Chevy Volt batteries may be leased
General Motors may lease the battery packs for its Chevy Volt electric car to make it more affordable, according to a news report.
The Volt is unveiled at the 2007 Detroit auto show.
(Credit: CNET Networks)GM's electric car will take lithium-ion batteries which are known to be expensive and have a limited lifespan compared with the life of a car.
Bob Lutz, GM's global product chief, has said that the company hopes to make the car available in the $30,000 price range.
While GM has several leading battery technology developers and manufacturers onboard in its effort to build an affordable, long-range rechargeable battery for the car, critics have pointed out that the price point could be a challenge given the technology needed to go into it.
To achieve that price point, GM may rent the battery packs needed to run the Chevy Volt, The Financial Times has reported.
GM announced in early August that the company will be ready to test the Chevy Volt in spring 2008 and is still on track for a late 2010 sales availability.
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
helps solve the problem. If batteries were longer lived than cars,
then renting them out would make sense as a way of selling the car
for less. But, since batteries are likely to last just a few years (I've
heard 3 years is the expectation), I can't grasp how renting the
things is anything except a clever way for GM to disguise just how
big a loss it's taking on these cars.
made a big error when she said that the batteries have a limited lifespan compared to the car. The batteries will likely have a lifespan over 20 years, longer than the car. And THAT's why it's possible to lease the batteries and cut the
monthly out of pocket costs for the owner. And that $30K figures INCLUDES the batteries. The option of leasing the batteries will cause the purchase price of the car to be in line with the Malibu, or around $20K. So there, people. To avoid errors like this that occur over and over in the media - consult www.gm-volt.com for info
about this GM project. Approximately half the time the media gets their facts backwards.
- Leasing - what a great idea!
- by dlock August 18, 2007 11:56 PM PDT
- Just like GM leased the EV-1. And then called in all the vehicles after the leases expired, and destroyed every last EV-1. Read up here:
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(3 Comments)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1#Controversy