Honda Fit vs. Chevy Volt

Honda Fit: $16000
Cost per mile: 30MPG @ $3.00/gallon = $0.10 per mile

Chevy Volt: $32500 (after tax credit)
Cost per mile: 40 miles per 8KW charge @ $0.15 per KW = $0.03 per mile

….So the Volt pays for itself (relative to the fit) after 235,714 miles.  And that assumes that the batteries never need to be replaced (and that would not be the case, since the car would require 5,892 charge cycles to cover this distance), and that you don’t drive more than 40 miles between charges.  It would take 16 years of driving 40 miles every day to reach the break-even point.

On the other hand, in $9/gallon European countries, the break even point comes after only 61,111 miles.