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Should the Volt ship with the cabin air filter installed?

Should the Volt Ship with a cabin air filter?

72K views 161 replies 81 participants last post by  nedfunnell 
#1 ·
As many people have discovered... The Volt has a cabin air filter holder behind the glove compartment. Unfortunately Chevy does not include the filters as standard equipment. Do you think the Volt should ship with the cabin air filter installed as a standard option. (Like most other vehicles?)
 
#49 ·
Solarwind, the cabin filter info was not put in the owners manual. The part number is AC/Delco number CF181, GM number 13271190.
 
#52 ·
It was very easy. Just move the seat back.

Because I waited 2 months to add the filter I found it necessary to up the fan speed one notch to make the air blowing in my face feel the same. I find you drive with the windows up more on the volt than other cars.
 
#53 ·
Yes but like many Corvette accessories it should then be up to the owner to have the dealer install it. So far I'm not missing it and had no one mentioned it I probably wouldn't have picked up on that.

But it's good to know you can easily install one. Here's the YouTube video on how to install it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vqLM4fvPi8

Tom
 
#56 ·
Looks like the WIX 24191 charcoal impregnated filter will work. I found a post in the 2011 archive:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-10427.html

Here's a link to WIX:
http://www.wixfilters.com/productinformation/gff_cabinairfilters.html

The TYC carbon filters are $14 on ebay [it stated it was a private post, but the URL was still live as of 5.12.12 and is contained in the GM-volt thread above] and I'm not sure of how the loading effects of the WIX or TYC compare. I'm willing to take a hit on the system in exchange for good air filtration.
 
#58 ·
Amazon says the right filter for the Volt is the 800149C, which it calls a "Buick Lacrosse Replacement Cabin Air Filter".

Red Volt installed this filter back in December and said it fit fine.

The advantage is that the price is about a dollar less ($14.63), and it will ship for free under my Amazon Prime account, while the CF176 adds a $5 shipping fee.

But the CF176 is made by ACDelco, while the 800149C is made by "TYC", whoever they are. It might be worth the extra $6 to get the genuine GM version.
 
#61 ·
The GM filter I got from my Chevy dealer was way less than $100, more like $20! It does not have the carbon layer added to it, and the difference in airflow restriction between the filter and no filter is barely noticeable. As I stated a year ago, it actually makes the fan noise a little bit more quiet too.
 
#63 ·
For all you hay fever sufferers: If you would like your climate control system to help you, be sure to run the A/C: The moisture on the Evaporator core acts as a pretty decent filter for pollen and dust. I'm a fellow sufferer, so I speak from experience. Works in any car, not just Volts!
 
#66 ·
no allergies here, but the Prius got a good bit of marketing mileage out of having one, and I've no idea why Chevy didn't include one. It would cost them 75 cents or something ridiculous like that...
 
#68 ·
Yep range .
as I had to bump the fan setting up one notch to get the same air flow.
That activated charcoal filter sucked the new car smell out in less then two days.
 
#70 ·
the filter hasn't hurt my car in the slightest. all that dust that kept settling all over the interior has almost stopped. i use a swiffer with a handle to dust the dash and i don't have to do that near as often, it's much better now. it's not a charcoal filter, it's p/n 13271190 and it also fits the cruze, sonic and no telling what else..
 
#71 ·
We have a great store here in Boise called Filter Factory Outlet Store that builds HVAC filters from quality components for very low prices. I called them yesterday and they made me 2 carbon filters that fit my Volt perfectly for a total of $10.60! They aren't tightly pleated like the OEM or WIX filters but the media is black carbon foam which will remove a lot of volatile contaminants and dust while at the same time will not be as restrictive to air flow. When I installed the filter I ran my finger over the inside of the air box and my finger came out with a very dark coating of dirt. I only have about 1000 miles on the car & wish I had put one in sooner! I didn't notice any change in the force of the blower. I'll check it in a few months to see if it looks to be loading up and report back.
 
#72 ·
Sounds like a great deal, for sure. I would only add that the pleats are there for a reason - they increase the surface area, and crud goes to the "valleys" while the "peaks" stay clean and functional.

I'll be interested to hear your findings!
 
#74 ·
@Fulgerite,

Excellent data! Thanks for the "crawling around" and work with the Fluke. I owe you a beer. I plan to poke around in mine and see what kind of voltage is getting to the motor. Blowers in the field are usually down about 1.5 volts from what’s measured at the battery terminals – with such high amp draw there’s a fair bit of loss in the wiring (which is why, for YEARS, GM used a high-blower relay across the board – it was the only way to get the needed power to their hungry blowers).

18.4 A, eh? That's VERY low these days -- well below the industry average, but not altogether unreasonable considering there are no rear A/C ducts in the Volt.

So here’s the problem: At 18 amps, the blower would already be one of the lowest-powered blowers (if not THE lowest) to come out of GM. That blower motor already has very little to give in terms of power and airflow (for a four-door), so adding the filter only makes a marginal HVAC system worse, and a filter restricts the airflow exactly where you need it: at the max setting, where airflow loss cannot be compensated by raising the blower speed another notch. So… this means the AC pulldown (what the layman calls cool down) times go up – by a lot. Same with heating times in the winter. To minimize the pulldown time to a steady-state, the system needs all the max blower it can get. The difference is great enough that a system running one speed below max may never reach steady state operation.

The number one way to increase A/C (or heater) performance in a car’s HVAC system is to increase the airflow. It’s what the engineers work on first to maximize in any system, and it’s also the least costly in terms of the power budget – adding A/C or heating capacity takes more e-power than adding airflow – up to a point. The ductwork, registers, and noise level are limiting factors, as is blower efficiency – if you measure airflow against amps, it’s pretty clear the blower is starting to lose efficiency if you move close to or much beyond the max setting. So, the 2A you measured will be much greater at the higher end of air flow -- to make up the difference between max and max+ filter, you'll need a lot more than 2A, and that's just part of the difference.

So here’s what happens when you restrict the airflow: You make the system work longer at higher heating or cooling settings, in two ways: (1) more amps for less airflow, and (2) higher duty cycle (more amps) on the PWM compressor / PTC heater than if they had higher airflow and reached steady-state / setpoint sooner. Out of those three loads, the blower is the smallest, the heater the largest.

Plot all these loads against time, and the net system energy used to reach steady-state (comfort or set-point) with any kind of air restriction is greater than without the restriction. Again, the best way to increase system efficiency is by increasing the airflow; the best way to harm efficiency is by restricting it.

Most of the above is moot if you don’t care about warm up or pulldown performance, of if you’re operating in a lower energy steady state – the efficiency losses are small. However, GM DOES care about heater and A/C performance at extreme temperatures, AND the impact on the Volt’s energy budget. Likewise, I agree with your math completely, provided the A/C and heater never run, and you're not trying to replace max blower airflow, but even then there’s a measurable impact on range (see below).

On an ICE vehicle, the math is the same but two key (okay, three, really) factors drop out of the equation: Power to the heater core is pretty much unlimited; power to the A/C compressor and blower are not free but pretty damn close. Answer? Put in the filter, and crank up the blower settings to compensate, go to lunch early. Done. And that’s exactly what GM has done on pretty much every other car. On the Volt, EPA testing for e-mileage and range require that the climate control be running (no cheating, boys!), so the effect on advertised and actual range factors in directly. On a cold winter day, the Volt will use as much power to heat the vehicle as it does to drive the car at a steady speed (exact speed I don’t know, but this is a public GM statement). Mess with the system by 10% energy and you now have a real impact on range.

So, while you think you’re only adding a few additional amps to the system, the rest of the HVAC system has to run longer to compensate, particularly on very hot or very cold days, where the system is already operating at it’s greatest power levels. Think of it this way: Running A/C or heat at max, vs say 75%, for even 5 or 10 minutes can put a big dent in the energy budget when compressor (or PTC) + blower loads are considered.

Let’s look at some numbers: use your 18A. Multiply x 14V* and you have 252 watts. Run that for an hour (vs off) and you have .25 kWh, or 2.5% of the Volts total range – and that’s not even considering the rest of the HVAC loads. Stretch that out to a 3-hour drive on a single charge (stop and go), and you’ve reduced the vehicles range by 7.5% by having max blower vs none – on just the FAN ONLY mode. Running the blower at full-load vs. half load over three hours will still affect the range by more than 3.5% on a three hour drive, and none of these numbers are even considering the longer A/C or heat system loads – where the power is REALLY consumed.

For those who still think that number doesn’t matter, it’s MORE THAN ENOUGH to make the difference that currently exists between the Focus EV and the Volt’s e-mileage – allowing the Ford to claim “more efficient / higher mileage than the Volt.”

So, with the Volt needing to be suitable for all-season use, the air filter didn’t make the cut. The air filter was not left out because GM doesn’t care about its customers --- they do. It’s not because they are evil – they are not. It’s not because they are incompetent – they are not. It’s because there is a fine balancing act between range (real and advertised), A/C performance, heater performance, and customer acceptance, and GM made a (mostly) engineering-based decision.

Finally: I see that Fulgerite lives in LA, land of the absolute perfect North American climate (lucky dog!). Because of that simple fact, the A/C and heater in the Volt are not taxed anywhere nearly as heavily as my beloved Michigan (ESPECIALLY the heater, the greatest load of all…), so this is one region, especially given the notoriously bad air, one would have to conclude that the filter makes outstanding good sense. :eek:

Why can’t GM offer a filter as a “factory” option? If they did, it would have to figure in their EPA testing, so we’re back to square one…

Hope this long and rambling post helps!

*14V is delivered by the battery; the blower sees a bit less. Since we’re talking about what goes into the blower system overall, we have to use 14V.
 
#79 · (Edited)
@Fulgerite,


So here’s what happens when you restrict the airflow: You make the system work longer at higher heating or cooling settings, in two ways: (1) more amps for less airflow, and (2) higher duty cycle (more amps) on the PWM compressor / PTC heater than if they had higher airflow and reached steady-state / setpoint sooner. Out of those three loads, the blower is the smallest, the heater the largest.
Um... You miss them point where most people will increase the fan speed 1 click to get back UP to the SAME volume (CFM) of air so the duty cycle is not really affected at all. You end up having the same volume of air flowing over the evap at all settings up to 100%. At the 100% setting you would indeed have more airflow without the filter. But I seldom run my AC at 100%. (Far Too noisy.) At most fan settings between 25% and 75% you are just using slightly more blower current. (About 2 amps worth.) To maintain the same CFM as without the filter.

Again: Duty cycle is NOT affected because users will select a slightly higher fan speed to maintain exactly the SAME CFM over the evap or heater core.

As I said... I would NEVER run my AC at 100% for three hours. Now I will maintain at settings from 25% to 75% the amount of extra fan current required to maintain the same CFM output is about 2 amps. 2 amps x 14V is about 28 watts.

We are talking about an added 28 watts at 14 volts. Or 24 watts at 12 volts.

I still maintain it does NOT affect range significantly. (Practically unmeasurable.)
 
#76 ·
An included filter would be forgotten about or never looked at so as it got dirtier and dirtier the air flow would get worse and worse. Bad all around (performance of air system, perception of ignorant (lacking knowledge) owners, bad post, etc, etc).

Concerned owners with air/pollen issues can add them cheap and THESE folks will replace them regularly!! So it makes sense to me that GM lets the affected/concerned owners handle it.

Certainly efficiency of the Volt is a lot more sensitive than other cars. I still think GM handled not including it well. Documenting it for the concerned owners ... not so much it seems.
 
#77 ·
My filter should be arriving from Amazon today, so you know how I voted. Thanks to all who posted useful information about which filters fit!
 
#80 ·
More filter thoughts:

Apparently the German version of the Volt (referring specifically to the Volt, not the Ampera) AND the Ampera include the CAF standard. Our new forum member, german-volt2012, confirms...

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread...an-Volt-Owner/page2&highlight=german-volt2012

Interesting, yes? Some possible factors...

1. It has been a while, but the last Euro certification vehicles I worked on did NOT require the climate control to be run for the test. If still true, then no range influence. I note also that the Ampera claims "up to 83 km (51.6 miles). Yes, yes, I know some of you have done that, but it's at the extreme high end of what's capable. Certainly not while running A/C Comfort. Either way, more than GM USA claims for the Volt (EPA-estimated 35 miles is the official word).

2. The Opel web site brags about "standard air filters in all vehicles." The Ampera is not specifically mentioned, but hey, there it is! A legacy customer expectation. Note that CAF's started in Europe / Japan, as much as anything because air is nastier (Rome, anybody?) and vehicles had a much lower A/C installation rate, so no filtering possible via the evap core (see my earlier posts).

http://www.opel.de/besitzer/wartung/saisonale-checks.html

3. Americans are MUCH pickier about A/C and heater performance, AND we have much greater temperature extremes. Heck, it's why the Germans do much of their HVAC and engine cooling testing in the US.

4. There are certain US FMVSS standards for HVAC (defrost) that the Volt, I suspect, may struggle to meet if otherwise burdened. Germany not so much...
 
#81 · (Edited)
Seriously, an LA driver claiming changes to the climate control system have a negligible effect? We should leave this discussion up to guys in places like Nome AK, or even Atlanta for that matter. Seriously?


If I lived in a place where winter dropped my range from 51 miles AER to 22, I might look at this a little differently. Do the right thing and recuse yourself, Southern Californians, enjoy the beach, enjoy the mountains, come up to the High Desert and enjoy the windblown dust in your teeth, just opt out :)
 
#82 · (Edited)
Speaking of survey bias I will overstay my warm welcome, self prescribed limits and not take my own advice by saying. How about a third poll choice reading: GM did this exactly right by providing the Volt driver with the format to retain the cars designed efficiency and allow drivers to configure an air filter to meet their specific needs.
 
#83 ·
Been thinking about the information (Fulgerite posted) about fan speed.

When I first added the filter I did push up the setting for fan only use to get the same "wind in the face"
BUT after time I just used one of the AUTO -settings- let the system select and up-down the speed.

The extra time to reach the cab temperature set point can't be much longer but the back pressure loading on the fan might be a small factor.

If we don't over ride the fan speed when we the different filters -that data would be interesting to have.
 
#84 ·
In A/C mode: With the filter, what you automatic system is sensing is similar to increased sunload on the vehicle; it's increasing both fan speed and duty cycle on the compressor to compensate. Range and mileage are reduced, but if you're not range limited then no biggie.

The closer the ambient temp is to a set point around 72 - 75 or so, the less the effect from the filter -- although there is still some measurable effect. Conversely, the more you have a need to use either full heat or full cool, the more the airflow matters on time-to-comfort and total energy consumed to get to that point.

A good rule of thumb -- remember I used to do this for a living -- Up to 25% longer to reach a given comfort level when dropping the blower speed by one setting (either on a full heat or full A/C test).

So parasitic draw is always higher, and both heating and cooling performance are reduced. When you only have 10.4 kWh to start with, it makes a difference.

Check out my post on blower speed only effects on range and EPA rating.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread...-Range-Likely-Why-There-s-No-Cabin-Air-Filter
 
#85 ·
I know I may cut the useful electric range, but considering that I have only used 3/10ths of a gallon of gas since Thanksgiving (in the 2012) I think I can survive the drop. Yesterday I put the filter in each one of the Volts. I did notice a lower "air speed" coming out of the vents with the fan setting that had been there before.
Question: is there a way to adjust the default fan speed when you select "auto" for the climate setting?
 
#88 ·
If you're plugged in then you can cool pre-cool and not use the battery. Pre-heating needs to be on 220V IIRC or it will draw.

I guess I'll post my feelings on the filter. I've seen what happens to cars that run for years without filters - yuck and lots of condenser cleaning required. And, I've seen filters that have never been changed - yuck and poor efficiency. I think it should be a checklist item and the dealer should add it gratis (or they could ask for $10 ;) ) with a sale if the customer requests it.
 
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