ADVICE TO A VISITOR

Every now and then a reader asks me a question. After I get over such unexpected flattery, I wonder if I actually know enough to answer the question. The answer is usually “no”. Nonetheless, that does stop me from offering “free” advice, and everyone knows, particularly someone as wise as scatterwisdom, how much that is worth.

At this post, Reblog: The Freep and AAA are catching up to MCT: EV’s don’t hold a charge in cold weather, asked:

I have been contemplating buying the GM Volt. Any comments or recommendations on where I can obtain objective information about the Volt? (from here)

Here is how I replied.

http://www.consumerreports.org/ is not a bad place for comparison shopping, but they want money. You may find what you need from them at a library. Otherwise, you will have to weed out a bunch of trash online.

There is a $7,500 tax credit designed to bribe us to buy a Government Motors Volt. That should tell you something. http://fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxphevb.shtml

Hybrids exist because we cannot rely on battery power. Even with the new batteries, versus the lead storage battery, the Chevy Volt requires us to haul around a battery that weights over 400 lbs. Moreover, that battery is expensive. Since the batteries seem to be fairly durable, I am not certain how that expensive battery will affect the resale value, but I doubt it will help.

Another problem with that battery is that we don’t know what do we do with that battery. That battery was designed without much thought given to recycling.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/10/what-happens-to-electric-car-batteries-when-the-car-is-retired/index.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/business/energy-environment/fancy-batteries-in-electric-cars-pose-recycling-challenges.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
The Chevy Volt has the type of battery that is hard to recycle.

That said, I must admit that hybrids are ingenious. Because they store the energy expended from slowing or stopping a car, they are very efficient in stop-and-go traffic. Unfortunately, we have stop-and-go traffic, and what that represents is bad road design. Instead of building a network of expressways for drivers, city councilmen and county supervisors design roads to satisfy the greedy needs of developers. Hence, these politicians will build a “parkway” just to raise property values for developers, and then they will shortly thereafter clutter that “parkway” with innumerable stoplights. In other words, without idiot politicians, no one — and I mean no one — would have any use for a hybrid.

We need to go back to using toll roads, and when we buy a car, we need to tell our leaders to mind their own business. They are there to protect our rights, not tell us what to buy. (from here)

I intended reply my reply to be sardonically humorous.  Note that Keith DeHavelle also replied to ‘s query. If you are in the market for a car, you may wish to consider ‘s comment (here).