<P> General Motors CEO Edward Whitacre Jr. rejected as "ridiculous" criticism that the Volt's price is too expensive . He said that "I think it's a very fair price . It's the only car that will go coast to coast on electricity without plugging it in, and nobody else can come close ." Despite the federal government being the major GM shareholder due to the 2009 government - led bankruptcy of the automaker, during a press briefing at the White House a Treasury official clarified that the federal government did not have any input on the pricing of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt . </P> <P> There have also been complaints regarding price markups due to the initial limited availability in 2010 of between US $5,000 to US $12,000 above the recommended price, and at least in one case a US $20,000 mark up in California . Even though the carmaker cannot dictate vehicle pricing to its dealers, GM said that it had requested its dealers to keep prices in line with the company's suggested retail price . </P> <P> In May 2011 the National Legal and Policy Center announced that some Chevrolet dealers were selling Volts to other dealers and claiming the US $7,500 federal tax credit for themselves . Then the dealers who bought the Volts sell them as used cars with low mileage to private buyers, who no longer qualify for the credit . General Motors acknowledged that 10 dealer - to - dealer Volt sales had taken place among Chevrolet dealers, but the carmaker said they do not encourage such practice . </P> <P> In September 2012, Reuters published an opinion / editorial article where it claimed that General Motors, nearly two years after the introduction of the car, was losing US $49,000 on each Volt it built . The article concluded that the Volt is "over-engineered and over-priced" and that its technological complexity has put off many prospective buyers, due to fears the car may be unreliable . GM executives replied that Reuters' estimates were significantly flawed as they also allocated the vehicle's research and development program costs only against the number of Volts sold in the United States (as of August 2012), instead of spreading the total costs over the entire lifetime of the model, as well as including those units sold in Europe and other countries . GM explained that the investments will pay off once the innovative technologies of the Volt are applied across multiple current and future products . </P>

What is the battery life of a chevy volt