Cruise Control and Shift in low

[tboult]

The Volt CC has a speed up/down switch which can increment/decrement by 1mph.. I use it all the time. But CC keeps me from varying the acceleration too much (which is bad for range) as well as saving my foot. Many people like L for 1-foot driving -- I never use more than one foot on an automatic, but prefer 0 foot driving.

[silvercorvette]

The Volt CC has a speed up/down switch which can increment/decrement by 1mph.. I use it all the time. But CC keeps me from varying the acceleration too much (which is bad for range) as well as saving my foot. Many people like L for 1-foot driving -- I never use more than one foot on an automatic, but prefer 0 foot driving.

I believe almost all C/C have that feature, I use it often, the thing that makes the Lexus unique (maybe the Mercedes also has it) is that it sends out a radar signal to measure distance. If the computer calculated you are getting too close to the vehicle ahead of you it will automatically reduce your speed

I love all the neat gadgets modern cars have but sometimes I am concerned that taking away all those duties from the drive may cause him / her to be less attentive and put too much fait and trust in the computers, If I am tired I try to avoid C/C

[tboult]

Sorry if I'm dated. My last car had CC but only an analog increase/decrease which was unreliable as it would do nothing then add fast. To be fair, it was a 1995 car. I find the +1/-1 actually more engaging than a petal, as I am really trying to be more effective in anticipating the changes rather than reacting to the car in front of me. If I kept a constant distance I would be an inefficient as them ;-(

[solar_dave]

Sorry if I'm dated. My last car had CC but only an analog increase/decrease which was unreliable as it would do nothing then add fast. To be fair, it was a 1995 car. I find the +1/-1 actually more engaging than a petal, as I am really trying to be more effective in anticipating the changes rather than reacting to the car in front of me. If I kept a constant distance I would be an inefficient as them ;-(

GM has had increment decrement CC for at least 25 years. And did you know if you hold them they will act till released.

[tboult]

GM has had increment decrement CC for at least 25 years. And did you know if you hold them they will act till released.

Well like many volt owners. my last GM car was more than 25 years ago.

Yes I did know if you hold them they increment till released. Also found that if you hit "resume" (up) after releasing CC it does a nice smooth acceleration and if you hit up/down again while its accelerating it adds/subtracts 1 to the current speed (not the previous limit), so if I was cruising at 75, get off the highway and hit up to resume, I can effectively stop anywhere on the way up to 75.

[DCFusor]

I find my CC will do some regen in D, just not enough for a steep hill. It seems to work better and smoother than it did in my '12 Cruze or '10 Camaro SS - probably an easier to control drivetrain in the Volt.

I notice that the same (subjective) G acceleration from the cruise control doesn't lift the little ball as much as when you do the same acceleration with the pedal. Not sure why that should be, unless that's the software saying "I know what I'm doing here".

It seems in mine that even the slightest use of the brake pedal lowers the ball, even though I thought you were getting some extra regen that way before you were really using brakes? I've yet to try very light brake on a long downhill to look at the resulting power numbers, though. L is just so easy to use in that mode it hadn't occurred to me yet.

I too don't use cruise control all that much, you can do a better job with your brain, at least in some situations. Since I live in the mountains, all twisty roads, the CC can't know that it's wise to regen-slow going into a hairpin, for example. Or not to hammer it because it's losing speed just as it tops a hill and you're going to go down for the next mile or a few anyway. That would take some fancy integration with the gps, hmmm. I can see it giving your leg a rest on a long boring highway trip. But in every car I've had so far, I still get better mpg with the foot, due to being able to anticipate things. All CC's I've had so far seem to be wanting to accelerate just as that guy in front you were closing on anyway slows down...and have wasted some gas by the time you can shut them off.

In my case, I live partway up a mountain, and can go down to go to town, or up and then down. The former way I get the first 4-5 miles almost all regen - no bars go away. I get the next 6-7 miles with one bar going away, but the mile indicator staying the same as it was in my driveway (going very gently downriver)!

The trip home is another story, of course - up all the way, or nearly. By then, I'm probably on gasoline mode, so I go ahead and drive it like the sporty car it is - maybe that's not for the purist, but hey, fun is fun and I specialize in that. I still get very respectable net mileage.

But if I want to have a little extra in the battery when I get home, I take the way that takes me over the mountain top (in mountain mode) and can then regen for 3-4 miles to my place, and I get a couple extra indicated miles (and usually a bar) doing that. Yeah, it's burning gas going up the extra altitude, but I might not care in winter when I have less spare solar to top it off with when I return - an average good sun day in winter gets me just about half a charge on it with my extra power, so a little extra on top of MM is just right for me to start from for tomorrow's charge.

[silvercorvette]

I find my CC will do some regen in D, just not enough for a steep hill. It seems to work better and smoother than it did in my '12 Cruze or '10 Camaro SS - probably an easier to control drivetrain in the Volt.

I notice that the same (subjective) G acceleration from the cruise control doesn't lift the little ball as much as when you do the same acceleration with the pedal. Not sure why that should be, unless that's the software saying "I know what I'm doing here".

It seems in mine that even the slightest use of the brake pedal lowers the ball, even though I thought you were getting some extra regen that way before you were really using brakes? I've yet to try very light brake on a long downhill to look at the resulting power numbers, though. L is just so easy to use in that mode it hadn't occurred to me yet.

I too don't use cruise control all that much, you can do a better job with your brain, at least in some situations. Since I live in the mountains, all twisty roads, the CC can't know that it's wise to regen-slow going into a hairpin, for example. Or not to hammer it because it's losing speed just as it tops a hill and you're going to go down for the next mile or a few anyway. That would take some fancy integration with the gps, hmmm. I can see it giving your leg a rest on a long boring highway trip. But in every car I've had so far, I still get better mpg with the foot, due to being able to anticipate things. All CC's I've had so far seem to be wanting to accelerate just as that guy in front you were closing on anyway slows down...and have wasted some gas by the time you can shut them off.

In my case, I live partway up a mountain, and can go down to go to town, or up and then down. The former way I get the first 4-5 miles almost all regen - no bars go away. I get the next 6-7 miles with one bar going away, but the mile indicator staying the same as it was in my driveway (going very gently downriver)!

The trip home is another story, of course - up all the way, or nearly. By then, I'm probably on gasoline mode, so I go ahead and drive it like the sporty car it is - maybe that's not for the purist, but hey, fun is fun and I specialize in that. I still get very respectable net mileage.

But if I want to have a little extra in the battery when I get home, I take the way that takes me over the mountain top (in mountain mode) and can then regen for 3-4 miles to my place, and I get a couple extra indicated miles (and usually a bar) doing that. Yeah, it's burning gas going up the extra altitude, but I might not care in winter when I have less spare solar to top it off with when I return - an average good sun day in winter gets me just about half a charge on it with my extra power, so a little extra on top of MM is just right for me to start from for tomorrow's charge.

I think the C/C is a useful feature but like you I use it sparingly, I also believe like you do that I can get better MPGS or volts per mile by using the brain attached to my right foot. I drive from SC to NY which is between 800 & 900 miles ad the are some parts of the trip where C/C comes in very handy but depending on traffic 60% to 80% is with the C/C off.

Just to clarify Lexus has C/C as standard equipment but they also have optional radar controlled C/C. So if you are set at 65 MPH and there is a car head of you doing 60, the C/C will automatically reset to 60. I have never owned a radar controlled C/C but I am pretty sure it will also reset back to 65 if the car ahead speeds up or exits. That seemed like a real cool feature and I am a sucker for gadgets

Unfortunately when I got my Lexus hybrid I took whatever they had on the lot and there weren't any with that feature.

[Robinpdx]

Today I drove down a hill that uses about 2 miles long and drops about 500 feet in altitude. It's in the city of Portland and the speed limit is 35mph so I set my cruise at 35 and selected low gear. I gained 3 miles on the battery. Intestingly when driving back up the hill carefully I didn't use as much as I gained.

I am interested in learning more about sport mode. If I am averaging 35 miles on battery in normal mode, what would that be in sport? Seems sport mode turns my red volt into a red rocket and I am becoming addicted.

[tboult]

Today I drove down a hill that uses about 2 miles long and drops about 500 feet in altitude. It's in the city of Portland and the speed limit is 35mph so I set my cruise at 35 and selected low gear. I gained 3 miles on the battery. Intestingly when driving back up the hill carefully I didn't use as much as I gained.

I am interested in learning more about sport mode. If I am averaging 35 miles on battery in normal mode, what would that be in sport? Seems sport mode turns my red volt into a red rocket and I am becoming addicted.

Sport is just a remapping of the accelerator. It may make you want to punch it more, which would eat a bit of range, or it may actually make you more efficient. It depends on your style handels the more aggressive mapping. But it is more fun ;-)

Unlikely you could climb the hill with less energy than regen (though if temps changed it may seem that way).
The regen is not that efficient.