Yeah, yeah, I get snooty comment. But does the Prius have an ICE? Yes it does. Does the Volt? Yes it does. One could make an argument that any battery pack too goes through a period of break in.

 

I wouldn't say a battery pack experiences a break in period since there aren't any moving parts. However, the other drive functions it powers may benefit from breaking in or settling in.

 

Well as I stated a loaded Prius has features neither the Leaf or Volt come close to offering.

 

I've wondered why GM isn't offering a more stripped down version of the Volt. Seems strange to only offer a loaded version and on top of that being $41K. Most businesses realize the importance of price perception. If they deleted a few tech features, they'd probably be able to get the starting MSRP down to $39,995.

As it stands, I believe one of the only options is leather.

 

Prius.

The only reason I will never own an electric: Plugging in is a pain and dont have time for it.

 

I wasn't being snooty. It's a serious contemplation. The Prius has ICE, it's been out for ages, don't think we'd need anymore wait around for it. As for the volt... well, isn't the ICE essentially a generator?

 

radar cruise and parking sensors?

I think only like 3-4% of Prius' have this.

and NAV is standard on Volt or is it just the ONSTAR?

 

Just a thought OP: If your commute is only 3 miles each way, why not just invest the money in a nice bicycle and ride back and forth? 3 miles is nothing on a bike. You will cut your gas bills and not pay any additional cash for electricity. Since you live in the big city, I am willing to bet that a bike is faster than car anyways. Just a thought

 

It's amazing to think Nissan and GM have passed Honda here and they are not even mentioned.

 

You know, the Insight didn't even cross my mind once during this whole discussion.

That's pathetic.

 

Nav with hard drive, XM, traffic, etc is standard on all Volts.

And yeah, the Prius has a couple things you can't get on the Volt, but I don't think they're going to be deal breakers for anyone. Personally I think the LED headlights on the Prius are pretty cool. I'm not sure what sort of headlights the Volt uses. Anyone know?

 

The Volt has the potential to be a ZEV during the battery use cycle. It depends on how the electricity is generated/harvested. But for the majority of people, it will be an emissions elsewhere proposition. I have nothing against that, it is easier to control and contain carbon output at a central location. It's just that I see far too many people conveniently forget that electricity is not a clean fuel in most cases, at least not yet.

 

I'd still go for the Prius because it is proven and works almost like a regular gas only vehicle. The technology in plugin hybrids still need to be improved and the charging stations infrastructure still is lacking. One of inconvenient aspect is the charging time. For example, off the Volt website, "Your Volt will be fully charged in about 10 hours, depending on climate, with standard 120-volt line, or as little as 4 hours using a dedicated 240-volt line." So 4-10 hours to be fully charged? It a lot of time compared to 5 minutes of pumping gas and I think most people will be turned off by that. You also have to pay for the home charging equipment too.

 

They definitely could have gotten it down to $39,995. They didn't want to. They wanted to price it out of reach because GM does not really care to sell electric cars unless they are going to make a big profit. They want their green halo, that is all. What they really want to sell, is their new darling - the Cruze. GM knows that the EV fanatics are going to ****** up all the Volts for the first couple of years, which is why they priced it out of reach for most car buyers. After 2-3 years, prices will probably come down, slightly.

 

Can any "1" car meet the needs of everyone? Certainly not.. so why is it that every time the plug-in conversation comes up someone has to mention infrastructure? Sure, it's an issue, but if you live in an apartment building and/or have no access to an outlet, then don't buy one. Simple as that. If you own or rent your own home (which millions of Americans do), then perhaps you should consider one.

But I always find it amusing to hear people continually say "there's no infrastructure" or "infrastructure is lacking" as some kind of argument against EVs. Why on Earth would they build infrastructure for a particular type of vehicle if that vehicle does not even exist? Geez, let these cars come out first, have the consumers buy them, have those same consumers demand more infrastructure, and then we'll all see the precious infrastructure that everyone complains is lacking. Baby steps, one step at a time - infrastructure is coming.