OFFICIAL CANADIAN VOLT THREAD

[mike1]

So anyone out there up for a Volt reunion in January? I can get in touch with the City of Ottawa (I know the inspector who drives it) and Hydro Ottawa to see if they want to come along with their Volts!

I think that's a great idea!

[PaulsVolt]

PaulsVolt : How about in February? I should get my red Volt by then. It is suppose to be in production on January 16 2012.

We'll see what people say about a January get together, there's no reason why we couldn't meet up again in Febuary or March. I've been waiting since September when Volts started arriving in the region to get a reunion together, I finally got my Volt just over a week ago I'm dying to have a reunion..lol

LOL I thought that looked like the Death Star! You could make an x-wing out of chevy bowties!

I'm repainting the rest of the inside of my garage next summer, I could surely put something like that together!

I think that's a great idea!

Yea I'm pumped! Anybody care to throw some available or can't make it dates out there? I'll try to get an answer from the City and Hydro asap.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season filling up their Volts with gifts and not gas!

[kickincanada]

Well a couple days ago we did a trip from Ottawa to Sault Ste Marie (still in the Sault actually). It is 830kms and for about 250kms of those I was driving in a snowstorm. Fully loaded vehicle with 4 people. Got 6.9L/100kms (34mpg) which is ok considering the weather and the cold (-13 degrees Celsius or 8 degrees Fahrenheit). Electric range is really low in this type of weather (only about 30kms).

Took a pic at the Big Nickel in Sudbury!
Ottawa to Sault Ste Marie Dec 2011.jpgSudbury Big Nickle.jpg

[MIN FUEL]

Silver Volt in Guelph?

So I have had my Red Volt in Guelph now for 3 months. 10,000 Km of driving so I have been spending quite a bit of time in the car over the last 90 days and today I FINALLY saw another Volt in the wild! Who was driving a Silver Volt in Guelph today? I was beginng to think that nobody else drove their Volts in Southern Ontario. I know that there is a white one in Guelph as well, but have never seen it. I was beginng to think Volts were just a figment of my imagination. Was I even driving one? If a Volt drives in the city and nobody hears it, was it really there?

[PaulsVolt]

Well a couple days ago we did a trip from Ottawa to Sault Ste Marie (still in the Sault actually). It is 830kms and for about 250kms of those I was driving in a snowstorm. Fully loaded vehicle with 4 people. Got 6.9L/100kms (34mpg) which is ok considering the weather and the cold (-13 degrees Celsius or 8 degrees Fahrenheit). Electric range is really low in this type of weather (only about 30kms). Took a pic at the Big Nickel in Sudbury!

34mpg is still pretty good considering the temp and load you had, about on par to what a Cruze would do, no? Do you have the opportunity to plug in the Sault? Enjoy the trip and I love the pic of the big nickel + the volt!

I know that there is a white one in Guelph as well, but have never seen it. I was beginning to think Volts were just a figment of my imagination. Was I even driving one? If a Volt drives in the city and nobody hears it, was it really there?

Funnay!

[mike1]

I had my first "public" charging station experience in Ottawa yesterday. The Adobe building (and various office buildings and condos around it) share a massive 4 level underground parking garage one block southeast of Preston and the 417. There are two ChargePoint 240V charging stations located in the P1 level in the Adobe (brown / gold colored) section. The parking spots are marked employee only, but I can't imagine anyone caring after hours. The spot beside the two reserved spots is close enough to reach one of the charging stations, but I'm guessing the intent was that the charging stations themselves are employee only too.

The charging stations require a ChargePoint ChargePass card to activate, but are free to use. I don't know if there is another way to activate them since I have a ChargePass and tried it first. The parking lot itself is $2 per 30 minutes, but given the prime location in Little Italy, it's pretty reasonable. Street parking and above-ground public lots in the area are not ideal.

[mbepic]

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season filling up their Volts with gifts and not gas!

Well, I have to admit that I'm using a lot of gas but isn't that one of the reasons we bought a Volt and not a Leaf;
my wife and I just completed our 2,400 mile trip to Arizona for the winter and the Volt ran like a charm.......although, I guess it is somewhat embarrassing now that I have driven only 18% EV with over 4,000 miles on the odometer. We were able to charge the battery in each of the three motels we stayed at.......using a little creative investigation and determination.
One night, it was plugged into an outlet in the motel laundry room and the door was propped open slightly so it would not crimp the charge cord; another night, the Volt was plugged into an outlet that happened to be at the base of the motel's pylon sign out by the main road.......good advertising for the Volt or the motel, not sure which?

Anyways, the most satisfying part of the trip was driving down the I17 from Flagstaff to Phoenix and two great sections of mountains where 'regen battery' never quit until the bottom after several miles of downhill cruising; have you experienced an airplane descent coming into an airport........everything goes silent and smooth gliding..........that was the feeling; at the bottom of the mountain, we continued to cruise on 'battery power' for several more miles all the while watching the gas range increase in miles remaining.

The real test was going up the mountains and being aware of when to activate mountain mode and then feeling the assistance of the gas engine as we made our way up the incline..........no problem whatsoever.

I'm now looking forward to many miles of battery only operation and getting that EV percentage up to where it should be, whatever that is?

[kickincanada]

I just finished my road trip. Started my trip back to Ottawa on Friday and traveled to North Bay. Averaged 6.7L\100kms with a full charge at start thanks to my sister. Stayed at Hampton Inn in North Bay. Asked if they had a plug - they said no but I found one out back of the hotel and plugged in. Told them and they appologized and all was cool. North Bay to Ottawa I pulled down 6.5L\100kms.

Sault to North Bay Dec 30.jpgNorth Bay to Ottawa Dec 31.jpg

[Vapor]

I happened to go to Québec city, on the way there I averaged 6.5-6.7 L/100 km but that was at mostly 118kmh on cruise control.

On the way back, I took it slow and averaged 6.0 L/100 km on the cruise at 105 kmh.

Both times the car had 2 adults and a 50 lbs dogs plus luggage and both time the wind was really blowing strong.
I gave MANY rides to family members during my stay there and at to use the Mountain mode to keep some battery pwer for everybody!! lol
Verdict still stands, this car is GREAT! Even with -20C displayed on the screen. :-) btw full EV range dropped to 37 km at said temperature.

Happy new year everybody! :-)

[SolarMike]

I did some research into the Level 2 chargers and found some real differences. For instance the Voltec has only about half the power output of some other units out on the market. True, the Volt can't use any more amperage that the Voltec unit offers, but why not plan for the future, when future vehicles are much more likely to be capable of fast charges?

I ended up purchasing a Schneider Electric unit with 30A output and only about 1.5 W standby draw (phantom load). It has all the usual features, but was only about $850 plus my installation (Aerostar) was about $450 for a total of only $1,300!

I also chose a model without a coily cord so I could surface mount it cleanly to the to the ceiling. I made a holder that keeps the charger head up out of the way when not in use. Here are some pics:

The Schneider unit (on the base ready to paint)
The car plugged in:
Charging cord stowed and out of the way: