FYI: This is not a picture of my car, but one just like it.
I'm the new owner of a 2013 Cyber Grey with everything except Navigator. Here's a little of my experience with the ride so far:
Purchased at Phillips Chevy in Frankfort, IL. Great dealership. Emir was very helpful. I would have bought from Weber Chevy in Columbia if my color was in stock. They were great.
Picked it up on a Friday at 10:30 AM with 9 miles on it. By 4:00 PM, I had driven the car well over 325 miles to Wausau, WI to start out my vacation. I had picked up my sister earlier in the day and she was enjoying being a passenger for a while. She took over the driving duties and gave me some time to goof around with all of the cool features of the car. We stopped to get gas and left the car "running" for the first time. I'm just glad nobody took off with it and it's going to be difficult to get used to not pulling a key out of the ignition!
We met up with the rest of the family and stayed at the Days Inn in Wausau Friday night. Because it's middle Wisconsin, they had plug-ins along the parking lot for engine block heaters, so I was able to get a full charge for the next leg of the trip! On Saturday morning, we added another 120 miles to the odometer and arrived at the lake for some good fishing...
The rest of the week was running into fishing and the occasional run into town. Once I arrived at the cabin, I never had to add gas because I could charge up overnight. The car handled wonderfully on the curvy roads. And since some of the roads are very light traffic, I was able to play around with sport mode and low driving. Love them both!
Came back on the following Friday driving from the upper peninsula of Michigan to the St Louis area all in one day. I needed to add gas to the tank three times during the trip and burned about 26 gallons for a MPG of 38.
Since coming back home, I haven't filled the tank. I went all-electric on the weekend with some short trips around town. On Monday, I took it to work (40.4 miles round trip) and would have gone all-electric if not for a lunch date about 10 miles round trip. I got just over 48 miles electric.
On Tuesday, I decided to see if I could break 50 and actually rode the car very conservatively throughout the day. I reached 54.3 miles on electric only. In fact, I had to drive around the neighborhood for the last 7 miles or so just so I could hit the mark. My wife thinks I am crazy by the way.
When I got in the car today, it showed me having 48 miles of electric available.
Thoughts: I love the car and it is by far one of the most comfortable rides I have owned. I traded from a 2003 Impala and think the ride is better. The car is quieter and handles/feels the road better.
I have decided to drive in "low" mode all of the time. It took me a couple of days to get used to it, but I really like the recapture of that energy and it means I am using the brakes less often. I do have to get used to the idea of pressing the brake peddle even when using it, though, because it does slow up considerably and I don't want to get read-ended.
I haven't yet installed a charger and I don't know if I will or not. To be honest, if I have to burn a little gas because I couldn't get a full charge, then that's what I'll do. I haven't had any issues yet because the 12W charging has refilled me in time every morning so far. But I'm also not using the car at night, so it gets on the juice about 12-13 hours before I have to leave. Plenty of time.
As you can tell, I love the car and would recommend it to anyone looking for a great vehicle. A side benefit is you get to ride electric and probably save money on gas. If you take advantage of the tax credits, you'll really do well. I was able to get my decked-out Volt (MSRP of 43710) for around 24K. When I add in my additional GM Card rebate and trade, I got the car for less than 20K.
A couple of things I don't care for:
1) The hood is difficult to close and you have to be very careful when doing so as to not dent it.
2) The trunk has a two-latch similar to the hood and doesn't always close fully. That's gotten me a couple of times.
3) I'd really like to be able to set the charging speed more easily than it currently is.
4) The front cup holders are way too far back.
5) The touch screen takes away my attention too much and I still haven't figured out how to one-touch to the "Now Playing" screen.
This really is a great car. I really wish those who choose to attack this car for political reasons would take some time to get to know this vehicle and the freedoms it provides our country. I fall on the same political spectrum as many of these naysayers, and I can tell you they are completely off-base about this car.
If you want to attack the policy of the bail-out or the tax credits, that is your prerogative. But you cannot say this car is a poor design or of poor quality. And if you haven't really given this car a chance by taking it for an extended test drive, then you really need to. Take it for a weekend and see how much you like it when you're done. If you can be somewhat objective about the vehicle and not the politics around the car, then I think you'll find you can at minimum tolerate it. More likely, you'll find you really love it.