#192 at one year of driving and 22K miles

[chewy]

here are the stats:

Mileage = 22,395 with 9,518 miles electric
Gallons of gas = 340

Estimated electricity costs = $400
Gallons of gas equivalent (at $4 per gallon) = 100

Overall mpg = 51

kWh/mile (at 10 cents per kWh) = 400/(.10 * 9518) = .42

oil life remaining = 37%


repairs/problems:

< 1K miles - knocking sound in right front from wheel well fasteners
~ 3k miles - master cylinder replaced for leak
~ 5k miles – dead 12V battery, testing done for 4 weeks without definite source, OnStar module replaced, no recurrence
~ 8K miles – replaced 110v charger for bad AC cord strain relief
~ 15k miles – replaced charge port door for false “door open” switch, then had switch for “car present” replaced (could not charge vehicle)


Maintenance:
Tires rotated twice
One nail in tread with leak, patched after tire goo
Replaced front windshield for crack from highway gravel
bought a tire goo refill for the inflator



Overall, I am quite happy with the car. I drive weekly from the SF bay area to Salinas CA (100 miles) and monthly to Fresno CA (360 miles in a day), so my EV usage is not as high as I wish it was. I could not, however, do my drives with an all electric vehicle.

My previous car, a 2003 volvo V40, averaged 25 mpg, so I saved about 440 gallons of gas this year - plus the lower emissions for the EV portion of the driving.

I have chargepoint 220 chargers in berkeley and salinas, and a 220 Voltec unit in the trunk with avcon and several plug adapters for the occasional 220 opportunity. I have charged 220v at Costco in Gilroy, Palo Alto's downtown garage, SFO's garage, 5th/mission garage in SF, the old Sun microsystems building in Menlo Park, and Expresso parking in San Leandro near the OAK airport.

GM has been great on all the repairs and I have been loaned a giant 4 door red Cadillac, a tiny Aveo and a Cobalt.

The car is quiet, has good acceleration (usually I drive in sport mode with L if there is much traffic), and has been reliable since April. The bose sound system is nice, the GPS handy, the onstar helpful.

My first volt advisor, Helen, was fantastic; the technicians at the Salinas and San Leandro shops were quite knowledgeable; and the regional service manager, Aubrey, was very helpful and supportive.

Even though my car had a few issues, I would still buy a Volt today.

50 mpg is great for a 3700 pound car, and I like the styling more than the other hybrids.

here's to a more reliable 2nd year

[ChevyVoltDoug]

Great report. Thanks for sharing your experiences and, yes, here's to an even better 2nd year for your Volt experience!

[Koz]

Nice report, with the good and the bad. Took me a moment to figure out that your overall mpg number is a cost based MPGe number.

[Bob_Livonia]

Here are my stats, after 8 months (Volt #2398):

Mileage = 21,384 with 8,309 miles electric
Gallons of gas = 353
Estimated electricity costs = $320 (fixed $40/month from DTE)
Gallons of gas equivalent (at $4 per gallon) = 80
Overall mpg (lifetime) = 60.5
oil life remaining = 41%
repairs/problems:
< 1K miles – buzzing noise – repositioned A/C line to prevent contact with engine when engine is rotating due to torque (clamp was mis-installed)
~ 6k miles – coolant was about ½ inch below “full cold” mark in reservoir for power electronics. Dealer found and repaired small leak at reservoir outlet (or maybe inlet)
Maintenance:
Tires rotated 3 times
Had software update performed

[Bob_Livonia]

here are the stats:

Mileage = 22,395 with 9,518 miles electric
Gallons of gas = 340


Overall mpg = 51

I'm not trying to be picky, but if the overall MPG of 51 is the lifetime from your center stack, this is based on total miles (not just gas miles) divided by lifetime gallons used. So working back, 22,395 miles divided by 51 miles/gal. = 439 gallons of gas used, not 340.

Likewise, if you take the 12,877 CS (charge sustaining, with engine mostly running) miles (22,395 - 9518) divided by the 439 gallons, you are getting 29.3 MPG in the CS mode. As a comparison, over my 13,075 CS miles, I used 353 gallons, for a CS mileage of 37.0, which is equal to the EPA sticker for gas operation. I think in over 40 years, this is the first time I ever equaled or even got close to the EPA's estimate over that many miles.

But as they say, your mileage may (in fact, will) vary.

Based on what you are saying, if you really have 22,395 miles divided by 340 gallons of gas, that is a lifetime average of 65.9 MPG, which sounds more like it, based on my experience. This would also give you an average of 37.9 MPG while in the CS mode.

[chewy]

I'm not trying to be picky, but if the overall MPG of 51 is the lifetime from your center stack, this is based on total miles (not just gas miles) divided by lifetime gallons used. So working back, 22,395 miles divided by 51 miles/gal. = 439 gallons of gas used, not 340.

Likewise, if you take the 12,877 CS (charge sustaining, with engine mostly running) miles (22,395 - 9518) divided by the 439 gallons, you are getting 29.3 MPG in the CS mode. As a comparison, over my 13,075 CS miles, I used 353 gallons, for a CS mileage of 37.0, which is equal to the EPA sticker for gas operation. I think in over 40 years, this is the first time I ever equaled or even got close to the EPA's estimate over that many miles.

But as they say, your mileage may (in fact, will) vary.

Based on what you are saying, if you really have 22,395 miles divided by 340 gallons of gas, that is a lifetime average of 65.9 MPG, which sounds more like it, based on my experience. This would also give you an average of 37.9 MPG while in the CS mode.

you left out the electricity part. $400 of electricity divided by $4 per gallon equals 100 gallons

340 gallons plus 100 gallons is 440 gallons

22,395 divided by 440 gallons is 51 mpg

the center computer says about 66 mpg, which is assuming that electricity is free

[chewy]

Here are my stats, after 8 months (Volt #2398):

Mileage = 21,384 with 8,309 miles electric
Gallons of gas = 353
Estimated electricity costs = $320 (fixed $40/month from DTE)
Gallons of gas equivalent (at $4 per gallon) = 80
Overall mpg (lifetime) = 60.5
oil life remaining = 41%
repairs/problems:
< 1K miles – buzzing noise – repositioned A/C line to prevent contact with engine when engine is rotating due to torque (clamp was mis-installed)
~ 6k miles – coolant was about ½ inch below “full cold” mark in reservoir for power electronics. Dealer found and repaired small leak at reservoir outlet (or maybe inlet)
Maintenance:
Tires rotated 3 times
Had software update performed

your numbers are very close to mine, both in miles electric and gallons of gas used to date.

if you add the 80 gallons to the 353 gallons, 21384/433, your overall mpg is about 50 also

[tboult]

Nice report, with the good and the bad. Took me a moment to figure out that your overall mpg number is a cost based MPGe number.

Looks more like a computation of Miles Per Gallon Dollar equivalent (MPGD?) rather than an MPGe.. (He did not say his KW, but took the cost of electricity divided by the cost of gas. But CA power must be expensive because for him a guestimating from the miles he is paying 24.5cents per mile for Electricity (I pay about $0.02 per mile). So it seems it works out to be between 50 and 54 MPGe. (depend on his kwr/100m efficiency.. which seems to range from 29-35)

Personally I've been using Miles Per Fuel Dollar, but Mile Per Gallon Dollar Equivalent may be even more understandable to people. (Its better than the EPA's MPEe, which uses an odd energy conversion that people don't understand.) Only issue I see with MPGD is that it is closer to implying it was using gas so the pure EV folks (e.g. leaf) won't like it.

[DonC]

Wow, you guys drive a lot more miles than I'm used to. I can see why a lot of people don't think a BEV would work for them. It's great to see how everyone is faring after a year. Nice.

I think the Miles Per Gallon Dollar (MPGd) is not that useful. Probably better to take the EPA route and just list the MPG in CS Mode and the kW/100 miles in CD Mode. Truthfully though when someone asks what MPG I get I use total miles divided by number of gallons consumed. In this case that would be something around 66.

[Bob_Livonia]

Wow, you guys drive a lot more miles than I'm used to. I can see why a lot of people don't think a BEV would work for them. It's great to see how everyone is faring after a year. Nice.

I think the Miles Per Gallon Dollar (MPGd) is not that useful. Probably better to take the EPA route and just list the MPG in CS Mode and the kW/100 miles in CD Mode. Truthfully though when someone asks what MPG I get I use total miles divided by number of gallons consumed. In this case that would be something around 66.

Gasoline prices are down (at least for now) and electricity prices are going up for many reasons, including environmental regulation and the mandating of green energy sources, which are marginally more costly than conventional power.

However, if you took the miles per dollar route, you would have to add in the entire cost of the vehicle ownership over its lifetime, and I'm not ready to go there. Someone paying $33,000 for a car? (After tax rebate). Horrors - imagine that!