Mileage is good on any car...but what is the maintenance costs of it? How long will the batteries last before they must be replaced and at what cost? The cost of rapair of the motor or motors to propell the car? Is it reliable in below freezing weather and below 0F temps. What about depriciation? What is the operating cost per mile over all? It may get good mileage but at what cost

I heard that it can only go 100 miles on one charge.

Awesome! What are the downsides?

What was the LAST automobile made by GM--that lasted LONGER than the warranty it came with?? 230 MPG, huh? How, having to be TOWED everywhere???

I think we have had the ability and scientific knowledge to put an automobile on the road like this a long time ago. If we had used more R&D money it could have been here 10 years ago and by now all the vehicles would be like that. But we didn't because the government was bought by the rich oilmen namely BUSH. Now that Obama has forced their hand with no more unconditional help from the government all of a sudden miraculously this appears like they pulled it out of their ass.

Sounds great if they CAN get those batteries to last at least 10 years. Problem I see is the current cost. I understand they will go for around $40K! :-P (And we wonder why celebrities always seem to be on the forefront of these vehicles!)

That's 230mpg during the first 40 miles, while it's exhausting its coal-fueled electric charge.

since there is no link I would guess that it is primarily battery powered... that battery gets it's charge from the grid which gets it power from fossile fuels. just sweeping the smog from one run into another. also I would wager not only is it aerodynamicaly small, devoid of utilitarian function, deadly in an accident and probably has less than 30 HP. I'd also bet that that MPG is on a straight away on flat ground with someone under 100lbs driving.

I think they are out of their minds. Where do they think people are going to get the money for the electric needed to run this thing? You have to charge it up for 8 hours. It's $40,000. We are saving the world one empty pocket at a time. Hooray for gas economizing but at what cost to us. As usual.

http://gm-volt.com/

230 miles to the gallon!!! That's ridiculous! Wasn't the world record before that just over 100mpg?! Wow... I'm most impressed. Talk about fuel economy...

I think if/when these cars become popular the price of gas will become so high that you will have to be rich to afford gas if you have a car with regular gas mileage.

I think may be it is a good to wait till others big players come in the market and start competing. I will wait for all the japanese cars to respond too.

Well, you have to remember: they're talking about a gas/electric car. When you charge the car's battery on an alternate system instead of using the gasoline powered engine in the car (like your house electrical power), you car will initially start out on electrical power and the gas engine will NOT start to charge the battery for quite some miles. During that time, of course, you aren't using the gasoline engine. But if you were to drive long enough for the batteries to drain far enough to for the engine to start, THEN you would be using the gasoline engine. So, let's say you drive 75 miles and your computer decides to start the engine to commence charging the battery. Then 75 miles later, you've used one gallon of gas. Well, what they're saying is that you've driven 150 miles on one gallon of gas. Which is a little bit misleading, because you've actually driven PART of the way using energy from the electrical power company when you charged your battery overnight at your house. (Which you pay with your electrical bill, by the way.) And the remaining part you drove on gas power as your engine was recharging your batteries and provideing power to your electrical motor. Take a look at the article again and read it closely. That's essentially what they're saying. <EDIT> By the way, here are a couple things to think about when it comes to ownership and purchasing such vehicles: The battery of such a vehicle is a VERY expensive component. And unlike a gasoline engine, which you can EASILY get far more than ten years use out of with moderate care (like two decades or more, and well over 200,000 miles), the battery will have a very much limited lifespan. Even if it's charged and discharged at optimal cycles, it will only last a certain number of charging cycles. The more you use it, the more cycles you go through, and the shorter the battery life. Also, the battery charge/dischare cycles will be anything BUT optimal during normal use. Partial discharges, excessive discharges, overcharging, partial charging, temperature changes...all these things and more drastically affect battery life. FOR THE WORSE. So let's say you get a car and the battery lasts 5 years. Probably a good estimate, actually. Replacement of this battery will likely run you well into four figures...like having to replace your transmission every 5 years, in fact. You have that kind of money? And then there is the disposal/reprocessing of the battery. Which YOU as the consumer, will be paying for. Fast forward a few years now, and take a look at the used car market. How likely are you to buy a used car like this at 5 to 10 years old, KNOWING you will soon have to shell out thousands to replace the battery soon? People who buy used cars do so for economic reasons: they are more affordable than buying new cars. No longer so when you take this into consideration. Which means this: if you buy a new battery hybrid car, and want to trade it in in fove or six years, what kind of trade in value are you likely to get from a dealer, who will KNOW that he may have to replace the battery at his own expense in order to sell it at a decent price? Because if he doesn't, and lots of people buy these used cars from him and end up spending thousands out of their own pocket for them, he's gonna get a bad reputation in short order. I'm NOT saying gas/electric cars aren't a viable option. I'm saying people need to look beyond huge glittering neon signs that people put up about how high a milage rating they get. What good is that gonna do us if we pay 30,000 plus dollars on a new car over five years just so we can pay thousands more to keep it operating afterwards...or risk having a worthless car otherwise? Food for thought.