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Should the Volt ship with the cabin air filter installed?

Should the Volt Ship with a cabin air filter?

72K views 161 replies 81 participants last post by  nedfunnell 
#1 ·
As many people have discovered... The Volt has a cabin air filter holder behind the glove compartment. Unfortunately Chevy does not include the filters as standard equipment. Do you think the Volt should ship with the cabin air filter installed as a standard option. (Like most other vehicles?)
 
#22 ·
What's the point?
It doesnt and it wont.
If you really think you ened one, spend $25 and put one in...
WOT
Actually it's about $17. And the problem here is that if GM never gets feedback from customers they will not know that customers prefer to have it installed. Nearly 100% of all other cars that have a filter capability ship with the filter installed. People just assume it will be installed because every other car does. (Including my previous car.) The dealer did not even know it had the option until I told them I wanted to order one... And they argued with me that it did not exist.

You are right... If you don't make the effort to point out to GM that you prefer to have it installed they will never know people want it. If we make our preference known... GM may decide to include it in the future. THAT IS THE POINT.
 
#4 ·
I just posted my airflow measurements over in the accesories forum. It was 6.5% lower airflow on max based on the test I performed (see the thread):

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread...9C-Cabin-Filter-Installed&p=114486#post114486

Seems silly not to have one based on the filters I have changed over the years since I had my 2001 Accord. They were all really nasty at the 60k recommended change. Even if you aren't concerned about controlling the particulate getting through the filter from a health perspective, it can end up in the A/C and/or heater system, eventually clogging it and reducing the airflow. And cars aren't as easy as home units to spray a can of coil cleaner in!

I vote for the filter!
 
#5 ·
The main problem is most owners assume it has a filter installed, as do most other modern cars, and a year to two from now when they find out it doesn't, they will feel a bit ripped off. When I told the general manager at my dealership that the cars were being shipped with the filters missing, he was as incredulous as I was when I first read it on his forum almost a year ago.

Better they ship the cars with the filter in them, and let owners take them out if they don't want it. I don't buy the explanation one bit that it is being omitted because it restricts airflow. My own experience is the reduced airflow is virtually undetectable, and someone else on this forum confirmed it by measuring the output from the vents with and without the filter. As I posted almost a year ago when this subject first came up, the filter actually makes the fan noise a little quieter, also confirmed by another owner who has taken before and after sound level readings at each fan speed.

One thought, I have the GM provided filter, some others here have been talking about installing a filter with carbon on it. The GM filter has no carbon. I don't know if that increases air flow restriction or not.
 
#54 ·
Hi, Where can you purchase the TYC carbon containing filter? I believe the stock GM filter retail is $100.
thanks!
 
#7 ·
Mainly ... only makes sense to me if you have allergies. I see why GM didn't want to take the hit on efficiency otherwise.

Via FB - Doug Wernert from GM <snip>
A filter would reduce the efficiency of the HVAC system given it restricts airflow. Eliminating the filter enables the Volt to utilize its available energy to warm or cool passengers more efficiently. Hope that helps!

Via FB - G. Michael Murphy
OK, I finally did it, and here is the skinny on the fan test. I used a simple handheld LaCrosse EA3010U anemometer http://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-EA-3010U-Handheld-Anemometer/dp/B0002WZRKE to measure airspeed at each vent. (flow meters are much more expensive and more difficult to use). The pertinent data is that a brand new, clean WIX 24191 filter resulted in a DECREASE in airspeed approximately equal to one setting on the fan.<snip>
 
#8 ·
Just make the filter an option but alert people that you can have a filter and how and where to install the filter.
 
#9 ·
You also need to be careful with leading polls (as a LOT of forum polls seem to be; it's not just you!). You would get different results with:

[1] No! I want to maximize the distance I can drive on battery power.
[2] Yes. I want to waste energy.

For me, it isn't a matter of "I just don't need it"; I would definitely like it (and gave serious thought to buying one). But the heater uses up so much electricity I'd prefer not to use more than necessary.
 
#11 ·
Right on.. I voted no because the costs out weigh the benefits at least where I live and air is clean.

My last furnace service they guy asked us if she should change our filters (we have a spare right next to the unit). I said you look at it and tell us if he thinks we need the new one. He said no.. the "spare" has been sitting there for 2+ years waiting for the old one to get dirty enough.
 
#10 ·
i think that a premium or halo car should have the best cabin filter the largest car mfg on the planet can supply when built. removing it and running around without it should be for the tricky techy hypermilers. on my old aveo the cabin filter actually got dirtier than the engine air filter. just someting for the it will decrease my range crowd to think about. i will be putting one in as soon as the temps get above 40f.
 
#12 ·
Heck the last 2 cars I have had before the Volt and the truck had filters with dual zone heat and A/C and I rode with the windows open all summer, the only time I turned on the A/C was when the temp hit 100. Most of the time I drove my Corvette with the top down and A/C off with the temps in the high 90s and only put the top up and A/C on if my mother was in the car.All that changed when I got my dogs, now I keep the the A/C on all the time because my dogs are sensitive to the heat. Now that I have moved from NY to SC the air is much cleaner and there really isn't any need for a filter. I have driven through a large portion of the US of A and there are some places where the air is still fresh and clean and a filter isn't necessary. I would be willing to bet that there are many areas with air so clean that only people with allergies need a filter
 
#13 ·
I guess I'd rather have one than not, living on a gravel road. A little quieter - that's nice. A little less dust for those few times I' get behind someone raising a cloud of dust, that'd be nice too. Pollen doesn't bother me, and the small reduction in airflow, no problem, just up the blower speed if I need to - it's not a big drain in perspective - and the differential drain of maybe one speed faster is pretty nil. Silly to get anal about what someone called a couple crumbs in the bottom of a loaf of bread - motor drawing multiple kw, fan...a few watts - double digit number at worst.

One nice thing about the Volt, I have to say, and not sure this is fully rational, but in my other cars, I'd really wince and back out of the throttle whenever I was behind someone on a dusty road - those air cleaners aren't cheap, especially in the newer cars, nor are they perfect - so you avoid the dust, and avoid opening the throttle to suck more air/dust in.

With the Volt, hey - I'm not exercising the air cleaner at all most of the time!
Having said that - I've never noticed any difference between cars I've had with and without the cabin filter.
 
#16 ·
Putting it in standard does not seem to make sense for everyone, so why include the cost?

That said, I might consider adding one for a couple of reasons.
- I have allergies/athsma and it might help sometimes.
- I have seen another thread indicating that the acoustic noise of the fans is dropped down when the filter is installed. On most cars, you don't niotice the fan noise, but since the Volt is so quiet, the fans are noticable.

As long as there is an obvious part number of the filter where you can add it "aftermarket", I do not think it is essential to include standard.
 
#18 ·
After the discussion about muffling the fan and the 6.5% decrease results showed up, I ordered one from Amazon, too. (After a little digging, I ordered an A/C Delco CF176.) Install took all of 5 minutes and the CF176 seems like a perfect fit.
 
#25 ·
You are right, the Volt isn't advertised as having a cabin filter, even though most people buying one EXPECT it to have one. Unfortunately, that is the exact problem......

I told the general manager at my Chevy dealer they had better inform new buyers of the Volt that for only $25 they could have a cabin filter installed by the dealership, because that was cheap compared to the ill will they would get from customers in the out years finding out it was deliberately excluded for ridiculous reasons.

My wife would never let me buy a modern car without cabin filtration, and she is not unique in that opinion....
 
#30 ·
It's not neccessary as the A/C evaporator core essentially acts a water filter for air-borne particles.
This is exactly why a filter SHOULD be installed. Yes the evap coil will remove some particulate, but in the process the evap coil becomes filthy over time and is much less efficient. If the Volt is using a heat pump for heating then it will also downgrade the efficiency of the heater. Getting the evap coil cleaned will be much more expensive than filters, and doing the job properly in car is very difficult. Read "your evap coil will likely never be really clean again." This is definitely a case where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

If the consumer opts to add a filter that can potentially affect windshield and glass clearing (especially when clogged) they then can assume those risks. The OEM dealers will typically not even recommend they be installed either for these reasons.
I seriously doubt that GM opted not to install the filter because of fear over law suits from clogged filters reducing air flow for defogging windshields. The most likely answer is that it was cheaper to do so and most people will never even know it is not there and not care, and those who do care to have one, will just get one installed.

I agree that the expectation is that the car WOULD have one. I think that expectation is why people are annoyed and making a big deal about it. Had I known earlier I would have installed one sooner.
 
#31 ·
I had a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid and a 1999 Taurus which ALSO did not ship with the cabin air filter. I don't believe that ANY cars actually ship with it. Since it is recommeded to replace it yearly, and the fact that if clogged, it can interfere with the climate control system, the manufacturers probably don't include it for maintenence reasons.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Saying that it shouldn't be included because "it can interfere with the climate control system" is like saying you shouldn't use a fuel filter because it can get interfere with the flow of gas to the engine.

Filters do not clog up completely over night. There would be a long and gradual reduction of air flow indicating a need to replaced the filter. If your filter becomes so clogged that it seriously reduces the flow of air, this in fact the very reason you should be using a filter.

The filter on the Volt is very simple to get to. No special skills or tools are required. And it costs $15 delivered or less.

If this filter does not filter the air prior to it going through the evap coil, then I would agree the need for it is substantially diminished.
 
#34 ·
no way.. , first my floor mats was missing, now this???
Your floor mats are missing for the same reason you have a big Volt decal on the side of your car. Your dealer screwed up. Get your dealer to un-screw up. They're supposed to have removed the logo (if you don't want it) for free. And the car's supposed to have come with floor mats. If your dealer removed them, get your dealer to replace them. And about the time that many of the dealer demos shipped GM short-shipped them without floor mats. Your demo may have been one of them. If so GM owes your dealer floor mats for it (and if your dealer already got them and used them for something else, your dealer owes you floor mats - and again, for free).

As to filters - Nope. That was a GM decision. It's pretty easy to install on your own, and it's generally in the $20 range (somebody who'd done it can help out there better than I, there are probably several threads on it).

[Mod note: At the rate you're posting, we won't have to moderate approval your notes soon :-]
 
#36 ·
It isn't a price issue, it's a matter of efficiency. You'll get less range with an air filter with heat or AC on (how much isn't completely clear). If I were running GM, I would have a policy of not shipping them, but offering the first one free to anyone who requested it.
 
#39 ·
To me, the worst thing is owners believe it is there, and dealers believe it is there, but it isn't!

I could not have imagined a modern $40,000+ car being shipped without the cabin filter being installed, especially since the car has the hatch, ducts, and module built in to receive it!
 
#45 ·
It is certainly coming in handy with the heavy pollen season here. I'm going to do a check and see what's in the filter (4 months old).
 
#46 ·
I have allergies, so I ordered the cabin filter and went through the simple installation. The hardest part of the installation was figuring out which way the air flowed. I had to run the fan and put my hand in the filter compartment to feel the air flow. This lead me to the conclusion that the air flow goes from the floor to the ceiling, so I installed my filter in that manner.

Since I've installed the filter I've seen absolutely no change in my electric range. So I am glad I did it for allergies and even more glad that it as not effected my range.

Given I've seen no change in the range, I think GM should just install the filter with the car.

Volt #8669
mikewitteman.blogspot.com
 
#48 ·
mikewitteman, based on your experience, does the arrow indicating air flow direction on the cabin filter point up or point down?
 
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