More than price of new model of same car.
QUICK FACTS:
- A Florida Chevrolet dealer admits that it offered to replace the battery in a hybrid car for more money than the car is worth, in a case of highly charged sticker shock.
- The story of the battery that cost almost $30,000 was circulated on social media for days, with some people believing it and others dismissing it as an urban legend.
- The tale was based on a circulated copy of an estimate for the battery of a 2012 Chevrolet Volt, one of Chevy’s first electric vehicles to hit the market.
- The Volt was produced as a hybrid, later replaced by the Chevrolet’s Bolt.
- According to the evaluation of the vehicle on Edmunds, a 2012 Volt is estimated to go for between $7,999 and $17,590.
- But Chevrolet’s new Bolts starts at $25,000, seeming to indicate that the battery issue essentially made the vehicle a total.
THE DEALERSHIP’S STATEMENT:
- Following the widespread attention the receipt received, the dealership posted on Facebook in an attempt to set the record straight: “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 business claimed.
- “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 went on to say.
BACKGROUND:
- The cost to replace the motor of a gasoline-powered vehicle ranges from about $4,000 to $10,000, depending on the age and other factors.
- Reliance on electric vehicles is expected to grow, particularly considering edicts like the one in California that will ban the sale of electric vehicles after the year 2035.
