It’s been a big week in the world of mass-produced electric vehicles. Hot on the heels of Nissan delivering the first of its LEAF all-electric vehicles to a customer in California last Saturday, a retired airline pilot by the name of Jeffrey Kaffee has become the first customer in the U.S. to take delivery of a Chevrolet Volt. Although the Volt he received wasn’t actually the first available for sale, with that particular vehicle going to the winner of an online charity auction, which closed on Tuesday with a winning bid of US$225,000.
Kaffee, of Parsippany, New Jersey, cut his vacation short to become the first customer to take possession of a Volt on Wednesday, December 15 at Gearhart Chevrolet in Denville, New Jersey. His vehicle was one of 360 Volts that departed the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant this week aboard a caravan of car carriers headed for initial launch markets that include California, Texas, Washington, D.C. and New York. Kaffee obviously likes to keep up to date with the latest eco-friendly transportation as he is trading in a Toyota Prius for his Volt.
The Volt’s official MSRP is US$40,280 – which comes down to $32,7800 after the $7,500 U.S. Federal income tax credit. GM is also offering a lease program with $350 monthly repayments (based on a 36-month term lease and $2,500 deposit).
In other Volt-related news, the online auction for the first Volt available for sale closed at 6pm on Tuesday with a bid slightly above the Volt’s retail price. The US$225,000 winning bid will be verified before Chevrolet announces the winner and presents the auction proceeds to the Detroit Public Schools Foundation. However, the Volt up for auction wasn’t the first Volt built during regular production. Because Chevrolet intends to hang onto that vehicle “in recognition of the team’s efforts to bring the revolutionary car from concept to reality,” the auctioned vehicle will bear a vehicle identification number ending in BU100002.
