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The era of the electric auto may finally have eased out of the driveway.

Hundreds of people in several states are test driving electric MINI Coopers And a preproduction version of the Chevy Volt hit the streets earlier this week, weeks ahead of schedule. But being an early adopter isn’t cheap.

GM's Fastlane Blog features a post by Chevrolet Volt Vehicle Chief Engineer Andrew Farah about his experience driving the Volt for a few laps around the company's Technical Center campus in Warren, Mich. Besides the expected glowing review of the car, Farah reports that Chevy is making a few Volts per week now and plans to have about 80 preproduction vehicles built by October. The production Volt isn't due until 2011.

Readers of Farah's blog post were concerned with how much the Volt was going to set them back. Citing a rumored cost of more than $40,000, reader Laszlo Steiner commented, "The main value of the car would be for those few rich people wanting to make an environmental statement as opposed to those wanting or needing practical transportation." Another reader questioned how much a new battery would cost and pointed out that some states charge as much as $3,000 for a hazardous disposal fee to get rid of the old battery.

Farah tried to address some of these concerns Thursday in a live Internet chat. When asked whether Chevy could reduce the price of the Volt by 25 percent and extend the life of the battery over the next six to eight years, Farah responded that his company has a good chance of meeting those goals. "Six to eight years is a long time when working with emerging technologies that are being used in the electrification of the automobile," he wrote, adding that "early public acceptance" is critical when driving down costs, "so it is a bit of a chicken and egg issue."

BMW is taking its MINI Cooper E straight to the people (450 people living in California, New Jersey and New York State, anyway). These test drivers (chosen from a pool of applicants) are getting behind the wheel of a preproduction version, the actual MINI E won't debut until 2012.

Lyle Dennis, editor in chief of the site AllCarsElectric.com (published by High Gear Media), gave his MINI E mostly high marks. He describes the car as a standard MINI Cooper that's been modified, with a 500-pound lithium ion battery pack that replaces the back seat. He calls the car "extremely fast and exciting to drive," while noting there's "a slight delay in torque" when taking off from a complete stop. He also describes how the car's regenerative braking system begins to slow the car as soon as the driver's foot is lifted from the accelerator, making it often unnecessary to actually use the brake pedal.

All of this technology comes at a cost, however. Dennis and the other test drivers are paying $850 per month to lease the cars from BMW. The standard gas-powered Cooper hardtop sells for about $20,000.

Image: The Chevrolet Volt engineering development mule vehicle at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren, Mich., Monday, May 18, 2009. (Photo by John F. Martin for General Motors, via Flickr)

7 Comments

1. 1. tomgray 02:51 PM 6/26/09

   First off, that old li ion battery ain't going to no landfill - after 10 or more years it is still valuable and can be sold (oe even continue to be used in the Volt, although at reduced power)

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2. 2. JamesDavis 03:49 PM 6/26/09

   The Chevy team is still very slow and backward in their technology. 8 to 12 hours for a 40 mile charge...that is really backward. I think they are deliberately dragging their heels on new technology. Telsa Motors's cars can get 300 miles between charges and can be charged in 45 minutes from any home outlet. Wake-up Big Three, Americans are no longer as stupid as you think we are. Only an idiot would pass over a daisy and but your bull chip cars. You should've went under when you had the chance.

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3. 3. Internet troll 07:55 PM 6/26/09

   An article that should make Americans want to stop using their gasoline powered cars ASAP:
   
   http://evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1715
   
   "America's Irrational Petroleum Dependence" by doug@seal-beach.org
   
   "The electricity used to refine oil alone would power cars further than what's in the rest of the barrel"
   
   "So what does it all prove? The obvious fact is that, as a nation, we don't use the most efficient means to run cars, we use the method that results in the most profit - and the most controlled profit stream -- that benefits the Standard Oil Trust "Seven Sisters" oil companies and evidently bribed officials in Congress. And in the administration.
   
   Note that generation of electricity via natural gas now costs less then 4 cents per kWh, which is expended to produce much more profitable, but less efficient and more socially objectionable, fuel for IC cars.
   
   This analysis, then, sort of pulls the mask off the claim that the oil market is a free market, or that our energy policy is rational.
   
   END STORY"

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4. 4. a. palmer jr. 07:09 AM 6/27/09

   I think GM is still dragging their feet on electric cars...the first I heard about the Volt, it was to be sold in 2009, then they set it back to 2010, now you're saying 2011. It kinda looks like they're using the delayed times in order to remain in business rather than admit they can't make a viable electric car.
   I'll bet they'd still like to sell you a big, gas guzzling suv though.

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5. 5. proadventurer 02:43 PM 6/28/09

   I need a 4x4 electric truck. No, I really do. I need a truck, I hate driving an inefficient diesel around, but how can I deliver 15,000+ lbs around town. How hard could it be? put another motor in it? Currently the prices are ridiculous (for electric and hybrid). Look at Scion and the Cube prices. THAT'S what these green(er) cares should cost.

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6. 6. JD^2 in reply to JamesDavis 09:37 PM 6/28/09

   45 minutes on a home outlet ----that claim is not credible. Various values of kilo-Watt hours needed to drive 300 miles are given, but the one given in press releases for the S model are about 84 kW-hr for 300 miles. Using that value and then dividing by your 3/4 hour one gets about 112 kilowatts for the "home outlet" power. even using the full 230 volts home-entrance-voltage that "outlet" has to deliver 487 amps. The Tesla website says it takes 3.5 hours with their "HIGH Power" charger to recharge, so even then maybe about 100 amp. That value is within a typical modern home with a 200 amp, 220-230 volt (110-115 line to neutral) and sounds credible, but a continuous 100 amps would be a problem for utilities to deliver to all the homes in my neighborhood all at once. Tesla owners better be spread out. A neighborhood of Chevy Volt owners would have a chance to use their existing installed electric service all at once.

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7. 7. JD^2 in reply to JamesDavis 11:25 PM 6/28/09

   45 minutes on a home outlet ----that claim is not credible. Various values of kilo-Watt hours needed to drive 300 miles are given, but the one given in press releases for the S model are about 84 kW-hr for 300 miles. Using that value and then dividing by your 3/4 hour one gets about 112 kilowatts for the "home outlet" power. even using the full 230 volts home-entrance-voltage that "outlet" has to deliver 487 amps. The Tesla website says it takes 3.5 hours with their "HIGH Power" charger to recharge, so even then maybe about 100 amp. That value is within a typical modern home with a 200 amp, 220-230 volt (110-115 line to neutral) and sounds credible, but a continuous 100 amps would be a problem for utilities to deliver to all the homes in my neighborhood all at once. Tesla owners better be spread out. A neighborhood of Chevy Volt owners would have a chance to use their existing installed electric service all at once.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this