First, I really love the Volt and hope to get one next year. I've been folowing Lyle's blog since the beginning.

While at the LA Auto Show I got to sit in one of the Volts on the show floor. Now for a few minor issues that I found:

The first thing I noticed was that my right leg and knee was pushing up against the center column with what seemed to be a tight fit. I'm sure this is because of the battery stack going down the middle of the car. I wonder if this might get to be an issue during a long trip. Same thing for the tall right arm rest. I don't see why GM had to make the cushion padding so thick.

Now I consider myself somewhat of a Geek, and this car is a Geek's delight. Being this way, I personally would not have an issue with the many "small" buttons going down the center console. However the font size next to or above each button is extremely small, which I think might be an issue to some while in the learning phase of driving the car. I can just see someone driving down the street and constantly having to take their eyes off the road to look down to find just the right button to press.

All that being said, the Volt is the next big leap in technology and based on the over EV's and Hybrids that I saw on the floor show. All of the other car manufacturers will now have years to catch up with Volt technology. Good luck to them!

LS

Just a small suggestion. I would think that if you move the seat back a bit more then your knee will not stick up so high and therefore have less interference. If that causes the steering wheel to be too far away, then adjust the steering wheel (it telesopes). Several times that I've sat in the Volt I had the opposite problem, because the seat was all the way back and I could not comfortably reach the pedals.

I did move the seat back. The issue was that my leg was pushed up against the center column. I understand why this happens because of the battery location going down the middle of the car. Don't get me wrong I really like the car. But I hope the next generation of the Volt the engineers can find a way of lowering the battery bay. I'm sure it will have to wait till battery tech changes to minimize the battery height.