Baby Blue

[kolotyluk]

Yesterday I finally took delivery of my Topaz Blue Volt. I've been calling her "Baby Blue."

This has been a long time in coming. Originally someone factory ordered a fully loaded Topaz Blue Volt in February. In April, he decided he had waited long enough and and chose to take one from off the lot. I think he was motivated because he was the president of some Electric Vehicle outfit in British Columbia and wanted to be seen driving and electric vehicle.

By coincidence I was on the lot the day after, never having seen a Volt before, and took one out for a test drive. I rather liked it and the dealer asked me what my favorite color was. I said "blue" and he mentioned that one had been factory ordered that was no longer spoken for. I put a down payment on it and said I was off to a European vacation in May. The dealer said the car should be landed by the time I got back.

When I got back the car had not been landed yet. Then we had a strike on the Canadian Pacific Railway that caused further delays. Finally the car arrived at the dealership on Friday, and I took delivery yesterday.

Well it sure is pretty - Topaz Blue - Two Tone Interior, Beige and Gray - fully loaded. It took the sales tech almost an hour to show us all the features on the vehicle. My brain still hurts from so much information. The only downside is ongoing problems getting my OnStar set up - but I won't talk about that unless they continue to screw up. Suffice it to say that OnStar is seriously taking much of the joy out of being a first time Volt owner.

Previously I have been driving a '92 Honda Civic Si hatchback. It is taking a little getting used to: the Volt is clearly heavier and the visibility is not as great. However, the Volt is a more comfortable and quiet ride, with way more technology. All my friends are really impressed at the performance, they cannot believe how good the acceleration is, even going uphill. It is really interesting learning new driving habits, but in the end you can always forget about that if you need to and trust the car is going to do the right thing.

Next weekend I have to travel across the province for a family reunion - 400 Km - lots of highway and mountains along the way. I hope this trip will really give me a feel for the car's potential.

[SharkVolt]

Congrats.

And don't forget the two most important things:

1. plug the car in every night.

2. close the charge door after you pull out the charger plug. (very embarassing to have other drivers pointing at it and trying to get your attention) And, you can't reach it from inside the car. (don't ask how I know)

Oh, make sure you put it in mountain mode at least 15 miles before you run out of battery, then you will have plenty of power to climb all the mountains. (Also, if you have to shut off the car, it resets to regular mode, so you have to hit MM again once it is on) If you drive all the way to your destination in MM, The next time you turn it on, you will have about 14 miles of range left on the battery, great for demo rides.

Have a fun trip, and be prepared to be more knowledgeable about the car than any salesman, there WILL be lots of questions from everyone you meet.

P.S. Record some of your favorite CDs or mp3s off a USB flashdrive. (very nice for trips, and really impresses people that the car has a 30 gig harddrive)

[DonC]

Congrats on the car. I'm sure you'll end up loving it.

Sorry to hear about OnStar. A few people have had some issues initially setting it up. Most often, maybe 100% of the time, it's a problem with the dealer. My only advice is that, once it's set up, try it out. It's hands down the best navigation device I've ever used!

[kolotyluk]

Thanks for the tips.

Yes, I do plug the car in every night (only been two so far) but I also plug it in if I am going to be home for more than an hour in case I need to go out again.

Every time I have unplugged the car (5 times), I forget to close the access door - DOH! I seriously need to get on top of that. So far no-one on the road has pointed it out, but every time I let one of my friends drive the car they ask, what is the warning message about the charge door left open?

I spent over an hour with OnStar this morning and we finally got things working. GM/OnStar will be getting a very long detailed letter from me explaining what they need to fix in their system. GM may have engineers who know how build a great car like the Volt, but they are seriously short on competent or talented software engineers who understand web services and user interface design.