@@tonebonebgky2 For about two weeks now I've been driving the car I settled on after doing tons of research:* A 2016 Kia Soul EV+ with less than 18000 miles on it, one owner, no accidents and in excellent condition. Love it, love it, love it! It has a 93 miles range which for me is perfectly adequate, as I work only about 10 miles away from where I live. I don't even have to charge it every day. Maybe every other day or so. And unless I'm driving to my parents' house (which is about 42 miles away) I only charge it to 80%. This will help the battery maintain its capacity better over time. * I also looked at the BMW i3 (didn't like the skinny tires), the Fiat 500e (doesn't offer any DC fast charging), Nissan Leaf (very small range and battery degradation issues), Ford Focus Electric (REALLY small range and drastically reduced cargo capacity because of the battery) and Tesla (even used ones were just way too expensive for me). Try cargurus.com or carvana.com
I have a 2013 and have owned it for 1 1/2 years now and every time I drive I am amazed at how nice the car is. I have gone as far as 51 miles on a charge at least 3 times.
I am happy with my winter range. Not ecstatic but happy. I was expecting 38 to 42 summer miles at 55 MPH or less. I've only had it in cold weather where I was expecting about 28 to 32 miles. I got 30 miles yesterday in 20 someodd degree weather. I have gotten as high as 36 but I think it was upper 30's which I thought was good because in every case I have the heat on a comfortable level. I start in comfort mode, then switch to echo but often switch back to comfort.
@@ArkansasEV Does you car have seat heaters, that will save you miles. Look up what Tesla does, they only will charge to 42% in cold weather, so I would say Volt owners are lucky
@@racerd3801 No it does not. It's a shame because I really wanted to try out those automatic heated seats. Because of my budget I was really limited on what I could buy. I had a 2012 picked out that was loaded but went with a stripped down (except backup camera) 2015 instead.
@@bmw803 so far my 14' has had a new hybrid battery replaced (the big one folks), new water pump, new coolant pump, new drive motor bearing, and other stuff too. GM cars really suck. Just found out after they replaced the battery they didn't put the battery cover back on been driving without it for months.
@@infringinator Must be one of those that wasnt assembled correctly or something. The vast majority of Volts dont have problems. Every brand has a certain percentage of cars with problems. Even the highly perceived Toyota has a percentage of cars with problems. This isn't exclusive to GM.
Like any other gas engine, I suspect it’s not good to run it short cycles in cold weather. It needs to run long enough and get hot enough to burn out any condensation in the oil. I’m going to be looking for a 2013 or 2014 Volt soon, that seems to be the most bang for the buck right now. Lack of a hold mode makes the 11 and 12 models undesirable for me.
I'm not certain but think the 15 has a slightly bigger battery. Of course, every year you get closer to the present is longer you'll have the Voltech warranty as well. However, they also cost more.
tha mpg number is pretty much useless, but reminds you how much you hate to go to gas station. Pure electric does not remind you enough by giving you no chance of using gas. so that mpg number is compensated with time, effort(plug in pay then unplug) and electricty. it made more sense by going mpD d for dollar.
I believe if you put it in mountain mode, it will partially charge the battery up to 50% so it can give you that extra energy boost to get you up steep hills.
This car has no problems with hills from what I can see. If you are gonna be entering into mountains then you are supposed to put it in Mountain Mode 10 minutes before and yes it leaves extra charge in the battery when you do this.
There is a clever way to get the most out of battery and gas: Driving in the flat or a little bit upwards in mountain mode, until it get´s to 50%, then switch to hold mode. When going downwards, let the car charge back with recuperation. When driving in the flat, drive in normal with battery. After depleting down to just one bar, around 5-6 miles left, change back to mountain mode. Do that long enough, and you see, that in the end, you drive much more with battery, then you would have just with switching from normal to hold. Because when you not driving too fast or too steep uphill, the generator produces enough juice to drive the car and charge the battery really fast, without not too much additional gas usage.
WOW! You are really in the minority. There is nothing wrong with that. I can't imagine I'd like a Volt better but my 15 is a nice car hat never fails to get me there.
i live near fort smith arkansas myself and i have to wonder since i have been in the market for a used chevy volt for a bit now is where in the hell did you manage to find a used chevy volt anywhere near arkansas? ive look everywhere i can and so far the closest chevy volt that i have seen worth looking at in my opinion has been almost 300 miles away in texas
@@xYleecoyotex I bought it at the only dealership I will buy a car. It's a national dealership launched roughly 5 years ago called Carvana. I buy from them because they have a huge selection (usually about 12,000 cars), they'll deliver to your house or meet you at the edge of their delivery area, they have a 7 day no questions asked return policy, and they hire zero salesman. I can't stand car salesmen. I did a video about them so check it out. th-cam.com/video/l0_LFBTEAds/w-d-xo.html
I know at first it's natural to go "oooooohhhh I don't know about buy a car online site unseen" but they have good pictures on the site and with a 7 day return policy it's really not risky at all. Here is their Volt page. www.carvana.com/cars/chevrolet-volt/filters/?cvnaid=eyJmaWx0ZXJzIjp7Im1vZGVscyI6ImVfIn0sInNvcnRCeSI6Ikxvd2VzdFByaWNlIn0%3D
There are tons of variables that play into that including temperature. If it's 32 or below the gas engine seems to run sometimes even with a full battery. the display says "engine running due to temperature". Perhaps it does it at higher temps but for sure when 32 F. Also, terrain, wind, how high the heat is in winter and on and on. For me I seem to get about 30 to 35 miles in winter with the heat on a comfortable level. In winter I expect 35 to 40 with the A/C on. However, I have to wait to find out for sure.
You can change the temperature the engine kicks on in the cold. It's in the climate settings. The engine is running mostly to heat the cabin better in ERDDT mode. I keep mine at the lower temp setting and rarely run the gas engine for heat. I also use the heat sparingly, as it saps the battery fast. When I'm only using the seat heaters at 30f, I can get 30-35 miles on a charge. I got 45 miles when we had a 50f day. I'm told 50 electric miles is typical in summer with good driving technique. I only bought my 2015 volt 3 months ago. It is easily the best, but far from most expensive, vehicle I've owned.
@@Brandon_Nelson92 I discovered this a week or so ago and have changed my setting and so far in town the engine rarely comes on now but I have not taken it very far yet and have not driven in low 20's yet either. In high 20's in town it has not come on though. I don't have heated seats in mine and I run the heat however high it needs to be to stay comfortable and mileage be damned. I'll suffer the mileage to be comfortable but completely understand those that want to get every mile they can out of it. So do I so long as I'm not cold doing it.
@@Brandon_Nelson92 I also have a 2015 and I can squeeze close to 50 miles if I drive a certain way and go downhill for a mile or 2. But, overall 45 miles is the average with no climate controls on. At this time of year temperatures are ideal for batteries.
After 1 year of ownership and well over 60K miles on the odometer the build quality seems very good. The car feels fine at highway or city speeds. It is just a car without a lot of wind noise and certainly not uncomfortable. It does not ride like a luxury car of course but it's fine.
The Gen 1 (11-15) requires premium according to the owners manual but many owners put regular in with no issues. Many other owners say you should not do that. I accidentally put regular unleaded in recently and did not notice any difference except I think the MPG was a little less while in gas mode. Most owners, even those that use regular unleaded will say the MPG is slightly less as well.
They tell you to use premium because it stays fresher longer . The engine is not a high performance typical car engine, it’s a generator more than anything.
@@ArkansasEV The European version of the BMW i3 also has hold mode, though it works slightly differently. You can unlock this feature in the US version if you know how to do it... (Videos on TH-cam)
Chevy Volt uses less gas than Tesla, Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt In March 2019 General Motors will stop producing the Chevy Volt forever. Please help spread the word by sharing and retweeting this article hopefully to convince GM to continue the production of this legendary car, or to convert the Bolt from an All-Electric to an Electric Gas Hybrid plug in The state of California gives a larger rebate to Tesla owners than to Chevy Volt owners because the Tesla is a “Zero Emission” car. In reality the Chevy Volt is closer to zero emission than the Tesla. This may not make sense to you so please read on to see my reasoning. As an owner of three different Chevy Volts Plug in electric / gas hybrid cars since 2011, I can affirm you that my experience with those three cars and my experience with the Chevy Volt is that they use much less fossil fuel (Gas) than Tesla, Nissan leaf or Chevy Bolt. This may sound as an absurd statement but if you let me explain to you why, then it may make more sense, When a person owns an all electric car (Tesla, Leaf, Bolt) it is never a primary car. The owner must own a second car as the primary car. This is usually a regular gas car that in the long run it uses much more fossil fuel than a Chevy Volt. In other words the total fossil fuel usage for this household is much more than that for a person who owns a Chevy Volt. The Chevy Volt for this household is the primary car (no range limit) and there is no need for a second (more long distant) reliable car. Also should note the environmental impact of owning two cars over one car which would include parts that needs to be replaced and those used parts will eventually end in the dump, 4 additional rubber tires to care for, oil changes, transmission oil, brake pads, tune ups, cost for the additional insurance etc. As soon as a person purchases an all electric car he develops a (RAD) range anxiety disorder, it is a disease I invented in my head to explain to you how a new owner of an all electric car starts to thinks shortly after purchasing the car ( sort of similar to buying a Boat: as the saying goes: the two happiest days in a man’s life is the day he buys a Boat and the day he sells it). Most of the general public (even most owners of the Chevy Volt) are not aware of this “RAD”. When an owner of a Chevy Volt travels any distant he will always be going from point A to point B. When an owner of a Tesla, Leaf, Bolt travel any distance that is close to the 50% range of the car’s battery capacity or more, he or she no longer can travel from point A to point B. It will always will be point A to point C. The reason is point B will HAVE TO BE a stop to use some form of a commercial charger thus diverting from A to B path (travel distance increased so is the fossil fuel usage) and the commercial charger uses of (fossil fuel) to charge the car. Example if a Tesla owner lives in Pasadena, Ca. wants to visit relatives in San Diego, Ca.. This Tesla owner will be very apprehensive that his or her car my not make the round trip and they could get stranded somewhere in between putting their life on the line. They have to stop at some Tesla charging station in between to get the Tesla charged or the battery switched while the relative who lives in San Diego will use their gas guzzling (fossil fuel) car to pick them up at the Tesla charging station to bring them to their house and when they are done visiting, this relative will have to take them back to the charging station using the same gas guzzling car, that is four trips. When owners of an all electric car taking any extended trip they must be on their toes learning and knowing the whole network that they can use to recharge their car (Point B to point C). If those charge stations are busy charging other cars then they must wait possibly buying foods and drinks (that used fossil fuel to make, and produce more trash to fill landfills). If the car is completely discharged then they will have to stay at a hotel overnight, because those All- Electric cars can take as much as 18 hours to fully recharge. Boy think about the amount of fossil fuel used to keep a person in a hotel overnight, electricity to operate AC / Heater, watching TV, hair drying, washing sheets and towels, laundry, food and the trash generated by such a one night stay. They also will need some form of transportation from the charging station to the hotel and back (more fossil fuel). Those all electric car companies may use sells gimmicks like DC charging where you can get quick charging in a short period of time. I say nonsense, you have to find a charging station with such a DC charging capability and hopefully there is nobody else ahead of you waiting to use it. Some people might thing in the back of their head that some hotels may have a one or two charging station for customers to use, I can guarantee you that those charging station will charge you an arm & a leg (more direct and indirect fossil fuel use) before you charge your car. In other word they: CHARGE LOTS OF MONEY TO CHARGE YOUR CAR. My experience with hotels chargers is that they either don't work or you can not charge your car with them (Tesla requires a special charger). If Tesla owners think that they can knock on peoples doors and ask them if they would allow them to use their electrical outlet in their garage to charge their car while they are sitting in their car, they better think again. It is not only unpractical, not workable and damn right dangerous. In some areas around the country if you knock on peoples door to recharge your car then you could end up on some TV true crime show. When I was a child my father told me the following saying “Good health is like a crown on the heads of healthy people, only sick people can see”. Chevy Volts drivers wear a crown (No Range Anxiety Disorder) only owners of Tesla, Leaf & Bolt drivers can see this crown. The state of California calls those all electric cars as “Zero Emission” while in fact they either directly or indirectly use more gas than the Chevy Volt. The Chevy Volt should be the car that gets the White pool lane sticker and should get more state rebate than the Tesla. People who have never owned a Chevy Volt have no idea how little gas it uses. Over the past almost 8 years of using my Chevy Volts most of the times I can not even remember the last time I purchased gas. Chevy Volt is also a great maintenance free car, I can write a real long article about all the benefits of owning a Chevy Volt but not this time. I think Mr. Bob Lutz (the person who forced GM to make the Volt) against all odds i.e. “GM engineers” should receive the Nobel prize for his idea and persistence. Had GM added a gas generator in the Chevy Bolt the same size as the gas generator in the Chevy Volt then the Chevy Bolt would have become (BVOLT) and would have become the greatest selling car in the world. Unfortunately Mr. Bob Lutz no longer works for GM and GM executive are now forced to listen to “GM engineers” to make their decisions. Even if I lived in an apartment building with no electric outlets in the parking section I will still purchase a Chevy Volt to use it as a gas only car. On gas only, without ever being plugged in for charging, it gets more than 40 miles per gallon. This mileage combined with almost no maintenance and the incredible torque this car has, makes this car better than the gas cars made by Honda, Toyota, Nissan combined. The 100% electric drive makes the main function of the gas engine is to charge the battery or run the electric motor. This means this gas engine is under no stress to propel the car which make this engine run under little mechanical degradation, which means it can easily run half a million to one million miles without much of a problems. Until someone makes an All-Electric car that is powered by a super-capacitor (or other means) that can be fully charged in minutes AND those charging facilities are present at all gas stations, then All-Electric cars are not “Zero Emission” and not even close to being the lowest emission cars on the market. Super-capacitor cars I do not envision to be around anytime soon and until such a car becomes a reality then I say to the whole world that is watching : “The Emperor's New Clothes, he hasn't got anything on,". To all the auto industry CEO's with visions, missions of a “Zero Emission” cars : the jig is up because it is not in the All-Electric cars. The Volt has the lowest emission of most if not all (including All-Electric) cars and should receive the Nobel prize for being the greatest car ever built. Owner of 3 Chevy Volts for 8 years.
Replacing the Battery in Volt or Leaf is cost ineffective (too expensive), so when the Chevy Volt battery completely depleted or its capacity reaches zero (I do not know of any Volt reaching this stage), the owner has a gas only car that gets about 42 MPG and minimal maintenance and still 100% torque. When a Leaf battery reaches a zero capacity then you have on your hand a car that is sold for parts only.
I just got one of these cars too. Its been great but this video illustrates the dilemma. To drive slow like a jackass or keep speeding and slowing to cater to gas cars. I'm starting to get upset at everybody else for going to fast down steep hills because its inconveniencing ME.
Yeah I never drive below the speed limit if I'm holding others up. I will however drive the speed limit, which most would consider a jackass move but so long as I'm going the posted speed I never feel bad about it.
@@nickiemcnichols5397 If engineers set limits we wouldnt have this problem. But unfortunately its politicians that set limits super low in order to turn cops into tax collectors. Highways should be all posted at 80-85, except in populated areas.
Great video! Greetings from Finland. We will get out 2014 Opel Ampera in a one week.
Dude, that back up camera was saying "look out!" and you still hit that object. LOL! Hope she wasn't too injured!
My stupidity did not hurt it this time.
@@ArkansasEV ;)
I was thinking the same thing stop stop and be accelerates got lucky
@@tonebonebgky2 For about two weeks now I've been driving the car I settled on after doing tons of research:* A 2016 Kia Soul EV+ with less than 18000 miles on it, one owner, no accidents and in excellent condition. Love it, love it, love it! It has a 93 miles range which for me is perfectly adequate, as I work only about 10 miles away from where I live. I don't even have to charge it every day. Maybe every other day or so. And unless I'm driving to my parents' house (which is about 42 miles away) I only charge it to 80%. This will help the battery maintain its capacity better over time.
* I also looked at the BMW i3 (didn't like the skinny tires), the Fiat 500e (doesn't offer any DC fast charging), Nissan Leaf (very small range and battery degradation issues), Ford Focus Electric (REALLY small range and drastically reduced cargo capacity because of the battery) and Tesla (even used ones were just way too expensive for me). Try cargurus.com or carvana.com
I have a 2013 and have owned it for 1 1/2 years now and every time I drive I am amazed at how nice the car is. I have gone as far as 51 miles on a charge at least 3 times.
I am happy with my winter range. Not ecstatic but happy. I was expecting 38 to 42 summer miles at 55 MPH or less. I've only had it in cold weather where I was expecting about 28 to 32 miles. I got 30 miles yesterday in 20 someodd degree weather. I have gotten as high as 36 but I think it was upper 30's which I thought was good because in every case I have the heat on a comfortable level. I start in comfort mode, then switch to echo but often switch back to comfort.
@@ArkansasEV Does you car have seat heaters, that will save you miles. Look up what Tesla does, they only will charge to 42% in cold weather, so I would say Volt owners are lucky
@@racerd3801 No it does not. It's a shame because I really wanted to try out those automatic heated seats. Because of my budget I was really limited on what I could buy. I had a 2012 picked out that was loaded but went with a stripped down (except backup camera) 2015 instead.
I just purchased the same car, same color too!
Picked up a 2015 2 days ago. 14K. Very nice car and smooth ride. Still trying to figure out some of the shit this car does.
@@bmw803 so far my 14' has had a new hybrid battery replaced (the big one folks), new water pump, new coolant pump, new drive motor bearing, and other stuff too. GM cars really suck. Just found out after they replaced the battery they didn't put the battery cover back on been driving without it for months.
@@infringinator Must be one of those that wasnt assembled correctly or something. The vast majority of Volts dont have problems. Every brand has a certain percentage of cars with problems. Even the highly perceived Toyota has a percentage of cars with problems. This isn't exclusive to GM.
@@bmw803 Toyota is the asian GM I'm talking about a real car like the ferrari I saw stuck in the middle of the road lol
Cannot wait for your full review video
Thank you. I thought about doing a one week review but think I'll wait for 1,000 miles. After a week I barely know it.
Like any other gas engine, I suspect it’s not good to run it short cycles in cold weather. It needs to run long enough and get hot enough to burn out any condensation in the oil. I’m going to be looking for a 2013 or 2014 Volt soon, that seems to be the most bang for the buck right now. Lack of a hold mode makes the 11 and 12 models undesirable for me.
I'm not certain but think the 15 has a slightly bigger battery. Of course, every year you get closer to the present is longer you'll have the Voltech warranty as well. However, they also cost more.
Nice car.
tha mpg number is pretty much useless, but reminds you how much you hate to go to gas station. Pure electric does not remind you enough by giving you no chance of using gas. so that mpg number is compensated with time, effort(plug in pay then unplug) and electricty. it made more sense by going mpD d for dollar.
I believe if you put it in mountain mode, it will partially charge the battery up to 50% so it can give you that extra energy boost to get you up steep hills.
This car has no problems with hills from what I can see. If you are gonna be entering into mountains then you are supposed to put it in Mountain Mode 10 minutes before and yes it leaves extra charge in the battery when you do this.
There is a clever way to get the most out of battery and gas: Driving in the flat or a little bit upwards in mountain mode, until it get´s to 50%, then switch to hold mode. When going downwards, let the car charge back with recuperation. When driving in the flat, drive in normal with battery. After depleting down to just one bar, around 5-6 miles left, change back to mountain mode. Do that long enough, and you see, that in the end, you drive much more with battery, then you would have just with switching from normal to hold. Because when you not driving too fast or too steep uphill, the generator produces enough juice to drive the car and charge the battery really fast, without not too much additional gas usage.
I have a Tesla Model 3 and actually like my son's Volt better.
WOW! You are really in the minority. There is nothing wrong with that. I can't imagine I'd like a Volt better but my 15 is a nice car hat never fails to get me there.
3:44 Missouri Welcomes You
i live near fort smith arkansas myself and i have to wonder since i have been in the market for a used chevy volt for a bit now is where in the hell did you manage to find a used chevy volt anywhere near arkansas? ive look everywhere i can and so far the closest chevy volt that i have seen worth looking at in my opinion has been almost 300 miles away in texas
btw love the video and wps
@@xYleecoyotex I bought it at the only dealership I will buy a car. It's a national dealership launched roughly 5 years ago called Carvana. I buy from them because they have a huge selection (usually about 12,000 cars), they'll deliver to your house or meet you at the edge of their delivery area, they have a 7 day no questions asked return policy, and they hire zero salesman. I can't stand car salesmen. I did a video about them so check it out.
th-cam.com/video/l0_LFBTEAds/w-d-xo.html
I know at first it's natural to go "oooooohhhh I don't know about buy a car online site unseen" but they have good pictures on the site and with a 7 day return policy it's really not risky at all. Here is their Volt page.
www.carvana.com/cars/chevrolet-volt/filters/?cvnaid=eyJmaWx0ZXJzIjp7Im1vZGVscyI6ImVfIn0sInNvcnRCeSI6Ikxvd2VzdFByaWNlIn0%3D
@@ArkansasEV awesome I've learned something new today. :) Thanks for the reply and the advice I'll be looking into it and keep up the great work.
@@xYleecoyotex You're welcome. It's why I do this. It's not for money, because I get none from you Tube. It's to simply spread information.
What kind of distance can you go just with the battery
There are tons of variables that play into that including temperature. If it's 32 or below the gas engine seems to run sometimes even with a full battery. the display says "engine running due to temperature". Perhaps it does it at higher temps but for sure when 32 F. Also, terrain, wind, how high the heat is in winter and on and on. For me I seem to get about 30 to 35 miles in winter with the heat on a comfortable level. In winter I expect 35 to 40 with the A/C on. However, I have to wait to find out for sure.
You can change the temperature the engine kicks on in the cold. It's in the climate settings. The engine is running mostly to heat the cabin better in ERDDT mode. I keep mine at the lower temp setting and rarely run the gas engine for heat. I also use the heat sparingly, as it saps the battery fast. When I'm only using the seat heaters at 30f, I can get 30-35 miles on a charge. I got 45 miles when we had a 50f day. I'm told 50 electric miles is typical in summer with good driving technique. I only bought my 2015 volt 3 months ago. It is easily the best, but far from most expensive, vehicle I've owned.
@@Brandon_Nelson92 I discovered this a week or so ago and have changed my setting and so far in town the engine rarely comes on now but I have not taken it very far yet and have not driven in low 20's yet either. In high 20's in town it has not come on though. I don't have heated seats in mine and I run the heat however high it needs to be to stay comfortable and mileage be damned. I'll suffer the mileage to be comfortable but completely understand those that want to get every mile they can out of it. So do I so long as I'm not cold doing it.
@@Brandon_Nelson92 I also have a 2015 and I can squeeze close to 50 miles if I drive a certain way and go downhill for a mile or 2. But, overall 45 miles is the average with no climate controls on. At this time of year temperatures are ideal for batteries.
What’s the build quality like? And how refined is it at speed
After 1 year of ownership and well over 60K miles on the odometer the build quality seems very good. The car feels fine at highway or city speeds. It is just a car without a lot of wind noise and certainly not uncomfortable. It does not ride like a luxury car of course but it's fine.
J McPhink that’s fine, mainly long drives, and city commutes. This car rings all the bells
Do u fill up the volt with regular gas or have to use a higher grade?
The Gen 1 (11-15) requires premium according to the owners manual but many owners put regular in with no issues. Many other owners say you should not do that. I accidentally put regular unleaded in recently and did not notice any difference except I think the MPG was a little less while in gas mode. Most owners, even those that use regular unleaded will say the MPG is slightly less as well.
They tell you to use premium because it stays fresher longer . The engine is not a high performance typical car engine, it’s a generator more than anything.
I thought you were getting the 2012?
I got the 15 instead because it was not that much more and had hold mode.
@@ArkansasEV The European version of the BMW i3 also has hold mode, though it works slightly differently. You can unlock this feature in the US version if you know how to do it... (Videos on TH-cam)
Chevy
Volt uses less gas than Tesla, Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt
In
March 2019 General Motors will stop producing the Chevy Volt forever.
Please
help spread the word by sharing and retweeting this article hopefully
to convince GM to continue the production of this legendary car, or
to convert the Bolt from an All-Electric to an Electric Gas Hybrid
plug in
The
state of California gives a larger rebate to Tesla owners than to
Chevy Volt owners because the Tesla is a “Zero Emission” car. In
reality the Chevy Volt is closer to zero emission than the Tesla.
This
may not make sense to you so please read on to see my reasoning.
As
an owner of three different Chevy Volts Plug in electric / gas hybrid
cars since 2011, I can affirm you that my experience with those three
cars and my experience with the Chevy Volt is that they use much less
fossil fuel (Gas) than Tesla, Nissan leaf or Chevy Bolt. This may
sound as an absurd statement but if you let me explain to you why,
then it may make more sense,
When
a person owns an all electric car (Tesla, Leaf, Bolt) it is never a
primary car. The owner must own a second car as the primary car. This
is usually a regular gas car that in the long run it uses much more
fossil fuel than a Chevy Volt. In other words
the
total fossil fuel usage for this household is much more than that for
a person who owns a Chevy Volt. The
Chevy Volt for this household is the primary car (no range limit) and
there is no need for a second (more long distant) reliable car. Also
should note the environmental impact of owning two cars over one car
which would include parts that needs to be replaced and those used
parts will eventually end in the dump, 4 additional rubber
tires to care for, oil changes, transmission oil, brake pads, tune
ups, cost for the additional insurance etc.
As
soon as a person purchases an all electric car he develops a (RAD)
range
anxiety disorder, it is a disease I invented in my head to explain to
you how a new owner of an all electric car starts to thinks shortly
after purchasing the car ( sort of similar to buying a Boat: as the
saying goes: the two happiest days in a man’s life is the day he
buys a Boat and the day he sells it). Most of the general public
(even most owners of the Chevy Volt) are not aware of this “RAD”.
When
an owner of a Chevy Volt travels any distant he will always be going
from point A to point B.
When
an owner of a Tesla, Leaf, Bolt travel any distance that is close to
the 50% range of the car’s battery capacity or more, he or she no
longer can travel from point A to point B. It will always will be
point A to point C. The reason is point B will HAVE TO BE a
stop
to use some form of a commercial charger thus diverting from A to B
path (travel distance increased so is the fossil fuel usage) and the
commercial charger uses of (fossil fuel) to charge the car. Example
if a Tesla owner lives in Pasadena, Ca.
wants
to visit relatives in San Diego, Ca.. This Tesla owner will be very
apprehensive that his or her car my not make the round trip and they
could get stranded somewhere in between putting their life on the
line. They have to stop at some Tesla charging station in between to
get the Tesla charged or the battery switched while the relative who
lives in San Diego will use their gas guzzling (fossil fuel) car to
pick them up at the Tesla charging station to bring them to
their house and when they are done visiting, this relative will have
to take them back to the charging station using the same gas guzzling
car, that is four trips. When owners of an all electric car taking
any extended trip they must be on their toes learning and knowing the
whole network that they can use to recharge their car (Point B to
point C). If those charge stations are busy charging other cars then
they must wait possibly buying foods and drinks (that used fossil
fuel to make, and produce more trash to fill landfills). If the car
is completely discharged then they will have to stay at a hotel
overnight, because those All- Electric cars can take as much as 18
hours to fully recharge. Boy think about the amount of fossil fuel
used to keep a person in a hotel overnight,
electricity
to operate AC / Heater, watching TV, hair drying, washing sheets and
towels, laundry, food and the trash generated by such a one night
stay. They also will need some form of transportation from the
charging station to the hotel and back (more fossil fuel).
Those
all electric car companies may use sells gimmicks like DC charging
where you can get quick charging in a short period of time. I say
nonsense, you have to find a charging station with such a DC charging
capability and hopefully there is nobody else ahead of you waiting to
use it. Some people might thing in the back of their head that some
hotels may have a one or two charging station for customers to use, I
can guarantee you that those charging station will charge you an arm
& a leg (more direct and indirect fossil fuel use) before you
charge your car. In other word they: CHARGE LOTS OF MONEY TO CHARGE
YOUR CAR. My experience with hotels chargers is that they either
don't work or you can not charge your car with them (Tesla requires a
special charger). If Tesla owners think that they can knock on
peoples doors and ask them if they would allow them to use their
electrical outlet in their garage to charge their car while they are
sitting in their car, they better think again. It is not only
unpractical, not workable and damn right dangerous. In some areas
around the country if you knock on peoples door to recharge your car
then you could end up on some TV true crime show.
When
I was a child my father told me the following saying “Good
health is like a crown on the heads of healthy people, only sick
people can see”. Chevy Volts drivers wear a crown (No Range
Anxiety Disorder) only owners of Tesla, Leaf & Bolt drivers can
see this crown.
The
state of California calls those all electric cars as “Zero
Emission” while in fact they
either
directly or indirectly
use
more gas than the Chevy Volt. The Chevy Volt should be the car that
gets the White pool lane sticker and should get more state rebate
than the Tesla.
People
who have never owned a Chevy Volt have no idea how little gas it
uses. Over the past almost 8 years of using my Chevy Volts most of
the times I can not even remember the last time I purchased gas.
Chevy
Volt is also a great maintenance free car, I can write a real long
article about all the benefits of owning a Chevy Volt but not this
time. I think
Mr.
Bob Lutz (the person who forced GM to make the Volt) against all odds
i.e. “GM engineers”
should
receive the Nobel prize for his idea and persistence. Had GM added a
gas generator in the Chevy Bolt the same size as the gas generator in
the Chevy Volt then the Chevy Bolt would have become (BVOLT) and
would have become the greatest selling car in the world.
Unfortunately
Mr. Bob Lutz no longer works for GM and GM executive are now forced
to listen to “GM engineers”
to
make their decisions.
Even if I lived in an apartment
building with no electric outlets in the parking section I will still
purchase a Chevy Volt to use it as a gas only car. On gas only,
without ever being plugged in for charging, it gets more than 40
miles per gallon. This mileage combined with almost no maintenance
and the incredible torque this car has, makes this car better than
the gas cars made by Honda, Toyota, Nissan combined. The 100%
electric drive makes the main function of the gas engine is to charge
the battery or run the electric motor. This means this gas engine is
under no stress to propel the car which make this engine run under
little mechanical degradation, which means it can easily run half a
million to one million miles without much of a problems.
Until
someone makes an All-Electric car that is powered by a
super-capacitor (or other means) that can be fully charged in minutes
AND
those
charging facilities are present at all gas stations, then
All-Electric cars are not “Zero Emission” and not even close to
being the lowest emission cars on the market. Super-capacitor cars I
do not envision to be around anytime soon and until such a car
becomes a reality then I say to the whole world that is watching :
“The
Emperor's New Clothes, he
hasn't got anything on,".
To all the auto industry CEO's with visions, missions of a “Zero
Emission” cars : the jig is up because it is not in the
All-Electric cars.
The
Volt has the lowest emission of most if not all (including
All-Electric) cars and should receive the Nobel prize for being the
greatest car ever built.
Owner
of 3 Chevy Volts for 8 years.
I'll take my Nissan Leaf over a Chevy volt any day !
Also your logic is very flawed !
Replacing the Battery in Volt or Leaf is cost ineffective (too expensive), so when the Chevy Volt battery completely depleted or its capacity reaches zero (I do not know of any Volt reaching this stage), the owner has a gas only car that gets about 42 MPG and minimal maintenance and still 100% torque. When a Leaf battery reaches a zero capacity then you have on your hand a car that is sold for parts only.
I just got one of these cars too. Its been great but this video illustrates the dilemma. To drive slow like a jackass or keep speeding and slowing to cater to gas cars. I'm starting to get upset at everybody else for going to fast down steep hills because its inconveniencing ME.
Yeah I never drive below the speed limit if I'm holding others up. I will however drive the speed limit, which most would consider a jackass move but so long as I'm going the posted speed I never feel bad about it.
@@ArkansasEV people think that the speed limit posted is the minimum speed. They're idiots who didn't pay attention when they got a driver license.
Just stay in the far right lane and there shouldnt be any issues.
@@nickiemcnichols5397 If engineers set limits we wouldnt have this problem. But unfortunately its politicians that set limits super low in order to turn cops into tax collectors. Highways should be all posted at 80-85, except in populated areas.