Realistic Expectations for Next Gen Voltec?

[daryllafferty]

GM has spent so much money developing the Volt, and reportedly makes little or nothing at the current price, that I would expect their near-term efforts to be directed towards reducing their manufacturing costs. That may mean few changes in the basic Volt engine or power train, unless they come up with cheaper options.

Minor tweaks that make the car more desirable and help it sell better might be seen, but I would be surprised at any major changes for at least a couple more years.

[Wolfman]

I predict evolutionary changes. A bump in EV range, maybe a DI version of the 1.4 engine, and a bump in fuel economy in range extender mode. Changes to the car itself would likely be cosmetic.

[Dan & Nan]

It would be nice if the 2015 had:
6.6kw charger

Nice? No, it's a necessity. We were told that we'd be able to put a faster charger on our Volt. I don't know if that's going to happen or not, but the lack of a 6.6 is the major reason we're not buying another Volt. The Leaf will have the 6.6 as an option and the FFE will have it standard. The RAV4 & Tesla have 10kw chargers. Everyone else will be at 20 MPHC or faster and we'll be stuck at 10 MPHC.

We love our Volt and aren't selling it, but won't buy another

[kubel]

Nice? No, it's a necessity. We were told that we'd be able to put a faster charger on our Volt. I don't know if that's going to happen or not, but the lack of a 6.6 is the major reason we're not buying another Volt. The Leaf will have the 6.6 as an option and the FFE will have it standard. The RAV4 & Tesla have 10kw chargers. Everyone else will be at 20 MPHC or faster and we'll be stuck at 10 MPHC.

We love our Volt and aren't selling it, but won't buy another

I've been running on level 1 charges for the past 1000 miles since I have to jump through hoops to get DTE to install my EVSE. I've only ever level 2 charged twice, and neither were needed- I did it just because it was free. Oh, and this is a LEAF (without a QC port), so I'm stuck at 3.3kW max.

[larry4pyro]

Did anyone mention a heat pump either as standard eqipuipment, or as an option.

[kickincanada]

I'm with you on this one. 6.6kw actually would pretty much eliminate need for bigger battery, provided there is an adequate public charging infrastructure. So if auto makers stick with the 40-50 mile batt range and others build out the public infrastructure the cost of the car (and size of the batt) can be driven way down as batt tech improves.

Nice? No, it's a necessity. We were told that we'd be able to put a faster charger on our Volt. I don't know if that's going to happen or not, but the lack of a 6.6 is the major reason we're not buying another Volt. The Leaf will have the 6.6 as an option and the FFE will have it standard. The RAV4 & Tesla have 10kw chargers. Everyone else will be at 20 MPHC or faster and we'll be stuck at 10 MPHC.

We love our Volt and aren't selling it, but won't buy another

[Dan & Nan]

I've been running on level 1 charges for the past 1000 miles since I have to jump through hoops to get DTE to install my EVSE. I've only ever level 2 charged twice, and neither were needed- I did it just because it was free. Oh, and this is a LEAF (without a QC port), so I'm stuck at 3.3kW max.

Glad that's working out for you. Yesterday I drove over 100 miles and the 3.3 wasn't fast enough. I didn't need a "QC" port, L2 and a 6.6 or faster would have been enough.

[Dan & Nan]

I'm with you on this one. 6.6kw actually would pretty much eliminate need for bigger battery, provided there is an adequate public charging infrastructure. So if auto makers stick with the 40-50 mile batt range and others build out the public infrastructure the cost of the car (and size of the batt) can be driven way down as batt tech improves.

Yup, that's why 6.6 or faster would be better. 42 EV miles is a bit tight but with a 6.6 or even 10 we'd be set and still have our backup generator.

[buckhead]

6.6kw actually would pretty much eliminate need for bigger battery.

I disagree. While a lot of the driving public may be willing to plug-in at night, they're not going to accept vehicles where it's routinely necessary to charge up during trips. Furthermore, while there is plenty of excess grid capacity at night, the infrastructure needed for rapid daytime charging is not only missing now but is unlikely to be available anytime soon.

[KyleH]

I am leaning towards cost-saving efforts on the next generation volts. After all, there is a point that the $7,500 fed tax credit would run out, and new buyers will need a reason to buy one. At that piont, I believe that GM will target a MSRP of $35k (instead of the current $40-45k). (Similar to efforts done to the Prius after their tax credit ran out. Toyota was still able to provide the same net car price to consumers.)

One of the comments from years ago was to improve the battery costs over time and streamline production. I think one obvious option is to reduce the battery size. A reduced battery size can save on cost while work with fast chargers. Plus, charging stations will be more proliferated than what we had a few years ago. Perhaps start off with a 20mile battery and let people pay an upgrade option for another 20mile battery. However, for that to work, the cost of gas will probably need to be closer to $5-7./gal.

I suspect the Volt will start getting replaced with more economical components--where the luxury components will be added to the cadillac version. Who knows, the Volt that we know it today will probably be enhanced under the Buick brand (if they ever get a voltec model), and Chevy will get more economical downgrades over time.

-KyleH