Most of us that follow the Volt have expected the retail price of the Volt to come in between forty and fifty thousand dollars (with most of the estimates being in the mid forties). Well GM announced the price of the Volt and I’m surprised (and delighted) to say it has come in at $41,000 even.

Now I know most of you out there are saying that price is pretty high for a 4 seater that isn’t a sports car. But the price range of the Volt puts it in the same class as other high end cars of equal size. Sure it will lack performance, but the interior is on par with it’s luxury car counterparts (it will surpass them in many areas where technology is concerned). And the ‘cool’ factor and MPG should make up for any lack of performance for the buyer of this car.

That price does not count the current tax rebate you get when buying an electric car. When you add the tax rebate of $7,500 the total price comes down to $33,500 making the Volt available to many buyers. In addition GM is going to offer leases on the Volt for $350 per month with the option to buy at the end of the lease.

To put it in perspective, when the Prius came out about 10 years ago it had an initial price tag in the mid thirties. The Volt (without) the rebate is priced about the same when you adjust for inflation. Today a Prius starts at $23 thousand, over time the Volt will come down in cost as well. Any time a new technology is released early adopters pay a premium to be the first on the block with it. But given 5 to 10 years the Volt will be competing with the Prius on price.