In a case of highly charged sticker shock, a Florida Chevrolet dealer admits that it offered to replace the battery in a hybrid car for more than the vehicle is worth.
As reported by the website AutoEvolution, the case of the almost-$30,000 battery was being bandied about on social media for days, with some folks believing the tale and other relegating it to the pile of urban myths.
The story was based on a copy of an estimate for the battery of a 2012 Chevrolet Volt that was making the rounds. The Volt was a hybrid that was produced as Chevy was dabbling in the electric vehicle market. Its place in Chevrolet’s lineup has now been taken by the Bolt.
The estimate said that getting the battery would set the car’s owner back $26,853.99. Other costs brought the total bill to $29,842.15 — essentially $30,000.
Bet that Chevy Volt sounded like a good idea at first. pic.twitter.com/q57U0gZowU
— Rob O’Donnell (@odonnell_r) August 25, 2022
According to the automotive site Edmunds, a 2012 Volt is estimated to go for between $7,999 and $17,590 these days.
Chevrolet advertises that its new Bolt starts at $25,000.
In the end, the truth about a used car came from a car dealer – in this case Roger Dean Chevrolet in Cape Coral, which prepared the estimate.
“This is an estimate for a 12 year old vehicle out of warranty and for a battery that is extremely hard to get, due to the older technology of the 12 year old vehicle,” the dealership posted on Facebook in an attempt to set the record straight.
The dealership also used this controversy as a chance for a sales pitch on newer electric vehicles.
“The dealership does not set battery prices. In the newer EV or EUV vehicles with newer technology the batteries do cost less. Think of it like big screen TVs. Remember when the first big screen came out, they were very expensive, and as the technology advanced the prices became better. This battery is also out of warranty of 8yr/100k miles whatever hits first,” the posting stated.
By way of context, an April report in Consumer Affairs gave a ballpark range of $4,000 to $10,000 to replace a gasoline-powered engine.
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When seeking to learn how electric vehicle owners felt about the tale of the big-ticket battery, WBVH-TV in Fort Myers, Florida, visited a charging station and interviewed a man the station identified only as “Ian.”
“Thirty thousand dollars is a lot to fix anything on a car, especially when the car itself could be, like, worth less than that,” the man said.
Ian, who leases a Bolt, said things have changed in the EV market.
“As far as electric cars go, they’re being made in better ways now,” he said.
“I feel like electric vehicle space is innovating a lot. It’s moving on past the initial, like, if something goes wrong with your battery, you hit a rock or something and it messes up your battery you need to spend the entire amount you spent on your car to fix it.”
“I’m like ‘well, OK that’s gotta suck for that person’,” Ian said. “I think now that might not be as much of an issue for other people with newer cars.”
