The Chevy Volt has been available to first adopters and second generation owners, all the while the manufacturer is tweaking the electric car to better improve its performance and range. Chevy touts the car as the best one in its class and now, with more and more individuals driving one, this claim is put to the test.
If you own a Volt or have driven one, share here what are the top reasons why the Chevy Volt is the best electric car in the market today.
Where do I start? I bought my 2013 volt just over a month ago. I have 1100 miles on it and have surpassed 548 mpg average. It has its own commercial power meter that reads as low as .5kWh resolution.The 1100 miles cost a total of $24.75 in electricity or 2.2 cents per mile. I could not consider a pure electric because I am a spontaneous person and would not like the restrictions of pure electric. I also would not consider a typical hybrid because it always burns gas and has no where near the potential of EV driving. So the choice was very simple. The best of both worlds, no compromises or restriction. To me that is the Chevy Volt. Sporty and fun to drive with simply amazing economy for commuting. Visit Volt Stats on the web and you will see what real people are getting in real life driving. Forget the EPA mpg figures. People are getting literally several hundred miles per gallon and driving a car thar has no draw backs or restrictions.
GM was very smart about their design and sizing of the battery for 90% of the commuters. Even if your commute was 100 miles and you couldn’t charge at work, you would get nearly 80 mpg. You can’t do that in Americas most popular and best selling Hybrid. I’m not sure why the Volt isn’t taking the entire market and cleaning house. The stats andnumbers sure seem to
Hi Jljeeper
Thanks for that insight into the Volt - these kind of on the ground comments are what will push the electric vehicle market to grow. We can all see the PR from the major car companies but nothing beats good old fashioned common sense and firsthand experience.
Would you say there are any downsides to the Volt?
Only one model to select from
Cost, initially high price
Seats only 4
The unknowns that come with new technology
The auto defrost not working as we’ll as I would like. I still have to manually select defrost to keep the windows clear.
When you drive an EV you need to learn to manage power use ( heater and AC) if you want the best range. the Volt will manage this for you in the “auto” and “ECO” modes. When the AC cycles the temperature of the air gets cool then warm again. In a regular car you would just leave everything on and crank up the heat. This is not as practical in an EV. I accept this for what it is, some people wouldn’t want to be bothered.
Go to www.voltstats.net to see what real world Volt drivers are getting from their Volts. You can argue with real life stats collected electronically by OnStar.
On the whole, from what you are saying, it seems as though the Volt is living up to the kind of PR hype which so many cars in the electric vehicle market have failed to do. On the whole, I suppose when looking at the positive points and the negative points of the vehicle, they seem to have hit the mark with regards to customer satisfaction?
The interesting thing I’ve noticed is everyone that has a Volt just loves the car. I just met a guy at work today and he has had his Volt since October and he loves it. He has a 60 mile commute. I’m still waiting to hear from a Volt owner that is disappointed.
Edit: the 60 mile commute mentioned above is actually 61 miles and he is EV only for 40 miles he has a lifetime average of 117mpg. We are working with our employer to provide charging so he can be 100% EV. You can see the flexibility of the Volt. It gives you time to improve and still be EV as much as possible.
My Volt Update after 2 months of ownership
LocalTimestamp---------GallonsBurned--------------- LifetimeFuelEcon-----LiifetimeEvMiles—LifetimeMiles
3/24/2013 13:01--------- 2.63347---------------------- 702.03801--------------1785.90361----------1848.79786
If anyone is curious of what most Volt owners are getting go to
Volt Stats! Tracking real world usage of Chevy Volts in the wild… to see thousands of real life owners stats, click on owner Map
I drove a 2012 Volt as a test vehicle (press loaner) last fall. They’re nice cars, but have a lot of down sides to go with that. For me, the largest was highway driving. Where I live, there’s a lot of it (and at speed), so the engine will be on most of the time for someone who is commuting or driving “into town”. With only 37mpg on the highway - remember, the engine powers the car at high speeds- I can get better out of my old Honda Civic. I’ll freely admit that I am not the norm and am well outside of the Volt’s intended market.
The price tag is another one. $45k for a vehicle that, frankly, doesn’t compare to other cars in that price range is a big downer and is one of the chief complaints dealers are giving regarding why customers aren’t buying. Add to that the very limited space inside the vehicle (to be honest, we found the Toyota Prius c to be more versatile in passenger/luggage options than the Volt) and sales will always be limited.
Engineering is another concern. The car was not really made to go to production. I routinely have loaners on a lift for inspection and do the usual “open the hood, dig around” thing with all of them. For the Volt, I also have an engineer friend who is very pro-EV who bought one specifically to tear it down bolt-by-bolt. He was appalled at the way the Volt (2012 model for him) was constructed and amazed that they aren’t failing at a higher rate than they are.
With all of that, though, the Volt has some great qualities. It’s highly unique and everyone who sees it knows either what it is or that it’s not a “normal” car. Unless you live where there are a ton of these on the road, you will get questions and comments on the car by random people. I parked at a store parking lot in Cheyenne, WY and came back out to see a small crowd of four or five people eyballing the car. We spent the next half hour talking about it.
The Volt is not a family car, it is not a car to own if you don’t drive short distances regularly, and it’s not cheap. It’s made for a specific market of buyers - which is why it actually doesn’t really compete with the LEAF, despite all of the comparisons made between the two. They’re two different markets that happen to overlap slightly.
if they can get it to hit it’s target audience, great, but they made it a pretty narrow focus.
I’d love to see them do a diesel electric vehicle that would have turned out much better I feel.
[QUOTE=FEUS;14709]if they can get it to hit it’s target audience, great, but they made it a pretty narrow focus.
I’d love to see them do a diesel electric vehicle that would have turned out much better I feel.[/QUOTE]
On paper, ya, but for now, diesel-electrics are expensive to build. Diesel (esp. TDI) has a markup of about half the cost of adding electrification to make a hybrid. So if you combine a hybrid with a diesel, you get both markups. VW and others have specifically cited this as a reason for not producing a diesel-electric hybrid.
[QUOTE=AaronTurpen;14711]On paper, ya, but for now, diesel-electrics are expensive to build. Diesel (esp. TDI) has a markup of about half the cost of adding electrification to make a hybrid. So if you combine a hybrid with a diesel, you get both markups. VW and others have specifically cited this as a reason for not producing a diesel-electric hybrid.[/QUOTE]
Agreed, but arguably the vehicle is worth more overall as well. look at the resale value of the diesel compared to their gas counter parts.
If only it was all cheaper…
[QUOTE=AaronTurpen;14705]I drove a 2012 Volt as a test vehicle (press loaner) last fall. They’re nice cars, but have a lot of down sides to go with that. For me, the largest was highway driving. Where I live, there’s a lot of it (and at speed), so the engine will be on most of the time for someone who is commuting or driving “into town”. With only 37mpg on the highway - remember, the engine powers the car at high speeds- I can get better out of my old Honda Civic. I’ll freely admit that I am not the norm and am well outside of the Volt’s intended market.QUOTE]
I am still amazed on how many people just don’t know anything about the Volt. At what speed does the engine come on? I was at 85 today and it didn’t come on. Actually the truth is the engine doesn’t come on at all based on speed. It doesn’t come on until you have exhausted the battery. The Volt will go to 100mph on battery and stay on battery until the battery is depleted. So how far do you commute? A friend at work drives his Volt 61 miles a day and averages 117 mpg (charges only at home at night when sleeping) If and when he can charge at work he would be 100% gas free commute. I think it is figured that your commute costs would equal a Prius if it was 150 miles In other words 150 miles or less the Volt wins. 150 miles or more the Prius wins. If your commute is 40-50 miles the Volt wins by a long shot at several hundred miles per gallon. Now if you are able to charge for the 8 hours at work you can double the figures above. I have a 36 mile commute and burn no gas. My lifetime average is now over 800mpg. A Prius or Honda can’t hold a candle to that or even come close to the 60+ mile commute above. Pretty sad the Volt gets so much inaccurate negative press
I too thought the cost of the Volt was high. But after running numbers I was able to tilt them enough in favor of convincing myself it would actually pay for itself. This was if I kept at status quo. Meaning continuing to commute in my TJ Jeep at 14 mpg (gave the 30mpg Saturn to my daughter). My commute cost me $240/mo. in the Jeep. Payments on the Volt after rebates is $509/mo. 13 years free car! Even if I didn’t have it that long it would bring the costs way down after the 6 year 0 interest loan was paid off. My calculations turned out to be off because after the first two months I realized that I am more than offsetting the Jeep miles. I am also off setting our mini van miles because we use the Volt for every trip to the store and out to dinner etc. My overall fuel savings is over $300/mo (all my fuel costs are in Quicken and easy to chart) So My net payments are $209 a month more than what I have been paying out for the past 2 years. Volt to me is $208/mo plus no oil changes or gas station visits. Saving wear and tear on Jeep and Van. Supporting 100% US energy from the grid (not the middle east). You see all this factors in for me. The car is phenomenally fun to drive. I have found no limitations even if I commuted 80 miles a day.
Yes I know I could have bough several other compact cars that get near 40mpg.
[QUOTE=Jljeeper;14719]I am still amazed on how many people just don’t know anything about the Volt. At what speed does the engine come on? I was at 85 today and it didn’t come on.[/QUOTE]
Check your owner’s manual, that’s all I can say. The Volt loses power quickly at high speeds due to both motors being used and when the batteries drop to 35%, the engine kicks in to power the wheels to save energy.
Demystifying the Chevy Volt’s Mostly-Electric Engine | Popular Science
I am surprised this forum would support the VOLT I would not take a volt if it were free. ok that is a lie I would take it sell it and buy something better.
There is only one true cost of a vehicle and that is the TRC Total Real Cost. average lifespan a vehicle is kept today is 9.9 years so I calculate a 10 year TRC for any vehicle I might consider.
the Volt is THE MOST EXPENSIVE vehicle out of all the vehicles I calculated.
#1 its not an EV its a hybrid.
#1 its made by GM which automatically removes it from being an option since I would rather DIE than give GM a dime of my money (thank you US government for putting a gun to my head and forcing me to bail them out thank you so much for that!) since GM actually “DID” have a viable EV solution over 10years ago and they killed it. on purpose. and gave is this garbage that is the volt as a big FU to the american people.
the volt is a slap in the face to any true EV owner or EV dreamer (like me dreaming of having an EV)
under my circumstances (40,000 miles a year or more 54mile one way commute I can charge at work then 54 miles home)
the 10 year TRC on a chevy volt is $98,500
let me type that one more time so we are clear on this.
NINETY EIGHT THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS
even the garbage that is the Toyota Prius does not come close to being that much money!! and this IGNORES the power to charge the volt since I would offset that with solar buyback !!
on the other hand the Nissan Leaf or the MiEV has a 10 year TRC of around $43,200 (either one) (NO tax credits are factored into this price since I would not qualify for them I don’t earn enough money)
The VOLT on the other hand (here is the break down for you) would cost me 22,000 miles of gasoline powered driving every year (the other 18,000 would be covered by the battery ASSUMING I average 35 miles per charge (yeah right))
over 10 years assuming gas stays under $4 a gallon that is $29,333 in fuel which I round to $30,000 to keep the numbers simple plus its purchase price with interest etc… of $58,500 for a total 10 year TRC of $98,500
and this assumes it NEVER breaks down since the warranty will only last me 2.5 years. (same for the leaf or MiEV as well) yet the volt will be more expensive to maintain its complicated annoying hybrid system which after all is WHY they like hybrids.
if you factor in the tax credits the prices remain the same since I will need a replacement battery inside that 10 years at the mileages I drive.
the volt is one of the worst possible choices you can make unless money is no object and you want a fancy hybrid “just because”
if your objective is to save money its your worst possible choice.
even something like a hyundai elantra only has a 10 year TRC of $59,000 and it has no electric drive.
oddly enough the LEAF and or the MiEV are the cheapest cars money can buy when you calculate a 10 year TRC for them at 40,000 miles a year even cheaper than a bare-bones 32mpg $9500 nissan.
its even cheaper than a GEO METRO (TRC $45,769 at 52mpg) if you could buy one brand new for $10,000.
and remember that $43,200 TRC includes a $10,000 battery replacement.
The volt is quite literally a SLAP IN THE FACE to any reasonable american. its a big F U to the USA yours with love from GM.
Hybrids that get less than 100mpg maybe 90mpg for more than $15,000 are a waste of money. its a non solution.
what we need is to FORCE our government to FORCE the automakers to mass produce the E95 NIMH battery that was used in the EV1 and the Rav4EV
they can build a mid size economy sedan 4 door car that will get 80-110 miles to a charge no problem (that IS what the Rav4EV gets) on a $4500 E95 NIMH battery that will last the average consumer 20-25 YEARS before it even thinks about wearing out. (this is all public data look it up) for about $13,500 full retail no rebates or tax credits. FULL MSRP.
they simply REFUSE to because they lose too much “cream profits” with such a vehicle since they would essentially be every lasting (relative to today’s cars)
Now your TRC will be different than mine since a sizable chunk of it is “FUEL” for the gasoline powered cars like the volt. though it will be the same for the actual EV’s
if you must go gas wait till next summer. Elio Motors 84mpg $6800 full retail price. bonus since its 3 wheels you can buy motorcycle insurance for it in most states saving you a bundle each year.
I have ZERO concerns over range. an E95 nimh based EV has enough range to cover the daily needs of over 90% of the population. Period. for the rest of your driving DRIVE THE GAS CAR YOU ALREADY HAVE.
once we have a critical mass of EV drivers and demand starts to really crank up THE R&D will come and I believe it will come fast. BEFORE you have to think of replacing your first battery pack they will probably have doubled the range for half the price. with hard core R&D I an confident (purely my opinion here) that inside 10 years with our FULL industrial base behind the effort we will have virtually everlasting (probably super caps) batteries for a few grand with a 300-400 mile range.
its just going to take dollars and hours of R&D. right now we do not DO this R&D because we do not WANT TO (or those that DO try lack the resources needed)
ANY EV that costs more than a gasoline counterpart is a poorly designed EV and was intentionally made to cost more. you can throw away 75% of the value in a gasoline car and replace it with CHEAP components that cost half of the parts you threw away and not come up with a cheaper price unless your doing it intentionally.
[QUOTE=Jljeeper;14720]Supporting 100% US energy from the grid (not the middle east). You see all this factors in for me. The car is phenomenally fun to drive. I have found no limitations even if I commuted 80 miles a day.[/QUOTE]
Ignoring your comparison of a Volt to a damn Jeep for MPG, I just want to address the Arab Oil mythology.
The U.S. imports less than 16% of its oil from the Middle East. Nearly all of that is from Saudi Arabia and almost every drop of it is used to make plastic, not fuel. The vast majority of the fuel made from import oil in this country is from oil imported from Canada. Most of our petroleum-based fuels are made domestically, not from overseas oil.
Therefore, most of the oil we import from overseas (meaning oil not extracted from North American sources) is used to make plastic. The Volt (and every other car, gadget, etc. made) uses a lot of plastic. Do the math. Your purchase of a Volt didn’t likely save us from importing a drop of Middle Eastern oil.
yes the TJ is rather expensive. my 10 year TRC on that vehicle would be $131,000 hey! it took a 16mpg vehicle to finally beat the VOLT as most expensive car 
$31,000 for the jeep $100,000 for the fuel 2500 gallons a year !! wow. this is why I had to stop driving my cherokee. I got 24mpg until E10 came out then best I could get was 17-18mpg. 497,000 miles on that truck LOVED my jeep.
but you don’t buy a jeep for fuel economy. a jeep is a “second car” if fuel economy is hurting the budget not a primary car.
and if your getting 14mpg you need to learn to drive it right (seriously no joking 16mpg is easy driven right 18-19 is doable) I bet I could squeeze 20mpg out of it
The main fault of the Volt is that is has a regular OTTO cycle engine, the same engine that’s in the Cruze, except no Turbo. If it had an Atkinson cycle engine via valve behavior, then we’d see a 10% boost in long range MPG.
Toyota is trying to make lean burn turbocharged engines into production for their next gen Pri, which is a step beyond Atkinson
The Volt is an EV if you empty the gas tank.
AartonTurpen:“Engineering is another concern. The car was not really made to go to production. I routinely have loaners on a lift for inspection and do the usual “open the hood, dig around” thing with all of them. For the Volt, I also have an engineer friend who is very pro-EV who bought one specifically to tear it down bolt-by-bolt. He was appalled at the way the Volt (2012 model for him) was constructed and amazed that they aren’t failing at a higher rate than they are.”
Any specifics you can mention?
[QUOTE=danwat1234;14747]“I also have an engineer friend who is very pro-EV who bought one specifically to tear it down bolt-by-bolt. He was appalled at the way the Volt (2012 model for him) was constructed and amazed that they aren’t failing at a higher rate than they are.”
Any specifics you can mention?[/QUOTE]
That friend is a PhD student who used the Volt as part of a thesis paper, so I don’t have the specifics until he publishes. Going from his verbal remarks when we talked, though, he was unimpressed with the exhaust mapping, found that many components had multiple inspection stickers which denotes that they went through the line more than once, and that some parts had obviously been removed and then put back - also indicated by inspection stickers, which are apparently of a different type if the inspection was done after part removal or replacement.
His analysis is of the production quality of various electrics on the market. He’s done teardowns (that I know of) on the Volt, LEAF, Prius Liftback (domestic build I think), and perhaps others. The last time I talked to him, he was hoping to get a 2013 LEAF so all of his work would be on domestically-assembled vehicles for continuity.
When I put cars on a lift, it’s usually for perspective on DIY maintenance, as one of the outlets I write for is for DIY mechanics and I often use that angle in articles on outlets where I’m not allowed to do a traditional “review” of a car. With the Volt on the lift, it was mainly for curiosity as owner-maintenance on that car is very unlikely to happen given its target market.
[QUOTE=AaronTurpen;14721]Check your owner’s manual, that’s all I can say. The Volt loses power quickly at high speeds due to both motors being used and when the batteries drop to 35%, the engine kicks in to power the wheels to save energy.
Demystifying the Chevy Volt’s Mostly-Electric Engine | Popular Science[/QUOTE]
Aaron
You are confused. What you are refering to is when the battery is depleted and you are running off ICE only - The engine has the ability to direct connect to the drive train. This is done for efficiency purposes not power.
The power issue is another thing, driving up mountains at high speed (only after battery depleted and running on ICE) you can use more power than the ICE can deliver. So it will dip into battery for the extra power. What is explained is if your battery is depleted and you know you have mountains up ahead you can put the Volt in Mountain mode and it will start storing extra power in the battery to be used for hill climbs at 70mph (otherwise if you dont you may drop to 50-60 on steep hills. Again this is only when your running on ICE. The Volt doesn’t lose power when running on battery. As for me reading my manual - already done cover to cover. plus I’m not borrowing my car, I drive it everyday