Well hot-diggity, look who’s offering its endorsement for the Chevrolet Volt.
Last April Consumer Reports made waves when it said the Volt “doesn’t really make a lot of sense,” and it is “an expensive way to be green,” but in in the months since its editors have shifted their opinion.
“We now recommend the Volt plug-in hybrid after new data from our 2011 Annual Auto Survey shows it earned much better than average reliability,” the magazine says in its November issue.
After tallying results from 116 Volt respondents, Consumer Reports found very few of them had any serious problems with the car, which helped qualify it for CR’s “recommended” list.
The Volt has been said to be a new revolution in the making.
“To be recommended a vehicle must do well in our testing, have average or better reliability, and perform adequately in independent safety tests (if included),” Consumer Reports said.
And to be sure, safety tests as independent as they come by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety and federal government both found the Volt to exceed expectations.
This said, Consumer Reports is still not exactly gushing with unreserved praise, and nitpicks the Volt where it can. Things it did not like included the infotainment interface, rear seat room and outward visibility for the driver.
Things it did like were “quick and quiet acceleration, very low running costs, and the equivalent of 99 mpg overall.”
In the handling department, CR’s test editors noted, “The Volt’s more enjoyable to drive than a Toyota Prius.”
But we already knew that, didn’t we?
We could go on, but we know most of you are probably already aware of this news, and the CR video and links give plenty of information as well.
We will add that this story was brought to our attention yesterday by an e-mail from Volt Line Director Tony Posawatz.
He did not offer comment but obviously Chevrolet is sure it has a winner, and is likely satisfied that the recommendation from the ostensibly objective Consumer Reports – a powerful brand in its own right – will hold clout with some people.
We’ve now lost count how many accolades the Volt has received, but this is one more to add to the list.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 at 5:55 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
+16
Oct 5th, 2011 (6:40 am)Most years I don’t fill out the CR request for car data, but I sure did this year! The Volt experience continues to be extremely satisfying each day. No problems, just pure driving pleasure!
+11
Oct 5th, 2011 (6:41 am)I have found consumer reports very japanese biased and cancelled my subscription some time ago. Very surprised by the recommendation and pleased. We all knew the volt has been well engineered by GM’s best and is going to be very reliable
My experience with bias came when looking for a minivan. The decision matrix seemed relatively clear but the point difference between recommended and not recommended cars so small that it seemed only a subjective choice. I realize only a few should be recommended but then be neutral on close second not negative.
+11
Oct 5th, 2011 (8:03 am)That is my opinion of Consumer Reports too. This news suprises me–in a good way. Another great validation of an already great car IMO.
+20
Oct 5th, 2011 (8:21 am)Boy, the next thing you know Rush Limbaugh will endorse the Volt!
+18
Oct 5th, 2011 (8:32 am)Consumer Reports has cause many lost of sales, to the American owned car companies, with their
bias reporting within past decades. They’ve been sued by GM before, and are no friends them.
The only reason they are giving the Volt a half wit approval is because they would look like the
horse’s ass if they didn’t with all the awards the Volt has earned.
+6
Oct 5th, 2011 (8:53 am)They still don’t understand the car, or know its abilities. In the video; “300 miles total range”; what? They praise the Volt for its cheap opeating costs, but in the end say “you cant beat a Prius”.
+6
Oct 5th, 2011 (10:07 am)I agree with this. And checking the current on-line issue of CR, I’ve found to my dismay that CR’s long-standing practice of including a stipulation to the effect that “differences of (5)* points between ratings are insignificant” on Ratings Overview charts has been discontinued.
This stipulation has long been the ONLY reason I’ve justified continuing my CR subscription. The above stipulation has also been deleted from the Ratings Overview charts for 2-3 other products I checked: washing machines, refrigerators, etc. As a consequence, I’ve called the CR executive offices in Yonkers, NY and explained this important omission in detail to an executive assistant who said she will prepare a report explaining that it should be re-instated to the CEO, James Guest.** Meanwhile, I’ll have to live with (or ignor) CR’s biased ratings!
*Point spread varies based on the product
**I’m also emailing the executive offices about this directly
+9
Oct 5th, 2011 (10:25 am)My local dealership got a volt a few days ago and I was able to drive it around today. I absolutely love this car more now than before. Can’t wait to own one!!!!
+6
Oct 5th, 2011 (10:40 am)Consumer Reports was begrudgingly forced into this recommendation by its subscribers experiences. This is the subscribers recommendation, not CR’s. CR made it clear from the start that they were anti-Volt. I seem to recall they even bashed the car because they paid $5k over MSRP for theirs.
+16
Oct 5th, 2011 (11:17 am)I pointed this out in the forums but I’ll repeat it here: CR applies irrational criteria when evaluating cars. For example, it marked down the Nissan Leaf because it had a limited range. Yes it does but that is simply a characteristic of the car which you understand when you buy it. For example, a Toyota Prius can’t pull a boat to your summer cabin but they don’t mark it down for that failing because obviously a Toyota Prius is not designed for towing. When you look at the bigger picture what you find is that CR has a predetermined idea of what a car should be and Lord help any vehicle that doesn’t match their pre-determined, albeit implicit, criteria.
They also seem to inconsistently apply their explicit criterion. For example, the reviewer says the Volt’s 40 MPG average in CS Mode is “unimpressive”. Really? Compared to what? You can assume they mean the Prius at 50 MPG. Seems more than a tad overstated given the difference between a 40 MPG and a 50 MPG car driven 10K miles is 250 gallons of gas rather than 200 gallons or, in their green eye-shade universe, about $15 per month. So the difference between great and unimpressive is $15/month?
But it gets better. In practice the Volt actually gets more like 100+ MPG. Yet that doesn’t seem to impress CR at all, leading to the conclusion that $15/month is more significant than $50/month. Like I said, their criteria are irrational and their conclusions worthless (their observations are fine).
+12
Oct 5th, 2011 (11:38 am)The greatest difference between a volt & prius IMO, is its MADE IN AMERICA and not IMPORTED FROM JAPAN.
So hows all that imported stuff working out for our economy and our 9% employment .and as much as 50% in some places (detroit) For every 2 priuses imported 1 american loses their job. For every $1billion in imports 20,000 jobs are lost.
+10
Oct 5th, 2011 (11:51 am)I have almost 700 miles on my Volt. I’m getting 170 mpg on local driving. This is the best car I have ever owned.
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (12:03 pm)Future BEVs should be extremely reliable compared to ICE cars and they should cost little to maintain outside of brakes and tires, eventually a battery pack. New batt pack ==> almost a new car??
Volt is a very sophisticated engineering design – hope the reliability holds up well over time.
+5
Oct 5th, 2011 (12:26 pm)Well, that’s the big unknown, isn’t it? But “almost a new car” is overstating it.
Assuming the battery completely dies in 10 years (perhaps extreme, but a possibility) it would seem highly unusual to have a new battery pack cost $34k when the cost today is guessed/estimated at $10k. Given that battery development will accelerate at its historical minimum of 7% per year (but likely much more), a battery in 10 years should be much cheaper than one today, and perhaps of higher quality/range. At least that’s what most Volt buyers are betting on and one of the reasons for the $7500 tax credit incentive.
But let’s say the battery dies (10-20 years from now). Dies = it no longer stores a charge. It would seem you could chose to replace the battery or simply drive on gasoline. The electric generator would be used 100% of the time to power the car. You’ll be driving a Volt like an ICE that gets 37 MPG.
+4
Oct 5th, 2011 (12:30 pm)OK so here is my “consumer impression” since we finally got to test drive the Volt last week in Tucson.
Exterior fit & finish Sharp and I was glad to see that the air dam was closer to the front tires than to the front of the bumper. Not sure if tires are simply low resistance or low profile as well. I prefer non low profile tires.
Eas of entrance & exit of vehicle Moderate in front and alittle cumbersome for the rear seat. Rear hatch had good access but could use more space.
Seats were above satisfactory for comfort. More head-room would be appreciated along with more leg-room for the rear seats.
Leather felt just above average; not average but not luxurious. Plastics were average; however I detected no squeaks or rattles while car was in motion. Good location for cup-holders and cubby storage; especially good for back-seat.
Instrument displays were said to be clear but alittle busy. Rear view camera was said to be very much better than Prius.
Ride felt up-scale; very smooth and very quiet+.
Steering, brakes and over-all handling were very good.
Visibility was said to be OK; back-up camera was reassuring.
The Volt easily intermingled with traffic; although I forgot to have my wife try M mode to observe any unusually loud engine noise; so I can’t give an opinion about that.
Over-all; I would love to be an owner of a Volt. For us, the TCO would for now be hard to justify. So I give a thumbs-up for everyone who is lucky enough to have a Volt and we will continue to save up money for now.
+3
Oct 5th, 2011 (12:33 pm)I’m sorry but CR has no business reviewing cars, they are NOT car people! Their great when it comes to other consumer products. I have to agree with the other posters above on their bias to the Japanese brands. I’m glad to see the Volt get another thumbs up from a reviewer but to me it seems like they were hesitant to “recommend” it. Its like pulling teeth to get CR to recommend any American car.
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (12:47 pm)I’m not completely convinced of this. The maintenance costs will be lower but repairs may not be different. I’ve never had a drive train failure, not even a transmission failure. Most issues have related to the electronics and there are plenty of electronics on a BEV.
+1
Oct 5th, 2011 (1:00 pm)#11
Amen brother. Preach on! +1
+4
Oct 5th, 2011 (1:02 pm)I guess even the worst of sinners can see the light eventually, LOL.
+4
Oct 5th, 2011 (1:09 pm)It’s possible to argue that CR is only the “radar” and their respondents the “storm.” Could we be directing our criticism in the wrong direction? CR puts out questionnaires which include (intentionally or not) a measure of subjective bias, and collate the results. The Editors fold in actual hard data and make conclusions, and here there is no doubt a bias (and lack of expertise); but the readers’ opinions and experiences appear to be the driving force of the magazine. (Would anyone subscribing to CR care to comment on the accuracy of this)?
Wouldn’t CR’s automobile ratings be very different if the public at large weren’t already biased against American made cars? If so, the next several several years ought to be interesting to watch; following Toyota’s widely-reported braking troubles, and greatly improved domestic cars (including innovative products like the Volt).
The domestic manufacturers dare not let up, though; it’s still their contest to lose. It will take most of a generation to eliminate the bias, even if there are no gaffes or quality slip-ups.
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (1:21 pm)Good to hear… your on the right track…
I agree… for every Toyota Honda Nissan VW Mercedes Hyundai ..etc you see on the road… that is one job lost…. and transplants are the worst they represent a more permanent jobs lose.
There is a reason Japan would never let GM or Ford build a plant in Japan.
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (2:34 pm)Good article Jeff…
“This said, Consumer Reports is still not exactly gushing with unreserved praise, and nitpicks the Volt where it can. Things it did not like included the infotainment interface, rear seat room and outward visibility for the driver.”
This is typical CU.
The Volt is the best engineered car on the road as per SAE (128,000 automotive engineers worldwide) but they did not like the computer interface… that’s because the Volt is over their heads.
I’m sure they can’t stand so many owners praising the VOLT.
I was mislead by CU automotive advice once.. that was enough for me.
I feel their red dot system gives some very bad advice. I bought a all red dot foreign vehicle and because of CU had a very bad perception of Chevy and Ford trucks… I thought why would anyone buy one .. they have some dark dots.
I had a totally wrong perception and I found out why. I was taking Statistics in college at the time which gave me info on how to evaluate statistical information.
After writing to CU several times I finally found that CU tries to get 100 responses for each vehicle… not thousands as per my perception at the time. AND the big thing is that CU does NOT compensate for the amount of each vehicle on the road. That means… for any model..if there is a million Chevies on the road and they get 100 complaints . and there are five thousand Hondas on the road and get 75 complaints … CU concludes that the Honda is better because they got less complaints… which is totally wrong.
This is how I ended up driving a 4 year old Nissan that had many problems while my neighbor had very little problems with his Chevy truck of the same age… yet I bought the truck with more “red dots”.
I ignore poor statistical info like CU red dots now and have had much better luck with my GM and Ford vehicles…. My current Buicks have been extremely reliable and the 10 year old still looks like new .. no rust… original exhaust and only has cost me $350 for other than routine maintenance for two bushings that where deformed from hitting a huge pothole at 65mph.
Oct 5th, 2011 (2:40 pm)SoundS like a guy who bruises his forehead by intentionally bashing it into a wall and therefore can’t recommend the drywall company. But ultimately changes his mind after discovering it’s successfully covered the walls of his mommy’s home for the last 45 years.
If this sounds like a real person(Cavuto, Modica) this account is strictly fictional and not intended to be similar to any real person. Even if it does sound like a real person, it’s just fiction – so relax fellas. It’s not you, REALLY IT’S NOT.
+4
Oct 5th, 2011 (2:48 pm)Many Volt owners use the ICE at a duty cycle of 20% or less. At this rate the ICE will outlast almost every other part of the car. The thermal management system of the Volt battery is superior to the TMS of the Leaf battery. Furthermore, as the battery gradually diminishes in capacity the Volt gradually transforms itself into a hybrid with an ICE that has a lot of life left in it. In other words a Leaf owner will be forced to replace the battery at a certain point but a Volt owner has the choice of replacing the battery or living with a hybrid car with effectively low miles on the engine. These are all longevity advantages over the Leaf.
+1
Oct 5th, 2011 (2:57 pm)Very good …. great to see common sense rearing it’s head!
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (3:27 pm)I have always had misgivings concerning the space-capsule user interface. Anyone trying to figure this out while driving is due for an accident. It implies that an EREV must be very complex to use with so many buttons, when in fact most of the drive train “magic” happens behind the scenes. Though a long-time Volt fan (and CR detractor), I had to agree with them on this point.
Full disclosure: No, I haven’t lived with the interface, and don’t own a Volt. I’m guessing that those of you who do have set up the display pretty much as you want it, and use more complex functions (cumulative energy use, etc) only when the car is at rest. Am I right?
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (4:01 pm)#26
You’ve got that exactly right.
I find the center stack to be confusing and opaque. I interface with it as little as possible. I use the radio a lot and have grown to love the XM feature. I use the nav system occasionally and it can be really frustrating to program. I really dislike the climate control system, and use it as little as possible. I had to use the defrost today for the first time, as it’s raining in SoCal. It worked OK, but it didn’t do much for the AER. All much too gee-whiz for my taste. I think that they have over reached themselves with their compulsion to dazzle.
That said though, the “behind the scenes” technology is so amazing that it overwhelms any niggling irritants re the center stack. The car does what it’s supposed to do, and it’s absolutely brilliant when you think about it.
+5
Oct 5th, 2011 (4:13 pm)Consumer Reports has its flaws. (emod79 says they are “great when it comes to other consumer products” but I’m not sure I agree. Whenever they review something I’m fairly familiar with, I usually find flaws in their methodology. When they review something I’m _not_ familiar with I don’t see these flaws, but presumably they are there. I read their reviews anyway, though, because they’re better than nothing.)
Something else I’m not sure I can agree with is the supposed Japanese bias. I know that the quality of the average USA-built vehicle has increased in recent years, while that of Japanese cars has faltered slightly. The reason I know this is because I have read it in issues of Consumer Reports magazine.
Yes, there was a time when Consumer Reports rated virtually every Japanese car higher than any American car, but this was back when the Big Three were making terrible cars.
As for the infotainment interface, I tend to agree with Consumer Reports. I love my Volt, but I find the console interface vexing. It’s enough that if there were other EREVs on the market it might push me to other brands.
One thing Consumer Reports complained about was the heater. (That was months ago, I don’t know if they are still complaining about it.) They said they were unable to get it to generate more than a trickle of heat, and I do criticize them for that. Unless they had a bad car, it will put out a decent amount of heat if you crank the thermostat up to 85 degrees or so. (Why it would be necessary to crank it to 85 instead of leaving it on, say, 72 when the outside temperature is 5, is another matter.)
+1
Oct 5th, 2011 (4:36 pm)i watched the CR review and have a very different reaction to it. the CR review is clearly not a “fanboy” review, but CR is not supposed to be fanboy in their reviews. from what i saw, i did not see anything said that was incorrect. the comments in the CR review did not strike me as being “irrational”. believe it or not, most people do not do the kind of detailed analysis of driving habits that some people here seem to do. so it is helpful for CR to point out issues and leave it to individuals to decide for themselves whether the issue is of importance. for example, i think that the comment about the heating system is a valuable one to mention. granted, it was a criticism but people should be aware of this.
as to the mpg comparison, the reviewer stated his basis for comparison. if you look at epa ratings, the comment is true – in CS mode, the fuel economy is not impressive in comparison to comparable vehicles in its class. it would not be reasonable for CR to cite mpg of hundreds, or in some cases thousands, of miles per gallon, because those results are so dependent on specific driving patterns that might not be applicable. similarly with the leaf (which is a made-in-japan vehicle, btw), the the CR reviewer didn’t mention that the range is limited (and what the implications of those limitations are) a buy may not consider that factor since many people rely upon advertisements when making buying decisions. i mean, do you really think that nissan would go out of their way to point this out?
i did not get the sense that the CR reviewer had no understanding of the volt. but on the other hand, i would say that where the review did fall short is in its tendency to present worst case scenarios. for example, “about 300″ miles of range is not an unreasonable statement about the volt’s range since i could imagine circumstances under which you would get that kind of range. but it seems a bit “worst case”, so while it doesn’t overstate the volt range, i would expect that most people would do a bit better than that.
but all that said, i thought that there were some favorable comments about the volt. my only experience with the prius is a rental and my only experience with the volt is a brief test drive on streets that were so congested that i didn’t think it to be a praticularly meaningful drive. that said, i agree that the driving experience in the volt is better than that of the prius. so if driving experience means a lot to you, then the volt is a no brainer. on the other hand, if TCO is more important to you, it may take a bit more thought to sort out which is the better option. but then if TCO were the only criterion, then i don’t imagine that anyone would ever buy a s500 ‘benz.
at the current price of the volt, i think that the drive chracteristics are the most important attribute. that, and the convenience of not having to go to the gas station; you can “refuel”/recharge at home without having to worry about handling the dirty gas dispenser nozzles at the gas station.
+1
Oct 5th, 2011 (4:44 pm)transmission problems usually occur at high mileage, over 100,000 miles. if you are flipping cars every 2 or 3 years, you probably would never see such a failure mode. those of us who have kept cars for longer periods have seen the transmission faiilure mode; and it’s an expensive one when it happens…
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (4:48 pm)One of my favorite things about the Volt is not having to program the Nav (was really frustrating in my Gen i Prius), now I hit the blue button and tell a person where I want to go and they download the directions to the screen, its awesome!
Oct 5th, 2011 (4:53 pm)even when the ICE is operating, it is probably not going to encounter the relatively large torque forces that are encountered by ICE’s that are directly engaged in the drivetrain. furthermore, my guess is that gm has probably understated the battery service life so in actual practice my guess is that it will probably have a service life beyond 8 years.
i don’t think that the volt would ever be able to operate as a hybrid; if the battery can’t hold a charge, the vehicle is likely cooked. even in CS mode, the traction motor has to be able to operate without assistance from the ICE.
Oct 5th, 2011 (5:24 pm)Yeah, it’s sort of like Zappos doing a car review.
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (6:38 pm)You completely missed my point. I said I didn’t have any problems with the observations. My problem is with their methodology, which consists, as far as I can see, of pre-determining conclusions based on flawed assumptions. You haven’t for instance addressed why 40 MPG is unexceptional when compared to 50 MPG but 50 MPG is exceptional when compared to 150 MPG. Nor have you explained why a limited electric range, or four seats, is a negative but not being able to tow a boat isn’t.
For example, the end statement is that “if you want basic transportation at a good price then it’s hard to beat a Prius”. That’s not true. For example, there are countless numbers of cars, including the Cruze, that cost thousands less than the Prius. For example the Cruze might cost $10K less than the Prius. And how much in gas will the Prius save? About $700 a year, making the pay back period something like 20 years.
The reviewer could have said: “If you want the safest car for your family that gets great gas mileage then it’s hard to beat a Chevy Volt”. That would be far more accurate than what he did say, as explained above, but they’d never say that because there is no rhyme or reason to their criteria, which is what makes them irrational. They just make it up as they go along.
Finally, I gave you a +1 to cancel out a negative but that doesn’t mean I agree with your comments. They just don’t deserve a negative.
-3
Oct 5th, 2011 (8:10 pm)Avoiding mention of Prius c won’t be possible for too much longer. That less expensive, more efficient model of Prius will be available early next year.
+2
Oct 5th, 2011 (9:15 pm)If TCO is your main priority and you drive less than 70 miles per day, the Volt deserves a close look compared to the Prius. If you only drive a few miles a day, comparing the Leaf vs. Cruze should be an enlightening exercise. And If you drive over 120 miles a day then the Prius should look very good for TCO.
If TCO is your only criteria, a well maintained, used, but loved 30 -35 y.o. Chevette is clearly the way to go.
Oct 5th, 2011 (10:08 pm)Funny how facts have a way of sinking in over time.
+1
Oct 5th, 2011 (11:34 pm)as to “methodology” the CR reviewer did state that he was considering gasoline only as the basis for his mpg comparison. if you look at epa data the 37 mpg for the volt is not impressive when compared to other cars in its class (small cars) as the CR reviewer stated. but you will notice that the CR reviewer also stated that this was because the volt is heavy. furthermore, the CR reviewer also stated that most drivers would end up driving on mostly electric power. but he made a good point to mention that electricity isn’t free.
i personally disagree with the “methodology” under which people come up with mpg figures for the volt in the hundreds, if not thousands, of miles per gallon. the problem is that it counts, for mpg calculation purposes, driving in which no gasoline is actually used. such calculations do not even attempt to ascribe an mpge or combined mpge/mpg figure for their volt driving – they merely act as though electricity is free and they therefore only need to consider total miles driven by any means and gasoline used. that in my mind is poor “methodology” which produces misleading statements as to mpg achieved. so i personally would not have made the “150 mpg vsi 50 mpg” comparison that you have asserted. i think that the volt sticker does a good job of presenting energy utilization data.
where i think that you can fault the CR reviewer is that he gave worst case data and did not attempt to provide the readers/viewers with a useful model that they could use to evaluate how much efficiency they might realize with the volt. the best presentation that i have seen on this was a video presentation that was posted by a gm engineer. i think that his name was adam ourey (or something like that).
i’ll give you my interpretation: limited electric range should be noted because when you run low on charge in a leaf, the implications are a lot different than running low on gasoline. if you don’t think four seats is a relevant issue then you need to read some of the comments that have been posted on this forum on the subject. towing a boat is an attribute normally associated with trucks, not cars.
i agree with you on this point in that his conclusions was heavily loaded with assumptions and i suspect heavily loaded toward mpg figures only. but that one statement does not make the entire review “irrational”.
i am of the opinion that jeff cobb should end the voting stuff because it is stupid. the “votes” rarely tell me much about the merit of the content of a given posting. the volts are generally just about popularity and/or flame wars where i suspect that sometimes an individual will run up/down a post with multiple votes. it’s just stupid and doesn’t add anything to this forum in my opinion. jeff cobb runs the forum so he sets the policies, though, not me.
Oct 7th, 2011 (9:23 am)no comment,
I think that’s only true if you compare the Volt to the highway numbers of those other cars. I’m very impressed that I get about 36 on a bad day and over 40MPG on a good day (just on the gas portion of my commute), pretty much regardless of city, highway, etc. I really doubt there are any non-hybrids of similar size (regardless of weight) that can do as well.
I think what might kill the Volt’s gasoline numbers is when people just take trips that are a little bit longer than their electric range. That’s because the first few miles on gas tend to yield sub-par fuel economy, around 30mpg or below. So if one drives 45 miles a day and 40 of those are on electric, the gas mileage number is going to look poor. OTOH, I’m convinced that if you never plugged the Volt in and drove it like a regular hybrid, you’d do about as well on MPG as many other hybrids, which for a car of the Volt’s weight is pretty impressive to me.