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An Open Letter from Volt Owners: “Why are Chevy Volt Owners Keeping Their Keys?”

45K views 58 replies 49 participants last post by  jljeeper 
#1 ·
To Whom It May Concern:

In light of the recent news stories in the press concerning the Chevy Volt, the Volt owners would like to set the record straight.

We are keeping the keys to our Volt. We love our Volt and we feel safe driving our Volt.

We have done our homework and we know that we know that there is no other car that offers all the advantages of a Volt. We take pleasure in the smooth driving experience. We get a thrill from the high torque performance. We feel at ease in its comfortable elegance. Perhaps most of all, we love the convenience and affordability of driving on electricity everyday and having the option of a back-up gas generator for long distances. This is the beauty of extended-range electric drive – it’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s the future that’s available today.

Volt owners are glad that NHTSA, GM, and other manufacturers have developed protocols to handle electric cars in a variety of circumstances. This is standard procedure with gas-powered cars and trucks as well. Just as it is necessary to empty a gas tank after a major impact, it is necessary to deplete a battery after a major impact. This is a simple and straightforward process and Volt owners feel assured knowing that government and industry is working together to ensure this technology succeeds for us as consumers and citizens.

Lastly, we encourage every driver in this country to test drive a plug-in electric car for him or herself. There is only one way to really know the electric car experience – and that is to drive one.

We are leading the way for a new movement in America – a movement to bring the joy back in driving, save money, and invest in our future. We look forward to you joining us.

Sincerely,

Chevy Volt Drivers
 
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#2 ·
As a general rule -- always speak for yourself.

I'm still trying to figure out what all this means to me personally. There are probably only about 60 Volt owners actively expressing their thoughts day to day on this board, so don't tell me every Volt owner's stance is represented here and I am the only one that deviates.

There's a lot of aspects about this whole situation that many have clearly not thought through. I personally currently have over $50K invested in this car, and that's a lot of money which doesn't even begin to account for the safety of my passengers and me.
 
#4 ·
Voltage692,

Please.... you have to be kidding. If you are afraid of this nonsense then be afraid to drive at all!!!

The only people that should be concerned about this test are the body shops that store the vehicle for repair where it may sit for a while after an accident.

Would you place a ICE in a garage after it was hit and it was leaking gas?????
 
#5 ·
We don't have ALL the facts yet. I know what we have been told so far, but I also know that Akerson said in an video interview that there are "concerns" GM had with the results that they share with the NHTSA that need to be addressed. However, he failed to elaborate on those "concerns."

So you better be kidding me or you're kidding yourself to have made your final decision without the all the facts.
 
#7 ·
I have to telepath Ackerson on this, but his "concerns" remark tied in with his remark about the pack being breached 5" or whatever it was and we have to think that they are looking deeper into "impact issues" where cells or packs are punctured/breached/bent/shorted/etc. Definitely no concerns on day to day regular usage. I think they want to make sure that any accident that leads to a pack being breached does not cause any excess risk beyond a normal ICE experience.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the speculation, but you do know what it's worth to me and this discussion, don't you?
 
#8 ·
Based on what I know, I am not concerned. That could change upon new information.

Remember a few years ago, when people were burning down gas stations by filling gas cans in the plastic liner bed of pickups, or by getting in and out of their car while refueling? Static electricity was sparking the gas fumes. It made the news, people where told to discharge body static by touching the metal gas pump housing. Notice the no smoking signs posted around gas pumps? There are a bunch of safety issues we deal with when it comes to gasoline. Never had them with horses!

So if electric cars need to have their batteries discharged and analyzed after a crash, it's just more of the same in my opinion. It's just that people have come to expect and understand gas as flammable. They have come to treat it with some caution. Electric batteries are new, that's all.
 
#34 ·
There are a bunch of safety issues we deal with when it comes to gasoline. Never had them with horses!

Never stand behind a horse unless you know its characteristics~!
 
#11 ·
Voltage692,
I am really surprised by your response. Do you really feel unsafe in your Volt?
If so, please give it to me. I have no doubt that car is safe, unless you rolled recently.
It which case, I would do what GM stated, and continue on.
Sounds like you either didn't think your response through,
or you're afraid of your own shadow.
 
#14 ·
Just read and comprehend the posts. Your answers are there clearly. People don't read well these days.
 
#13 ·
A little cool-off time might be appropriate here...

I'll speak only for myself and my wife: Based on what we've read so far, we feel quite comfortable continuing to drive our Volt every day. Obviously as new information becomes available, we'll evaluate it and consider whether it affects our opinion about the safety of the car.
 
#15 ·
I remain firmly planted in the view of wanting to wait and see what the results of the investigation show.

That said, I will continue to drive the Volt. I also don't believe we have evidence that the car poses an undue risk.

But when the results are in, I might have a basis for getting out of the "middle of the road.":cool:
 
#16 ·
I myself am not concerned at all. In this latest report it took three weeks for the fire to start after a significant collision test. I for one don't plan on demolishing my Volt and sit in it for 3 weeks or keep on the premises of my home for that matter.

The car has been in 2 home fires that I recall which the Volt was not the cause and there was no breach to the battery that I remember reading about.

We have seen 2 significant car crashes with 2 Volt owners on this forum with no report of the vehicle catching fire.

All of this doesn't make me any more concerned about the Volt then I was with the gas guzzlers that I've driven. And how many car fires have we've seen on the side of the road? I know I've seen several in the past few years.

Now if the Volt was a Pinto then I might be concerned. :)
 
#22 ·
Jeffvolt349,
Agree 100%, well put on all accounts. You can add me to your "we" above. After doing homework on the car prior to purchase (and now on the post-crash issues known at this point), I have found the facts to show this is a very safe vehicle. And it meets or exceeds in most aspects the Acura TL that I traded in, which was priced about the same (with the added bonus that my fuel expenses, after accounting for electricity, have dropped substantially). If there is a Volt owner still driving their vehicle after a major accident, I understand their concerns until the investigation is completed. But I would assume there are not many that would be driveable after the level of damage inflicted in these tests.
I have been impressed by GM's over-the-top offers for customer satisfaction, but I'm not all that surprised because it is in-line with what I've experienced as a Volt owner so far. I hope this is a reflection of GM's new outlook on customer service. If so, I think they will win a number of new customers (like me).
And you're right that actual hands-on experience is the key. With such a different type of car, it is hard for people to understand and believe the performance and quality until they actually drive it. I was skeptical at first glance, but they really did a great job on this one.

Eric
Volt # 6038
 
#23 ·
I have to put my name in the column for "feeling safe in my Volt".
We now have almost 10,000 safe, trouble free miles between the two and the only thing I would connsider giving one up for is a Cadillac ELR. (I am on the list for one).
2011-02499 White "EPOWER"
2012-00444 Red "GO EV"
 
#25 ·
count me in as part of "we". All I can say again is: From my cold dead hand! my keys are staying right here where they belong!
 
#26 ·
Let us not forget that there are powerful interests that would love to see this story, and the negative PR it creates, get as much traction as possible. I had lunch with a friend today and told him I had recently purchased a Volt and he looked at me with this "Are you crazy?" look. There is a global industry that is made wealthly by keeping our noisy, dirty, polluting, foreign-oil-dependent technology on the road. If it is their goal to fan the flame of this story as much as possible and scare the uninformed public away from battery technology, they are succeeding my friends.

Pick up a copy of "Internal Combustion" by Edwin Black. At the turn of the last century there were more electric vehicles on the road than ICE powered. Why then, did we choose this path away from clean, quiet vehicles powered by renewable energy? To take a line from Hal Holbrook in All the President's Men, "Follow the money." If you think it is more complicated than that you're mistaken.
 
#30 ·
Amen. I suggest every Volk owner see the documentary, A Crude Awakening, on the frightening problems the world will face as oil supplies steadily diminish. The are many special interests that don't want the Volt or other EVs to succeed and they will jump on stories like the battery fire. How many gasoline fires resulting from car crashes are reported by the media today? None, but they happen all the time, with far worse consequences that this battery fire.

I think the battery fire story is much ado about nothing. I've read all of the facts and I'm not the least bit concerned. This has been blown way of proportion and the story deserves none of the attention it's received.

I'm part of the We's
 
#27 ·
I have to say that my wife was really concerned after hearing what was reported in the news.

We sat down and went over what has happened so far. I had her read several reports about how the tests were done. I also told her that with a five star crash rating, I have no problem with the Volt's design at this time. I mentioned that if we were in the car, and it had a crash as bad as the test, we would most likely be dead anyway, so a fire three weeks after the crash would be the least of our problems....

She asked what I thought was going to happen. I told her I thought the worst case was a re-design of the Volt's battery case or cooling system and a re-call to install it. Or maybe to install an auto battery discharge system, if the air bags deploy.

After hearing all the facts, her response was:

GM wasted the money to send out over 6000 Fed Ex letters for this????

This is from a very non-technical, non-car person after getting more information than a 45 second news flash.........

C-5277 - Which we will still be driving regularly!
 
#29 ·
I have to say that my wife was really concerned after hearing what was reported in the news.
....
After hearing all the facts, her response was:

GM wasted the money to send out over 6000 Fed Ex letters for this????
...
Exactly what my wife said..
 
#28 ·
I signed on as one of the original "we". I accept that the battery is largest I've ever had in a vehicle, and I accept the risks. I think those risks are very very low when operated and charged under GM's instructions. In case of an accident, all bets are off, as in any other power source. If the battery was damaged in any way, I'd have it discharged and changed out immediately. If the issue was a punctured fuel tank, would the media excitement be as great?

Volt 63
 
#31 · (Edited)
#32 ·
I agree with Jeffvolt349 and he (and we) can even include me among the we. I have no intention of turning in my Volt based on the current information we have.

I agree with voltage692. I think there's a great deal more research and information to be discovered and distributed, and the phrase above "I have no intention of turning" does not equal "I will never turn". The Volt is a significant amount of cash for my wife and I to be tying up in a car. If some aspect of the current situation, or some new yet unknown situation about the Volt is discovered or disclosed, we will of course re-evaluate our ownership position based on that new information.

I agree with Steverino. I'm not concerned about the Volt's safety. At the moment I have several far more likely ways for me to die in fairly short order, compared to any such chances in the Volt. Given the Volt's general safety compared to most cars, I feel my chances of dying or coming to great harm in my Volt are significantly less than most (if not the great majority) of other automobile options out there. And that could change with new information. I don't believe it will, but if GM finds an issue they think needs to be fixed, I certainly won't turn down a Volt 1.5 battery pack!

I agree with mustardman. If you (the generic "you") are concerned about your Volt, then either learn more about the issue or sell it. If you're really concerned but don't have the time or knowledge of a frame of reference in which to evaluate the information out there (or is likely to further be discovered), then you should sell your Volt to help set your mind at ease. If you do, please sell it to an informed new owner (otherwise you're just packing the tranny with sawdust, and that's beyond dishonest). Don't sit around kvetching.

My general sense of GM's response is that they're trying to handle this as best as they're able, in a short timeframe concerning a rapidly evolving story. And I think they're doing a really crappy job of story telling wrapped around what appears to be a really strong commitment to their customers and their car. But the media story is evolving faster than they can answer to it, and it's making them look rather inept. I know if I were thrust in such a situation I would *not* look rather inept. I'd look totally inept!

My long and the short of it?

I'll not change anything of my ownership experience until I hear a good reason to do so. And I haven't.
 
#33 ·
Count me among the "we" in the original post.
 
#35 ·
I'm in the keep column.

While driving home today I happened on a traffic report on the radio: "engulfed in flames on the center divide" was all I caught before reflex had me punching the channel changer again. No news stories about that on the nightly news, just another ICE self immolating, as usual.
 
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