Chevy Volt's Gas Tank has shrunk (still good news)

[Whelan]

GM announced today that it was shrinking the gas tank on the Volt. Instead of 600 miles to a tank, you can get 360. A lot of people from other places have flamed this decrease and think the car is no longer worth it. But to me it makes total sense still for the following reasons;1) Gas does not last as long as it used to in a sitting state, hence the need for dry gas and additives to help boost it back. Gas in it's natural state at the pump already has additives to make it cleaner and more efficient, but it also shortens the shelf life so to speak.2) I'm sure many people say oh, 360 miles on gas, 40 on electric, and so thats only 400 miles. Well...sure if your on a roadtrip that is 400 plus miles, then yes. But think about it. I'll use me as an example. I drive 50 miles roundtrip each day in my commute. If I only plugged the volt in at my house and not my office I would only be using 10 miles worth of gas. Add that up to 50 miles a week and 200 miles a month. I'd still have 160 miles left to use in the tank for weekends and that is not counting the chargeup each day on the weekend. So I am looking at filling up maybe once a month tops. And if the 12 gallon tank is shrunk to say 10 gallons. I would go from spending $300 a month in gas on average to $50. Still with me? That equates to $250 a month in savings on gas which is $3,000 a year! That is a lot of money to save on driving, the car would have to cost me another $250 a month to own over what I am paying for my Matrix now each month in order for me to just break even on savings!I hope I didn't lose anyone and put the Volt's mileage into perspective a little more.

[GoLowDrew]

600 Miles is a miracle. 400 is good. 360 is ok, but nothing special.Is that bad? No. Still very practical.Is it special, is it different? No.Volt has to be revolutionary to get people to pay the price premium. Volt is a bold move. It will either make or break GM.

[Sublimewind]

A TDi VW will get roughtly 45mpg... AND have power to back it... Americans don't want slow, underpowered cars... that's just not "american" lol...But to have a slow, underpowered AND expensive car.... fogetaboutit... lol

[northvibe]

with our gas station infastructor so big theres no real need for 600 miles unless you never have to pee. But it would be nice to go over 400 as I drive a crap load for work and hate stopping. I can get 400 on my current car :/These seem more for "work" cars the ones you only drive short trips as you'd be mostly on electric. I still want one as the next job I get i wont have to drive all over the state.

[KNINE]

I would be more concerned if GM shortened the battery range. That's what makes this car attractive, not the gasoline range.

[NibCrom]

Shrinkage!360 miles is still far. A smaller gas tank really doesn't diminish the car's capabilities.

[Whelan]

Yes but you all need to see the example I tossed up. The Volt gets 360 miles on its gas engine when running. But you get 40 miles on a full electric charge. So each time you are in for the night you are charging it up. So then the next time you get another 40 miles before the engine kicks in. Essentially you would not be filling up hardle ever if commuting and driving around the local area. Personally I'm not a VW fan and never have been. And finding a diesel station is hard enough. And 45mpg is a good range, but when you compare it to the Volt;Let's say the VW has a 15 gallon tank. At 45mpg that is 675 miles to a tank of fuel. The Volts gets 360 miles to a tank with 10 gallons of gas (estimated). At $4 for gas you pay $40 to fillup the Volt, you would pay $75 at $5 a gallon diesel to fill the VW.My personal driving in the scenario again, 200 miles commute to work each week. That would leave me with only having used 50 miles in gas each week on the Volt, given that each day I have a 40 mile electric run on a 50 mile commute. So thats 200 miles just on gas each month. Include the 40 each day 5 days 4 weeks, thats 20 days times 40 miles equals 960 miles. So I have driven 1,160 miles on 200 miles worth of gas. And I still have my weekends with 160 miles of gas left and not to mention 40 miles each day with a full chargeup! So essentially you would do another 40 each day on sat. and sunday totalling 80 plus the 160 left on gas. That gives you a one tank range in the Volt using the 40 miles charge each day and the full 360 miles in gas of...1,400 miles!Same Scenario with the VW, 675 to a tank of 15 gallon $5 diesel at $75 a fillup. I spend $40 for one month of gas in my Volt mind you from above. 250 miles a week in driving at 45mpg. So I use just over 1 gallon of gas each day. In one week of just commuting to work I have used 37% of my fuel already. If I drive 250 miles each week and say another 100 on weekends, thats 350 a week times 4 weeks thats 1,400 miles. Hey! thats what I get in the Volt on 1 tank of gas! But with the Jetta I would have to fillup with $5 a little under 3 times, 2.7 to be exact. So that is 40.5 gallons of diesel used in a month at $5 a gallon. $202.50. So in the VW diesel I get to drive the same distance as the Volt for $202.50 vs. $40. I hope this makes sense to people. Saving $162.50 each month equals $1,950 saved on fuel over the VW each year. I dunno about anyone else, but I could use that spare change. And if I take the train to work, hell I could fill up my tank once every other month in the Volt!

[GoLowDrew]

You example is an educated detail one. Part of the car buying experience is emotional. If the Volt is not 5X special, it's not going to get the same welcome as the current Prius. It's like saying why do we even need a Hemi powered Dodge Charger RT? Do we really need 340hp? Will we ever use it? How often? All 340hp? Could we get by with the V6 190hp Charger SE? People still buy the Charger RT because it's "special."The Volt need to be that special.

[jimincalif]

I think your point about how gas ages is significant. My "commute" is 9 miles round trip, and most days I never exceed 40 miles total. I could go for weeks or months without buying gas, and old gas can cause all sorts of problems with fuel injectors, etc. It would not be a good experience to drive your 40 miles then have the engine/generator refuse to run due to bad gas.I think this is a good decision.

[ColonelPanic]

Not sure why people make a big deal about how far you go on a tank. There's even some folks that hypermile the snot out of their Priussesss and Insights and get the coveted kilotank - 1,000 miles. Cool, but for me that would be the same gas being in there for at least a month!I have no problems with the reduced capacity. Personally, I would rather fill up more often and spend less than just dumping a large sum of money into the tank less frequently. I know it costs the same in the end but it's a psychological thing with me. My commute is about 32 mi/day so perhaps the age of the fuel would also be an issue too. I'm filling up every 7-10 days as it is at 34-36 MPG, that's a good enough interval for me. Besides, if the Volt is carrying less fuel, that means less weight. And less strain on the electric motors, which I would think translates into longer battery life right? I see this as a good thing. And it's not like gas stations are 500 miles apart no matter where you go...

[Whelan]

All great points. Some people it may make more sense to only fill up their tank halfway because of the limited driving done. My office is about 20 minutes from NYC so we have people that commute from there by train. They also have cars that some leave here at our parking garage. Why not, free parking and its garaged in a safe place. I can only imagine how bad their injectors and stuff are.It's also the reason they don't sell big 25-30 gallon gas cans for your lawn mower. They did have that gas caddy thing for boats but it posed too much environmental hazard. If they keep the design fairly close to the concept it will be a very slick car and would definitely warrant my attention. Then again if I get my own place soon and train it to work, whose to say I couldn't get a Lexus IS pre owned or Bimmer, or my G8 GT. My options have just opened up very wide!