It's my Volt's one year anniversary and I'm not driving it, but more on that in a bit.
I love the car, still. Other than long trips (like the one from Baltimore to Maine and back for Thanksgiving) I'm not going to the gas station anymore. I can definitely deal with that. It still feels quick, is comfortable to drive, carries a lot of stuff, and it's so quiet. Very much feels like a luxury car and makes gas powered cars feel crude in comparison, when I have to drive them, like now.
Last week, someone did a hit and run on the side of the Volt, smashing in the driver's rear door and quarter panel.
(http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/191562/3384721b.jpg)
(http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/191562/3384721c.jpg)
(http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/191562/3384721d.jpg)
Not only is the door caved in, but the door jamb and lower quarter panel is pushed in. It's at the body shop now having the door replaced, and I'm in a rental, a '12 Impala with 30k rental miles on it. What a soulless, lifeless, joyless car. I can usually find something to like about any car, but not this one.
Is there anything on them that keeps track, long term, of how much of your driving uses the gas engine and how much is all electric?
Sons of bitches. My neighbor's mother backed into my rear quarter panel a little while ago, but at least they had the decency to find out whose car it was and tell me about it.
Hope it gets fixed up fast and I'm glad you like the Volt. I really think that cars like the Volt are a great choice for the majority of people. Can't say I'd ever be able to drive one, but it's a genius design.
How does the heat work?
I thought that looked like your volt.
I figured it would buff out so I didn't bother leaving a note.
So...I have to ask...what kind of mileage do you see with this thing? Or is that even something worth discussing??
Also, how well do the batteries cope with the cold? I realize you can leave it plugged it at home overnight to keep it warm and charged, but what about when you go to work and it sits outside in the cold all day? Does it lose juice?
Quote from: Soup DeVille on February 21, 2014, 06:56:19 AM
Is there anything on them that keeps track, long term, of how much of your driving uses the gas engine and how much is all electric?
yeah, there's a site called Voltstats.net that when you sign up, tracks the gas vs electric fuel mileage based on the OnStar reports, so you can see how your daily, monthly, and annual fuel use/electrical use, etc stacks up. you can see total MPG, fuel mpg, mpg-e, total miles driven on electric vs gas, etc. and compare to your self or other Volts regionally and nationally.
Quote from: 280Z Turbo on February 21, 2014, 07:19:08 AM
How does the heat work?
Really good. it's a lot like a hot tub setup in that there's a heating element that heats the coolant and circulates it though a heater core. When the gas generator is running (and it will run automatically if the outside temps are below about 20 degrees F) then the gas engine heats the coolant and circulates it through the heater core instead. I tend to preheat the car while it's plugged in so that when I go out to get in and go to work, the car is warm inside and defrosted. I can then use the Eco climate control setting to use less energy to maintain the heat after it's unplugged.
Quote from: giant_mtb on February 21, 2014, 07:59:57 AM
So...I have to ask...what kind of mileage do you see with this thing? Or is that even something worth discussing??
Since I only use gas on longer trips, like the trip up to Main and back, it gets between 45-55 mpg on those trips, and doesn't use gas the rest of the time, except for the occasional highway blast where I tend to switch to "hold" mode to run the generator and hold the battery charge for in town use. Even at that, the total fuel used to run the generator is so minor that I haven't gone to the gas station in a year except to take those long trips. There have been 5 total longer trips since I got the car, once to southern Virginia, 3 times up to central Connecticut and back and the one up to Maine and back. Keeps my lifetime fuel mileage to about 170mpg or so (essentially, how far i've gone overall divided by how much fuel I've used overall), and the daily fuel MPG is infinite, as I don't use gas at all.
I use about $8-10 in electricity per month, though since we've got a rommate in the house, our total electric bill went up by a bit anyhow, as the whole house is electric, not gas, and we now run the washer and dryer more than before.
QuoteAlso, how well do the batteries cope with the cold? I realize you can leave it plugged it at home overnight to keep it warm and charged, but what about when you go to work and it sits outside in the cold all day? Does it lose juice?
The batteries hate the cold, which is why when it's under 20 degrees F, the gas engine kicks on to maintain heat in them. The total range drops noticeably when the temps are sub-freezing, indicating only about 30 miles electric range (between 30-32 miles depending on temps). In the summer, the range was up over 45 miles indicated, and actual use could see upwards of 60 miles actual range, even with the AC on. I can go from my house to downtown Baltimore (about 10 miles ) on an indicated 2 miles of used range in the summer, but it takes almost 8 miles of indicated range to go that same 10 miles in the winter.
But no, it doesn't lose any range if it's not plugged in. If you park it and it shows 28 miles remaining, then when you come out of wark late that day, it'll still have 28 miles remaining. Same if you leave it unpluged overnight. Whatever range was showing when you parked it is what it will be indicating when you get back in it, though at home there's no real reason to leave it unplugged.
Wow, your electricity is cheap. So far, I've had my Volt for a little over 2 months and my lifetime is showing about 88.4 MPG and that's with about 2/3 of my commute electric, 1/3 with gas. Most of my bad mileage days were accumulated early on with an average of 70s mpg daily, but right now, the daily is about 100ish. I think my eMPG is about 60 though.
At my electricty price at about $0.11 per kWh, it equals roughly a little less than 1/3 of the price of gas so i'm still saving. And even at tier 4 price of $0.31 per kWh, it's still cheaper than getting gas. My last tank of gas used 8 gal got me about 850miles of range. That's acceptable I guess.
BTW Chris, did you end up with an L2 charger?
Funny this seems to be the best bridge to everyone driving electric cars- yet the Fed keeps trying so many other dumb ideas. They should buy fleets of these and put charging ports at all the government parking lots....
Quote from: NomisR on February 21, 2014, 08:45:56 AM
BTW Chris, did you end up with an L2 charger?
No. Never needed it or the added cost. When the car is home, it charges even at the 8 amp level easily between the time I come home and the time I leave for work, even if I'm out running errands in the evening. If I need to, I'll swap it to the 12a charge rate (for example if I'm out at an event and get home at 11-midnight) and it's still charged before I leave for work using just the 120v charger.
I kind of figured that I don't really know what my next car will be or what it's requirements will be (I could replace it with another Volt but I might go with the "cheaper" Tesla model in 2016) so invensting in a Level 2 charger when I might not need it in 2 years would be silly for me.
Quote from: ChrisV on February 21, 2014, 09:04:28 AM
No. Never needed it or the added cost. When the car is home, it charges even at the 8 amp level easily between the time I come home and the time I leave for work, even if I'm out running errands in the evening. If I need to, I'll swap it to the 12a charge rate (for example if I'm out at an event and get home at 11-midnight) and it's still charged before I leave for work using just the 120v charger.
I kind of figured that I don't really know what my next car will be or what it's requirements will be (I could replace it with another Volt but I might go with the "cheaper" Tesla model in 2016) so invensting in a Level 2 charger when I might not need it in 2 years would be silly for me.
Why don't you just charge at 12amp all the time? Or are you worried about the electrical load on your home?
For me though, I figured the tax credit is ending at 2013, might as well get it, it's priced good enough and it allows me to charge up and go out at night after work.
Quote from: NomisR on February 21, 2014, 09:46:12 AM
Why don't you just charge at 12amp all the time? Or are you worried about the electrical load on your home?
It's a PITA to go through the menus to increase the charge rate every time you park it to charge it. If I could set it and forget it, and it stayed in the 12A rate, that's be fine, but GM figured there may be some garages/homes with a high load on that outlet already, or someone would choose to use an extension cord, so they made it default to 8a every time you drive the car.
Quote from: ChrisV on February 21, 2014, 10:18:49 AM
It's a PITA to go through the menus to increase the charge rate every time you park it to charge it. If I could set it and forget it, and it stayed in the 12A rate, that's be fine, but GM figured there may be some garages/homes with a high load on that outlet already, or someone would choose to use an extension cord, so they made it default to 8a every time you drive the car.
Yeah, that's what I hated the most about L1 charging. I had to restart my car a couple of times just to change it to 12amp. Now though, it's just plug and play. But i figured that with more and more EVs getting introduced, a 30amp charger should be at least sufficient for future EVs since the standard should be around at least for 10 years. And 7kWh charging should be enough for a full day's use when charged over night at least.
Bummer. It is shocking how many savages live among us.
I think plug-ins like the Volt make huge sense for cities. I saw one the other day driving around here in MC, but it's not officially available here yet.
None of the photos are working for me, even if I copy-paste the URLs
Have you seen my TSX Successor thread?
Based on the criteria I've laid out, and my experiences with candidate cars, do you think the Volt would be worth considering?
Given that your fuel consumption is so low, I'm wondering if there is a danger of the fuel in the tank going bad before you actually need it. Does GM recommend throwing a bottle of STA-BIL into the tank or do they have other preventative measures to keep this from happening?
Car starts once in awhile to burn up gas
Quote from: 2o6 on February 21, 2014, 06:39:22 PM
Car starts once in awhile to burn up gas
But what about the gas that's left in the tank? For someone who rarely uses the on-board generator, that gas could be a year old or even older. Ever try to start a lawnmower with old, bad gas in it? What's to keep the gas in the Volt's tank from going bad over time before it can be used?
http://www.plugincars.com/putting-thought-putting-gas-chevy-volt-69473.html (http://www.plugincars.com/putting-thought-putting-gas-chevy-volt-69473.html)
Assuming this is true, sounds like they considered it. The car keeps very good track of the amount and age of fuel in the tank and if it's old enough will apparently run the engine to ensure that bad gas isn't a worry.
Quote from: giant_mtb on February 21, 2014, 07:05:21 PM
http://www.plugincars.com/putting-thought-putting-gas-chevy-volt-69473.html (http://www.plugincars.com/putting-thought-putting-gas-chevy-volt-69473.html)
Assuming this is true, sounds like they considered it. The car keeps very good track of the amount and age of fuel in the tank and if it's old enough will apparently run the engine to ensure that bad gas isn't a worry.
Ah-ha! Some seriously clever stuff going on in those Volts! :ohyeah:
I can't imagine they wouldn't have thought of such a scenario. Assuming a good portion of the engineers are "car guys," the issue of aging gas was probably one of the first things to come up. haha
Quote from: giant_mtb on February 21, 2014, 09:33:31 PM
I can't imagine they wouldn't have thought of such a scenario. Assuming a good portion of the engineers are "car guys," the issue of aging gas was probably one of the first things to come up. haha
That's a faulty assumption.
Maybe, but there had to have at least been one guy to bring it up when the board decided that the car must be able to go for months without re-fueling. :lol:
Quote from: Laconian on February 21, 2014, 04:49:24 PM
Have you seen my TSX Successor thread?
Based on the criteria I've laid out, and my experiences with candidate cars, do you think the Volt would be worth considering?
I did suggest it.. it pretty much fits into what you wanted although it's on the smaller side closer to an A4 and only seats 4.
I think the Volt is a lot more logical than a Leaf or a Tesla where you are limited to how much power your electric motor has.
Quote from: giant_mtb on February 21, 2014, 09:56:07 PM
Maybe, but there had to have at least been one guy to bring it up when the board decided that the car must be able to go for months without re-fueling. :lol:
I think that's also one of the reason why the car's premium only rather than regular as well..
Quote from: NomisR on February 22, 2014, 10:58:55 AM
I think that's also one of the reason why the car's premium only rather than regular as well..
I don't think octane rating has anything to do with that.
Quote from: NomisR on February 22, 2014, 10:58:55 AM
I think that's also one of the reason why the car's premium only rather than regular as well..
Premium is no more or less prone to going bad over time than any other octane grade. Unless you buy your gas from one of those stations that sells ethanol-free premium fuel. Then it will hold up a little longer than E10 (but no longer than any other ethanol-free gasoline).
I saw a Leaf on the interstate yesterday. I was thinking "man it would suck for him if for some reason the road was closed and forced everyone to take a long detour."
Quote from: Mustangfan2003 on February 22, 2014, 11:26:53 AM
I saw a Leaf on the interstate yesterday. I was thinking "man it would suck for him if for some reason the road was closed and forced everyone to take a long detour."
Probably not the best zombie apocalypse vehicle, that's for sure. (Unless you had some really awesome, portable solar panels that somehow fit in the darn thing)
Yup not a good post apocalyptic car at all unless you put a generator on the roof maybe. One one of those doomsday shows this guy built this military style truck and converted it to run on propane.
Quote from: NomisR on February 22, 2014, 10:36:47 AM
I did suggest it.. it pretty much fits into what you wanted although it's on the smaller side closer to an A4 and only seats 4.
No hatchback kills it. :cry:
Quote from: Mustangfan2003 on February 22, 2014, 10:53:29 AM
I think the Volt is a lot more logical than a Leaf or a Tesla where you are limited to how much power your electric motor has.
In some ways: however, avoiding the complexity of the gas generator will make for a more cost efficient choice for some. Once the artificial economy of the subsidies for these starts to wind down, and there's more competition, that might become more evident.
Quote from: Soup DeVille on February 22, 2014, 02:11:52 PM
In some ways: however, avoiding the complexity of the gas generator will make for a more cost efficient choice for some. Once the artificial economy of the subsidies for these starts to wind down, and there's more competition, that might become more evident.
+1, intuitively there should be a wide price gulf between a simplistic electric car and an ICE car with all the dinosaur-exploding baggage in terms of cost and complexity.
Oh, it is...?
Why the fuck do they make it look a sedan, then? Ugh, Americans.
Wow, that loading floor is really high up.
Quote from: Laconian on February 22, 2014, 02:21:34 PM
Oh, it is...?
Why the fuck do they make it look a sedan, then? Ugh, Americans.
Wow, that loading floor is really high up.
Not really, it's quite easy to use, even for old folks like me. And it actually holds a LOT of stuff, as we found when packing for the weeklong trip up to Maine for Thanksgiving.
I'll run it by him. Did you take the tax credit? Are there weird caveats like income limits that apply to said credit?
After running it through the build tool, it looks like it is quite expensive with the trim level that we want.
I leased mine so the tax credit went to the leasing company and comes right off the top of the price. Mine listed for $41k but the actual transaction price was closer to $27k due to internet discounts and the about $10k in tax credits the leasing company got. The '13s and '14s have another $5k taken off the top with the base price dropping from $39k to $34k, so you should be able to get good deals on them.
I still don't agree with tax credits on hybrid vehicles. It's a lose-lose for the government. They're already losing out on gasoline tax income because, well, cars like Volts hardly use any, AND they're giving you money for not using that gas and paying the tax. How is it fair that a Volt owner pays almost zero tax and actually receives money to use the road that is built and maintained...by the taxes on gas. What's going to fund roads when more and more people have hybrid/electric cars? Oh the humanity!!
Quote from: Laconian on February 22, 2014, 02:16:41 PM
+1, intuitively there should be a wide price gulf between a simplistic electric car and an ICE car with all the dinosaur-exploding baggage in terms of cost and complexity.
I really think most people would do just fine with an electric car with a 50 mile range: most of the time. But then you're looking at either a second "long range" car, or a rental for those times when it isn't enough. For some households that would work though.
Quote from: Laconian on February 22, 2014, 02:21:34 PM
Oh, it is...?
Why the fuck do they make it look a sedan, then? Ugh, Americans.
My best guess would be that they were trying to balance aerodynamics with a need to not look exactly like a Prius.
Quote from: MX793 on February 22, 2014, 11:19:11 AM
Premium is no more or less prone to going bad over time than any other octane grade. Unless you buy your gas from one of those stations that sells ethanol-free premium fuel. Then it will hold up a little longer than E10 (but no longer than any other ethanol-free gasoline).
I guess the guys on the volt forum is wrong. Never thought much about it but I guess it depends on area. Everything here has e10 anyways.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Quote from: Laconian on February 22, 2014, 02:21:34 PM
Oh, it is...?
Why the fuck do they make it look a sedan, then? Ugh, Americans.
Wow, that loading floor is really high up.
It's not too bad. Similar to the Prius and way better than the honda and ford plugins. I can fit my son 's stroller with room to spare.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Quote from: Laconian on February 22, 2014, 02:57:40 PM
I'll run it by him. Did you take the tax credit? Are there weird caveats like income limits that apply to said credit?
After running it through the build tool, it looks like it is quite expensive with the trim level that we want.
As far as I know, I there isn't anything like that. I haven't completed my taxes yet but my numbers are really good with it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Quote from: giant_mtb on February 22, 2014, 03:08:44 PM
I still don't agree with tax credits on hybrid vehicles. It's a lose-lose for the government. They're already losing out on gasoline tax income because, well, cars like Volts hardly use any, AND they're giving you money for not using that gas and paying the tax. How is it fair that a Volt owner pays almost zero tax and actually receives money to use the road that is built and maintained...by the taxes on gas. What's going to fund roads when more and more people have hybrid/electric cars? Oh the humanity!!
I know some states have talked about raising their fuel tax since cars have became more fuel efficient. In the end that would just end up hurting the people that can't afford to buy a new Prius or Volt. In the end I guess something would have to give or we would all have to end up spending more money on tires, alignments, and shocks/struts for our cars. If electric cars become more common I figure the government would either add a tax on your electric bill or charge you more when you renew your tag.
Quote from: Laconian on February 22, 2014, 02:21:34 PM
Oh, it is...?
Why the fuck do they make it look a sedan, then? Ugh, Americans.
Wow, that loading floor is really high up.
It's for aerodynamics.....it's a prius-like Kammback
Quote from: ifcar on February 22, 2014, 04:12:32 PM
My best guess would be that they were trying to balance aerodynamics with a need to not look exactly like a Prius.
Also, the battery is weirdly shaped, and they have to save money by using the Cruze platform. You still need to fit people with decent headroom, and accomidate a very tall and bulky, T shaped battery. And it needs to be aerodynamic
Quote from: Mustangfan2003 on February 23, 2014, 09:38:11 AM
I know some states have talked about raising their fuel tax since cars have became more fuel efficient. In the end that would just end up hurting the people that can't afford to buy a new Prius or Volt. In the end I guess something would have to give or we would all have to end up spending more money on tires, alignments, and shocks/struts for our cars. If electric cars become more common I figure the government would either add a tax on your electric bill or charge you more when you renew your tag.
Eventually it will probably (sadly) come down to being taxed based on how much you drive. Which is sort of the way it is now (drive more, you use more gas and pay more taxes), but with the super broad range of fuel efficiencies of vehicles on the road, it's still not a perfect system. I wonder what the average MPG for cars sold in America is. Not that that's totally representative (since EPA numbers can never truly represent real-world driving of millions of different people in different cities and environments), but...
Well, I stopped by the doctor's office/residence where this happened and two of the three cars that were there the night of the incident were there again, and one of the cars had damage to it that was consistent with the damage to my car and the most likely scenario that caused the damage (backing into it at an angle and taking off). A late' 90s Civic had it's rear bumper scraped on the driver's side corner at the same height as the scrape to my car, with the same color scrape, and it had the bumper cover pushed off the quarter panel, and the lower quarter panel was pushed in at the back corner.
Confronted the owner who said that the damage had been there for 6-8 months from where someone rear ended them. I think it's just too much of a coincidence that the damage was very much like what would have damaged my car, and not much like damage from a rear end accident. And on one of the three cars that was there the night of the incident (and the other cars had no damage). Looking at the Volt's damage, this was our best guess (mine and the officer's) as to how it happened, and that's what the damage to the other car looked like.
Sounds like you should invest in a dashcam! :lol:
Quote from: giant_mtb on March 04, 2014, 02:23:28 PM
Sounds like you should invest in a dashcam! :lol:
A dashcam pointed forward, at night, when the car is parked.
Don't think it would have been helpful.
Quote from: ChrisV on March 04, 2014, 02:33:58 PM
A dashcam pointed forward, at night, when the car is parked.
Don't think it would have been helpful.
They make ones with front and rear facing cameras (rear camera is a tiny little bugger you put on the rear window or other strategic location. Would have at least been able to potentially identify the type/color of vehicle, maybe the plate.
Quote from: giant_mtb on March 04, 2014, 02:47:45 PM
They make ones with front and rear facing cameras (rear camera is a tiny little bugger you put on the rear window or other strategic location. Would have at least been able to potentially identify the type/color of vehicle, maybe the plate.
Dash cams work when the vehicle is on, not when you leave it turned off and parked. They don't run 24/7 and don't work for side hits.
Quote from: giant_mtb on February 21, 2014, 09:33:31 PM
I can't imagine they wouldn't have thought of such a scenario. Assuming a good portion of the engineers are "car guys," the issue of aging gas was probably one of the first things to come up. haha
Eh, I would never take anything for granted. Companies let stupid shit slip through the cracks all the time. That's why there are recalls and shit.
Quote from: ChrisV on March 05, 2014, 07:20:24 AM
Dash cams work when the vehicle is on, not when you leave it turned off and parked. They don't run 24/7 and don't work for side hits.
Some of them can be programmed to stay on at all times or can be turned on whenever movement is detected.
But, it doesn't matter. I was more joking than anything. :lol:
I'm surprised the guy who hit you drove his car back to the area without getting his damage fixed first. Either not very smart or just doesn't give a shit. Maybe both.
Well, it's a 90s Civic, probably don't give a shit and didn't think Chris would get back there so quickly.
Well, the repairs are done. Going to pick it up tomorrow. Hopefully the repairs are done to high standards (the shop routinely works on high end cars so I'm hopeful). At least it's only a $250 deductible, though my insurance has contacted the insurance of the person that owns that Civic, looking for indications of a report of damage within the last year (since the owner claimed the damage happened 6-8 months ago...).
Picked up the car from the bodyshop a few minutes ago. Went over it with a fine tooth comb and it was perfect inside and out. They had to do work on the door jamb and C pillar as well as the quarter panel in front of the wheel, and replaced the door. The paintwork is perfect including the blend. Very happy. And driving back to the office, there are no new rattles or wind noise, either. :dance:
(http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/191562/3384929a.jpg)
(http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/191562/3384929b.jpg)
it was so nice to be able to drive my car again. These gas guzzler's inability to pass a gas station was getting on my nerves. ;)
you're parked sideways [/carspin]
I didn't park it. It was delivered from the back of the bodyshop out to me, and turned so the sun would shine down the sides and let that parking line reflect on the sides (to show off the paint when I was inspecting it). ;)