The owners manual has lots of great info, including the answer to your question.

P9-22, 2011
Restarting Procedure
If the vehicle must be restarted
while it is still moving, move the
shift lever to N (Neutral) and
press the POWER O button twice
without pressing the brake pedal.
The propulsion system will not
restart in any other position.

Steverino has posted this answer more than once I do believe...

 

I have no idea how anyone could possibly do this unless they are trolling for rebuff comments.

Most people know where their controls are BEFORE driving.

 

I've nearly shut my Volt down on the highway. The Volt should warn you audibly after the first depression.

Do you recall the sound effects when Bowman started to open the pod in a vacuum in 2001?

 

Congrats on the car!

We've had a couple of people who have done this. It's a trade-off between being able to turn the car off in an emergency easily (the family in San Diego died because they couldn't do this with their Toyota) and being able to turn it off easily when it's not an emergency.

Practice the shut down and restart when it's safe. From then on you've got both the emergency and the non-emergency covered.

 

This happened to me a couple times when I first got the Volt. I think is odd that they put it right next to a simular sized button that you are supposed to use while driving. I like to keep my eye on the road so it's easy to push the wrong button in this scenario.

 

I agree with DonC, but would extend it to everyone should practice this! It happened twice to me in my 2013, or as some on the forums will opine - I went out of my way to do it to myself twice... but AFTER I knew how easy it is to confuse the two buttons while driving I haven't found the opportunity to do it again. You will find you are not alone.

I love my Volt, wouldn't trade it, and just wish the UI guys at GM could adjust one of the two processes. I expect you'll enjoy yours too!

 

I love my Volt, wouldn't trade it, and just wish the UI guys at GM could adjust one of the two processes.

Good Morning SirSpammenot,

You'll notice on the upcoming Cadillac ELR, the power button is far from the drive mode button.

-Ian Chevrolet EV Customer Service

 

one day we will have a FAQ
"Things to do with the Volt your first week"

We did have one on what to do before leaving the dealer on DAY ONE.

as well as First thing to do when you get the car HOME , things like, (TURN it OFF before charging)

AND

a start on a FAQ "what to do on Day 2"

 

If you are in L when this happens, does the car go into Max Regen or are you coasting?

I've hit it once by mistake buy never twice.

I could see this happening to me as its a two button hit to get to Sport mode.

I do wish there was a method to have the Volt default to Sport mode.

 

Let's just say that maybe GM should consider a more fool proof way to prevent and announce this "unintended" action and maybe consider relocating the POWER button to a more isolated position on the dash in future model years.

 

Thanks - good information - I have not done this and had not read this so I appreciate the post. I will test this on the road with my wife as well. This is a good thing to test out to prevent an accident!!! Great feedback!

 

I've just started using sport mode myself and can see how I might press the wrong button. Will practice the restart this weekend too. Thanks.

 

With 20/20 hindsight it would have been better to just drive and not play with the buttons in heavy traffic. If you left them alone the worst that would have happened is the engine ran for a little while before you got home.

Then there's the distracted driver issue of playing around with the buttons.

 

It seems to me I recall the power button blue and the other button some other color and spaced far enough apart. So I have to ask how does one do this? Simply by pushing buttons via feel and not ever glancing down to ensure you hit the right button. I don't think I will ever this problem. GM don't take away that feature as one noted above about a toyota incident.
Also wait til the center stack becomes all LC like Tesla and then lets see how many icons are accidentally touched.

 

This is a good suggestion I saw on gm-volt.com a while back: put your hand (all four fingers, palm facing left) in the opening the shift lever parks in and slide it to the top. Then press the drive mode button with your thumb. Using this technique it is nearly impossible to press the power button by accident.

This is the way I do it all the time now. It is also good to practice the emergency restart while rolling on a deserted street or empty parking lot. It is possible to turn off any car accidentally, although less likely with the key inserted in the steering column, and you have to go through similar gyrations to restart it on the highway if that happens, or if the car stalls while moving. In manual transmission days, it was just put it in gear and pop the clutch.

 

I read in one thread that it's a bigger problem at night, you may want to set you headlights to stay on for 30 seconds after you shut down in case you do this again. I think we new owners spend a lot more time fiddling with mode buttons and shifting than we will in a year. The power and regen are all there even in normal mode. Hold mode is not that different from empty battery CS mode, I only use it when I saving battery to "show off" to someone. This may be a case of there being 2 kinds of volt owners: those who already have accidently shut the car off and those who will eventually accidently shut the car off.

 

I read in one thread that it's a bigger problem at night, you may want to set you headlights to stay on for 30 seconds after you shut down in case you do this again.

I tried that, then tested it. The lights still go OFF in this accidental power button 2x push!

I've practiced the accidental 2x power button-push. Putting the shifter in N and tapping the button 2x does NOT work. You need to do this:
Put the shifter in N.
Tap the power button
wait............
Tap the power button again.

It is absolutely crazy that a rapid 2x push shuts the car down (and TURNS OFF the headlights), but to turn the car back on, you have to pause between the two button presses. When someone is flying down the highway at night and they have accidentally shut down the car, they're in emergency mode. Pausing between pushes is really difficult to achieve.

I've written this before and I will repeat it:
The car's On/Off switch should NOT be a push button. It should be a toggle switch: Up for on, Down for off -- or a twisty, just like a key: left for off, right for on.

 

Good Morning MikeKU1,

I apologize that you had this experience. Congrats on your New Volt! By placing the car in neutral, you can re-start the vehicle while rolling. Hopefully this will help you if it happens again. Also you will have a Dedicated Advisor. If you could PM me with the last 8 of your VIN and the best way for you to be reached, I will have them contact you!

-Ian Chevrolet EV Customer Service

 

I drive mainly in sport mode, and have nearly hit the power button by accident numerous times. The drive mode button should be relocated on the console IMO.

 

I'd prefer a paddle on the steering wheel.

 

I haven't done it yet - yet being the operative word. If you are looking down, even for an instant, while driving you are being distracted.

Tangent, I too would prefer no Low and paddles for variable regen. And that Sport mode not be exclusive of Mountain Mode/Hold Mode.

 

Doesn't the brake pedal provide variable regen for most braking above 5 mph?, maybe I don't understand the technology yet.... why do so many of us seem adverse to using the brake pedal for regen?

also, while you are correct about distracted driving, I think that by far the most important issue in distrated driving is where the driver's mind is, not where the drivers hands or eyes are. If my mind isn't on the road, then it doesn't matter where my hands and eyes are, and if my mind is on the driving, then my hands and eyes can move through normal scans to maintain full situational awareness and control.

 

If you press the Drive Mode button rapidly, then this isn't an issue. I tried to shut the car down by pressing the Power button rapidly both two and four times and it never shut down.

Apparently you have to press the Power button slowly, which begs the question why people don't look at what they're doing?

 

The first time this happened to me, I pulled into the suicide lane with my hazards on until I figured out what I had done and how to turn the Volt back on again. The second time it happened to me, I restarted the propulsion system so seamlessly that my passenger didn't even realize that I had powered the car down.

 

Happened to me on my first test drive. I was a the stop light, foot on the break pedal. Wanted to engage SPORTS mode.... my finger was attacked to this gorgeous blue LIGHT.... Took me a while to get underway again.

The salesman was even more confused than I was....

 

Yup. This is a major user-interface problem. It's happened to me, and it's pretty scary when it happens. First of all, the power button should NOT be within easy reach of the passenger side on the center stack. It should be away from any other controls.

A simple On-Acc-Off knob control would be the best, right where traditional keys are put. It's been a tried and true user-interface for a long long time.

While I give my Volt a solid 10 stars for most of the car, the center-stack user-interface is horrible. Zero stars. Seriously, I don't have one good thing to say about the layout, the touch buttons, the laggy display, etc.. I'm sad that GM decided to try a completely new and cobbled-together approach to the user-interface simply because they were debuting a revolutionary new drivetrain.

Couple that with Chevy's reluctance to make *any* software changes once the car has left the factory, like the forced-8A charge mode setting, or non-user-switchable all-windows-down, and that means that I'll be heartily awaiting Tesla's Volt-killer whenever it arrives on the scene.