Holden Volt: Better Place named EV charging partner

By Tim Beissmann
July 10th, 2012

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Holden has named Better Place as its preferred partner for delivering fast charging and renewable energy solutions for customers of the upcoming Holden Volt extended range electric vehicle.

The agreement will see Better Place develop membership packages for Volt customers and assist in the installation of higher-speed ‘Charge Spots’ at owners’ homes and workplaces.

Unlike the recently released Nissan Leaf, the Holden Volt can be recharged from a standard 240-volt 10-amp household power point, with a full charge of the 16.5kWh lithium-ion battery taking less than six hours.

Recharged from a 240-volt 15-amp Better Place Charge Spot, the battery can be topped up in less than four hours.

Holden says a full battery recharge can cost as little as $2.50, and in the right conditions can propel the Volt in zero-emissions electric mode for up to 87km.

Better Place is the operator of Australia’s largest 100 per cent renewable energy electric car charging network, sourcing its power from wind, solar and hydro providers.

To extend the Volt’s potential range beyond 600km, a 1.4-litre petrol engine kicks in, acting as a generator to recharge the battery to continue turning the electric motor. The Volt is fitted with a 35-litre fuel tank and requires 95RON premium unleaded petrol.

Holden energy and environment director Richard Marshall says he expects Better Place Charge Spots to be popular with fleets who plan to predominantly run their Volts on the initial battery charge.

“The Volt is unique among electric cars as it can charge from a regular household outlet, but we know from overseas’ experience that Volt customers are likely to also look for faster charging options,” Marshall said.

“And while the Volt is not restricted in range compared to other standard electric vehicles, we do expect that drivers will prefer to drive on battery only wherever possible.”

Earlier this month Holden confirmed the Volt would be priced from $59,990 before on-road costs when the single-variant line-up hits local showrooms around November.

The Cruze-sized hatchback will be equipped with premium features to help offset the high initial cost. Included as standard will be 17-inch alloy wheels, LED daytime running lights, seven-inch touch screen with satellite navigation and rear-view camera, and a six-speaker audio system with Bluetooth connectivity, voice recognition and a 30GB hard drive.

The Volt’s advanced safety package includes forward collision alert, lane departure warning and eight airbags.

The Volt is available to order now from Holden’s 49 approved Volt dealerships.

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Peanut

This is simply re’volt’ing…..
- Bigj
  
  You can see the room for the chevy ‘bow tie’ on the front grille on either side of the holden lion. They actually just stick on the badge :p
Chest Rockwell

I wonder if a private buyer actually buys one!
Chest Rockwell

I wonder if a private buyer actually buys one!
- Golfschwein
  
  Remember the fifteen thousand dollar plasma telly? Well heeled early adopters won’t hesitate! And compared to the said telly, this is amazing value.
- Golfschwein
  
  Remember the fifteen thousand dollar plasma telly? Well heeled early adopters won’t hesitate! And compared to the said telly, this is amazing value.
  - tsport100
    
    Remember the $4,000 Motorola Brick cellular phone in 1983. (that’s over $9,000 in 2012 dollars) It took 15 years and $100 Million to develop the technology and they only sold 300,000 worldwide in it’s first year.
    - Samgraham79
      
      And now almost every person on earth has a mobile phone. Just like everyone will eventually be driving non petroleum powered cars.
      - Iuog
        
        yeah mobile phone & tellies are comparable with a car. /sign
      - Iuog
        
        yeah mobile phone & tellies are comparable with a car. /sign
Pauly

How can Holden justify a 60K price before drive away fees?

The LEAF and MIEV are cheaper, have more seats, bigger batteries and better electic only range. You can’t possibly think that a petrol generator and a fuel tank can justify a $10,000-$15,000 price increase?

Especially when you consider that the LEAF and MIEV come from Japan, whom we have no free trade with, the VOLT we do as its made in America.

Holden you could have sold soo many more of these if you only took a page out of Toyota’s book when they priced the 86.
- Dave S
  
  Holden can charge more (no pun intended) because it is a bigger car, it is not limited by battery range and is a true luxury model.
  - Smart US
    
    define luxury in Holden context… leather, Bluetooth, reverse parking sensors… or placibo effect of Feeling Luxury in every little touch… sorry im just thinking aloud
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
      
      Fair point, I think Dave S was just pointing out that the Volt is better equipped than those vehicles.
      The problem both the Volt and other electric vehicles will have (other than the cost of the batteries) is that they’re a very low volume vehicle, which is reflected in the price.
- Shakeel-ali
  
  Holden CAN justify the price of the Volt. Mitsubishi on the other hand cannot for the i-MiEV. $48k for a sub-compact, tinny and plasticky hatch with next to no cargo room, barely any worthwhile equipment and the possibility to leave you stranded.
  
  The Volt on the other hand has some pretty high end technology, much more equipment than the i-MiEV, is much bigger and has the generator for peace of mind. All in all, 12K more for all the extra that the Volt offers is not a bad deal.
- zag1
  
  I’m looking into maybe buying this car not for the green side couldn’t careless about that stuff.
  
  The cost saving of not using petrol through the week could be ok over the month a pure electric car isn’t worth any sort of money really the i-MEV is around 120klm and the Leaf is around 80klm to 100klm I’ve not looked at them, that is a waste of time range in Australia, even if you are in the city CBD.
  
  Anyway, I believe the Aust version of the volt has been altered and could be sold in the USA as a 2013 heaps of people in the USA are after the 2013 version of the Volt, because it offers more extras than the current 2010 2011 2012 Volts.
  
  Also the Aust Volt has all the extras where as the US version doesn’t like the 30gig HDD for GPS maps and music is a option in the USA Volts.
  
  So I guess that’s the trade off here they are only selling the top of the line car but the USA starts off with a lower spec and you can add the extras, which is probably the price difference, it’s actually quite a dear car in the USA a corvette is cheaper than a Volt in the USA. your looking at $45,000 (for basic car) to start off with then depending on the state you live in you get $2,000USD to $8000USD govt paid deduction from the starting price.
  
  I terms of this news bit I don’t know why they have bothered with better place as they are only in SA, Melb, Syd, Can. and it’s only 1 charging point for the whole city.
  
  Where as Origin have at least 1 or more charging stations in every major city in Australia.
  
  so if you buy a Volt in Brisbane or Perth there’s no charging spots at all in those cities, so Holden couldn’t say there have a charging point partner in many states in Australia.
horsie

Simple. holden will sell some at this price to early adoptors and fleets . then drop the price in a year or so. Just like toyota did with the origional Prius.
As far as the MIEV goes. you have to be kidding, the MIEV looks like a toy car people are going to love the volt because its a real car.
Smart US

well its first aboriginal EV car in Australia… so forgetting its USA developed and manufactured car and having lobotomy and no internet – its Great Holden Aussie Car
Phunken

The MIEV started out in the $60k bracket but drop to $40k-ish… which is still $20k over price.
Seen them & Leaf driving around in Canberra part of the EV electric infrastructure trial since for the past years before they were on sale. Haven’t really seen many charging point around here, beside from some at the Uni and near gov offices in the city… How do you charge if you live in apartment or offstreet parking as it is intended for the city crowd?
- Bigj
  
  Through charge station (power point) either in car park or street-side
Pauly

My point still stands that the Volt when compared to the LEAF cant possible justify a $10,000-$15,000 price increase when:

- Battery is smaller then the LEAF
- Battery has LESS range then the LEAF
- 4 Seats vs 5 seats in the LEAF
- Free Trade vs No Free Trade for LEAF

Yes I understand there is a petrol tank and a generator, but that doesn’t cost $10,000-$15,000

I think Holden could have priced this below the LEAF and truly wowed the Australian public. Instead they did what everyone expected they would do and overprice it.
- Pauly
  
  And since its untimately based on the Cruze, which we now build in Australia. What is stopping Holden from building the Volt here? Or maybe even get ready for the Volt 2 and Volt 3 which GM have confirmed they will be making?
  
  We all agree that the automotive industry is important to Australia, so why piss away tax payer money on cars that will become extinct soon? when it could be invested in new Electric Cars which we will ultimately all drive in the near future?
  
  Wouldnt it be smart of the government to encourage battery tech companies to start up in Australia too and team up with Holden and Toyota to start making more hybrid and electric cars here?
  
  You have more Australians with more future proof jobs ultimately. So why dont we do it?
  - Shak
    
    I remember GMH making a little cheeky comment saying that ANY Delta car could be made here when one journo quizzed them about the Volt about a year ago.
    
    As smart an idea as it would be for not just GMH, but the other two locals to start making EV/E-REV cars here, the numbers would not add up anytime in the next ten years. The only way Holden could even come close to justifying local Cruze production was because of how many they sold (and some taxpayer money). For the Volt to make sense, it would either have to pick up the slack left over IF Commodore disappears, or it would have to sell in high enough numbers to justify making it here alongside the current two models. Australia is more than capable of making high tech manufactured goods, its just that most times its a numbers game, and we usually come out on the losing side.
- Gus
  
  the problem is not Chevy or USA. the volt is just over $USD30K in US & A with government rebates. which is only a couple of grand more than a leaf with government rebates. both are viable alternative energy solutions over there. the problem is Australia pays through the nose for everything from the US not just cars. Oakleys cost double, snowboard products cost double, you name it we get reamed. just ask the keyboard experts on here as to why that is
  - Waynetelfer
    
    I never considered that the AUS/USA FTA would be a licence for the US to exploit us, but that is how it has turned out. How can a company have two websites, US and Aus and sell the same product at twice the price on their Aus site….. especially when it is manufactured in China for both markets. My Wife was in the US earlier this year and paid under $5 for 50+ sunscreen. She went looking for it when she returned…. for just under $40. Please explain! All we seem to have got out of the deal is higher prices and more of the worlds ugliest, uneconomical cars on our roads.
Save It For The Track

I think that a key difference between the Volt, the Leaf and the iMiev, is that by the sounds of it you could actually drive from Sydney to Perth if you wanted to, without having to make out of the ordinary stops for it to recharge. Or for example Sydney to Melbourne, Sydney to Brisbane, Melbourne to Adelaide. With the Leaf you’d be nervous just trying to drive between towns in some parts of Australia. I’m not saying I like the Volt, but seems a lot more user friendly for those that may want to try and be eco friendly when in the city, but be able to actually drive the car a reasonable distance in a large country like Australia that is slow to implement and roll out infrastructure that has already been developed and tested overseas. But really, who would want a car like the Leaf or the iMiev and be having to worry about running out of charge all the time? If people only ever stay in the city and use a car in the city, why not just catch public transport? The way the daily grind is in Sydney and Melbourne, I’d wonder about the things(Leaf/Imiev) maintaining a charge. One redeeming feature the iMiev has is its RWD. Not that an owner/driver of one would likely be one to care or even notice. The Volt just seems to be a different approach, likely just so GM didn’t appear to just be doing a hybrid like Toyota or Honda.
Dwehlauer

I was keen to get one of these for my wife, $60K?Considering:Volt = $2.50 per 80km = $0.03125 per kmCruze = $8.28 per 80km = $0.1035 per kmVolt Cheaper to run = 7.225 cents per km
Volt Car $40,000 more than Cruze
Means you would need to do:553,633km just to cut even on the car cost.Which if you were doing 80km per day would equal 18years before it becomes “economical”
vince

Holden Volt. Can someone please demo-straight how to get up to 80 klms on a full charge when I only get 64 klms. Driving in during the day with no air cod on and radio off.