One last thing… Many Volt owners end up buying a second Volt. It has one of the highest repeat customer rates in the business. Just ask a Volt driver how they like their car. Or better yet go take a test drive. It’s impressive.
I charge my Volt at home via a Level 2, it takes on average 10.8 Kwh of electricity to recharge the battery from dead, this allows me to travel about 40 miles (48-52 miles in warm weather and about 30-35 in cold), in Utah the cost per Kwh is 8.8 cents, making the cost per charge just 95 cents, I get roughly the same distance on a gallon of gas that costs about $3.62 right now, you can do the math, I average over 3,000 miles per month and use less than 9 gallons of gas per month, you can easily do the math.
As pointed out the Volt is not for the consumer who is looking to save every last penny, it does not compete with Civic’s, Focus’s, Cruze’s and the likes, it is far more upscale and if you don’t believe it then go take a test drive, the Volt is suitable for people that would normally spend forty to fifty thousand on a car, but in this case there is normally a sizable return.
You don’t need to be an engineer with charts and graphs to figure out if the Volt or Prius is more economical. Its pretty simple. The Volt goes 40+ miles on electric (2 pennies a mile for me). If I drove 80 miles I would burn 1 gallon of gas - That’s 80mpg (plus the 80 cents of Electricity) The Prius gets 50 on its best day and the average is likely 48-49 at best. So it obvious unless you regularly drive more than 100 miles a day a Volt will be cheaper. At 80 miles a day (or less) a Volt will be substantially cheaper to drive. At just over 5K miles and a 900 mile road trip included - my Volt average MPG is 213mpg. How can you even be having this discussion? It’s all about your normal driving habits. If you commute daily and drive 80 miles of less - The Volt wins hands down. Even if you through in a few long trips a year. Now a traveling salesman would do better in a Prius. It seems real life driving always out performs the EPA stats for the Volt. I am 80% Electric and only charge at home at night (well I did charge at my dads while visiting for a long weekend) That was good for about 100 gas free miles at $2 of Electyric power. Plus as others say the Volt is a blast to drive.
Edit
If you can charge at work (Many do) then you can double those numbers to 160 miles a day @ 80mpg. It all depends on if you want that kind of economy performance. It really easy to do. Pulling into my garage and plugging in is almost one motion and much more convenient than a trip to the gas station (and much cheaper) I always tell people “I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t want one” That probably what Chevrolet thought when they said “We have a Game Changer” who would have figured that the public would be so skeptical or anti Chevrolet?
@JonLindberg Nice to get some actual operating costs. I worked out a simple conversion factor and 15Cents per KWH works out to about $2/gallon of regular gas based on energy content. Our cost here is about 16 cents and gas is over $4/gallon so here operating electric vehicles would save about 50% in energy cost, not counting the higher efficiency of the electric motor over the gas motor.
If GM can gradually get the cost down this would be good vehicle for drivers with a fixed commuting pattern that would take advantage of not using gas for propulsion.
Another real Volt owner here 1+ years, posting in the interest of dispelling the misinformation post earlier by those who have never driven a Volt, hoodwinked by anti-EV propaganda, and/or obviously lacking some basic math skills.
To answer the original poster’s questions about the Volt:
>The configuration of the Volt seems like it would fit my driving style: A couple times a
month I may have to drive 100 miles in a day; most days I drive about 30 miles a day.
Absolutely, you are excellent fit for a Volt over almost any other car.
For example my commute is 68 miles each day (one way 34 miles). I typically use no gas daily simply by charging while a sleep, and then charging at my employer (from a regular outlet) for ~6 hours. It is so simple, and I never have to stop at strange public places and get anything smelly on my hands. 
My other car is a Prius, which I used to still use last year for single or round trips greater than 50 miles (mainly to avoid using gas in my Volt). But I have startedenjoying the Volt for trips of up to 100 miles because frankly it is cheaper, uses less gas, and less energy overall. And if the opportunity to charge while on the trip comes up, even more so. And it’s just plain nicer and more fun to drive…
And you are correct, the Volt is a great all-season, all weather, any trip vehicle…unlike most pure electrics where you have the range anxiety, or many hybrids like the Prius which are noisy, poor handling econo boxes - I know, I’ve had one since 2009. None of that with a Volt, worry-free, slot car performance and handling. Just a touch of “gas anxiety”, but hey, just make a fun game out of it!
What does it actually cost?
For me, only ~$30 a month electric, negligible gas ($75 a year??) for the 20k miles I drove last year, ~1700 miles a month. (My employer is covering ~$20 a month of the electric, so total cost is more like $50 a month) Maintence: 2 tire rotations, $25 each. That’s it. Note my home electric cost is ~16 cents a kWh. National average I think is less than that. Bottom line: It’s likely cheaper to operate, even than the best hybrid.
>Is the Volt a winner…?
Yes, big-time, IMO. It is STILL the best kept car secret out there, an amazing piece of automotive technology that will put a big smile on your face, can actually be had for under $30k or leased for ~$259 a month, and actually save you A LOT of $ on fuel and maintenance if you were already in the market for an upscale mid-to-compact (of course bottom end 3-star foreign econonbox will save you money over ANY other car - duh!) Your spouse will want their own!
The incremental (charging) cost of battery-electric transport has always been very small.
Years ago I calculated that the electricity cost to charge a gel cell over its lifetime was less than the initial cost of the battery.
So let’s see… running only electric:
The difference in MSRP between the top Cruze and the Volt is $39K - 23.5K = $15.5K
I’ll call that the cost of the electric battery and drive system.
Suppose it costs a $1 charge to go a 40 mile cycle.
And the battery lasts 5,000 cycles, 200,000 miles (probably generous, I know).
That’s $5,000 in electricity. I’m pretty sure that’s less than the cost of the battery alone.
I’ve had an electric bike and scooter for a number of years and I love that feeling of near-silent thrust.
But it does come at a cost.
Re: Your spouse will want their own! - I meant their own Volt of course - my wife no longer wants to drive the Prius 
Interesting by its absence is a ‘thank you’ from the Volt owners to the rest of us taxpayers for both the $7500 up front and the practically free use of roads…
Doing a cost comparison between a Cruze and a Volt is really rather silly, if you have actually driven both vehicles. The Volt drives and handles like an upscale mid-to-compact (in fact is rated #4 in that category by US News, beating out top luxury car makers)
It would be like doing a break even cost comparison between a 2012 Toyota Camry and a Lexus ES-300h hybrid (which actually even then share MORE components than the Cruze and Volt do)
In fact, a better comparison is the Lexus ES-300h and the Volt…and guess what, the Volt costs about the same (or $7500 less with a tax credit) and they get the same long range gas mileage…~40 mpg…except the Volt will also give you ~35-50+ gas free miles EVERY DAY. DO the math.
texases
There is no $7500 up front. It is a tax rebate and only if your personal tax liability meets or exceeds the $7500 (otherwise you get a lesser amount). In other words you can only get your own tax money back - Not anybody elses. Hey I’m a conservative too and don’t we tout lower taxes? The tax incentive was put in place under the Bush admin and it is for all cars that meet certain criteria and only lasts until a certain amount of cars are sold. It is not Volt specific. With all due respect this is part of the misinformation being propagated. Its the same program for all of the hybrids, even the Prius. Why is the Volt the only one taking critism?
Let me educate you as to how EV tax credits (that are non-refundable) work. It’s not money from “the rest of” you tax payers, it’s the buyer’s money, it’s MY money. I must have already paid the govt $7500 or more in federal taxes to get that refund back. That’s why it’s a non-refundable credit. If you can’t get all or most of it, it’s smarter to lease it and let the leasing compnay who owns the vehicle work the credit into the lease deal.
Like encouraging having children or home ownership, it’s the government saying that an economic choice is for the greater good, therefore it should include a tax benefit. And it is not “up front”, it comes only at tax time and has to filed for with the appropriate forms, process, and wait time.
Another similar benefit is the home mortgage interest deduction. Have you ever bought a house? Do you take that credit every year? I have not heard a “thank you” from you to the Volt owners who live in an apartment and can’t get that credit for your deduction which I’m sure is in the thousands of dollars less tax each year. {end sarcasm} See how silly your non-factual argument is, how it falls apart under scrutiny?
As for use of the roads, thank you. We’d all be happy to pay a per mile, per weight tax for all, if instituted. How would SUV and truck drivers feel about that?
Texases
I thank you for letting me have the freedom to purchase my own Chevy Volt which qualifies me for a temporary tax rebate program (put in place under the Bush admin) that allows me to keep some of my own money that would otherwise go to the Government.
A lot of interesting comments here. Thanks to the Volt owners for sharing their own experience. It does seem to me anyway that the Volt configuration makes a lot of sense for many drivers. Low operating expense when in EV mode, yet no range anxiety for those times your trip length requires you do leave EV mode.
I do think @Texases has a valid point about the road taxes. These are paid partly by per gallon taxes on gasoline. If everybody drove a Volt, there wouldn’t be enough money to build and maintain the roads. That isn’t sustainable. I suspect the idea is to give plug-in cars like the Volt a little help at first to build some market share and take advantage of economy of scale, so the up-front price can go down,and in return some form of taxation on the electric bill presumably to restore the road taxes.
“How about a lower cost version of the Volt with a smaller battery?”
GM considered that, and the current version is the one they thought was the best compromise. The Volt gets its own chassis in a year or two. GM claims that will lower the price significantly.
@GeorgeSanJose - is a gas tax even the fair way to charge people for maintaining our roads? Everybody benefits from our road infrastructure, whether you drive or not. The goods that you buy were delivered over those roads. Instead of a tax on gasoline, everybody should pay fairly some other way. We should be charging a road benefit tax on people who don’t drive! (in other words, road maintenance should be covered by far more than just the gas tax, and in general we are all paying far less in taxes than we are receiving in benefits - that’s not sustainable)
I used a Kill-a-Watt on my Volt for a few months and found that in March which has the most days and when I got my worst ‘milage’ (because I used the heater) I used just over 300 kWh to charge the car fully, every day. That was about $35 on our electric bill. In May I’m barely using the heater and not fully depleting the battery every day, plus we changed to a “Time of Use” or TOU meter from our electric company so we are taking advantage of the lower nighttime rates. I can’t wait to see what our May bill is, I’m guessing about $20 towards the car. I do take the occasional long trip so I have to fill the gas tank about once a month for another $25. Sure beats the $350/month I was putting into my old SUV’s gas tank!
“…is a gas tax even the fair way to charge people for maintaining our roads?”
For the time being, it is fair. Most people don’t have EVs, and a good way to promote EVs is to allow the owner’s to benefit from the gasoline tax. It may lead more people to buy EVs. The time will come when a different taxing system will need to be added so that EV owners will pay for road repairs, but not yet. Recall that sales taxes were waived for internet commerce to encourage on-line retailers to grow. That certainly occurred, and now is a good time to start taxing all goods sold on the internet. It worked, and the net effect has been to lower retail tax collections. The change is now significant, and we need to do something about it.
I've had an electric bike and scooter for a number of years and I love that feeling of near-silent thrust. But it does come at a cost.
I thinking about a EV Bike. I figure that I can save 2 Whoopers and fries/day/30-50miles. Are you not riding anymore?
" It’s not money from “the rest of” you tax payers, it’s the buyer’s money, it’s MY money. I must have already paid the govt $7500 or more in federal taxes to get that refund back."
Fact - the moment you pay your taxes, the money is no longer yours. It’s the government’s/ours. That shell game doesn’t work.
“Another similar benefit is the home mortgage interest deduction. Have you ever bought a house? Do you take that credit every year? I have not heard a “thank you” from you to the Volt owners who live in an apartment and can’t get that credit for your deduction which I’m sure is in the thousands of dollars less tax each year. {end sarcasm} See how silly your non-factual argument is, how it falls apart under scrutiny?”
When somebody brings up an unrelated ‘red herring’, it makes me think they got caught with their hand in the taxpayer cookie jar. Nothing about a home interest deduction relates to whether the car tax deduction is a good idea or not. Misdirection, pure and simple.
"As for use of the roads, thank you. We’d all be happy to pay a per mile, per weight tax for all, if instituted. How would SUV and truck drivers feel about that? "
SUV and truck drivers wouldn’t probably care, they already pay a per mile, per weight tax, the fuel tax.
" is a gas tax even the fair way to charge people for maintaining our roads? Everybody benefits from our road infrastructure, whether you drive or not. The goods that you buy were delivered over those roads. Instead of a tax on gasoline, everybody should pay fairly some other way. We should be charging a road benefit tax on people who don’t drive! (in other words, road maintenance should be covered by far more than just the gas tax, and in general we are all paying far less in taxes than we are receiving in benefits - that’s not sustainable)"
Those who get those benefits (goods, etc) DO pay the fuel tax - it’s in the cost of those goods delivered over the road.
I just think the money the country is spending on all EVs/PHEVs is not going to yield near the benefits folks are expecting. As noted, much of the country will see no benefit of an EV over a hybrid in terms of CO2 release. Why accomplish the same goal at greater expense?
The Volt is a great car. Just not the tax system we’ve put in place for ALL these cars. Latest news is that Tesla (another great car) is economically viable only because of the tax credits OTHER makers are buying through Tesla. This is just an economic house of cars, unsustainable.
I got a ST profit on TSLA, in my IRA, and in my future tax bracket, will pay minimum tax.