The results.

The day has finally arrived. The leasing company is coming by to examine my first Volt, in preparation for its return to them. I am surprised at the nagging background feeling of sadness that I have. This car changed my life! Seriously. I am now working at a Chevy dealership because of this car. We downsized our home and moved to a relatively undeveloped area, because of this car. I have had public speaking engagements, been interviewed on radio, TV and in newspapers, because of this car. I’ve become active with local government and civic groups, because of this car. But I thought that my excitement over getting a newly redesigned Volt would make me immune to this car’s charms, but like my first girlfriend, I think this one will live on in my mind for a very long time. My blue Volt’s final stats:I ended up being 83% electric, over the entire time I’ve had my Volt. Since my original estimate was 75%, I’m pleased with this. That means I used about 208 gallons of gasoline during the last three years/45,027 miles. In my previous car, (a Lexus ES300 that got 22MPG, which is the average MPG for new cars, in the U.S., today) I would have used 2,047 gallons! The Volt saved me from buying 1,839 gallons which, at the average price for gas over the last three years of $3.00 per gallon, represents a cost of $624.40 (or a savings of $5,516.00!!!). But what about the price of electricity? Yes, that must be taken into account. At 8.3¢ per kWh, 12.8 kWh for a full charge and about 40 miles per charge, that’s an additional cost of $991.38. So my total cost to go 45,027 miles was $1,615.78. That 2,047 gallons I would have bought in my previous vehicle would have cost $6,141. I saved $4,525.22 in fuel cost. Since I started working at the dealership, almost two years ago, I have been allowed to charge for free. This shifted a large portion of that $991.38 in electricity cost to my employer. Since not everyone can charge at work, we’ll pretend I paid for all electricity and go with the $4,525.22 savings.

What about maintenance savings? My previous car would have had at least nine oil changes over a three year period. My Volt needed only one oil change. At 35K miles, although the remaining oil life display was 60%, I freaked out and had an oil change. According to the remaining oil life display (97% remaining), I could have easily gone the full three years without an oil change. That’s about $360 in maintenance cost, raising the amount saved to $4,885.22.

What’s priceless to me is that, for 37,326 miles, I drove a zero emissions vehicle.

Fare well, Serenity. May you be as great a car for the next lucky owner as you were for me. I’ll never forget you.

**UPDATE**

A person who examines returned lease vehicles for U.S. Bank just examined my Volt. I was wondering how this would go. He advised me to remove the stickers from my hatchback window, which I did (to save the $40 removal fee). He also said everything else looked like normal wear and tear, so there are no charges, other than the $390 inspection fee originally set up, when I leased the Volt. Even the tires were in great shape! This was the last concern I had about leasing, and at least with U.S. Bank, it was relatively painless.

Our next Volt lease return will be in late December (just in time for the 2016’s arrival). That lease was with Ally Bank. I’ll let you know how that return goes when it’s done.