I can't believe I am about to say this, but I think my next car purchase is going to be a Chevy Volt. Plan to buy used, something with around 15-20k miles on the clock. My commute falls inside the electric only range. Would be interested to hear some opinions from more "enthusiast" minded people...
There are at least a couple regular posters here who drive Volts and I think they are both happy with them.
I just bought one on Saturday. Love it so far. I was kind of in the same boat as you, never thought I would get a "green" car, but it is fun to drive, handles well (corners very flat, but don't expect miracles from the low rolling resistance tires), and engaging just in a different way than you are used to.
The gas savings is truly amazing. I can't make my full commute on electric (at least haven't been able to yet), but I still use less than 0.5 gallons a day. If your commute is less than 40 miles you will have no problem, it seems each day I can go farther on a charge, and that is even with using the AC. In the spring or fall where no heat or AC is needed, you will go even farther. If you can charge at your work, even better, then you save the $1.50 or so a day to charge it.
I would recommend looking for a 2013 or newer if you buy used, they have a larger battery (and late 2014 and 2015 have an even larger battery still). Also you might want to look at new. I know for me it was cheaper than used when you factor in the state/federal discounts.
I know it is subjective, but I also think the Volt is probably the best looking "green" car. Well the Model S is pretty good looking, but not affordable for most people.
I know a serious gearhead who also owns a NSX and a Porsche. He uses the volt as his commuter and loves it. Says that the build quality is excellent. 90 percent of his use is on electricity. I think that he fills up about once a season 
I'm pretty seriously considering one too. I was also looking at the Prius, and just had one as a rental car. While the MPG of the Prius was impressive, the rest of it was really underwhelming. The fact that the Volt could probably handle 90% of our driving on just the electric charge is enticing.
JG, Chris V, MFennell, and at least a couple of others on the board have them and have had a lot of positive comments. I'm pretty sure MFennel parks his next to a sweet Ferrari.
As these come down in price, I'm really considering one to replace the Insight with. The lack of rear seats in the Insight is pain sometimes.
Cotton wrote: JG, Chris V, MFennell, and at least a couple of others on the board have them and have had a lot of positive comments. I'm pretty sure MFennel parks his next to a sweet Ferrari.
Wasn't JG doing some light mods to his? Has he and I just missed it?
We did wheels and tires. A pretty aggressive 225 on an 18" wheel. Lost about 8-10% of battery range, but there's a price to be paid for looking good I suppose. Haven't done any other mods yet, although I'm looking at some pieces. Main problem with suspension mods is that the Volt is L-O-W. It's already pretty well slammed, and dropping it any more I fear would not help it one bit.
I have a friend who leases one and loves it. What's really funny is Chevrolet might actually have the best of these types of cars out there. A pure electric is still not going to work for most people.
Anyone have any insight into what a typical lease package looks like on a new Volt?
I picked up a used 2013 premium back in April. I love it. Aside from the already well covered economic advantages, I really enjoy the smooth, quiet, and strong power delivery from the electric power train. Not really a musclecar but pretty quick in sport mode.
I have been looking at these. I have a 37 mile commute so I think it would be almost perfect for my needs and as others have said it is not a bad looking car at all.
You will be forced to surrender your GRM membership if you buy any of the green weenie mobiles.
They are not as green as the marketing dweebs would have you think. Dont drink the Koolaid.
Anyway It is sacrilege to suckle the government teat.
The only variance (salvation) here is to buy used and swap some honest HP in it like a Hyabusa powered SMART.
In reply to bentwrench:
What are you talking about? I think you need to back away from the CoolAid.
Dean: I think that he's joking. (Or at least that's what I say when I think that the man is listening) 
(this portion of post deleted by author)
Cotton wrote: JG, Chris V, MFennell, and at least a couple of others on the board have them and have had a lot of positive comments. I'm pretty sure MFennel parks his next to a sweet Ferrari.
I returned it (leased) in March. Yesterday I randomly googled the VIN and found it was sold locally with an ask of $20,777. I (stupidly, perhaps) replaced it and a sh*theap E34 Touring with a Volvo V70R w/6MT.
Over 34k miles, I was about 75% electric BUT 90+% of my trips were electric. Why the disparity? Because I rarely needed the ICE locally and used it primarly on long drives. The upshot being that I never seemed to need gas except when on a trip where I'd be stopping anyway. I found this (possibly irrationally) to be tremendously convenient.
The car was extremely well put together and nearly trouble free. I had a sticky (ZF source, apparently) electric power steering rack, which was taken care of under warranty despite being a "Can Not Duplicate" problem at the dealer. The Volt Advisors really step up.
I would happily have another if it was a little bigger. The seats fold down all the way if you remove the headrests. The 100th time you do this (I have a bicycle habit too), you are a little annoyed. I also had to move the seat up for my wife to sit behind me with our daughter. Again, the 100th time you do this...
EDIT: The cars require NO maintenance. One oil change in 3 years! All I did was rotate tires. I'm missing that already.
Yeah. Over two years in and I'm still at like 60% oil life. When it comes time to turn it in, I'd gladly sign up for another three years. Looks like Chevy will be debuting a new Volt at the next Detroit Auto show, so that's going to make me think long and hard as well.
I have two primary gripes.
iPhone interfacing can be sketchy. I'll occasionally have to reboot my iPhone because it won't go back to streaming music after a phone call. This seemed to happen more after the last iOS update, so maybe there's a Chevy reflash that I should look into.
If I don't use the heat for a long time, I'll occasionally get an engine coolant smell when the ICE first fires up and the cabin heater is running. Didn't really bug me that much, because Florida.
Has anyone done any performance upgrades other than replacing the E36 M3ty factory tires?
I'm leasing a 2013. Good highway cruiser. Pretty fuel efficient, comfy, quiet, relaxing to drive and reasonably peppy acceleration. Driving w/o using gas is oddly satisfying since electric is much cheaper to charge.
Tires are weak but whatever. I don't push it that hard normally. The front shock valvig could be better. Too bouncy for my sports sedan tastes. There are 3 things that I don't like:
1. the center stack buttons are hard to find by touch.
2. the center arm rest thing is always in the way of my elbow. I guess they positioned it for lazy 'muricans to rest their elbow on instead of holding the wheel at 9-3 like I prefer.
3. the damn rear view mirror does not have a night time position
I've never owned a 4 door sedan before. Never owned a car with an auto transmission either. Prior to this, I was mostly DD my FD RX7, the Mini Cooper or my race car's tow vehicle.
Glad to hear so much positive feedback from everyone, I think our time frame is early October to make a purchase :)
15k miles on mine, and a year and a half of driving, and the last time I put gas in it was the road trip up to Maine on Thanksgiving. Never looking for gas is a bonus.
I love the styling of the inside, Don't have a problem with finding the buttons to do things, but I don't switch up my settings once I've got them set, so I'm not really using the center stack that often.
I tend to only drive in L, as I use the extra regen ability all the time to extend the range. My commute to work is only 8 miles, but I still only use 2 miles of range to travel it. Since L is not actually a lower gear ratio, it doesn't hurt to leave it in that gear all the time. I also am using Sport mode a lot less lately. It remaps the throttle response to feel quicker, but I'm already quicker than most people around me leaving it in normal mode. LOVE, however, the Hold mode that the '13s and '14s have, which makes highway travel MUCH more economical and efficient. Use electric to putter around town and when you get on the highway and up to 60 or so, switch to Hold mode and run the generator. This returns me 50-60 mpg highway, an I switch back to electric as I leave the highway. Even doing that occasionally since Thanksgiving hasn't used up the tank of gas. And like JG I'm still at 60 % oil life so I probably won't need an oil change until it's about time to turn it in.
If you go test drive one, make sure it's charged (so many aren't) then start out in D and Normal, then switch to Sport and L and feel the difference. Take it to about 10-15 mph and punch it. Feel that 280 lb ft of torque move out with aclarity, Smile a lot. :)
I'm one of the few that decided to buy (rather than lease) my Volt. Brand new 2014 that I bought in April (and I mean BRAND NEW - car was assembled at DHAM on 4/9 and I picked it up on 4/17).
I bought gas last week for the first time (my goal was to have the initial tank outlast the Sirius/XM 3 month trial subscription and I beat that by two weeks). My typical commute is only 26 miles each way which leaves plenty of range for running errands in the evening. Really the only time I burn gas is when I have to go up to our Flint plant about every other week (120 mile round trip) - although it annoys me to have to burn any fuel for those trips, the $0.55/mile that I get more than makes up for it :)
Beyond the mileage, I really love everything about this car. Like Chris, I also drive in "L" for the more aggressive regen, which also makes it feel more like a stick shift car since it actually slows when you lift off the "gas" pedal.
My 2011 had a two year oil change requirement regardless of the service indicator. JG and Chris_V, you should check your manuals on that.
Interestingly, my indicator initially seemed to be tracking time AND use (counting down slowly even when I didn't run the ICE) but after a software update it stopped tracking time.
For what it is worth I bought mine too instead of leasing. I like the tax credits and I plan to keep it for a long time.
What are you guys getting for EV range? I see some impressive numbers on other forums, but this is a forum of enthusiasts, not hypermilers so I figure it is more realistic. My best is 49.8 miles, and seems to be getting better everyday. My commute is 60 miles round trip, not quite there yet.
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