Official pricing for GM Cruze and Volt released for the UK

[soda72]

If you had no other choice but to buy one of three cars or else sleep with Rosie O'Donnell.   The choice of cars being a cruze(ICE), a Prius(hybrid), or GM-volt(E-REV) each at a set price of $16,000 which one would you choose?

I think most would go for a volt hands down..

[rabbidrabbit]

Give me the brand and model of a gazoline car not having any part to be replaced.

I want one.

So far, my wifes' Corola has gone 185k without a repair.  The problem with battery packs so far is you are pretty much guaranteeing a 8-10k repair every 5-7 years.  Essentially, you are making the whole vehicle a disposable product which does not sound very green to me. 

[bj229r]

Filling up the battery is actually very cheap, and if they want to be branded as enviromentaly friendly or carbon neutral (most will tro to go that way soon) they may actually love the fact that he drives an electric car to work. Great for PR and to be competitive in the future you want that brand. However much some hate the enviromental awareness that is growing they cant afford not to be onboard.

And who's gonna pay the 10's of thousands of dollars for digging up parking lot, running conduit, poles, etc for charging stations in the parking spaces? My company CAN afford to not be onboard with that

[soda72]

So far, my wifes' Corola has gone 185k without a repair.  The problem with battery packs so far is you are pretty much guaranteeing a 8-10k repair every 5-7 years.  Essentially, you are making the whole vehicle a disposable product which does not sound very green to me.  

It's a valid point to be concerned about, battery replacement cost is one of the biggest hurdles car companies will need to overcome if this is to work in the long term.  Your 8-10K is low compared to other studies done.  Carnegie Mellon did a study and estimated that the Volt's battery pack alone, planned with a capacity of some 16 kWh, would cost $16,000, which would be $1,000 per kilowatt-hour. GM disputes this figure and says that the cost is no way near $1,000 dollar per kilowatt-hour, but they didn't give exact figures.  If the price difference between the cruze and volt listed in the original post are accurate I would guess the cost is somewhere around 700-800 dollars per kilowatt-hour, which would mean 12,000 to replace the pack.  In the long run I don't think 8-12k replacement cost will remain, and the price will eventually begin to drop as economy of scales kick in.  A new market will most likely also emerge for recycling batteries to help lower costs.  GM will most likely need to offer 10 year warranties to early adopters to cover battery costs if they plan on selling any.  

[edit]
speaking of batteries this article just came out...

http://gm-volt.com/2009/03/11/100-fold-lithium-ion-battery-breakthrough/#comment-99914

The scientists were able to develop a new formulation of lithium iron phosphate that allows for extremely rapid charging, and massive specific power.

The authors note that this new ability to charge and discharge lithium-ion batteries within seconds blurs the distinction between batteries and ultracapacitors, and may result in radical lifestyle change in terms of consumer electronic devices and plug-in cars

The authors note that if electric grid power was available, an electric car with a 15kWh battery could be charged in 5 minutes.  This would require the delivery of 180 kw of energy in that time frame.  Further those cars could have extremely powerful acceleration and be useful in other power applications such as towing