On Wednesday November 10th, I had my first full day of living with the Chevrolet Volt. I would like to take you through it as if you were there.
First for those who asked, no I didn’t sleep in my Volt the night before, but when I awoke in the AM I was sure very excited and looking forward to going out to my garage and getting in it.
On my arrival there, I found the car had successfully fully charged while it was plugged in overnight. The display showed charging time was complete at 11:15 PM; I had plugged it in to the 240-v charger in the fully depleted state at 5:15PM.
The night before I was unsuccessful at activating my OnStar/MyVolt.com/iPhone app system. I spent some time talking to an OnStar operator, and we were able to determine the car’s OnStar ID number, and the VIN number was on the car, but there were apparently several captured test fleet Volts attached to that ID, and the operator wasn’t sure how to connect to mine. As of this writing my GM liaison is still “working on it.”
When I booted up the car, that’s really what it is like turning it on though quicker, the battery showed I had 36 miles of EV range. That was determined based on previous driving behavior in a miles per kwh estimation. The car at that point had 133 mpg lifetime efficiency which was based on the more than 1200 engineering validation miles GM had put on it prior to my delivery.
The first leg of my journey was from my home to the first hospital I work at. The actual distance was 22.8 miles, and when I arrived, the car showed 15 miles of EV range were left. That drive took place mostly on the highway at 70 + MPH. Outside temperature was 49 degrees, and I kept the cabin at 72 degrees using ECO mode. Comfort mode setting indicated it would drain twice as much power if I had chosen it.
The car was a charm on the highway. It was more than fast enough to deal with all types of merges, entrances, and passes, and handled very sprightly. I looked to see if anyone stared or noticed the car, and interestingly I didn’t see one person do so.
The second leg of my journey was from my first hospital to my second hospital. Upon arriving there I had traveled a total of 32 miles, and the display showed 6 EV miles remained. I spent most of the morning rounding at that hospital, and had no place to charge the car. After that I drove to my office and plugged in at 120-v via the portable charger at 12:15 PM. At that point I had travelled 34.4 miles and the display showed there were 3 EV miles left.
I left the office at 5:15 PM, and over the five hours of 120-v charging the car had accumulated 21 miles of EV range.
The ride back home was pure highway and in the high 60 MPH range. The engine turned on 18.4 miles later.
At that point, I spent some time analyzing the sound of the engine on the highway and the roads. It could be heard and felt but wasn’t at all unpleasant, it was muted and subtle. In fact I really had to strain and focus to analyze it.
One could feel the RPMs matching the accelerator for the most part although with a slight delay. The engine became most noticeable (highest revving) above around 67-70 MPH. I didn’t push it beyond that level on this drive. The engine turned off gently, and without a shudder whenever coming to a stop, and stayed off below 30 MPH. It could be heard revving back on at 30 MPH.
Thus mostly its behaviour was predictable which is what once would expect, and felt cognitively comfortable.
I arrived back home having traversed a total of 63.5 miles and having achieved an effective 200.7 MPG for the day. Back calculating revealed that I had achieved 33.8 mpg in the 10.7 miles spent in charge sustaining mode.
If I had spent the whole day at the office which I often do, I would have had enough time to charge such that I wouldn’t have used any gas. If I had a 240-v charger at work, the same would have also been true.
I found only minor issues. The front end ground clearance is very low. This is needed for aerodynamic efficiency. Going down a steep decline, such as my driveway, however, even at a crawl still led to scraping on the road.
Also when pulling into a parking spot up to a wall, when letting off the brakes and gently re-applying them to creep to the wall, I found they had to be hit harder than I anticipated, making me slam them a bit for fear of hitting the wall.
I think these two idiosyncrasies are just minor variants I will just need to get used to in that they are different than the last car I was driving.
Overall, as you might imagine it was a spectacular experience. I very easily connected my cell phone to the in-car bluetooth system which worked flawlessly. It also automatically pulled my contact list off my iPhone and into the dash which was a terrific surprise.
The car apparently has a significant vocabulary of voice commands I haven tapped into yet. I also haven’t programmed the garage door opener, the radio, or interacted with the on on-board hard drive.
Much more to do and see…
Also my fellow Volt CAB member Eric Rotbard who is also in New York has published his first 24 hour impression with the car in the GM-Volt CAB Forum. Check it out!
And a reminder to anyone who is interested, we are having a Volt meetup with myself and the other three NY CAB members, and our Volts, at Tom M’s restaurant in northern NJ (Nauna’s Bella Casa at 148 Valley Road Montclair, NJ 07042) on 11/13 a from 11am to 2 pm. Register below.
Enter your information below to register for the Volt Meetup.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 11th, 2010 at 7:17 am and is filed under Driving Experience, Efficiency, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:30 am)Congrats, Lyle! It sounds like it is surprisingly, car-like!
You plug it in when you can but you can drive it all day no matter what. That is a nice combination! Interesting about the CS mileage, I usually drive just under 70 as well, but the vast majority (80%) of my miles are city miles.
I wonder what combination is most common for drivers in the US vs. Europe or China.
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:33 am)Great report Lyle, I and I’m sure everyone here looks forward to as many as you care to post.
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:38 am)Thanks for the detailed post Lyle! Great to see the EV range is still near 40 on a highway at 70+ MPH. As for ECO vs. Comfort mode, I only just got power windows, AC, and descent heat a year ago. I’m with you and would keep the extra EV miles and wear an extra layer if it’s that cold out.
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:39 am)Ooops to my post #1: I got my quotes of your two minor issues posted, but went too slow for the ‘edit’ timer, so here goes again…
Kudos Lyle, for taking delivery on your Volt the evening before your original count-down clock, set up long ago, predicted your “launch”. (Adhering to a count-down schedule has been a big deal to me for a long, long time.)
Regarding the two minor issues you mentioned –
“I found only minor issues. The front end ground clearance is very low. This is needed for aerodynamic efficiency. Going down a steep decline, such as my driveway, however, even at a crawl still led to scraping on the road.”
“Also when pulling into a parking spot up to a wall, when letting off the brakes and gently re-applying them to creep to the wall, I found they had to be hit harder than I anticipated, making me slam them a bit for fear of hitting the wall.”
I owned an IROC Z-28 Camaro for 12 years. The car’s air dam at the front always dragged as you describe, but it was never damaged, partly because GM designs these things to deflect enough to avoid damage. About your brakes, I’d take the car by a Chevy dealer for a brake adjustment to see if a bit more pedal (or whatever the dealer’s mechanic might suggest) would make them feel better to you.
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:42 am)Great information Lyle! So awesome to see you posting real-world information now. I do have a question though. Both you and Eric’s post shows 36 miles of EV range after a full night of charging. I wonder if there is something going on there as to why it doesn’t come up to 40? Eric mentioned giving it one more night before contacting GM.
Overall…very exciting to see and read about! Keep up that conservative driving Lyle…at least for the first few posts…then let it rip and have even more fun with it!
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:54 am)Thanks for the comprehensive account, including the nits. Quick question: Is there a small math error in your numbers? 63.5 total miles, 34.4 on home charge, and 18.4 after office charge then shouldn’t the CS miles be 10.7?
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:55 am)The front-end dragging might not be “required” by aerodynamics. Try it (coming out of your garage) in some other low drag cars (Prius, Insight) and see if they drag too. My 93 Olds had a huge front end overhang but was more for looking aero rather than being aero.
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:58 am)I imagine the brake issue is related to the “creep” mode that GM has designed into the brake pedal (the car will creep forward when the brake is released, like an ICE car with an automatic transmission). Probably something a tweak to the software could fix…or, like you said, something you’ll just have to get used to.
CS mpg at hwy speeds, mmm, a “little” less than I expected. Did the battery state of charge increase when the engine started or did it stay the same? I wonder if a tiny bit of charging occurred while the engine was engaged…very interesting stuff.
It will be interesting to see if your AER changes to adjust to your driving style, though that freeway portion of your commute may keep it below 40 AER.
Nice review though…Keep em coming.
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:01 am)Wow. This is just getting better and better. Great info Lyle!
“The front end ground clearance is very low. This is needed for aerodynamic efficiency. Going down a steep decline, such as my driveway, however, even at a crawl still led to scraping on the road.”
I have had several cars over the years that had a low chin spoiler. The technique to avoid scraping it is to hit any low-speed incline at an angle so that the approach angle is smaller. In other words, don’t drive straight into the dip.
The chin spoiler is usually a wear item (easily snap an new one in place). I broke several before I figured out that cars aren’t Jeeps.
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:11 am)In an ironic way, your work journey yesterday validates the Leaf and other 100 mile range EV’s. The average driver just doesn’t drive that much in a day.
That being said, as an ‘only’ car–or for a family with ocassionally aggressive mileage for both husband/wife–well, that’s the whole point of the Volt.
And, of course, the desire of anyone who wants to get off petro-juice.
Oh, and Lyle, would you please, please post the first time you go to a, um, what do they call them, oh yeah, gas station(?) to, er, what’s that term–oh yeah, ‘Fill ‘er Up?” I just wanna know what the experience is like.
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:14 am)This is great information to help us all understand how this car will work in the real world!
I am a bit concerned about that low clearance on the front end. The entrance to our office has a pretty steep incline off of the street, and I am in and out of there several times per day. That could be a problem. I may have to try that on a test drive…………….
NPNS
Have Outlet – Ready For EREV In Ohio!
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:19 am)Lyle,
Do you plan on leaving a 120v charger cable plugged in at work?
I’m assuming the Volt only comes with one of these. How much does another 120v charger cable cost?
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:22 am)46 Degrees…
My 2010 Prius dropped from regularly getting 55MPG in the summer to 47.5 Now. I live in Iowa and the morning commutes have been about 40 degrees, that and the gas stations switched to winter gas which nets a lower MPG due to the winter additives.
Lyle, congratulations on the car – I have been on this site since early in 2007 and you getting your car helps make this more real to all of us. I was very excited to read your post today and I think the excitement is shared by most of us.
33 MPG in CS mode – who cares – Overall 200 MPG – not another car on the road that can do that. Keep the posts coming – we look forward to hearing more!
-1
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:36 am)Although every person has different needs, this article helps justify my decision to buy a Leaf….I’m not interested in plugging in every 20 miles nor do I want to use any gas.
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:38 am)Well, it validates the Leaf for Lyle’s use (yesterday), but it would still be hard for most to rationalize a Leaf as their primary vehicle. When I was going to grad school at Wayne State University in downtown Detroit, I regularly had daily commutes that were nearly 100 miles (Livonia to Pontiac to Detroit to Livonia). The last thing that I would want to happen is to run out of power on my way home from school, at night, in the ghetto.
Now, if I had charging at work and/or at school that would be a different story. I’d still worry about people cutting my charging cord to steal the copper though while parked at WSU. LOL
Thank God I’m done with school now and back to my comparatively short commute of 45 miles RT. Perfect for a Volt.
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:44 am)I would concur with that. Your battery performance is dropping due to a non-ideal external temperature effect. The batteries probably drain a little keeping their internal temp optimal which I thought was posted here or somewhere that it maintains in the 70s but can’t be sure.
Overall, even with the glitches with OnStar, the speed bumps and the brake issues, sounds like you are still on the honeymoon and probably will be for the duration.
-Book
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:48 am)quote from Lyle
“Also when pulling into a parking spot up to a wall, when letting off the brakes and gently re-applying them to creep to the wall, I found they had to be hit harder than I anticipated, making me slam them a bit for fear of hitting the wall.”
______________________________________
I think what is happening here is, the Volt’s computer knows you are not moving fast enough to engage the regenerative braking and relies mainly on the brake pads for stopping thus making the pedal go down further and harder.
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:49 am)This is almost surreal…talking about the Volt for 3 years +, and now talking about ownership experiences. Keep reporting Lyle, the good and the bad.
I was thinking about this yesterday as I read your article. Big picture, this car already survived:
1. One of the biggest corporate bankruptcies in history.
2. The Auto Task force scoffing and contemplation of cancellation.
3. The jeers and insults of competitors.
4. The jeers and insults of consumers angered about the bailout.
5. The fact that public charging infrastructure is still very much in its infancy.
Now, it will need to survive:
1. Being rejected by many due to its high cost.
2. The prospect that gas may be too cheap for some time, and funnel interest away.
3. The gov’t tax credits will eventually dry up.
4. Various other competitors of all shapes and sizes.
5. Any un-known bug that could be in the system.
There’s always challenges, but we can say that we are getting through them a day at a time. Kudos to the folks at GM for sticking with this car, and kudos to Lyle for his tireless efforts as always.
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:50 am)WOW yesterday I pluged in a Volt at my house for the first time. It was great I got to drive it on the steets and the Xway. It drove great.
This is a very high tech vehicle. I could go over all the same things that everyone else has, but I will just say the first chance you get to drive one do it. You will love it. I think you will find the Volt is better you hoped for.
The Volt rides great, handles great, is sportyand has plenty of get up and go. Getting on the Xway was a snap. No problem getting up to 70mph on the enterence ramp. Or passing a slow Toy on the xway going 65 I looked down and I was going 82 mph.
Very fun to drive my best advice the first chance you get drive one. The volt is top of the line inside outside and great to drive. The Volt is a great car OH YA AND BEST OF ALL IT IS ELECTRIC.
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:01 am)Lyle,
Have you plugged your IPOD into the USB port yet? You have to do that…I love that feature on my Enclave. You’ll be able to move through songs (and playlists if you’ve set them up) using the steering wheel controls. The sound quality will be great also, much better than FM radio or even XM.
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:03 am)how cool is it that now every day when i get home from work, i can read a new post about Lyle`s real-world day with his volt!
Lyle, really enjoyed this post, i can sence your excitement in your writing. Let me tell you, we are all just as excited on reading it. Really liked the fact you included all those small details!!!
hanging on every word, your mate in australia
stuey
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:18 am)200 MPG! That is music to my ears. Indeed, we are entering a new world of motoring.
By the way, I went to the Seattle International Auto Show yesterday. The Chevy Volt was a big hit. They had it up on a turntable with a girl who gave a great description.
Also, the Chevy Cruze is a very nice vehicle. Top quality all around. It felt real good to sit in.
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:20 am)JOE @14: PLEASE STOP USING MY ID!
I’ve been blogging for years on this site using joe as an ID. Once in a while you pop-up on this site with completely different views.
My views about the Leaf are much different than yours……please don’t negate my views.
I HOPE THIS POST TAKES BECAUSE IT DID NOT BEFORE.
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:25 am)” It also automatically pulled my contact list off my iPhone and into the dash which was a terrific surprise.”
The dealer training that I went to indicated that the Phone List Sync is not permanently stored on the car’s hard drive, in case someone else besides you drives the car. When you unplug the phone, the list will erase. There’s another test for you to check out.
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:34 am)Uh, think you have this backwards. Regen is ALWAYS there- even before you hit brake pedal. As you simply COAST, regen puts energy back into battery. Recall the whole discussion about the ‘L’ selection in Volt. This makes regen even more dominant in sucking up energy while coasting (car slows down faster during coasting).
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:38 am)“The car apparently has a significant vocabulary of voice commands I haven tapped into yet.”
The owner’s manual has a very extensive area dealing with either voice commands and/or interaction between various “pieces” of the infotainment system – most seem to talk to each other. It may be more of a software thing than an inherent feature of each piece, but it is almost like the “cut and paste” functionality of Windows, the radio, the CD player, the HDD, the phone all seem to interact with the voice command system and with each other to some extent.
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:40 am)CHEVY VOLT: American-made, American-FUELED. One more person helping free us from oil addiction. Thank you Lyle, and my turn is coming soon enough. I have a low driveway too – scrapes my Buick Regals bottom. I’ll have to figure something out.
By the time Colorado opens up, maybe the Volt SUV will be in the pipeline. Many Colorado driveways have those deep annoying dips probably for snow routing.
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:42 am)Wish they rolled this car out here in Colorado too. Colorado has the highest tax break of any state outside California – $6,000 for a car like this. GM could have added another 10,000 cars to the 2011 total if launching larger.
Oh well. They did the impossible and the car is here – GO GENERAL MOTORS!!!
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:42 am)Oh, and Lyle do you mind posting the VIN? Folks in the “tracking your order” thread are trying to figure out where they are in relation to everything, including the CAB cars and the “pre-production” cars. VoltGuy’s serial number is 21. Wondering where that is in relationship to the existing “captured fleet” vehicles.
Oh, and BTW, a co-worker reports that a GM employee has a Volt to drive for 4 months (captured fleet vehicle) and “It is the best car he’s ever driven.”
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:43 am)And as I keep saying, the Volt financially can only justify the luxury of the on board ICE, if you can plug in durnig the day like Lyle does. Lyle will get exceptional yearly AER. He would do the same with the Leaf, but with the Volt he never has to worry about unplanned stops to charge like he would occasionally with a Leaf. But again it works for Lyle because of the plug he has at his office.
Which is why I keep saying the VOLT to truly catch on for folks that need to justify the cost of their car, needs work place charging!!!!
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:45 am)ATTN GM: Slightly OT, but important. Hyundai just announced it will supply an Apple iPad with every EQUUS model as a virtual Owner’s Manual. Given that Volt has an ample 60Gb hard drive and that an Owner’s Manual is easily searchable & much easier to read in pdf form, I strongly recommend a small fraction of Volt’s HDD be used for an Owner’s Manual as well as a Quick Start Guide as standard features on every Volt. Don’t let Hyundai (of all makes) “out high-tech” you!
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:45 am)I like how the screen shows a “Lifetime” average of 141MPG. Even after 1000+ miles of GM testing on that same vehicle! I think that ends the debate on whether the Volt can deliver.
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:53 am)Off topic, but very Volt relevant:
GE announced that it will be buying 12,000 Volts starting next year, and fulfill an order of 25,000 total EV’s for their corporate fleet by 2015. Read it here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GE-to-buy-25000-electric-apf-2972894948.html?x=0&.v=2
Nice way to kick off demand, wouldn’t you say?
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:54 am)Lyle, Fantastic! How great is it to see that 200 mpg number for over 60 miles of driving. A 1/3 of a gallon to go 60+ miles. I like those numbers. Thank you for the great first day report.
Nov 11th, 2010 (9:54 am)GE to buy Volts…..
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/11/ge-to-buy-25k-electric-fleet-vehicles/
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:00 am)I don’t see how it can rightly give a “perfect” estimate on EV mileage after a charge. Will you drive 30mph? 65mph? Your range varies based on Watts needed per unit time. Going 30mph (without things like heat or AC) versus the faster 65mph wil give you more mileage of the same charge. I think they will “estimate low” on your EV miles remaining on a full charge. If you start your day saying 36miles of EV available and you drive 40miles without the generator running – that’s good right? The estimate that I would most care about is “total miles available” EV + ICE regen. It’s the “where could I get stranded” number that every car driver today needs to factor in based on their gas tank size.
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:03 am)Not all Volts, actually. Devil in the details:
>> General Electric Co. will initially purchase 12,000 GM vehicles, beginning with the Chevrolet Volt next year.
This does not say they will all be Volts but implies “we start buying 12000 vehicles – of them, we buy some Volts next year and then more in the out years”. I don’t think GE will buy “Exclusively” Volts but a range of vehicles including non-sedan models of various vehicles. Hopefully they can buy some electric buses and motorcycles, some GEM cars from Chrysler and others. GEM cars are great for driving around factories, communities and such – where you don’t require long-distance driving. The trouble with this story implies that GE could have the opportunity to possibly buy all the Volts as they are produced. This is bad for consumers who want them.
I’d bet GE will also purchase some Tesla models – such as the more consumer-oriented Model-S.
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:06 am)=========================
Not if they buy up the cars that WE are waiting for!!!!
Production for 2012 is limited enough………….
JMHO
NPNS
Have Outlet – Ready For EREV In Ohio!!!
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:13 am)Whenever the Model S is ready…still haven’t heard any solid dates for it. They also just announced they are losing money on its development.
-20
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:17 am)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:18 am)Then maybe GM has to take a new look at increasing demand. Money talks….
-17
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:18 am)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:22 am)________________________________________________________________________
Off Topic
Another step towards China owning more of GM & Detroit:
“Nov 10 (Reuters) – General Motors Co is in the final stage of talks to sell equity to long-time Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp in conjunction with its landmark initial public offering, two people familiar with the matter said….The sources were not authorized to speak with the media and declined to be named because the talks are private. Representatives for GM and SAIC declined to comment.”
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSWEN287720101110
Related:
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20101017/SUB01/310179981/other-voices-its-time-for-michigan-to-welcome-china#
http://www.autoobserver.com/2010/08/gm-chinas-saic-partner-for-new-powertrain-tech—ipo-implications.html
________________________________________________________________________
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:33 am)Along the same lines, I wish you could also store the Vehicle Service record on the on board HD, or perhaps tie it into On-Star via the VIN. You do the service at an authorized GM service center, and you automatically get an electronic record of exactly what was done that is permanently tied to the VIN. Could be used to increase the resale value when you go to sell.
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:36 am)Lyle – Did you have it in Sport mode, “L” mode?
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:37 am)flmark,
If the car is moving very slow there is no way that the regenerative braking will be effective, therefore the brake pads will take over. In my career with GM, I’ve designed many contraptions which used regenerative braking. Sorry, but I disagree with you.
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:38 am)How do you do this? Isn’t the angle set by the road?
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:39 am)http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/11/autos/gm_ge_volt/index.htm?hpt=T2
“GE has a current fleet of 30,000 vehicles which are used by GE employees to conduct their business. The conglomerate said it “will add other [electric] vehicles as manufacturers bring them to market.”
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:51 am)Around 1.16 Liter for 101 km. Impressive. The Prius is around 4.8L/100 KM and it’s considered excellent.
-5
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:56 am)Was there really a debate about that or was it just last minute “post pollution” from uninformed Toyota lovers ?
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:57 am)A great first day report. Thank you for the photo of the Energy Usage screen. Don’t be shocked (no pun intended) when values are replaced with dashes! On page 5-37 of the manual it mentions: “There are maximum limits to some of the values that can be displayed. When these values are replaced with dashes, the value limits have been reached. To reset these values, the high voltage battery will need to be fully recharged.”
One other interesting fact on that page: “The Lifetime Fuel Economy…can only be reset by the dealer.”
Nov 11th, 2010 (10:59 am)You literally just have to hit the driveway 1 wheel at a time, i have had 2 vehicles with low clearance. and if i drive stright up the driveway bump – scrape, but if i come in at an angle no bump.
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:08 am)Thanks so much for this detailed post Lyle. I am sure we all appreciate the work involved in getting this information to us.
I can remember as a kid seeing a special relatively-expensive toy in the store, reading about it in the Sears catalog, dreaming about it and saving every penny until I saved enough to buy it.
Your post is like the old Sears catalog for me in this case. I also got to test drive the Volt this past Sunday in NJ. Now I’m saving my pennies and dreaming about the day I can buy my own Volt. In the meantime, thanks again for letting us all read along and share in your own Volt experience.
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:08 am)Turn the wheel before you hit the angle (if possible). You dont want to hit it squrare. I had to do this all the time in my Trans Am.
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:12 am)Off topic (and perhaps someone else already posted this)
GE to purchase 25,000 electric vehicles through 2015. 12,000 of these will be Volts.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/11/autos/gm_ge_volt/index.htm?hpt=T2
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:14 am)I completely agree Nick D. This has been my experience as well. We have both a Jeep and a van with much lower clearance. Entering the driveway at a modest speed at an angle with the van presents no issues. Straight on and you need to crawl over the entrance to the driveway to avoid scraping. Every vehicle’s different, but the “at an angle” approach works for us as well as visitors.
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:20 am)OK, that answers that question I had. If its in the Enclave, then its in the Volt.
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:32 am)Happy Vetrans Day. Thank a Vetran.
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:33 am)Lyle,
I cannot tell you how excited I have become about the delivery of my Volt. You have made my day with the kind of report that I was hopeing for. Keep it up my friend.
Take Care,
TED
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:38 am)10 miles in CS mode is too short to draw any conclusions about CS mode economy. I would suggest at least 20 miles.
In addition, the car is still new, and hasn’t loosened up yet. My experience in multiple cars is that it takes 20,000 miles before fuel economy stops improving.
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:40 am)From the article
I looked to see if anyone stared or noticed the car, and interestingly I didn’t see one person do so.
Some folks like the concept better and I think it would have stood out in a crowd.
The production Volt blends in with all the other cars, so I am not surprised by this.
Lyle, it sounds like you are having the time of your life.
I bet you can’t wait for the weekend to finally get here. Have fun, my friend.
You really deserve this.
Nov 11th, 2010 (11:48 am)I was told by a GM rep that the reason the lower plastic is in gray on all the Volts, regardless of body color, is that they expect to stock as good supply of those and don’t want to stock all the colors, at least not initially.
-10
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:07 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:09 pm)I will be curious how Lyle feels about the car once the newness and novelty wears off in three months. I don’t mean that in a bad way but with anything new after awhile, ownership just becomes routine. You’re still paying for it (or know your back account is that much emptier…)
At that point, the pragmatic aspects will be more apparent.
But to see a real production Volt actually being “owned” by the public is as awesome as awesome can get!
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:09 pm)My car hit the front air dam as well until at 15K miles I put on 4 Koni struts. Yes I like that kind of ride. Also when you are pulling in to a driveway, apply the brakes and just before you hear the crunch let off on the pedal, the front suspension will rebound a bit and give the car more clearance. No facts to back this up except for the compressed suspension when braking, but I think it is better for the car to not be braking when hitting potholes and bumps. Unless it can not be avoided for safety.
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:10 pm)#52
Right.
Our 95 Impala SS dragged the front spoiler every time we went up the driveway for 15 years and we only replaced it once. And that was only after I drove the spoiler over a parking lot bumper. When you back out of the space it catches the spoiler, which they really don’t like. If you can discipline yourself not to do that, the original spoiler will most likely last the life of the car. And they aren’t very expensive. As someone said above, it’s designed that way. It also dragged the tips of the tailpipes, and we never replaced them. This is a complete non-problem.
That said, it does help to hit the driveway or dip at a bit of an angle.
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:14 pm)It works because it splits the road angle change between each front wheel instead of both wheels hitting the road angle change at the same time.
Take note that this technique only works when the road angle change is acute — if the road angle change is obtuse (where a peak rather than a valley marks the change) then a straight-on approach is better than an angled approach.
An angled approach would have one of Lyle’s front wheels hitting the street first. Because his driveway-street angle change is acute, the front wheel that reached the street first would effectively raise up the front end of the car as it passed over the gutter onto the street.
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:17 pm)MICHIGAN GUY,
I agree. I got to test drive one of these with a turbo at a GM event last month. Honestly, it was perhaps the funnest car I’ve driven and amazingly- perhaps one of the best small cars out there. You definitely feel that you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck. Very well-done interior and lots of nice standard features. I think it will be a hit. Oh- and it gets something like 40MPG. Even better!
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:17 pm)This is the type of post I’ve been hoping for since we learned the Volt would start shipping in November 2010. I hope it is just the first of many.
There is a local intersection that requires on a steep incline, like others have posted I approach at enough of an angle that only tire transitions at a time. It’s also good to know though, especially for those that have to drive in snowy areas that haven’t been plowed.
I would appreciate any information you discover on iPhone integration with OnStar and the audio system in your Volt.
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:22 pm)“I arrived back home having traversed a total of 63.5 miles and having achieved an effective 200.7 MPG for the day.”
WooWee .. there it is .. the first 200+ mpg report!
4 times the current highest MPG of any hybrid!
GM VOLT!
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:50 pm)I wonder if the voice commands could be programed to open the garage door with something like:
“Open the garage door, Volt”
and then it would respond,
“I’m sorry Lyle. I can’t do that.”
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:51 pm)The article said 12,000 vehicles from GM. So, unless GM is planning on producing another EV that we don’t know about, that means they’re ordering 12,000 Volts.
That could significantly impact availability for us would be consumers. But, on the up-side, if anything convinces GM to increase capacity, this would be it.
Nov 11th, 2010 (12:57 pm)But if you drive less than 40 miles (and most people don’t drive as many miles as Lyle), then you don’t use any gas even if you can’t charge at work. And when you need to drive more, you can.
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:08 pm)“Also when pulling into a parking spot up to a wall, when letting off the brakes and gently re-applying them to creep to the wall, I found they had to be hit harder than I anticipated, making me slam them a bit for fear of hitting the wall.”
Sounds like exactly the kind of feedback GM wants to hear from the Consumers. Anybody who can’t come up with more than “I really like the paint color” isn’t doing their job.
Good job, Lyle!
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:09 pm)GE did specify its P.O. of 12,000 are for VOLTs
“…The purchases will include 12,000 Chevrolet Volts from General Motors Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!gm (GM 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) beginning next year. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. …”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ge-to-electrify-fleet-starting-with-volt-2010-11-11?siteid=yhoof
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:10 pm)With Lyle’s results you’d still be burning gas for 10 miles every day, with the Leaf you’d burn none. I’d say your commute is better set up for the Leaf.
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:13 pm)Are we sure that VINs are sequential? Serial numbers usually are not so that competitors can’t figure out how many you shipped. Not sure about VINs.
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Nov 11th, 2010 (1:22 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:27 pm)Lol. I use 1/3 of a gallon to get from my house to the freeway (about 5 blocks). I cannot wait for Volt to be available in North Texas next year.
I use about 1200 gallons of gas a year. That’s most of the lease expense for a Volt.
Gas = 1200 * $3 = $3600.
Lease = 12 * $350 = $4200.
Kind of optimistic since I drive between 18,000 and 20,000 miles per year, but, interesting numbers none-the-less.
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:39 pm)Think of it this way. If both front wheels hit the dip (between the road and the driveway) at the same time, the car will be closer to the ground than if first one wheel hits and then the other.
Since Lyle has a two-lane driveway, he can go up diagonally for the first part which should eliminate scraping. Unless the driveway is extremely steep. By making a sweeping turn into the driveway instead of going head-on.
If it were me, I would back in the other bay. But, sometimes that’s not politically correct with the wife. Backing in could reduce scraping by having the approach angle be the rear wheels. However, the front end may scrape the street instead.
My wife’s former car (Intrepid) had this problem with some driveways. The diagonal driving technique worked in most cases.
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:47 pm)What’s with the MPG math on the Volt’s display? If you take total miles and divide it by total gallons used, you get 193.7 MPG… Why does it display 200?
join thE REVolution
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:52 pm)Right, but what about the other 3000+ miles I drive during the year? Those non-commuter miles are almost all longer trips (>100 miles).
Try again.
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Nov 11th, 2010 (1:53 pm)Fantastic. I find it interesting that most of the “troll posts” have disappeared now that we have absolute proof of what the Volt is capable of…..and I dont think you are even TRYING to “hyper mile” or be economical yet Lyle. As far as dragging the cars “snoot” after coming off an incline, I had the same problem with my Malibu when I first got it. I quickly learned to angle the car in such a way that is does not drag. I live with that very minor inconvenience because I know once I get out on the open road, my “Bu” rewards me with 29 to 31 mpg without even trying. ( Thats a huge improvement over my old Chevy Blazer ) I cant even imagine how good it’s going to feel when I get my Volt in a few years….. 200mpg!!!!!! TAKE THAT OPEC!!!!!!
Nov 11th, 2010 (1:59 pm)I bet Lyle will have ordered a 240V charger for his office by the end of this week! Then he won’t be using any gas at all on his daily commute (but can still take 300+ mile trips on weekends).
Nov 11th, 2010 (2:00 pm)I agree with your discussion (here) and probably should have better tried to understand the original issue Lyle was writing about. After doing so, I still disagree with your assertion. While I haven’t driven any EVs yet, I have owned 4 hybrids with regen braking. They exhibited nothing like what Lyle described. If indeed GM is so far off in its algorithm of mixing friction and regen braking that Lyle, with his previous EV experience, got a bit panicky and noticed he had to apply more braking, Joe Average is in real trouble. I won’t state positively that you are wrong, but I just can’t believe that it would be by design. One of my hybrids is also a GM and parking it requires no more extra effort or thought. Since they got it right before, I must believe the Volt’s regen can’t be the source of Lyle’s issue.
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Nov 11th, 2010 (2:12 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (2:18 pm)This is the day that I have been waiting for, yes it was nice to see you picking up your Volt but today taking the new Volt to work making your rounds and driving home and putting a real car just like all the rest of us do every day in your garage plus achieving 200 miles per gallon this is a slam dunk. Let the revolution begin congratulations to everybody who’s followed this thread and want a better future for our families and friends. I have a feeling the news and information will just get better and better
Nov 11th, 2010 (2:47 pm)It’s all true and both solutions will work well for plenty of people. The only thing I hope those looking at BEVs are considering (myself included) is the worst case end of life scenario. For me, I would not be comfortable that the Leaf will be able to complete 60+ miles per charge after 5 years and in those conditions. The only way I would be comfortable with purchasing the Leaf in this scenario is if they warrant that the battery will be capable of delivering at least 17KWH under the warranty period. As far as anybody has said, the warranty period is 8 years but there is not a KWH component.
Nov 11th, 2010 (3:04 pm)I’m confused by your comment. Has anybody ever MADE money on the development process?
Nov 11th, 2010 (3:09 pm)Only if the front overhang of the car is the same height for the same radial distance from the tire but this is never the case since the tires are at the sides of the car. It overhangs to the front but much to the sides.
Nov 11th, 2010 (3:16 pm)Good on the clarity – so if they are going to buy 12K volts starting in 2011, I hope they buy them in blocks of say 500 or 1000 at different times of the forthcoming years and not “give us all you make” type of hoarding.
Detroit-Hamtramack (sp?) must be getting word to gear up for 2012.
What is ironic is GE sold their Solar panel factory in Newark, DE to MoTech out of China. So, a Chinese company buys and makes Solar panels in the USA (actually just starting making a new line which look real good). Would have been very cool to power Volt charging stations at GE buildings using GE-made Solar panels (my sister-in-law has 8 GE Solar panels on her roof). Seems like GE wants to be in energy generation equipment but not Solar.
Nov 11th, 2010 (3:33 pm)“The front end ground clearance is very low. This is needed for aerodynamic efficiency. Going down a steep decline, such as my driveway, however, even at a crawl still led to scraping on the road.”
After living with the curb bump from street to driveway for 30 years, I just finished tamping down five 50-lb. bags of blacktop patching material to ease the transition over the curb in preparation for my Volt’s arrival.
Nov 11th, 2010 (3:36 pm)We have a 6″ crack going straight up the corner of our Prius bumper. Despite using the angle approach, we still scrape, especially leaving the driveway. I am sure hoping this problem can be corrected before we buy another new car.
Nov 11th, 2010 (3:37 pm)Also, when entering at an angle, one side is higher than the other. For example, when entering the dip to the right, the left tire will enter the dip first and then start to rise keeping the overhang higher. Usually the declining ramp and the rising ramp are relatively flat plains so the overhang is at a constant height above the road. The leading tires enters the dip and immediately thereafter rises as the car proceeds through. Only if the dip is steep will there be a chance of the overhang hitting the road surface.
>ba<Happy trails to you 'til we meet again.
Nov 11th, 2010 (3:41 pm)I think it’s interesting that Lyle’s daily commute is NOT one of the 78% that fits within the 40 mile Volt target audience. That also validates that MANY people will be using charge sustaining mode and also MANY people will be trying to plug in during the day.
A lot of people on this site seem to thing that the only people that would want a Volt are those that drive less than 40 miles a day and then those that drive more automatically default to a Leaf. It’s not that black and white people.
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Nov 11th, 2010 (3:44 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (4:02 pm)Yeah, I heard that today too and I have mixed feelings about it. Will it scoop up all the cars that could be in consumer’s hands, or will GM increase production. Sure hope it’s the latter.
Be well,
Tagamet
/I’m loving sharing Lyle’s experience.
Nov 11th, 2010 (4:07 pm)Okay, thanks for letting me know how you feel. It may take a very long time to change THE AMERICAN PUBLIC’S mindset but I can remember at one time how I missed my 1994 Camaro with bucket loads of front leg room that I had dropped a 475 horsepower LT1 in it. But over the years I have changed my mind and now my fantasy car will be “green”
Nov 11th, 2010 (4:10 pm)I’ve been thinking about it, and I think GM almost has to increase production. They only have 10,000 planned for 2011. So, they either keep GE waiting (and that’s a big order to keep waiting) or keep customers waiting another year and a half minimum. Which would be a public relations disaster, IMHO. Especially given that people are already on waiting lists.
Nov 11th, 2010 (4:11 pm)I would guess that GM will increase its production by the number of Volts that GM orders for delivery at any one time. GE’s order of 12,000 vehicles will occur over several years, so if they take delivery of say 500 vehicles a month for 24 months, GM should have no problem ramping up to meet such a schedule.
In prior gm-volt.com article, former CEO Ed Whitacer “made the announcement at a Kansas GM plant where he also announced GM would be putting an additional $120 million investment into the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the Volt will be built. Ostensibly, the new money will go into expanding that plant’s production capacity so that GM could use it to build additional Chevrolet Malibus. Though in theory, the increased production capacity could be used to build more Volts if demand is greater than predicted, or more Malibus if its less than expected.”
http://gm-volt.com/2010/04/21/gm-ceo-government-loans-repaid-will-expand-volt-plant-and-launch-volt-in-october/
There are also plans by the government to purchase Volts in the future. Back in March of this year, it was reported:
“President Obama announced today that the federal government has placed fleet orders for 5,600 hybrid vehicles – more than doubling the number of hybrids currently in the federal fleet. Obama also said that the government will purchase the first 100 Volts possible when they go on sale early next year.”
http://www.leftlanenews.com/u-s-federal-government-placing-order-for-5000-hybrid-vehicles.html
I wonder what other hybrid vehicles they were panning on buying? It would have been great news to see them revise their plans to increase the number of American Made Volts and correspondingly decrease the number of foreign made hybrids but the contracts were already made. It definitely makes sense to spend the money “to replace traditional gas-powered vehicles in its aging fleet.” Any future contracts for fleet vehicles should be American Made. Now that the Volt is a reality, those government contracts should be all Volts or a combination of other American hybrids that come to market.
Another potential buyer of the Volt would be utility companies. They currently have added hybrids to their fleets in agreements with others to test the vehicles. I envision, many of the utilities doing so. With all of these potential sales, GM would be wise to plan for an additional Volt plant here in the U.S.!
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
Nov 11th, 2010 (4:16 pm)Great to hear the Volt vision being delivered in real world experiences.
Overall fuel efficiency for short and medium distances is excellent to good. Nevertheless, for the 2012 model some improvements are needed to be best in market, to use even less fossil fuel, and enable alternative fuels as an industry transformation.
The reality is that the current Volt in CS mode is less efficient than a Honda Civic Hybrid and quite a bit less efficient than a Toyota Prius. We know that the Volt is not as aerodynamic as it could be compared with Prius and Insight benchmarks. The donor engine in the Volt genset is a low cost volume produced engine having modest efficiency. It’s not designed for benchmark efficiency nor does it have the development history that Toyota and Honda has put in their hybrid engines. The constant engine speed and limited engine speed operational ranges compared with Toyota and Honda architectures gives GM the opportunity to dramatically improve the energy conversion efficiency for any fuel type.
A 2nd generation Volt in combination with bio fuels provides an even better architecture for a sustainable future. In celebrating what GM has done, we need to urge GM to strive for better efficiency, not just cost reductions.
Nov 11th, 2010 (4:31 pm)While doing a search on how many Volts the government plans to purchase in the future, I came across this New York Times opinion column by EDWARD NIEDERMEYER. I plan on reminding him of how wrong he will turn out to be in the very near future. And we will even get a look at how ridiculous he is when the IPO is shortly issued.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/opinion/30neidermeyer.html
What an idiot he is!
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
Nov 11th, 2010 (4:37 pm)I remember seeing something that the GM production estimates (10-15k plus 45k cars in the next two years) are all retail cars. Demos, fleets, etc. are a different batch/allocation.
I’ll see if I can find the link, but, as I recall it was pretty obscure.
Nov 11th, 2010 (4:46 pm)Malcolm, my man, thanks for this ending comment which I am sure you find out that GM is way ahead of anything your mind can think up. Gen 2 will deliver on better efficiency as we already know that it will be able to use E85 fuel and will definitely cost far less than the current Gen1 price. You will likely be surprised when GM includes improvements to subsequently built Gen 1 Volts. As for the rest of the garbage you state, don’t be surprised if you reach a negative ten message abolishing rating in no time at all. You definitely need to read more about the Volt to get your fact straight.
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again>
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Nov 11th, 2010 (5:12 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (5:23 pm)GE’s order offers this conundrum.
With Rob Peterson telling my only 200 cars will roll off the Assembly line by the end of this year, it would seem to suggest consumers might miss out.
However, the flip side of what he told me is that the ramp up, which will take several months, means that perhaps by next summer, GM could be producing a thousand-plus Volts a month to reach the goal of 10,000 for Calender Year 2011.
Last Spring, in NYC, GM told me that if they see the demand, they would soon ramp up beyond the initial #s.
My point, a litle pain in the beginning(production #) may well ease as ramp up swings into full gear, and GE’s order may not be the bummer a few here fear. (Full Disclosure, for the next couple of months, GE is my employer)
Nov 11th, 2010 (5:28 pm)That’s great that this car is on the road, and Lyle certainly deserves one for everything that he’s done to help make it happen!
However, between the $40k price-tag and the 33.8mpg real-world MPG number, I will be waiting for a Gen 2 Volt, or possibly for the MPV5.
Many thanks to Lyle and the other early adopters for stepping up to the plate, so that the rest of us can follow!
Nov 11th, 2010 (5:36 pm)Section 7, pages 71 & 7-32 describe iPod playback.
But IMHO, it would make more sense to just copy over all your files to the internal 30 GB disk drive, and eliminate the extra piece of equipment. That is my plan, anyway…..
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (5:38 pm)I would hope Ford is heavily favored for hybrid vehicle purchases given their long success story in America.
LRGVProVolt,
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Nov 11th, 2010 (5:56 pm)(click to show comment)
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Nov 11th, 2010 (5:57 pm)(click to show comment)
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (5:59 pm)Any company in America but not foreign is fine with me.
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
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Nov 11th, 2010 (6:03 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (6:09 pm)Somewhere there’s a GM guy quoted as saying that the Prius’ coefficient of drag, when GM measured it in the wind tunnel, was notably higher than Toyota claimed. Indeed, it was slightly higher than the Volt’s. A believe that he claimed that other manufacturers (Ford?) got the same measured results for the Prius.
This factoid popped up this week when reading through one of the dozen or so Volt web sites I came across. It shouldn’t be hard to dig up (but I’m feeling lazy right now).
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (6:09 pm)Malcolm S
The reality is that the current Volt in CS mode is less efficient than a Honda Civic Hybrid and quite a bit less efficient than a Toyota Prius. We know that the Volt is not as aerodynamic as it could be compared with Prius and Insight benchmarks. The donor engine in the Volt genset is a low cost volume produced engine having modest efficiency. It’s not designed for benchmark efficiency nor does it have the development history that Toyota and Honda has put in their hybrid engines. The constant engine speed and limited engine speed operational ranges compared with Toyota and Honda architectures gives GM the opportunity to dramatically improve the energy conversion efficiency for any fuel type.
Malcolm–You must not have been paying attention to the wind tunnel tests GM made on the Volt and the Prius that showed the Volt at 28.1 cd and the 2010 Prius at 30cd and Gm confirmed the tests at Ford and Chrysler. Toyota has a history of lying about things like this if you remember they inflated their HP ratings a few years ago and were caught and had to lower them the next year.
Nov 11th, 2010 (6:18 pm)Don’t know what real world you live in, kindly mister Grouch, but in Lyle’s world, today provided 200.7 MPG. And if you’re fortunate to have enough income to afford a $33,500 car, you’ll qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit that will leave that net cost as the Volt’s price.
Nov 11th, 2010 (6:26 pm)Darpa
I have seen the 12k miles per year also and if you go over there is a charge for the extra miles. GM has not yet given out to us or the dealers the residual and money factor on the lease so it is premature to run numbers on it yet although it looks good at first blush.
Also when yo do the comparison you have to start at 33500 for the Volt and not 41k.the Prius does not get the credit so the prices are much closer than it first looks. I ran the lease with a 50% res and 6% interest and it is much higher than the $350 number so we are getting a subsidised lease here.
Nov 11th, 2010 (6:41 pm)Night shot of the center console.
“The car was a charm on the highway. It was more than fast enough to deal with all types of merges, entrances, and passes, and handled very sprightly. I looked to see if anyone stared or noticed the car, and interestingly I didn’t see one person do so.”
It’s going to be great not having to deal with the weekly gas station refueling dance. Over time people are getting WORSE about cutting in, circling around and backing in, and setting the nozzle to “auto-snail trickle” for 10 minutes.
My routine garage to garage work day drive covers 35 miles. I continue to email management requesting more outlets for our workplace parking. Just four or five 120V so far.
With just 20 Volts being sold in the local city area of 200,000 people. The Leaf may be the vehicle which topples the newest wave of recharge station domino.
In the heart of Santa Barbara there is a parking structure featuring several recharge stations. Photos are floating around the web of EV-1 being juiced up there. I’ll be posting a photo of my red Volt at one of these plug-in oasis ASAP.
=D-Volt
Nov 11th, 2010 (6:53 pm)Ford has no commitment to all electric vehicles, from what I can see, Ford has no commitment to any type of drive, with their order it and we’ll build it approach.
Nov 11th, 2010 (6:59 pm)“This is highly irregular, Lyle.”
+1
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:03 pm)I think we’ll see that GE’s is only the first of many high-volume commercial orders. Seems to me that we have two problems then:
1. High unemployment.
2. Shortage of Volts.
Miraculously, these two problems can work towards solving each other!
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Nov 11th, 2010 (7:06 pm)(click to show comment)
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Nov 11th, 2010 (7:10 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:13 pm)I saw an article earlier today on The Detroit News site saying they would be getting 1,000 around mid to late 2011 and 2,000-3,000 each following year until 2015, so at least the impact shouldn’t be that great on the individual consumer output, hopefully.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20101111/AUTO01/11110441/1361/GE-to-buy-12-000-Chevy-Volts
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Nov 11th, 2010 (7:17 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:24 pm)Lyle, I’d be interested to see what kind of efficiency performance you get using some mild hypermiling, mainly driving </=60 mph and ECO mode, maybe one day testing with a full charge to see if you can increase the electric range and another day testing with having to use gas all day.
By the way, hope everyone is having a nice Veteran's Day, and a heart-felt thank you to all the other Vets visiting here!
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Nov 11th, 2010 (7:26 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:28 pm)Peek Inside the Chevrolet Volt Factory
VERY cool article with pictures
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/11/peek-inside-the-chevrolet-volt-factory/?pid=294&viewall=true
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:30 pm)A favorite neek*/journalist of mine, David Pogue of the NY Times, has just published an article called “The Volt Recharges My Batteries” in the Times. Not much new to gm-volt’ers in it, although it’s quite favorable. What’s significant is Pogue’s HUGE popularity, credibility and readership as a Times regular columnist. The article is at: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/the-volt-recharges-my-batteries/?ref=personaltechemail&nl=technology&emc=cta2
/*Neek = (Nerd+Geek)/2; Example: Chelsea Sexton is a self-proclaimed Neek; btw, so am I
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:33 pm)I listen to a lot of podcasts and update my music frequently, so I would only like 1 database of music (my Ipod). However, if the Volt HD could sync w/my Ipod, that woud be cool.
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Nov 11th, 2010 (7:37 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:38 pm)Ford is working on the electric Focus. The lines are being engineered/set up now. I’ve personally worked on some of the equipment.
Nov 11th, 2010 (7:54 pm)I don’t see how those guys can work with all those hot engineers around.
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:00 pm)Where I live gas is over $3/gal and electricity is 8c/Kwh
That means the Prius would be 6 cents/mile and the Volt would be 2 cents/mile. (I used 10.4kwh for 40 miles)
So the Volt is roughly 1/3 the cost of the Prius to drive. This isn’t even counting less oil changes, etc.
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Nov 11th, 2010 (8:01 pm)(click to show comment)
Nov 11th, 2010 (8:13 pm)I don’t think I will ever get 20,000 miles in CS mode on my Volt no matter how long I keep it. Guess I’ll just have to live with ever increasing CS mode mpg!!
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Nov 11th, 2010 (8:18 pm)FYI
Got this article today at work. Pretty good stuff.
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sae/10EVSD1104/?partner=3531434143334130373542354435363238443635363232334343413035354131&action=10EVSD1104&startid=1&lre=1:3731414638413534463037383133303837313130373145393033363431313836#/0
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+1
Nov 12th, 2010 (2:13 am)Excellent work lyle, please keep us up to date, we in Australia look forward to the Volts release in the future.
Well Done and enjoy!
Martin
Nov 12th, 2010 (8:46 am)In Michigan, about 1 hour from Detroit.
(also i’m for a gas tax)
Nov 12th, 2010 (5:32 pm)How do you find time to post Lyle?
I’d be out driving man!!!!!