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new owner has questions

2K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  sduck 
#1 ·
Hi there,

I am a new Chevy Volt owner of a 2012 model and I have some questions and confusion. First a comment though: I think it would be really nice if the charger was built into the car as opposed to into the charge cord. That way one could simply hook up a 120 or 220 V extension cord and charge the vehicle.

Here are my questions:
when I charge my vehicle and when I open the driver door I see a summary of where the charge is at. At least I used to. Now when I open the driver store I see nothing. Any help on how to get that screen back?

What bugs me so far are uncontrolled weird beeping with no messages on the screen.

Also, I pause the music but then it decides to come back and start playing at various times including when I turn on the vehicle. This is really annoying. I want to be in charge of when my music plays than when I press pause I mean it. Any fix for that?

Next, it irks me that I have to go through several submenus to turn off the LCD screen. the button on the dashboard that shows the power off symbol does not power off the screen. Instead, it displays an advertising screen with a Volt logo in blue letters. I know I am driving a Volt and I want the screen to be off. Is there a hack or a trick where the power off button actually works powers off the screen?

Next, I am bothered by the video clips and swooshing sounds whenever I turn on or off my car or when I click the leaf button. I am not a teenager and I fail to be impressed by these kinds of videos or sounds. Is there way to turn those off? If not, is there a way to hack into the computer and simply delete the video and audio files for these videos and sounds?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions
 
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#2 ·
Hi there,

I am a new Chevy Volt owner of a 2012 model and I have some questions and confusion. First a comment though: I think it would be really nice if the charger was built into the car as opposed to into the charge cord. That way one could simply hook up a 120 or 220 V extension cord and charge the vehicle.
The current external EVSE can be easily replaced without tearing it out of a car. Plus, they are more than an extension cord, they are a safety device that prevents shock or electrocution, whether by 120V or 240V.

uncontrolled weird beeping with no messages on the screen
See our FAQ on Beep, Chirp, Chime Horn sounds http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread...Problems-Issues-Driver-Warnings-or-DTCs-FAQ-s

I am bothered by the video clips and swooshing sounds whenever I turn on or off my car or when I click the leaf button. I am not a teenager and I fail to be impressed by these kinds of videos or sounds. Is there way to turn those off?
When you next turn on the car, turn down the volume when the whoosh comes on. The next time it will use the new volume level you have changed it to.
 
#4 ·
when I charge my vehicle and when I open the driver door I see a summary of where the charge is at. At least I used to. Now when I open the driver store I see nothing. Any help on how to get that screen back?
I've got a 2012 also. That screen you're looking for - when you open the door - I'm not sure. Mine's there sometimes, sometimes not. I don't pay too much attention to it. It's never bothered me enough to figure out what triggers it exactly or what doesn't. If you figure it out report back here!

What bugs me so far are uncontrolled weird beeping with no messages on the screen.
Read the beep boop faq linked previously. The proximity sensors are basically a good idea, and have probably saved me many times, but can be really annoying sometimes. Deal with it.

Also, I pause the music but then it decides to come back and start playing at various times including when I turn on the vehicle. This is really annoying. I want to be in charge of when my music plays than when I press pause I mean it. Any fix for that?
No fix that I know of. The software for the infotainment system (for the early 2012 models) was developed maybe in 2009 or earlier, and instead of replacing broken parts, half assed fixes were put in place, most of which just cause other problems. And seemingly it was developed by engineers that weren't very well exposed to what the rest of the automotive world considered standard fare - hence the lack of bluetooth streaming music when half of the other cars you could buy at the time had it. I like to tell myself "it has a lot of nice little quirks" when something doesn't work the way it should. "It's not a bug, it's a feature!"

Next, it irks me that I have to go through several submenus to turn off the LCD screen. the button on the dashboard that shows the power off symbol does not power off the screen. Instead, it displays an advertising screen with a Volt logo in blue letters. I know I am driving a Volt and I want the screen to be off. Is there a hack or a trick where the power off button actually works powers off the screen?
I didn't even know that you could turn off that screen. I just don't look at it much when I'm driving I guess. I generally set it to nav and forget about it. Again, it's one of those quirky things.
 
#5 ·
I didn't even know that you could turn off that screen. I just don't look at it much when I'm driving I guess. I generally set it to nav and forget about it. Again, it's one of those quirky things.
Yup. Or you can set it on "now playing" and for the most part it's just a black rectangle with a couple words on it.

Or leave it on climate, since that is the most likely to be adjusted.

Or the energy summary screen - good info there if you happen to glance at it.
 
#6 ·
If you don't want the radio/music on, turn the volume knob all the way down, and you will never hear it unless you turn it back up. This applies to devices plugged into the aux port or USB port also, though. Certain kinds of effects are grouped as one for the volume control.

It does this because nearly every other sound effect, etc. the Volt has comes through the radio, so it turns it back on every time anything requires sound. But, each different sound effect has it's own separate volume level, and each one can be adjusted as it plays. This is cool, because you can turn the On/Off "swoosh" sounds to their own level, the Bluetooth phone call sound to it's own level, etc. It really is an excellent design, once you understand how to adjust it.
 
#8 ·
when I charge my vehicle and when I open the driver door I see a summary of where the charge is at. At least I used to. Now when I open the driver store I see nothing. Any help on how to get that screen back?
Sometimes it seems to wait for me to get in the car and close the door. When I want to see it, I wait and don't press start until I have read the status.
 
#10 ·
those are good suggestions. Thank you. So if the charger is built in can't I just get a power cord which is a 110 (or 220) plug on one end and the plug which fits into the Volt on the other end? Not sure what they mean with "charge cord is just safety features". Extension cords have existed for decades and people use them safely, especially inside a garage.

No one has answered my other question: Since there is a computer which ties everything together, what is the way to hack into it?

Thank you
 
#11 ·
The safety features include signalling pins on the car end of the cord to communicate with electronics in the EVSE box to negotiate charge rates and voltages, and (importantly) to turn off the power to the cord handle BEFORE it comes out of the car's socket. The EVSE makes entirely safe to plug your car in standing in five inches of slushy snow in bare feet and drop the cord from your frozen fingers. I won't want to mess with a plain extension cord even in just a heavy fog if I can help it.
 
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