Let me first say that the purpose of truebluegreen is to find products and manufacturers that are sustainable, and along this journey I do my best to find good information. But some of my best stuff comes from a skeptical friend who de-bunks one of my theories. Which is the case for my promotion of the Chevy Volt, and a gear-head friend of mine brought up some good points I thought I should share.
Here are some things that weren’t taken into account on my first brush. To begin the Chevy Volt may be more affordable than an Aretega GT, but it’s still about $150 more a month to lease than the average Prius. Conclusion; lack of financial efficiency = not so sustainable. Over all the Prius gets better gas mileage too. At a certain point, comparing the two stops making sense. Why? The Volt is a plug in and Toyota has not yet released its Prius PHV (Plug in Hybrid Vehicle). Although it doesn’t exist for the consumer, I found a tests done by the Inside Line comparing the two, see the video here. The Volt won the “race” but lost the war so to speak, because the Prius PHV beat the Volt in performance and price but failed to be available for purchase. So there you have it, the full story is usually a bit more nuanced when it comes to being green. Also, the reason that the Chevy Volt “made the cut” on this site is that it is a big step in the right direction for us; a high performance, mid-range, electric vehicle made in America. Consequently, another gear-minded friend tells me Fisker is also working on a moderately priced plug-in!
