Chevrolet had a huge promotion at South by Southwest. One hook was free local taxi rides in the Cruze, their version of the Honda Civic/Toyota Corolla.
The second hook was what got me – a test drive in the new Chevrolet Volt – a mostly electric car that won’t hit the market till “the end of 2010” – and then only in seven states.
I enjoyed it! It was very quiet. The build quality seemed to be solid. It was about as roomy as a Prius. I hit the pedal to the metal, and the acceleration wasn’t bad… maybe slightly faster than a Prius. The coolest thing was that during my 5 mile test drive, the gas engine didn’t kick in once.
My recommendation? Wait.The Volt has a lot of cutting-edge technology, and it will be a few years till it becomes cheap enough to compete with the value of a Prius. My real recommendation is that if you want to buy a green car, get a used Prius. Buying used is almost always more green than buying new. You’ll save as much as $20,000 – and you won’t have to wait until they are available in your market.
Yes, the photo is really poor, due to my cheapo cell phone.
