Chevrolet Releases Specs Of 2016 Volt, But Not Price
Originally published on Gas2.
Chevrolet has released a 25-page ordering guide for the 2016 Chevy Volt that tells an interested shopper everything there is to know about the car — except the price. According to Hybrid Cars, here’s what we know so far:
The 2016 Volt will come in two trim levels, the base 2LT model and the premium 2LZ. But even the 2LT is no strippo that has to hide its shame out on the back lot somewhere. It has more standard features than the current car, including a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot, a rear-vision camera and an 8″ touchscreen in the dash. There are also two more airbags built into the cabin for passenger safety.
The new car also features a Regen On Demand system that lets the driver control the amount of electricity regenerated during coasting or braking. There is a paddle mounted behind the steering wheel to activate that system. The car’s charging system is now integrated with the onboard GPS for smarter charging. “Owners will now be able to set their charging preferences exclusively for ‘home’ charging and the vehicle will automatically adjust to that setting when it is at ‘home’ based on GPS data,” says Volt Chief Engineer Andrew Farah.
Upgrade to the 2LZ premium model and you get automatic parking assist and wireless charging for your cell phone and other digital devices. You also get a Bose 8 speaker sound system. Heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and heated mirrors are all included as part of the comfort package. Options available only on the 2LZ are a side blind zone alert, forward collision alert, automatic high beam headlights, and a sensor to keep the car centered in the lane.
The 2016 Volt rides on a chassis that has a 0.8″ longer wheelbase. The car is 3.3″ longer overall but weighs 243 lbs less at 3,543 lbs. That’s like asking your favorite NFL linebacker to step out of the car. Less weight means better acceleration and longer range. The 2016 car is said to be capable of going 50 miles on battery power alone — a 25% improvement over the original Volt.
Okay, so here we are at the end and we still don’t know the price of the car or the options. Chevy says they will release that information closer to the on-sale date, which is scheduled for the fall. Industry observers actually expect the new car to be priced slightly lower than the original, which had a sticker price of $34,345, even though the new car has more standard features. That will be a nice bonus for Volt buyers if true.
Photo via Hybrid Cars
Reprinted with permission.
Is it a true 5 seater?
Enough of this already!
Was a genuine question, have two brand new kids to fit into any perspective vehicle.
I think the GM executives are greedy and planned to jack up the price higher than promised. If they jacked it up, then will have to wait for Tesla 3 or Nissan Leaf 2 or the Bolt. They are going to lose plenty of customers with a jacked up price!
Whatever price they choose, I think it’s safe to say it will be motivated by “greed”. Making as much money for the company as they can is their job.
That’s why they sold the first generation Volt for a loss?
All new cars are sold at a loss if you pile all the R&D costs on the first year or two of production.
Look to see if you can find the Gross Profit Margin for the Volt. That’s the difference between the cost to produce a car and it’s selling price.
Bob, the entire sales of the first generation Volt will have lost GM money. The 2016, however, will be profitable, due to not having the massive upfront costs again. It will be interesting to see if GM can get to an 8% net profit on the 2016 Volt. That is currently about what GM is making, as they continue working to get to the 10% mark, that Ford is already accomplishing.
Where did you get your data?
I don’t know. Back when GM was doing monthly sales conference calls they had mentioned their improved ATP’s and how they were striving to get to 10%. An article months ago stated pretty much the same thing.
After tax profit includes a lot more than the cost of manufacturing the car. The important issue, IMO, is whether GM has been selling the Volt for more or less than the actual cost of manufacturing.
If GM was getting above 0% on after tax profits with the
Volt, that’s pretty good. I took a fair amount of R&D money do develop a new type of vehicle. A new model ICEV is riding on decades of previous work.
R&D is put into the cost, and eventually there is a profit if you meet the volume of cars that costs were amortized for. The Chevy Volt with under 100,000 produced certainly did not recover all the costs, so GM has ended up losing money on each one, which they have admitted. With much lower costs for the 2016, I believe GM can come down a coupe thousand and still consider it profitable, but it better have a production life of over 200,000 units.
Should all the expense for developing PHEVs be put on the first few years of production or should some of that cost be spread to the second generation? Perhaps even further generation?
The real issue, to me, is whether GM is selling the Volt for more or less than production cost. Tesla, while operating at a loss, sells the ModS for about 27% more than it costs to manufacture.
I am sure that over time, Voltec technology, that is in the Volt, the ELR, the upcoming Malibu Hybrid, and the Cadillac CT6 PHEV, and future as yet unknown products will be profitable for GM. GM will be able to see that there is a positive financial bottom line. In fact, all upcoming new Voltec products will be profitable. However, if you cut out the 90,000 1st gen Voltec products, as a stand alone, GM will have lost money. So, throwing out a fictitious example, GM loses $23M on 1st gen Voltec, but makes $322M on 6 future Voltec models that total 400,000 in sales over the next 6 years. Therefore Voltec is profitable.
Another factor to soften the blow for first gen Voltec losses, is the fact that formerly non GM car owners foot traffic on Chevrolet lots to see the Volt, resulted in more sales of other Chevy models, than Volt sales, so by extension, Voltec could actually have been profitable by just combining Voltec sales and other chevy sales that were a direct result of people showing up to see the Volt.
In any event I am bullish on the future of Voltec for GM. There are so many additional models beyond the Malibu and CT6 that it could go into.
They won’t be able to keep that up on the Model 3. There is an old saying in semiconductors where the same thing happens.
We lose money on every one, but we make it up in volume. 🙂
Greed: ” An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth.”
I don’t see any greed here. They are heros for producing this groundbreaking car.
Ford has already dropped the Fusion and CMax by $900. I expect the 2016 Chevy Volt to drop a couple thousand from its current $34,345 MSRP. It would be nice to get it to $29,999, though.
With the original Volt range being 35 miles, the new 50 mile range is actually a 42.57% increase in range.
At least they got rid of the premium gasoline requirement for this car. I just wish they’d rip off the 1.5L Atkinson Cycle engine from the Prius C and shove it in this car instead of something that gets 35MPG in charge-sustaining mode.
I thought the CS mode is at least 41 mpg for 2016.
But can you get a sunroof, that’s what I wanna know! My 2013 cries for it.