TheSeatHeater

Future of motoring

I saw this car today and I wondered is it a good thing to buy one instead of any other (I hate using this term) green car.

Chevrolet Volt

Yes it's a Chevrolet Volt or Holden Volt or Opel Ampera or Vauxhall Ampera depending on in which part of the world you live in. It's a hybrid. But compared to any other hybrid the batteries aren't there just for extra power. The electric motor is the primary power plant and not the 1.4 litre petrol engine. That makes it much more different to any other hybrid cars. It has a competitive range of a normal petrol car of about 500 km. But that's that about the specs. Here are some problems. It doesn't ride very well, it looks wrong somehow and for a family saloon it costs considerably more than any other cars in this size-class.
The car is innovative I'll grant that and cars like this will get better in time. But if you want a car that is economical why not buy a VW Polo BlueGT or any Ford Focus Ecoboost. I guess you buy this car not for its numbers - all though they are impressive - but for what it represents in the development of eco cars. Is this the first useable semi-electric car for today’s world?

Opel Ampera

Here are some cars that a "green" driver should consider. Cars that do exactly the same job as the Volt/Ampera but are far less expensive. And i mean, far less expensive.

VW Polo BlueGT

Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost

Volvo C30 DRIVe (or the entire DRIVe range)