I’m new to the forum, and have been asked to post about my recent used Chevy Volt buying experience. To be honest, I always wanted an EV to stay ahead of the times and keep up with the technology. When gas prices rose a couple years back I started researching. I knew I would not buy new as the prices are still keeping the average car buyer out of them. Especially when we are talking about buying a commuter car. These are not necessarily family cars. Although I use my Volt as one every chance I get. Long story short I bought a used car but not an EV, until I couldn’t stand it anymore and started searching for a used Volt. Found a 2012 Chevy Volt, with a unique interior with green accents in black leather, and silver exterior. 27,000 miles and on an internet special for under $16k. When most used volts in that condition we’re going for $17-18k, I knew it was a steal. I looked at it, drove it and fell I love with it. It meets my needs perfectly as I have a 49 mile round trip to work. And sometime I have to drive to work twice a day. So the range extender really helps. I can drive so efficiently that I get 50-55 miles out of a charge. If I’m in a hurry I may use .3-.5 gallons of gas a day. I have a bit of electrical knowledge so I installed a 220 NEMA 14-50 plug to a dedicated breaker in my garage which saved me quite a bit instead of having an electrician do it. Cost to install myself $140. My brother in law is an electrician, so he backed me up via FaceTime. Currently I’m waiting on a eMotorwerks Juicebox Pro 40 ($599). Should bring charging times for the Volt To about 4 hours. This charger is way overkill for the car, but I’m future proofing because I know the next vehicle I buy will be a plug in. Overall, I’m extremely happy with having purchased used. It got me into a EV when I couldn’t afford new, but it’s pretty close to new. And considering these vehicles have logged over 200,000 miles in some cases I’m confident mine will go just as far. Its been 9 months with it and I’m still as happy as the day I bought it. I encourage shopping around, the EVs that are lease turn ins are making great deals. PM me with any questions.
I think the vast majority of possible EV users have not even considered a second hand vehicle maybe due to the scare stories over the cost of replacing batteries. Your experience seems to have played out very well, you seem very happy with the vehicle and it fits in perfectly with you daily needs. We need more of you!
Forgot to ask, how many miles on the clock today?
I was lucky enough to find the car with about 28,000 and I’ve put on about 3,000 miles so far. The car had one owner and they did a good job caring for it.
As far as the battery goes, I’ve researched quite a bit, but it doesn’t look like battery replacement is something that occurs very often. At the same time from what I understand battery range decline is something that the manufacturer plans for and that’s why you only get to use a portion of the battery capacity so any range decrease we see in our batteries will be minimal. Still curious how all that will work out. But I’m confident I won’t be stuck on the road with the ICE. Haven’t filled up since April and I have. A 49 mile round trip daily. My battery goes much farther than 40 miles based on my conservative driving.
MercuryFE, I too have a “new” used Volt. I just picked up a 2013 with 40k on it. I am super excited to see how things go. We previously owned 2 Prius’ and I sold mine to make the change. We did a lot of research on batteries before jumping into the hybrid scene, so making the switch from Prius to Volt was not as scary. To me, buying used is the only thing that makes sense. New, this car would have cost $45k, I got it for under $15k with a L2 charger included, I plan on saving money on gas, but not THAT much!
For me it is primarily a commuter car and my work has a charging station, so I hope to do most of my charging there (38 mile round trip to work).
I am working on a spreadsheet that will help me identify where/how much charging is costing vs gas as well as where I charge. Hopefully after I have some useful data, I can share it here.