As a green brand, will the Volt be able to compete with Prius?
Those of us who follow the green car world on a daily basis could ramble on for an hour, at least, on the differences between the Chevy Volt and the Toyota Prius. They're not really in the same category, if you know what an ER-EV is. But for the general public, the two cars are probably best know – if the Volt is known at all – simply as vehicles that use less fuel. Details, schmetails. And this gives us an interesting question to think about:
GM has certainly gone full-bore in marketing and hyping the Volt (they've been advertising it since 2007, even though it won't go on sale until late 2010. See also: 230 mpg), but not everyone knows what the car is, what it can do, what it's all about. Not everyone knows what the Prius is, exactly, but they know the brand. Toyota is hard at work on a plug-in Prius, and once the plug-in Volt and Prius are both on the market, which do you think the average consumer will go for? Just ask Honda what it's like to compete against the world's most famous hybrid.In the mind of the average consumer, will the Volt brand be able to beat the Prius brand?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
meme 12:39PM (8/24/2009)
Honda has trouble competing against the Prius not because of the brand, but because they haven't put out any good competition. What car does Honda make that gets 50mpg US?
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Matthew 3:10PM (8/24/2009)
Yes! If the Volt's approach works, it should use much less fuel, and have lower emissions from the tailpipe. If it doesn't, then it isn't a brand or perception issue, it is a product issue.
nrb 12:42PM (8/24/2009)
If they can get the media on board, long term, the public will understand the Volt as a ER-EV. If the world is ready for it, the Volt stands a good chance. It's a good transition vehicle.
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~D. 1:42PM (8/24/2009)
hogwash.
if someone is already in the market (i.e. interested) in a vehicle like the Prius, then they will have already read/know enough about the technology to recognize the technology gap between the two and appreciate the difference that the Volt brings to the table.
the only ones who wouldn't bother to read & want to know more would be people completely disinterested in the Prius specifically or hybrids in general. (Those who gripe about the Prius as a "pop-cultural phenomenon".) To hear it the way those folks say it, the Prius is some designer trinket given out as a door prize to yupsters who register democrat, as opposed to an expensive purchase (y'know...like a CAR) that -like all big purchases- encourages a prospective buyer to want to READ about it first.
Let's face it, this time GM got their rear in gear and decided to put it's neck out on a significant product, which is what most companies that actually work for their dinner tend to do. Though, to be fair, they are essentially doing what the likes of Toyota & Honda ASSUMED they were doing this whole time. The 1st-Gen Prius & Insight were only brought to market because those companies were dead certain that the Big3 were going to beat them to it.
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paulwesterberg 3:14PM (8/24/2009)
If the volt costs and extra 10-15k over and above the prius and leaf, and it gets worse than 50mpg mileage in charge sustaining mode then it will be an epic fail on GMs part.
They have had plenty of time to engineer the car to maximize efficiency, If they cut corners, sized the engine too large or didn't round out enough corners in the wind tunnel to beat the 2010 prius then it wil be a tough sell. But if they can tell their customers that they can skip the gas station on daily drives and still get excellent mileage on longer trips then they have an interesting vehicle.
Personally I would rather buy an affordable limited range ev hatchback like the leaf and use a small generator trailer for longer trips. Taking a high speed electric train on trips would be nice too...
nrb 4:28PM (8/24/2009)
paulwesterberg entertains us with:
"If the volt costs and extra 10-15k over and above the prius and leaf,"
Assuming the Volt goes out the door at $35K after rebates, that's about $10K over what a Prius goes out the door at. You're not bad there.
Where in the world do you get the idea that the Leaf (including battery) is going to come in at less than the Volt? EVs are expensive. That's why Toyota isn't making one.
"and it gets worse than 50mpg mileage in charge sustaining mode then it will be an epic fail on GMs part."
If while in extended run mode, if it only does as well as the best Toyota has to offer, it will be a failure? This vehicle can't win with you.
"Personally I would rather buy an affordable limited range ev hatchback like the leaf"
There you go calling it "affordable" again. Why is the Leaf affordable, but the Volt is not? I suspect they'll cost about the same.
"use a small generator trailer for longer trips."
I've always been entertained by that notion. It won't happen in the real world.
Chris M 7:06PM (8/24/2009)
NRB, I was under the impression that the expected Nissan Leaf base price was less than the Volt base price. After the same Government rebate, the price differential remains.
Of course, both vehicles are at least a year away, so pricing could change a bit.
KM 8:21PM (8/24/2009)
Well there will also be the buy-america and the buy-foreign folks, who will each converge on their camps spouting rhetoric about each product, likely in a similar vein as the mother post.
I suspect there will be differences aplenty, one of which is that Volt may be sportier and/or larger, and that some folks will simply look at the Prius dash and go 'ooooh' or whatever. So individual preference will be a serious factor.
Additionally, one thing GM has in its favor is, sorry to all the haters in advance - but with the government having a vested interest in its success you can damn well bet your lunch the government will source its alt fuel vehicles from GM over Toyota.
Additionally for the haters, let's not imagine that any foreign gov't will source its vehicles from GM when they can pick from their own domestic producers. And yet the US has been doing exactly that, from Altimas to Camrys to Priuses.
nrb 11:38PM (8/24/2009)
"I was under the impression that the expected Nissan Leaf base price was less than the Volt base price."
Chris, well you're not necessarily wrong. The problem is that the Leaf base price doesn't include the battery. Once you add in the price of the battery, I suspect the Leaf will cost as much, or more than, the Volt.
The Other Bob 8:27AM (8/25/2009)
"if someone is already in the market (i.e. interested) in a vehicle like the Prius, then they will have already read/know enough about the technology to..."
I would bet many, if not most Prius owners know little about the technology in their cars. You may be savy about such things, but the average person doesn't even know if their car is front or rear wheel drive.
Yes, people ARE that dumb to spend tens of thousands of dollars on something they have no clue about.
~D. 8:34AM (8/25/2009)
I'm sure you know that for a fact...
mike 1:59PM (8/24/2009)
Say it takes 5 years for toyota to get to market with a plug in vehicle capable of doing as well with my driving pattern as a volt does, in terms of gasoline required.
Say in that same 5 years that volt is able to drop its price to get in line with prius (or maybe the new prius is more cash).
At any rate... say they end up on that equal footing....
Well.. then maybe... just maybe... I might consider volt... it the previous five years of sales have been just about completely trouble free from a maintenance stand point.
As it is now... the prius has been on the road and running well for a decade and is substantially cheaper and is actually on dealers lots.
It is apples and oranges, as they say.
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oollyoumn 2:01PM (8/24/2009)
Give the Volt 10 years of production and maybe. Remember it is only a concept for another year and 3 to 4 months. If history in any indication, GM will throw in the towel on the Volt due to early problems and excessive costs but right on the the threshold of getting it to an acceptable level of quality, cost and usability.
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Mark Kiernan 3:38PM (8/24/2009)
But they can't go back to making gas guzzlers (no matter how much the Republicans want), as oil prices even today are edging back up due to Chinese demand. Every country that comes out of recession makes life harder for every other country stuck in recession.
oldraven 2:48PM (8/29/2009)
Are you talking about the good old days of the 90's EV's? You are aware that Toyota threw in the same towel, right? Notice there are no Rav-4 EV's for sale today. And they both quit because CARB dropped their zero emissions mandate and they were no longer forced to build EV's in order to sell cars in California. The truth of history is actually out there, for anyone who really wants to know it. For the rest of you, keep on playing the blame game with your favourite ultimate evil corporation.
cjeder 3:58PM (8/24/2009)
On the basis of the name alone, the Volt brand already effectively evokes traditional automotive values of performance, power and handling with cutting edge electric technology. For those for whom the transition to an alternative power-train lacked adequate sex appeal, Volt may provide the alternative vehicle without the alternative politics.
For better or for worse the Prius has always been sold as a hippie car. It should come as no surprise that the Prius' following amongst affluent urban dwellers and academics mirrors that of the original VW Beetle. The second generation Prius' smiling grille, center console-less dash, and three on the tree shifter were obvious tributes to vw's of past. All these allusions to progressive politics may prove a problem as demand for efficient vehicles continues to grow amongst more conservative segments of the population.
The biggest issue for Toyota is that the Prius is synonymous with hybrid technology. The Volt on the other hand promises to be the first major "electric" car. To maintain their status Toyota will need to ask consumers to stop thinking about the car as a hybrid and start considering it electric, with so many already on the road, a not so easy task.
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Joe 5:06PM (8/24/2009)
"The biggest issue for Toyota is that the Prius is synonymous with hybrid technology. The Volt on the other hand promises to be the first major "electric" car. To maintain their status Toyota will need to ask consumers to stop thinking about the car as a hybrid and start considering it electric, with so many already on the road, a not so easy task."
This is where GM calling the volt an ER-EV instead of a hybrid is going to help them a lot. Obviously, the volt is a hybrid, but by marketing it as an "ER-EV" they set it apart from the likes of the Prius.
wincros 2:36PM (8/24/2009)
Ooooh. You gotta love an argument about two cars that do not exist. Sorry, there is not much market for a $40,000 economy car. Sadly GM has already made it clear many times that Volt production will be limited and is already hinting that they "misunderestimated" the price and that it may cost more than $40K. A plug in Prius is likely to cost as much with the extra needed battery capacity which is why we are unlikely to see one. Who really wants a $40,000 Prius? Not enough would ever be bought to justify the cost of the tooling to produce a new higher level body needed to sell it.
My prediction: The Volt will be sold, but will not even come close to the sad little projected production numbers. Toyota will watch for a few months and put their plug in plans back in mothballs. So the Volt will win that contest by losing. And conventional Prius hybrids will continue to sell like crazy.
As to the continuing trashing of the Honda alternative to the Prius, you do realize that although the Prius tests well on the EPA test, in the hands of ordinary drivers there is very little difference in the fuel economy between the two brands in everyday driving. I consider a 3 or 4 mpg difference kind of insignificant, but maybe that is just me. Certainly it is doubtful you could never drive the Prius long enough to pay for its higher cost over a Civic Hybrid or an Insight.
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Chris M 8:33PM (8/26/2009)
I'd say there is a growing market for "efficient luxury" cars, booming sales of hybrid Lexus and diesel Mercedes and the Tesla Roadster attest to that. After all, the rich can be concerned about oil shortages and oil imports and petrodollar funded terrorism and ecological problems, too, just like the rest of us. So the real question is: Can GM provide the quality that luxury buyers would expect in a $40,000 car?
GM originally hoped to get the price "under $30K", that's where they missed their original estimate, and while the price may change a bit, I don't expect any big price increases. As for the Plug-in Prius, with a different design, it would have a smaller battery than the Volt and would likely cost thousands less as a result. After all, consider that the aftermarket plug-in upgrade cost about $10K on top of the $23K base price of the Prius. That's only $33K, about $7K less than the Volt.
So, some will pay extra for the Volt and get more EV range and less gasoline usage, others will choose to save money with a non-plug hybrid, and others will split the difference with a plug-in Prius.
GregBlencoe 2:44PM (8/24/2009)
While I know 99% of the AutoblogGreen community will disagree with me, I think mainstream consumers will end up buying the Toyota Prius until Toyota brings out their "affordable" (in the words of Toyota) hydrogen fuel cell cars in 2015.
Three things everybody should know about the Chevy Volt
http://hydrogendiscoveries.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/three-things-everybody-should-know-about-the-chevy-volt/
7 reasons to love Toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
http://hydrogendiscoveries.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/7-reasons-to-love-toyota-hydrogen-fuel-cell-vehicles/
Greg Blencoe
Chief Executive Officer
Hydrogen Discoveries, Inc.
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