My Volt is in for the battery enhancement etc.

[BryCola]

I took mine in this past Friday morning, and had it back Saturday afternoon. They gave me an Impala to drive. It was ok, but sure did miss my Volt. When I got my Volt back, my clock was wrong...which I understand because they had to disconnect the battery. But why didn't I lose my radio presets?

[WopOnTour]

Brought mine into my Volt-authorized dealer (Dueck Downtown, Vancouver) last Thursday mid-afternoon to get the battery reinforcement, airbag update and new EVSE all at once. Got it back at the end of the next day. I've driven it for two full days since then.

I was told when dropping it off that part of the process involved fully discharging the high voltage battery before removal, then fully recharging it after re-installation.

The battery was about 25% below a full charge when I picked it up; I imagine that's because they had to road test it before returning it to me. (I certainly don't hold that against the dealership considering how quickly I got my Volt back.)

I have to say I'm very happy with their work so far. The vehicle drives exactly the same, and all my settings and stats seem to have been retained. There are no new quirks that I've noticed.

I'm actually getting a slightly better range now than I was before getting the updates done (61km on full charge today vs. 57 when I dropped it off, a bit more than 2 miles difference) - although my range has been trending consistently upward since a month ago when I started driving almost exclusively with 'Fan Only' Climate setting - my average range before that, using the 'Eco' Climate setting, hovered between 40-46km.

I didn't ask the dealership how many other Volts they'd worked on before mine, although I know they have 3 Volt-certified mechanics on site and seem to be committed to the technology since they've just finished installing two Level 2 Voltec EVSEs there as well. (In fact, they went out of their way to mention that they're available to Volt owners any time they're in the neighborhood!) They're also one of the few local dealerships authorized to work on Volts, so I find it encouraging that they seem to be serious about maintaining them as well as selling them.

There is no reason to discharge the battery before removing it. Not sure who told you that but it is totally false.
The high voltage battery is just "disabled" before removal.The disabling process merely prevents high voltage from leaving the battery via the cables. During the enhancement procedure the battery box remains sealed, out of the way, and is never opened up. However a set of 4 new crush limiting washers are installed on specific points of the battery box (with additional clearance for some new fasteners) before battery reinstallation.

However they do instruct the dealership to fill the fuel tank, wash the vehicle, and fully charge the battery before returning to the owner.

Since you are in Canada and have a 2012 model Volt any improvement you may observe in EV range after the software update is likely coincidental and has nothing to do with anything done (in that respect) as the changes to the software are simply are to add the new battery coolant level sensor input. So your improvements are more likely due to "good timing" local weather improvements recently occuring in your area
(or any of the three "T"s - temperature, terrain, technique, that varies from your previous norms)

If you own an earlier 2011 Volt and had NOT had any previouly released software updates, (ie customer satisfaction campaign) then there is a very good chance EV range could actually be decreased temporarily after the latest software packages installed as part of this enhancement process. This is because theVolt's range estimation algorithm is "reset" as part of those particular "major" updates.

However after driving the car for 10-15 discahrge-charge cycles the range will return to somewhere very near your previosu range estimations (again, dependant on seasonal conditions) .
Don't worry IT WILL!
We have an earlier thread where this temporary drop in indicated range was discussed at length.
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....oftware-Update
I suggest people review it before they go all "Chicken Little" lol


HTH
WopOnTour

[gaulfinger]

Patronus went to Chuck Hutton in Memphis on Monday. They have been very professional, courteous, and well trained on Volt-ism. In fact another Volt pulled into the service lane while I was there - the owner of the dealership! That's a good endorsement for a dealer that's enthusiastic about the technology.

My loaner car is a Malibu - seemed nice at first - for an ICE car. The more I drive it, the more I miss my Volt! It should be ready tomorrow.

[detroitsongbird]

I had mine done Monday. Got it back Tuesday. They gave me an Aveo rental. Wow, what a crappy car. Loud, jerky shifting, no cup holder, really nothing nice about it at all. I sure hope it's a very cheap car that goods good gas mileage, otherwise I don't see why anyone would buy it.

[fishhawk]

I had mine done Monday. Got it back Tuesday. They gave me an Aveo rental. Wow, what a crappy car. Loud, jerky shifting, no cup holder, really nothing nice about it at all. I sure hope it's a very cheap car that goods good gas mileage, otherwise I don't see why anyone would buy it.

See if you can get something else. maybe they have a Cruze, which is a much better car. I had an Aveo for 2 days, and no, it did not get very good gas mileage.

[ari_c]

I am planning to get mine done in a few weeks when I bring it in to get the tires rotated.

I am going to request that they DO NOT fill the tank. I've had mine for 4 months and only used 1/2 tank. Most of that in the first two months. Why carry around the extra weight anyway?

[fishhawk]

I am going to request that they DO NOT fill the tank.

Each to his own. Frankly, I'm not sure the weight makes that much difference. For me, I want to see it filled. At $4+/gallon, and the fact that it looks like I will have to drive a gas car for a week, I want to get this as expense-neutral to me as possible.

[Fulgerite]

I took my Volt in Yesterday. The dealer arranged for an Enterprise car rental. They gave me a horrible Chevy Aveo. The Aveo has 42K on it and everything is falling apart. The driver's arm rest is falling off. The glove compartment keeps falling open. The rear bumper cover is loose & falling off. The engine is amazingly loud without producing any acceleration. The shifting is rough. The brakes grab. I am glad that Chevy stopped making the Aveo. I hope the Sonic is better. I miss my Volt.

[fishhawk]

Mentioned this in another thread. Just got my Volt back after the battery structural enhancements, airbag, and charge cord replacement. They also replaced the master cylinder cap (leaking), checked for other leaks, and ordered a new rear emblem (bubbling underneath). While the car was returned fully charged, they did not top off the gas tank. I asked them to, but they said they never heard of topping off the tank and was not something they did. This was as Don Hewlett in Georgetown TX.

To their credit, they nicely detailed the outside of the car, gave me a 2012 Cruze with 1500 miles as a loaner, and kept me updated. My service advisor also said they would send their mobile unit out to fix the emblem once it comes in (no need to return to the dealer). He also said he would follow up on the gas top off issue, and let me know what he finds out.

[2BeLivingGreen]

The dealer called me and I am going to be taking mine in next week. I previously did talk to the dealer and the service person told me that they were going to practice on their own demo VOLT ones before they did any customers. So they have done their cars and they are now ready as they have the procedure down. So I did confirm about the charger replacement too and they have ordered that part too. So in one visit I should be able to get everything taken care of. I did mention that I needed a replacement vehicle and they said no problem that they will have one for me to use. So I did not mind the wait of almost two weeks for them to feel as they are ready to exceed a customer's expectations.

I will provide an update afterwards on my hopeful success. I am also interested in seeing if they fill up my tank with gas as some mentioned here. It is nice that my update is after Easter as I used some gas to drive across the state that weekend and my tank has something a little less than 2 gallons in it.