101 miles on battery in one day. Some ICE MPG info. Good times.

[Brian Loves Cars]

Yesterday, for the first time, I cracked 100 miles on the battery in a single day. It was a long day. My parents were in town to visit so I took their Caddy in for maintenance, took my mom shopping half the afternoon, kids to and from school, back to the Caddy dealership to pick up the car, shoved a broken lawnmower in the thing and took it for service, etc etc etc.

Plugged it in every time it wasn't being driven, and took off at 9pm last night with 85% of a charge, got 39 miles off of that on the highway, wound up with a total of 101 miles on grid power for the day. 20.1 kWh consumed. After that I got 44.5 mpg on the gas motor for 141 miles.

Some interesting notes on the ICE performance during this drive:

-141 miles of highway, broken up with occasional trips through various towns, where speeds would slow to 30-55mph.
-the car went into battery power only when slowing below 60mph. it accelerated up to 60mph on battery power on various occasions, and always, above 60mph, engaged the ICE
-you can control when the car goes into battery mode by staying at 60+ indicated mph, thereby allowing you to save the battery for the lower speed trips through towns. The ICE apparently engages at or above 60mph all the time.
-you can probably boost your trip average mpg by a few tenths by keeping speeds very low over the last leg through a city, as the ICE won't apparently engage below 20-25mph, so for the last mile of neighborhood traffic with stop signs every block, if you just limp and coast, you can avoid kicking the ICE in.

I completely withdraw a complaint I made a couple months ago about the seats. Maybe the drivers seat has broken in a little bit, but it was awesome for this (and my last few) trips. No discomfort, no fidgeting, nothing.

Overall to get from one of my homes to the other I used 3.17 gallons of gas. My all time low for this (with a pretty good tailwind) was just under 3, my average is about 3.5. Wind conditions were average (mild crosswind).

In and among all of that, I even found time to beat on my sports cars a little bit. My mom suggested that I trade my Ferrari in on a Cadillac, after I drove her to the sewing store in it, saying "Brian, this car is cute, but to be honest the Cadillac rides quite a bit better, and its quieter too, maybe you could trade it off on a Cadillac when you drop dad off to pick up ours". Mom doesn't really get sports cars, lol. The Fezza used roughly as much gas on that 25 mile round tirp as the Volt did for 242 miles yesterday.

And, speaking of my parents, my fetish for high mileage vehicles began when they bought an Oldsmobile Diesel powered car (the old Olds 5.7L diesel) 25 years ago or so. It got low 30s, our previous 70's era boat got like 12, and I was immediately fascinated by hihg MPG machines. I read about that engine the other day, and learned it was one of histories least reliable. Our families car was sold off with 345,000 miles. I guess Dad got a good copy of that engine...

As for high MPG machines, my Volt is now at 90+ lifetime MPG, up from a low of 77 (when I was still learning the car) a couple months ago. I will be over 100mpg lifetime by mid summer, and I am at bout 107mpg for the last 3000 miles. And I have to drive long highway trips at minimum of once a week.

There isn't any other car in existence that could do all of this. Ever.

This is, in my simple and relatively valueless opinion, the best car I have ever had. Quiet, fun to drive, pretty, comfortable, cheap, useful, 100+ mpg, unlimited range if I need it.

My dad said this: "Brian, you know this is nicer than the Caddy to drive around town. I agree with what you said. Nobody will ever get used to an electric car and then go back to a normal car. Just think if this was a Cadillac and not a Chevy, how nice and quiet would it be then?".

To that I just say "amen". Nobody that gets used to a leaf or a volt or a tesla is going back to something with a normal engine.

[volt3939]

...

My dad said this: "Brian, you know this is nicer than the Caddy to drive around town. I agree with what you said. Nobody will ever get used to an electric car and then go back to a normal car. Just think if this was a Cadillac and not a Chevy, how nice and quiet would it be then?".

To that I just say "amen". Nobody that gets used to a leaf or a volt or a tesla is going back to something with a normal engine.

You did mention the upcoming ELR at that point, right?

[DonC]

This is, in my simple and relatively valueless opinion, the best car I have ever had. Quiet, fun to drive, pretty, comfortable, cheap, useful, 100+ mpg, unlimited range if I need it.

My dad said this: "Brian, you know this is nicer than the Caddy to drive around town. I agree with what you said. Nobody will ever get used to an electric car and then go back to a normal car. Just think if this was a Cadillac and not a Chevy, how nice and quiet would it be then?".

Wonderful write up. And this quote more or less says it all! It's what people who don't drive electrics never get -- they are simply a lot of fun to drive.

You're right on the engine and the battery mode. I think the charts I've seen suggest that even in CS Mode the battery powers the car at speeds of 20 MPH and under. What I've seen above 60 MPH in CS Mode is that the engine cycles on and off. That may be because of hills, but the energy flows shows that the engine engages and then every so often the battery provides the power.

[tboult]

Wonderful write up. And this quote more or less says it all! It's what people who don't drive electrics never get -- they are simply a lot of fun to drive.

You're right on the engine and the battery mode. I think the charts I've seen suggest that even in CS Mode the battery powers the car at speeds of 20 MPH and under. What I've seen above 60 MPH in CS Mode is that the engine cycles on and off. That may be because of hills, but the energy flows shows that the engine engages and then every so often the battery provides the power.

I've had the ICE running below 20mph as well, if your SOC gets low enough it will fire it up.
And I've had the ICE cycle off at 70mph (nice hills in CO) as it regens. On that hill, if I go into N, I can coast from 45 up to 75.. so maybe its not surprising. Sometime I'm going to try a 6% grade at night to see what is the maximum coasting speed... (I had to brake/regen at 75 to stay with traffic.)

[BAZINGA]

Thanks for sharing, you have one heck of a stable and your comments on the Volt carry even more meaning. I can't wait to find out what Caddy has in store for the ELR. By most predictions it will either be called the Voltec 1.5 or 2.0. One has to wonder what improvements GM has hidden up their sleeves.

[dwl]

What's your miles per kWh secret? I have a huge amount of trouble cracking 5 on a regular basis. It pretty much has to be under ideal conditions for me. Empty road, 30-35mph speed limits. Hitting the lights well. Relatively flat terrain.

I normally attribute other people's exceptional ranges to different climates or traffic (or lack there of) but you're a Minnesota guy too. So now I'm wondering.

[MelvinJ]

Nice writeup. The engine's behavior in CS mode always makes for interesting MPG figures on the trip odometer (I always reset mine when I go into CS mode just to watch the mileage). It goes up and down, up and down.

I got 109 electric miles in on mine one Saturday a while back. All in all, I'm putting far too many miles on my Volt (I'm on pace for 24k/year), but I can't resist the ridiculously low cost to drive it compared with our Malibu. The driving experience may habe a little something to do with it too.

[Brian Loves Cars]

You did mention the upcoming ELR at that point, right?

Yes! I am first in line at the local caddy dealer for an ELR, or I better be, as I requested to be. If you could combine the qualities of the Volt with a true independent rear suspension, better noise isolation, and finer leather ( i know alot of people reading this won't really believe waht I'm about to say, but a base 5 series BMW or E class Mercedes comes with vinyl seats, pleather, not leather. My parents Cadillac DTS has aniline leather that smells better than any car interior I've ever been in save my Ferrari but including my Lambo and also including Bentleys or ANY German car I've ever been in). You would simply have one of the finest cars ever made. Also, the ELR stands, if it shows up looking like the concept, to be one of the finest looking cars ever. Dear lord the concept is pretty.

As for my parents, they weren't convinced that losing their ~300hp V8 was a good idea, my mom said that being able to pass anytime they wanted was really nice. lol. I guess after driving a 5.7l diesel for 15 years and then a Buick with a 6 cylinder, passing power seems like quite a luxury. Me? I have a handful of >500hp cars and passing power is so passe. lol!

[Brian Loves Cars]

Wonderful write up. And this quote more or less says it all! It's what people who don't drive electrics never get -- they are simply a lot of fun to drive.

You're right on the engine and the battery mode. I think the charts I've seen suggest that even in CS Mode the battery powers the car at speeds of 20 MPH and under. What I've seen above 60 MPH in CS Mode is that the engine cycles on and off. That may be because of hills, but the energy flows shows that the engine engages and then every so often the battery provides the power.

Thanks.

and thats why the electric car will win: its just better. Lets assume global warming is the biggest most preposterous example to date of the generally very liberal media controlling public opinion and a total red herring... lets assume we improve drilling techniques and wind up with a zillion years of oil supply. In fact, lets assume that the Permian Basin has more accessible oil than the rest of the world combined, ...

None of those things change how incredibly nice it is to have a Volt, in EV mode, for day to day life. The electric car will win because its better, and I don't know why it would need any other tailwinds to prevail. It is, plain and simple, better.

[Brian Loves Cars]

Thanks for sharing, you have one heck of a stable and your comments on the Volt carry even more meaning. I can't wait to find out what Caddy has in store for the ELR. By most predictions it will either be called the Voltec 1.5 or 2.0. One has to wonder what improvements GM has hidden up their sleeves.

Man, does that car intrigue me! I also wonder what they have up their sleeve for Voltec 2.0...