Chevy Volt may cost $35,000 – still interested?
An aggressive timeline and dramatic shift in technology are both driving the development costs of the Chevy Volt upward and Chevy has announced that will likely introduce the first version of the Volt for $35,000.
The major culprits in the price hike are electric appliances inside the Chevy Volt like windshield wipers and stereo system. Because Chevy is straining to meet the 2010 deadline, it doesn’t have time to re-engineer those appliances. Instead the company has decided to introduce expensive redundancy systems.
Dee Allen, a spokesman for GM told Driving.ca that “it’s starting to look like it’s going to be close to $35,000 . . . Because we’re going as fast as we’re going to get this to market, some of the systems will have to be redundant.”
Later generations of the Chevy Volt will likely eliminate the redundant systems, potentially reducing costs because engineers will have time to further innovate the technology involved.
Prior to this, Chevy had been targeting a $30,000 price tag for the Volt.
Because Chevy is rushing so much to push the Volt to market, it may leave an opening for companies like Honda and Toyota to innovate on its coattails, developing a car that runs on electricity with a lower price tag and smoothly integrated accessory systems.
At the same time, Chevy may be recognizing an opportunity in the industry to introduce an abrupt change to catalyze sales. Early adopters will likely flock to the Volt for its shock value an unique identity statement.
That said, another segment of consumers will be hesitant to commit $35,000 on a car without any established track record.
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May 8th, 2008
I saw something on MotorTrend.com saying now it might be up to $48k are you kidding??
Bunch of other interesting news and stats over at http://www.chevy-volt.net
October 15th, 2008
Yes, the new and improved price is about $45k. Just for the record, our 100% electric car, a ZENN, has wipers, a CD stereo, rear defrost, electric sunroof, and electric windows. No real expensive redundant components there but for some reason they are needed in a Volt. I fear that typically, GM will screw this up and once again an American company will be playing catch-up to everyone else. Everyone I have talked to with when they ask of our ZENN, they all say that they only want a safe $15,000 car, with room enough for four, to be 100% electric with a range of at least 100 miles with a top speed of about 75 mph. I don’t hear folks asking for a car with a 40 miles range, with every whistle and bell known to mankind, a gasoline engined / electric engined hybrid sort of thingy, all with a $45k price tag. Does GM never ask the common man what they really want ????
January 26th, 2009
with the price of gas right now which is rollercoaster. it may a wise idea to avail the volt if you have the money to buy, but if you are a regular consumer like me, it would be wiser to buy a regular car that will cost you 10,000 to 19,000 dollar car which is from 1.3- 2.0 littre engine, that is almost half of the price of volt.
August 20th, 2009
The price of the Volt is Crazy and how are us Americans supossed to afford it when your living week to week?! You dont even realize how this vehicle would help our family and we had our hopes up until we seen the price! I really dont understand why we just cant get a decent vehicle on the road for people like us that can afford it. Oh Well I give up. The car companies are a Joke!!!!!