your throttle foot is doing...

Didn't buy the car to save money, really, though it costs the same as the Mustang did for the monthly note, yet uses vastly less fuel. If I wanted to save money, $1k beater and drive the wheels off it would suffice. No, bought it for the techyness of driving an electric car that can double as a long distance driver. And it's just fun in it's own way.

[Payman]

Beautiful in that colour. Congratulations!

[mzziaz]

Congrats!

[ChrisV]

It's frickin' eerie to drive around down, just like riding a wave of effortless power, 'cause it's so quiet and has so much torque off the line. And surprisingly quick, too.

I really like the way the Pebble beige interior looks with the blue. Love the two tone in there, with the suede inserts. Too bad the cell phone can't capture it in this crappy weather.

My wife and I are geeking out over the tech bits, and both of us have the OnStar app on our phones that talks to the car, and gives us a dashboard of how it's charging, whether we want to remote start it to get it pre-heated/cooled for the drive, etc. And the bluetooth streaming audio works great in there. I didn't get the upgraded BOSE stereo system, but it still sounds real good. It's funny, 'cause now my wife wants to drive it more than she wants to drive the Mini...

[giant_mtb]

This is the confus.

[Laconian]

Whoa! What kind of charging rig are you going to set up at your house? How long is your commute, do you have a charging station waiting for you in the other end?

If I had a Volt I would probably give it one tankful of gas a year. I have a short commute and my work has charging outlets. But I use the short commute as part of my rationalization for driving a powerful gas hog.

And yeah, nice color.

[Laconian]

My boyfriend said that if his work had preferential parking for electric cars, he'd give up the TSX and get a Volt or Model S in a second. (They have a 2 year waiting list for the adjacent parking garage, all the other poor saps have to shuttle in from an offsite lot.)

[Rupert]

Cool!

[Laconian]

Is that pocket behind the dashboard useful at all? Looks like it isn't big enough for any practical purpose.

[Payman]

I'd love an ELR in that colour. 

[ChrisV]

Whoa! What kind of charging rig are you going to set up at your house? How long is your commute, do you have a charging station waiting for you in the other end?

Right now, just the 110V setup that came with the car, though I'm pricing the 240 volt fast charger setup (looks to be about $500 plus installation, not including rebates and tax incentives) My wife and i are both talking to our employers about putting up fast charging stations at work.

my commute is 14 miles roundtrip, equating into 20 minutes or so each way. The Mustang was averaging about 14 mpg on the commute.

Is that pocket behind the dashboard useful at all? Looks like it isn't big enough for any practical purpose.

Sunglasses is about it.

[Speed_Racer]

So is it now: Volt, Mini, dually, Mustang?

You have a car for every occasion - so cool!

[hotrodalex]

I'm a big fan of the Volts styling after seeing a bunch in person. And that blue rocks.

[ChrisV]

So is it now: Volt, Mini, dually, Mustang?

You have a car for every occasion - so cool!

Mustang was traded in on the Volt. Swapped payments on one for payments on the other, Same basic cost, less fuel. Not gonna like, I'll miss the Mustang, but this is like driving a spaceship.

We had only 2 door cars and I really wanted something that could carry 4 people easily on occasion (we take my wife's family or my kid's GF around occasionally to dinner or movies or whatever), and my wife always ended up with the practical cars, so I told her when the MINI lease was up, she should get whatever fun car she wants (A MINI Cooper S convert, most likely)

Also, after the last time we had to take two cars to CT I decided that the Mustang was not getting used like it was intended (it was supposed to only come out on nice days, but with my wife taking the MINI everywhere, the Mustang was a daily and it really wasn't any fun to commute in.)

Enter the Volt. I can commute all week long with no fuel, use it to carry people and stuff (it'll work great to carry my wife's jewelry business to the craft fairs she goes to in the summer) and be on the leading edge of tech. I'll save money over having the Mustang, but i won't be doing it to save money.

[Payman]

Mustang was traded in on the Volt.

Craig's head exploding in 3...2...1...

[Eye of the Tiger]

Craig's head exploding in 3...2...1...

Add me to that list. I do not understand this thread

[cawimmer430]

Make sure your hands are dry before touching it. 

[MexicoCityM3]

Cool. I am warming up to electrics very much. Do keep us updated on how's living with the Volt down the road.

[Laconian]

I'm a big fan of the Volts styling after seeing a bunch in person. And that blue rocks.

I still don't know why they have that big piece of black glossy plastic on the windowsills rather than simply putting in more glass.

[280Z Turbo]

I still don't know why they have that big piece of black glossy plastic on the windowsills rather than simply putting in more glass.

Crash protection.

[280Z Turbo]

Also, the 3rd brake light on that car is a piece of shit to manufacture.

[SVT666]

Traded in the Mustang for this?  I don't understand.

ChrisV will scream and yell and call me names in 3...2...1...

[Eye of the Tiger]

Traded in the Mustang for this?  I don't understand.

ChrisV will scream and yell and call me names in 3...2...1...

Should have traded the Mini!

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Should have traded the Mini!

Agreed! Nice car!

[ChrisV]

MINI has a year and a half to go on the lease, yet, while the Mustang had equity that made the down payment nothing. I'll miss the Stang for the occasional hooning and top down on sunny days, but really, it wasn't that happy to commute with (slow speeds, heavy clutch, poor fuel economy and no real chance to have fun with it). And getting family members into the back seat was comical. yeah, it seems odd trading in the Mustang on this, but for our family, right now it makes sense. When the MINI lease is up, my wife wants a fun car to replace it, so there will always be that.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to go shopping, electrically.

[L. ed foote]

Very nice!

When'd you get the 3-series, rid of the 7-series?

[68_427]

Someone on my other forum just bought an Identical Volt.   Congrats.

[GoCougs]

If someone stuck a gun in my face and forced me to buy "green" the Volt would be it.

[AutobahnSHO]

If someone stuck a gun in my face and forced me to buy "green" the Volt would be it.

+1

It's right now the most "common sense" of the electrics.
I figured out a Leaf for me wouldn't even make it to work and back- Unless I didn't go out to lunch or do other errands because I might not have enough juice left to get home..

SOMEDAY when charging is available everywhere we might see some more electric cars...

[Laconian]

I think the plug-in Prius might be a better fit, since it has range enough for my lil' commute but it splits the difference in terms of price.

Of course, then I'd be driving a Prius. Gah.