New Volt owner in Texas

[jbankO]

When the vehicle is fully charged its showing me 33 miles available. Is this what the vehicle is supposed to show fully charged or should it be higher/lower or does it vary on vehicle? I noticed I was able to go over 33 miles yesterday on the charge so I was wondering why it wouldnt show more mileage up front when fully charged?

[John_Hatchett]

$1200 on top of the $1200 they provide you for free? So $2400 install charges?

My first install quote was for $1169. I don't get a installation rebate or incentive, except for the 30% federal tax credit perhaps. Austin Energy has some incentives but my home is serviced by a coop (PEC) that does not offer any incentives, yet.

[John_Hatchett]

When the vehicle is fully charged its showing me 33 miles available. Is this what the vehicle is supposed to show fully charged or should it be higher/lower or does it vary on vehicle? I noticed I was able to go over 33 miles yesterday on the charge so I was wondering why it wouldnt show more mileage up front when fully charged?

After a few days of driving it will adjust based on your driving habits and show more. My son is driving ours and when he gets a full charge it is already showing 43 miles.

[John_Hatchett]

Don't forget to register your new Volt on Voltstats.net and get addicted to your numbers

[crabtrp]

Don't forget to register your new Volt on Voltstats.net and get addicted to your numbers

Great, another site to obsess over.

[Dan & Nan]

$1200 on top of the $1200 they provide you for free? So $2400 install charges?

It's commonplace, these installers and companies know they are getting paid by the government so they inflate their costs accordingly. Now they're even greedier and the government money is not enough and they then rob (I mean charge) the homeowner. I'm waiting for Faux News to pick up on the waste. Romney's already mentioned one company in an ad.

[mikeg3]

...I had a 240V dryer outlet already in the garage at the location I wanted the charging station installed.

The Volt can only take upto 16A @ 240V (3.3kw) so the SPX equipment is a bit of an overkill and their installers say they have to put it on a 50A breaker, often requiring an upgrade to the entire breaker panel.

The Voltec station is sized for the Volt and can go on a 20A breaker. It only costs $490 and you can have your own electrician install it for a total cost well below the typical $1200 for the SPX/Coulomb or Blink station.

If you have a dryer outlet, you can buy a charger with a plug (they are available), skip the wiring costs, and just connect the dryer when needed. Just test the ground and neutral. If they are faulty, the EVSE will refuse to operate.

If you are running cable, consider that your next EV will need double the current. The new normal is 6.6KW. SPX's request for 40 or 50 amp service is a good way to avoid repeating the work in a few years.

[cab]

When the vehicle is fully charged its showing me 33 miles available. Is this what the vehicle is supposed to show fully charged or should it be higher/lower or does it vary on vehicle? I noticed I was able to go over 33 miles yesterday on the charge so I was wondering why it wouldnt show more mileage up front when fully charged?

So jbank - have you done your commute yet? Were you able to "make it" on battery alone?

[jbankO]

So jbank - have you done your commute yet? Were you able to "make it" on battery alone?

YES! I've done my 44 mile commute and some days I made it on 0 gas and have a mile to spare and other days I use between 2-3 miles of gas. So I've figured at this rate I'll end up filling up once every 3 months!! I love it! My car is at the dealer now but I will be picking it back up tomorrow (the recalls were completed). I'm trying to get my voltstats up but I cant due to error 210 I keep getting on my remotelink and myvolt.com cant even connect. So when I get it back tomorrow I will hopefully get that resolved!

EDIT: One thing I did notice is the highway driving really determines the mileage for me. If it's backed up and alot of traffic so I'm crusin from 30-50 or so on the highway I'll make it home w/ 0 gas, but if traffic clears up and I have to go 60+ then I notice the mileage drops a lot quicker.

[jbankO]

Anybody in DFW install HIDs yet? Also I just noticed the fog lights really aren't fog lights? Hummmm not a fan of the lights on the volt coming from BMW and Lexus vehicles the driving at night was a pleasure, now it's hard to see the road lol.