I bought a 2012 used. Only 12K miles when I bought it for less than $20K. Best car I've ever owned, hands down. I've driven my Volt nearly 15K miles and I'm averaging 150mpg. The amount of money I am saving on gas is paying for more than half of my car payment.
I'm thinking the resale values of the Volt will be outstanding as time goes on; as electric vehicles become more popular, the Volt will only go up in value due to demand. Glad to hear you like yours so much. It's pretty practical and 150MPG is nothing to sneeze at.
I've been driving my 2016 Volt for a few weeks now and love it. The electric engine more than covers my work commute and errands, and I figure I'll do 95% of my driving on electric. The gas tank gets rid of the range anxiety when going out of town. Plus, it's a cool looking ride, IMO. Take advantage of the various rebates, and it's a good deal.
+electrictroy2010 "No money saved." Clearly that depends on what you pay for gas and what you pay for electricity. I, for example, live in southern California where I'm paying around $3/gal and $0.09/KWh after midnight. My 2014 Volt is driven 95% of the time just a hair below the battery range. Over a 50 MPG Prius, I'm saving a small amount, maybe $10 a month, on energy costs. Yes, I paid significantly more than a hi-mpg Cruze or Focus, but I think it's a better car too. I feel my usage is in the sweet spot for the Volt though, because the gas mpg is so poor. The 2016 Volt widens the sweet spot considerably.
+Patrick C the future of the automobile industry is the EV...people are slow to adapt just as people were slow to adapt with CDs vs cassette tapes...in 2015 Chevy's Volt/Bolt only accounted for 0.9% of its total sales...10 years from now that number will be a lot higher, mark my words...just like everyone owns a cell phone now compared to just 15 years ago.
+Patrick C I'll ignore the hyperbole about the "biggest piece of shit imaginable" because it doesn't take any imagination at all to find a bigger piece of shit. And there is definitely a market niche for it, which is part of the sales problem; it's only a niche, and a small one to boot. GM most certainly lost money on all previous Volts. Nissan lost money on the Leaf in previous years. Tesla has lost money on their cars too. The Leaf now supposedly turns a profit to pay for direct operating expenses (which ignores the billions spent developing it). The 2016 Volt supposedly has significantly lower production costs so there is a better chance that it will have at least a direct cost profitability. It's a little incredulous to compare the single most popular vehicle sold to a clearly niche market vehicle. Using that standard, every vehicle with worse sales is an even worse vehicle: Nissan Quest, Porsche 911, Nissan 370Z to name a few. The Volt is part of a technology development process with a learning curve. The costs of development of everything that goes into the Ford F-150 were amortized a hundred years ago. Just like fuel cell technology, EV and hybrids are actually exploring new technologies that requires R&D that can't be recouped in a vehicle's sales. But hey, it IS a Chevy, so the quality isn't great, especially considering its retail price.
It depends on the place where you live. Some places do have a lot of infrastructure to make it convenient to charge the car while you go buy groceries and so on. I have now driven this car for a while and I must say, the car is a brilliant piece of technology. Europeans tend to think that American cars are just way too inefficient and gas burners compared to german cars, but this is different with this car. Chevrolet must be investing piles of money on the technology of the vehicle, because this is an IT powerhouse the car. In any case, depending where you live, you start finding points to charge pretty much anywhere. Getting 40 to 50 miles electric range and driving the rest on petrol already saves you quite a bit of money. If you canoot charge at home, you can still charge over the weekend. The fuel engine should be more fuel efficient, but it is still around the 7 liters per 100 km. That means you easily have the same consumption of a prius which of 5.5l 100 km even you do not charge at home. As long as you charge once a week. The fuel engine works really great, you barely notice the difference between running the car on electric or fuel, if you are not hitting the gas and driving in spot mode. This car is quite a complete piece of technnology. Quite frankly, nowadays if you want to buy a pure diele/gas based engine, you have got to think that you are buying yesterdays news. The electric engines give you a world of possibilities, as long as you are not hooked just on the batteries. I Rather prefer the CHevrolet apporach to the problem than the tesla, that sells you a a gigawat-hour power plant. With this car you have your typical comute and the long drives. If you are doing a long drive, you have the typcal 7l per 100 km fuel efficiency and you can charge the gas in a couple o minutes. If you have the possibility to charge, than you charge and you pay something like 0.3 euros peros kwh, and save a tone of money. However, the entry price for this car is absurdly high. But yes, here you are buying into state of the art technology. And on aplain typial engine/diesel fuel, you are buying the century old technology. Works well, but a bit in need of an upgrade. This is the first car that chevrolet has produced that I manage to really appreciate. You have the typical covert gas burners and the family cars which are gas burners compared to normal german cars. But this one stands out for being brilliantly implemented. Brilliant implemented, but way too expensive. Still, all things considered, this or the toyata prius, are probably the best electric cars today in the mark for their price.
1:08, it's not just more range from more energy stored in the battery pack, but also a wider SOC range (uses more of the battery capacity; less buffer). Also a bit more MPGe (102 vs 98MPGe i believe). 6:30 not just parallel parking, but also perpendicular parking. 7:55 unfortunately the 2016 Volt has ERDTT (Engine Running Due To Temperature), in which the engine will come on if it is below 35F or 15F or colder outside (depending on the setting you choose, 35F is the default). It's only purpose is to satisfy the safety requirements that the cabin be able to defrost the windows quickly enough. Because, for some reason, they didn't put in a powerful enough electric cabin heater in the 2016 Volt. There is/will be a hack to trick the car into thinking it's warmer outside than it really is, so the engine won't come on unless it really is super cold out, like -5F or colder or the battery SOC is too low.
I found my answer but it's for previous gen : ''The Chevy Volt is equipped with four fully independent cooling systems or “loops”. The power electronics cooling system loop is dedicated to cooling the battery charger and the power inverter module. The battery cooling system cools (or in some cases heats) the 360V high voltage battery. The engine cooling system and heater loop is specific to cooling the gasoline engine and when required, provides heat for the passenger compartment. The electric drive unit cooling system is designed to cool the two motor generator units and electronics within the 4ET50E drive unit transaxle, and provides lubrication for the various gears, bearings, and bushings.''
Well done Sr. I'm currently saving for a 2017 / 2018 volt ! I know 2019 is the last of this series. But 9 good dependable years you can't swap at ! Well done Chevy ! Next the Bolt I guess. Pricy but looks like a winner.
Like to add that he misses one important fact when explaining the drivetrain output from gen 1 to current 2016 model at 2:15. He mentions that they both have the same 149 hp output and that the 2016 Volt has a torque boost to make it quicker. What he doesn't mention which is just as important as more torque is that the 2016 Volt's curb weight is 250 lbs. lighter than gen 1.
42 mpg hwy is est average I can get 42 -45 hwy on the gen 1 under 60 mph where the volt shines, when battery is deleted to its 6 kwh reserved it will yeild 50-70 mpg city using the EV and ice together! with the gen2 advancements iam guessing hwy mpg up to 50+ mpg 60-80 mpg city EV + ice! we drove our gen1 60+ miles on a single charge yes you need hypermiling technics ! so possible to achieve 70+ electric range from the gen 2?
Very informative for the time. Unfortunately I didn't check the date. I am looking for something more exhaustive that also includes the cons. Consumer Reports put this year as the only genuinely unreliable year for the Volt so far. I've not see anything promoting it after its release either...
The thing you really should know is that the EPA milage figures are a huge underestimate of the actual mileage that most people will get with this car. I have a 2013 Volt that I bought used and the EPA is 98 mpg but I've averaged over 120 mpg since I've had it now for over a year. That's in Boston where it gets cold in the winter. During Spring & Summer, I get easily over 200 mpg. I do charge it every night and my commute is about 40 miles total. I don't do a lot of road trips but I have no worries about taking them when I want since I can run it n gas and still end up averaging over 55 mpg (over about 200 miles) for the trip. The 2017 model has greater battery range and better mileage in gas mode so it can only be better. It's also really quick. This is a great design and I wish it was offered in more vehicles (including trucks and vans).
I have a 2014 so i looked at this video to see about the new batter and range I have had 8 Toyota car purchases with the last two being the Prius which i thought was the best car made today!!! BUT,,, Now I love My CHEVY VOLT better and I'm thinking about trading up to the 2016 foe the extra range...... RANGE anxiety Ha ha leaf owners no I don't get it because i have a VOLT Man Yes every thing this man said its so smooth and quiet and fast too...sporty fast... I gave this report a thumb up for accurate reporting on the benefits of owning my volt. One thing I want to mentioned I have to have an electric goood range/hybrid for the long trips which is difficult with an all electric car. and mainly so i did not need a second car for trips....
I love my Volt... everything about it.. and I was able to put my new boiler in it . of course the hacht didn't close but o well.. and yes I have a truck... I just didn't feel like going home to get it ....
I didn't quite follow on number 6. He mentions quick charge a few times, I think he meant fast charging... but I thought the Volt didn't have level 3 charging, only level 2?
A friend reports an unsolved charging issue after multiple trips to the dealer on her 2012 Volt. It stops charging randomly and then beeps until she unplugs the car. Also see the users forum: gm-volt.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?27-Problems-Issues-Driver-Warnings-or-DTCs-Chevy-Volt
+John DiPanni It's a car. Cars have issues. 2011 Volt is most dependable after 3 years per JD Power. Beat out Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla which have been around for 50 years. Not bad for the very first try out the door. insideevs.com/chevy-volt-tops-j-d-power-three-year-dependability-study/ Chevy Volt owners love their car more than any other except Tesla S. Broke the record and held it for 3 years in a row. I've owned a Volt for 4 years and belong to a Volt owners club of which there are over 50 owners. Never heard of a chronic issue. Once again, the Volt is a car. There are owners who have and will experience problems. Let's be a little honest here.
One thing is that GM is not helping dealers put in a 240VDC charging system or training on operation and maintenance. Urban Green Energy(UGEI) has a system with the grant from CALSTART (805 grant) which I helped the service manager explore and show him how to utilize green power to charge the car and supplement the dealership. Unfortunately, there is no help for the dealers like Renault-Nissan which additional training and help to put in a ev charger at the dealership. I guess they do not want dead zoe/kangoo ze/fluence ZE/twizzy/NEV 200 on the street. The EV-1 was fantastic when I drove it at Sierramonte in 1991. GM has a long way to go to catch up and it will still cosgtyou $100 to smog it every two years.
The Volt has an on board generator. People in the US have garages attached to their homes with internal/external electric plugs of 120V. It doesn't cost much to wire an inside or both inside/outside 240V by an electrician. So many people are making mountains out of molehills.
This years model looks like a replica of the Honda Civic, for whatever thats worth. I cam here assuming the comments would be full of references to the design looking so similar to the Civic. Did the same designer work on this car? Im genuinely curious, from the first moment I glanced at this car, I immediately thought it was a Civic, took me a moment to see the Chevy badges. Does anyone agree? Am I missing something here? It is literally a spitting image of the civic from previous years.
ELECTRICITY IS NOT FREE. Car reviewers ignore that fact when testing the Volt or other plugins. PRIUS == $1.90 gasoline for 50 miles. VOLT EV == $2.22 at 13 cent/KWh. So in reality the Volt and other plugins are MORE expensive to run.
Also after the Volt battery drains empty, it is only averaging 41 mpg in pure gas mode (example: driving LA to Vegas or SanFran). The Prius will average 50mpg and therefore still be the cheaper car. AND the Prius (or any standard gasoline/diesel car) costs 15,000 dollars less to buy than volt. These are the basic facts which car reviewers of the Volt or plugins never, ever mention to their audience .
+electrictroy2010 The thing is most people don't put that many miles on their car each day. My Volt is averaging 275 MPG. Car reviewers are shilling for the advertising dollars they get from conventional car makers. Trust what they say...I don't think so. I will trust my real world experience instead.
I have a 2011 volt and my wife drives about 42 miles a day round trip to work. We drive it on the weekend also.It has 9.3 gal tank. She fills up every 2 to 3 weeks. It is most if the time on ev. Saves us $3,000 to $6,000 a year on gas and oil changes. We have never changed the brake pads since we owned it. It has 174,000+ miles and 100,000 or so on gas. Not bad for a 7 year car.
nice specs but car is too small for my needs, ,I wish GM put this drive train into their trucks! also I would consider this as a second vehicle but only IF it had a Rear Wheel Drive I like to race and front drive just don't cut it..
Same price maybe, but you don't have "range anxiety" with a Volt. The Leaf is already a failed platform, unless you live in an urban setting; might as well use public transportation.
My 1994 Protege could got 500+ miles on a tank (40mpg), it cost me $2200 used. My motorcycle I got for $2000 gets about 50-60 MPG. I get about 35-40 in my 98 civic. Gas mode volt is about the same as a typical compact sedan, and no where close to a regular hybrid. If I wanted an electric car I would get a cheaper leaf with double range, much better MPGe and didn't cost millions in government funding.
+Brandon Black Tell me more about how a 1200lb battery in a $50,000 (adjusting for inflation of course) car was able to reach 150 miles... before the memory effect of the Ni-Mh battery depleted it's range to 10 :)
First gen Volt is SUPER reliable. Many of them are running 200-300k with little to regular maintenance. One guy ran his to 400k before it was in an accident with a semi truck tire causing his mechanical issues afterwards. Look up 400k Chevy Volt. You'll find his stuff all over the Internet and TH-cam
GM apparently put their best engineers on it. We had two 2013's which are perfectly reliable. I just traded mine in on a nice 2019. These are one of the most reliable cars GM ever made.
Ok so I have a 2012 volt and at first I though it was a wonderful car it drives perfect I loved it but I never really did my research on it when I got it. Well it's starting to show up msg saying propulsion power is reduced" , " engine not available" and when that pops up the car stop it started doing it out of no were which is clearly not safe when I'm driving PRD. I never new what that meant so I google it n started doing research on this car n a lot of fed back on this car is negative a lot of ppl said the same thing happened to them n there's no way it can be fixed this car is a death trap I believe and is clearly not safe to drive has anyone else had this problem n of ur not sure what I'm talking about Google propulsion power is reduced" , " engine not available" for Chevy volt it will pop up a lot of information about this car and what it means and how many people it has happened to please let me no if you no anything about this !!!!?????? I need ANSWERS
they need to stop using the fact that a tank of gas can get you 420 miles, it' really not that impressive, hybrid or not. Plug in hybrids are for people with short commutes daily, if you drive less than that 53 miles daily, you don't use gas (or maybe just a little)
If you'd stop waving your arms around in such an exaggerated fashion, you wouldn't lose your breath so much. Or at least change the title to add "Italian Version". j/k In any case, this was a fantastic rundown on the car. I think I bought the one in the video. It came from the SF area and ended up in Texas as my weekend/roadtrip car. I have a 2015 Leaf as my daily driver around the other "bay area" (Galveston Bay). The Volt is just too nice to get all beat up in the parking lots at work and around town. Thanks for making this video and sharing it with the community.
When the brake pedal is pressed, regen happens, or you use the paddles. It is more associated with slowing the car down using the brake pedal,or going downhill to limit speed. It has everything to do with braking the vehicle to capture that energy and charge the battery with it.
I was simply saying that the term "regenerative braking" refers to the electric motor slowing the car down, thereby capturing some kinetic energy of the motion of the car. There is no capturing of energy by brake pads contacting brake rotors. Applying the brakes is actually counterproductive to "regenerative braking".
+Josh Williams maybe you might want to try one first, I go 6 months on a tank of gas. In fact I burned more gas this last week going down to Key West from Orlando than I did all the previous year. Your Leaf would have never made it without stopping for a charge.
@ 3:40 - This whole regenerative braking issue is extremely over glamorized & only beneficial under certain conditions. There're many situations where you'll be saving much more power by allowing the vehicle to coast in neutral as you do when trying to regain traction in icy conditions. Always slowing down too fast/soon, then having to apply power to make up the extra distance uses more power! Always promoting regenerative braking is just a deceptive way of glamorizing the failure to come up with a clutch mechanism & multi ratio gearbox to handle the high upfront torque of an electric motor. It's a lazy sloppy design that's really geared towards slapping the thing together in record time so it can be available for sale A.S.A.P.
+Afrocanuk I'm guessing you have never had an electric car. Regen is awesome, instead of using friction to slow down your car it puts a good chunk of that energy back into the battery. After driving my 2013 for 3 years, I have used less than a mm on the pads.
Good commentary but awful video - way overexposed, not enough cutaways (What's the 5th seat look like?) and lots of wind noise. Go out and hire a professional to do your videos instead of the old DIY set up the camera, push record, and hope for the best.
+Romeo Sierra Its not a pure EV, its got a range extender like the BMW product. Advantage with Chevy is that you don't have range anxiety and don't have to worry about finding a charge station.
Kyle Greenhalgh yes range anxiety... i did drive from Austria to Norway and back with no worry about finding a quickcharger. Show me one Place in Europ or USA without electricity. Evan the rubish 110V Grid in US can Carge my Car.
+GT6SuzukaTimeTrials I don't have a garage but I do have a 2013 Volt. My Level 2 Charger is attached to the house and the cord is long enough to reach the car in the driveway. Furthermore there are alot of Level 2 chargers out there for public use at many shopping centers or parking garages.
What if I live in an apartment? I'm kind of screwed then, aren't I? Zero Motorcycles makes electric bikes with portable batteries you can bring inside. I'm probably going to buy one of them, but I'd also like a car to have the same idea...
+GT6SuzukaTimeTrials If you do not like the Volt; than, do not buy a Volt. The issue you are having trouble with applies to all electric cars, not just the volt. If you live in an apartment, there must be an outside 110 outlet.
So how exactly is this innovation? An electric car that gives you 42MPG after the first 50 miles? That's worse than many of the hybrids out there. GM charges you a shit load of premium just to give you the electric name when it's performance is no where near what an electric vehicle's should be. You're better with a Accord hybrid. For the same price you'll get a lot more features, much better performance, much larger car, and 50 MPG. And let's not forget the fact that you won't have to deal with the shitty GM quality and reliability.
+Rizwan Javed Try this in any hybrid. Any hybrid. postimg.org/image/j54m2a5gx/ You can't do it. You miss the point entirely because you think that the Volt runs on gas at a specific mph. Fact is, the Volt can do 100 mph in full electric. No hybrid in the world can do that. Not even the BMW i8. Sorry. I've used 42 gallons of gas in 4 years. The Accord hybrid would have used at least 10 times more gas than that. And by the way ... Volt was named most reliable car in it's class after 3 years of ownership by JD Power. That class includes two cars that have been around 50 years. The Toyota Celica and the Honda Civic. Try keeping up with current car news.
Mark Rubinsky Lol Prius is cheaper and after the first 40 miles Volt will not come even close to Prius's MPG. I haven't driven a Prius but I've heard that it's transition from electric only to gasoline is seamless and one of the best. Please don't embarrass yourself by comparing Volt to something else in hopes that Volt will be better. I don't know how the Volt owners don't commit suicide because of that annoying ass constant sound from the engine when gas free range has been exhausted. At 40 miles it doesn't take long to use it up. I wouldn't be surprised if even a Cruze drove nicer than Volt. On electricity alone the Volt drives nicer but ass soon as the engine kicks in, game over. It can't match Prius despite costing more. The entire point of electric cars is to NOT USE FUEL. and Volt clearly fails at that. Chevy Volt: The only car in the world that can make a V8 enthusiast defend a Prius.
I guess the point to keep in mind is that the Volt is a plug-in hybrid, not an electric car. Sorry GM. Electric cars don't have gas engines that can drive the vehicle without the electric motor. The Volt just happens to have a very large battery which creates the need for other compromises. Nothing wrong with the design, just doesn't meet the objectives I look for in this type of vehicle. Prius has a electric shorter range, but better overall mileage. C-Max has a middle ground electric range and is roomier with comparable mileage. If I wanted a stylish or fun hybrid, I would probably look at Lexis, not Chevy. But that's just me. If someone loves the Volt, God bless, but it's not the ultimate hybrid by any measure.
4.5 hours just to get roughly 50 miles? Tesla gets you 58 miles in 1 hour alone. GM never fails to reinforce my perception that they build the worst cars.
+Rizwan Javed Tesla requires a 60 amp 240 volt charger. The Volt only requires a 16 amp 240 volt charger. Can your home system deal with a 60 amp requirement?
Dave Zykerman My friend has a Model S and he charges it at home and quickly. Tesla's come with a lot of converters and other equipment charging equipment.
+Rizwan Javed I agree with you. But those chargers are 240/60 amps. A Volt would also charge quickly at 60 amps. The problem is that GM restricted the Volts batteries to a 240/16 amp charge; they believe that lower and slower will allow the batteries to last longer.
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I bought a 2012 used. Only 12K miles when I bought it for less than $20K. Best car I've ever owned, hands down. I've driven my Volt nearly 15K miles and I'm averaging 150mpg. The amount of money I am saving on gas is paying for more than half of my car payment.
I'm thinking the resale values of the Volt will be outstanding as time goes on; as electric vehicles become more popular, the Volt will only go up in value due to demand. Glad to hear you like yours so much. It's pretty practical and 150MPG is nothing to sneeze at.
I've been driving my 2016 Volt for a few weeks now and love it. The electric engine more than covers my work commute and errands, and I figure I'll do 95% of my driving on electric. The gas tank gets rid of the range anxiety when going out of town. Plus, it's a cool looking ride, IMO. Take advantage of the various rebates, and it's a good deal.
+Roger Deforest Perfect buyer for this car. I am not a fan of domestic cars but this one peaks my interest.
+Roger Deforest the volt is impressive
+electrictroy2010 "No money saved."
Clearly that depends on what you pay for gas and what you pay for electricity. I, for example, live in southern California where I'm paying around $3/gal and $0.09/KWh after midnight. My 2014 Volt is driven 95% of the time just a hair below the battery range. Over a 50 MPG Prius, I'm saving a small amount, maybe $10 a month, on energy costs. Yes, I paid significantly more than a hi-mpg Cruze or Focus, but I think it's a better car too. I feel my usage is in the sweet spot for the Volt though, because the gas mpg is so poor. The 2016 Volt widens the sweet spot considerably.
+Patrick C the future of the automobile industry is the EV...people are slow to adapt just as people were slow to adapt with CDs vs cassette tapes...in 2015 Chevy's Volt/Bolt only accounted for 0.9% of its total sales...10 years from now that number will be a lot higher, mark my words...just like everyone owns a cell phone now compared to just 15 years ago.
+Patrick C I'll ignore the hyperbole about the "biggest piece of shit imaginable" because it doesn't take any imagination at all to find a bigger piece of shit. And there is definitely a market niche for it, which is part of the sales problem; it's only a niche, and a small one to boot. GM most certainly lost money on all previous Volts. Nissan lost money on the Leaf in previous years. Tesla has lost money on their cars too. The Leaf now supposedly turns a profit to pay for direct operating expenses (which ignores the billions spent developing it). The 2016 Volt supposedly has significantly lower production costs so there is a better chance that it will have at least a direct cost profitability.
It's a little incredulous to compare the single most popular vehicle sold to a clearly niche market vehicle. Using that standard, every vehicle with worse sales is an even worse vehicle: Nissan Quest, Porsche 911, Nissan 370Z to name a few. The Volt is part of a technology development process with a learning curve. The costs of development of everything that goes into the Ford F-150 were amortized a hundred years ago. Just like fuel cell technology, EV and hybrids are actually exploring new technologies that requires R&D that can't be recouped in a vehicle's sales.
But hey, it IS a Chevy, so the quality isn't great, especially considering its retail price.
Failed to mention that the new 4 cylinder charging engine in this 2nd gen Volt uses regular gas vs premium gas in the 1st gen Volts.
Important comment.
i have 140,000 miles on my 2012 volt !!! i am in the 100,000 mile club !!! woooo hoooo !!!!!
Dunno any issues with yours? I'm thinking of getting one. Any advice?
It depends on the place where you live.
Some places do have a lot of infrastructure to make it convenient to charge the car while you go buy groceries and so on.
I have now driven this car for a while and I must say, the car is a brilliant piece of technology.
Europeans tend to think that American cars are just way too inefficient and gas burners compared to german cars, but this is different with this car.
Chevrolet must be investing piles of money on the technology of the vehicle, because this is an IT powerhouse the car.
In any case, depending where you live, you start finding points to charge pretty much anywhere.
Getting 40 to 50 miles electric range and driving the rest on petrol already saves you quite a bit of money.
If you canoot charge at home, you can still charge over the weekend.
The fuel engine should be more fuel efficient, but it is still around the 7 liters per 100 km.
That means you easily have the same consumption of a prius which of 5.5l 100 km even you do not charge at home.
As long as you charge once a week.
The fuel engine works really great, you barely notice the difference between running the car on electric or fuel, if you are not hitting the gas and driving in spot mode.
This car is quite a complete piece of technnology.
Quite frankly, nowadays if you want to buy a pure diele/gas based engine, you have got to think that you are buying yesterdays news.
The electric engines give you a world of possibilities, as long as you are not hooked just on the batteries.
I Rather prefer the CHevrolet apporach to the problem than the tesla, that sells you a a gigawat-hour power plant.
With this car you have your typical comute and the long drives.
If you are doing a long drive, you have the typcal 7l per 100 km fuel efficiency and you can charge the gas in a couple o minutes.
If you have the possibility to charge, than you charge and you pay something like 0.3 euros peros kwh, and save a tone of money.
However, the entry price for this car is absurdly high.
But yes, here you are buying into state of the art technology. And on aplain typial engine/diesel fuel, you are buying the century old technology. Works well, but a bit in need of an upgrade.
This is the first car that chevrolet has produced that I manage to really appreciate. You have the typical covert gas burners and the family cars which are gas burners compared to normal german cars. But this one stands out for being brilliantly implemented. Brilliant implemented, but way too expensive. Still, all things considered, this or the toyata prius, are probably the best electric cars today in the mark for their price.
Can you just drive the car every day on gas, with out using electric? Or you have to used electric to drive
Great review. The regen paddle allows two levels of regen if you use it when driving in L mode.....
Another great review Benjamin,keep up the good work buddy..
1:08, it's not just more range from more energy stored in the battery pack, but also a wider SOC range (uses more of the battery capacity; less buffer). Also a bit more MPGe (102 vs 98MPGe i believe).
6:30 not just parallel parking, but also perpendicular parking.
7:55 unfortunately the 2016 Volt has ERDTT (Engine Running Due To Temperature), in which the engine will come on if it is below 35F or 15F or colder outside (depending on the setting you choose, 35F is the default). It's only purpose is to satisfy the safety requirements that the cabin be able to defrost the windows quickly enough. Because, for some reason, they didn't put in a powerful enough electric cabin heater in the 2016 Volt.
There is/will be a hack to trick the car into thinking it's warmer outside than it really is, so the engine won't come on unless it really is super cold out, like -5F or colder or the battery SOC is too low.
I found my answer but it's for previous gen : ''The Chevy Volt is equipped with four fully independent cooling systems or “loops”. The power electronics cooling system loop is dedicated to cooling the battery charger and the power inverter module. The battery cooling system cools (or in some cases heats) the 360V high voltage battery. The engine cooling system and heater loop is specific to cooling the gasoline engine and when required, provides heat for the passenger compartment. The electric drive unit cooling system is designed to cool the two motor generator units and electronics within the 4ET50E drive unit transaxle, and provides lubrication for the various gears, bearings, and bushings.''
Seen a few say the prius is better. I disagree and even if it were I buy American to support American workers
How much does the battery cost to replace when it wears out? And what is the expected mileage that you can get out of a battery before it wears out?
Great review! I like the emphasis on the Volt's capabilities. No "range anxiety" with this electric car. Nice.
its like the power grid, you want real world reliability you need fossil fuel (or nuclear)
Excellent presentation!
Well done Sr. I'm currently saving for a 2017 / 2018 volt ! I know 2019 is the last of this series. But 9 good dependable years you can't swap at ! Well done Chevy ! Next the Bolt I guess. Pricy but looks like a winner.
I hope they put the Bolt rear view mirror into future models - that would be an awesome addition!
I prefer the look of the 2015 Volt
+Isom Mallory me too
me too specialy the interior
Like to add that he misses one important fact when explaining the drivetrain output from gen 1 to current 2016 model at 2:15. He mentions that they both have the same 149 hp output and that the 2016 Volt has a torque boost to make it quicker. What he doesn't mention which is just as important as more torque is that the 2016 Volt's curb weight is 250 lbs. lighter than gen 1.
On the subject of seating, he should have pointed out that there is a fifth position which has a seat belt, so it can be usd for an infant seat.
42 mpg hwy is est average I can get 42 -45 hwy on the gen 1 under 60 mph where the volt shines, when battery is deleted to its 6 kwh reserved it will yeild 50-70 mpg city using the EV and ice together! with the gen2 advancements iam guessing hwy mpg up to 50+ mpg 60-80 mpg city EV + ice! we drove our gen1 60+ miles on a single charge yes you need hypermiling technics ! so possible to achieve 70+ electric range from the gen 2?
Very good coverage. Nicely done.
Such a shame about the audio quality, this is a very very good review of the car itself.
The car is not available to the masses until early to mid 2017, due to a very small production for the 2016 year which is already all sold out.
Very informative for the time. Unfortunately I didn't check the date. I am looking for something more exhaustive that also includes the cons. Consumer Reports put this year as the only genuinely unreliable year for the Volt so far. I've not see anything promoting it after its release either...
The thing you really should know is that the EPA milage figures are a huge underestimate of the actual mileage that most people will get with this car. I have a 2013 Volt that I bought used and the EPA is 98 mpg but I've averaged over 120 mpg since I've had it now for over a year. That's in Boston where it gets cold in the winter. During Spring & Summer, I get easily over 200 mpg. I do charge it every night and my commute is about 40 miles total. I don't do a lot of road trips but I have no worries about taking them when I want since I can run it n gas and still end up averaging over 55 mpg (over about 200 miles) for the trip. The 2017 model has greater battery range and better mileage in gas mode so it can only be better. It's also really quick. This is a great design and I wish it was offered in more vehicles (including trucks and vans).
Want to know if the heater take his warm from the cooling system of the regenerator ( ... the normal internal combustion engine ) ?
I have a 2014 so i looked at this video to see about the new batter and range I have had 8 Toyota car purchases with the last two being the Prius which i thought was the best car made today!!! BUT,,, Now I love My CHEVY VOLT better and I'm thinking about trading up to the 2016 foe the extra range...... RANGE anxiety Ha ha leaf owners no I don't get it because i have a VOLT Man Yes every thing this man said its so smooth and quiet and fast too...sporty fast... I gave this report a thumb up for accurate reporting on the benefits of owning my volt. One thing I want to mentioned I have to have an electric goood range/hybrid for the long trips which is difficult with an all electric car. and mainly so i did not need a second car for trips....
Good video but you need a ND filter on the lens being used.
Love mine but it needs a bigger back seat that can actually fit adults.
I love my Volt... everything about it.. and I was able to put my new boiler in it . of course the hacht didn't close but o well.. and yes I have a truck... I just didn't feel like going home to get it ....
in terms of outside looks, i really liked the 1st gen.
This is great. Thank you!
I didn't quite follow on number 6. He mentions quick charge a few times, I think he meant fast charging... but I thought the Volt didn't have level 3 charging, only level 2?
+Dan Sagisser He is referring to a 240V Level 2 Charger.
+Dan Sagisser LEVEL 1 is normal charging, level 2 is labeled fast charging and Level 3 (480 volt) is called supercharging
.
but what's he wearing?? lol
is that San Francisco? no one has a garage in FRISCO.
I love my volt
Good review. Let's hope GM has finally solved the chronic issues previous Volt owners are still experiencing in the previous models.
+John DiPanni
Chronic issues?
+John DiPanni are we still talking about cars or my grandpa?
+John DiPanni What were those issues? This is not an argument; it is a question.
A friend reports an unsolved charging issue after multiple trips to the dealer on her 2012 Volt. It stops charging randomly and then beeps until she unplugs the car. Also see the users forum: gm-volt.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?27-Problems-Issues-Driver-Warnings-or-DTCs-Chevy-Volt
+John DiPanni
It's a car. Cars have issues. 2011 Volt is most dependable after 3 years per JD Power. Beat out Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla which have been around for 50 years. Not bad for the very first try out the door.
insideevs.com/chevy-volt-tops-j-d-power-three-year-dependability-study/
Chevy Volt owners love their car more than any other except Tesla S. Broke the record and held it for 3 years in a row.
I've owned a Volt for 4 years and belong to a Volt owners club of which there are over 50 owners. Never heard of a chronic issue.
Once again, the Volt is a car. There are owners who have and will experience problems.
Let's be a little honest here.
thanks for this awesome video. I'm getting a volt 2017 this week !
+babu981 Where are 2017 Volts being sold?
+Dave Zykerman I live in Quebec, Canada
One thing is that GM is not helping dealers put in a 240VDC charging system or training on operation and maintenance. Urban Green Energy(UGEI) has a system with the grant from CALSTART (805 grant) which I helped the service manager explore and show him how to utilize green power to charge the car and supplement the dealership. Unfortunately, there is no help for the dealers like Renault-Nissan which additional training and help to put in a ev charger at the dealership. I guess they do not want dead zoe/kangoo ze/fluence ZE/twizzy/NEV 200 on the street. The EV-1 was fantastic when I drove it at Sierramonte in 1991. GM has a long way to go to catch up and it will still cosgtyou $100 to smog it every two years.
Ahh the power that petro has on the big 3. Got'em by the balls!
The Volt has an on board generator. People in the US have garages attached to their homes with internal/external electric plugs of 120V. It doesn't cost much to wire an inside or both inside/outside 240V by an electrician. So many people are making mountains out of molehills.
The front looks like a futuristic version of my 2000 4th gen Camaro.
This years model looks like a replica of the Honda Civic, for whatever thats worth. I cam here assuming the comments would be full of references to the design looking so similar to the Civic. Did the same designer work on this car? Im genuinely curious, from the first moment I glanced at this car, I immediately thought it was a Civic, took me a moment to see the Chevy badges.
Does anyone agree? Am I missing something here?
It is literally a spitting image of the civic from previous years.
looks more like a cruz than a civic
ELECTRICITY IS NOT FREE. Car reviewers ignore that fact when testing the Volt or other plugins. PRIUS == $1.90 gasoline for 50 miles. VOLT EV == $2.22 at 13 cent/KWh. So in reality the Volt and other plugins are MORE expensive to run.
Also after the Volt battery drains empty, it is only averaging 41 mpg in
pure gas mode (example: driving LA to Vegas or SanFran). The Prius will average
50mpg and therefore still be the cheaper car. AND the Prius (or any
standard gasoline/diesel car) costs 15,000 dollars less to buy than
volt. These are the basic facts which car reviewers of the Volt or
plugins never, ever mention to their audience
.
+electrictroy2010 Volt is design to use only 14kWh out of 18.4hWh. I pay 12 cent per kWh, so the number should be 14 x .12 = $1.68.
+electrictroy2010 The thing is most people don't put that many miles on their car each day. My Volt is averaging 275 MPG. Car reviewers are shilling for the advertising dollars they get from conventional car makers. Trust what they say...I don't think so. I will trust my real world experience instead.
+Robert Lee The Volt only uses about 10 of those KWH. It's designed never to fully charge or discharge to extend the life of the battery.
I have a 2011 volt and my wife drives about 42 miles a day round trip to work. We drive it on the weekend also.It has 9.3 gal tank. She fills up every 2 to 3 weeks. It is most if the time on ev. Saves us $3,000 to $6,000 a year on gas and oil changes. We have never changed the brake pads since we owned it. It has 174,000+ miles and 100,000 or so on gas. Not bad for a 7 year car.
nice specs but car is too small for my needs,
,I wish GM put this drive train into their trucks!
also I would consider this as a second vehicle but only IF it had a Rear Wheel Drive
I like to race and front drive just don't cut it..
Oh yes, I am part of the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors at pier 40.
Same price for a Nissan leaf with a 300 mile battery rang EV.
Good luck driving a car that looks like a maxi pad
Same price maybe, but you don't have "range anxiety" with a Volt. The Leaf is already a failed platform, unless you live in an urban setting; might as well use public transportation.
dude those pants!
My 1994 Protege could got 500+ miles on a tank (40mpg), it cost me $2200 used. My motorcycle I got for $2000 gets about 50-60 MPG. I get about 35-40 in my 98 civic. Gas mode volt is about the same as a typical compact sedan, and no where close to a regular hybrid. If I wanted an electric car I would get a cheaper leaf with double range, much better MPGe and didn't cost millions in government funding.
*EV1* range was 80-100 miles on just battery, 20 years later only 53 miles
+Brandon Black 80 - 100 miles electric = 40 - 50 because you have to turn around and go home.
Volt can go from SF to NY without charging.
+Brandon Black Tell me more about how a 1200lb battery in a $50,000 (adjusting for inflation of course) car was able to reach 150 miles... before the memory effect of the Ni-Mh battery depleted it's range to 10 :)
Only issue with it, it's a GM... Wish more reliable brands did similar vehicles
First gen Volt is SUPER reliable. Many of them are running 200-300k with little to regular maintenance. One guy ran his to 400k before it was in an accident with a semi truck tire causing his mechanical issues afterwards. Look up 400k Chevy Volt. You'll find his stuff all over the Internet and TH-cam
GM apparently put their best engineers on it. We had two 2013's which are perfectly reliable. I just traded mine in on a nice 2019. These are one of the most reliable cars GM ever made.
I wish the reviewer would have spent more time with the car. That is a lot more going on here.
Tesla Model S is not a similar model to the Volt. The model S can easily be three times the price.
NUMBER 11: It's a HATCHBACK yet offers NO rear wiper/washer. That's a BIG liftgate for crying out loud!!!!
sounds like an advertisement for the chevy volt, another thing gm. failed to spend much $ or effort on.
420 miles you say? Talk about trail blazing
Ok so I have a 2012 volt and at first I though it was a wonderful car it drives perfect I loved it but I never really did my research on it when I got it. Well it's starting to show up msg saying propulsion power is reduced" , " engine not available" and when that pops up the car stop it started doing it out of no were which is clearly not safe when I'm driving PRD. I never new what that meant so I google it n started doing research on this car n a lot of fed back on this car is negative a lot of ppl said the same thing happened to them n there's no way it can be fixed this car is a death trap I believe and is clearly not safe to drive has anyone else had this problem n of ur not sure what I'm talking about Google propulsion power is reduced" , " engine not available" for Chevy volt it will pop up a lot of information about this car and what it means and how many people it has happened to please let me no if you no anything about this !!!!?????? I need ANSWERS
Put a mic on this guy. Video is so quiet!
bolder styling made it look like a 16k accord :/
they need to stop using the fact that a tank of gas can get you 420 miles, it' really not that impressive, hybrid or not. Plug in hybrids are for people with short commutes daily, if you drive less than that 53 miles daily, you don't use gas (or maybe just a little)
and then after 9 months head of into the countryside with your tank of stale gas
5 seater amigo
This is the only review of the new Volt??? Please say no
Dudes pants and hand gestures are bothersome.
still skimpy on range I think.......how about 75 to 100 miles on battery?
apart from more is better ,whats magic about those numbers when the gas back up is there?
If you'd stop waving your arms around in such an exaggerated fashion, you wouldn't lose your breath so much. Or at least change the title to add "Italian Version". j/k
In any case, this was a fantastic rundown on the car. I think I bought the one in the video. It came from the SF area and ended up in Texas as my weekend/roadtrip car. I have a 2015 Leaf as my daily driver around the other "bay area" (Galveston Bay). The Volt is just too nice to get all beat up in the parking lots at work and around town.
Thanks for making this video and sharing it with the community.
Everyone gets "regenerative braking" wrong. It has nothing to do with brakes.
well it does slow you down , so its understandable
When the brake pedal is pressed, regen happens, or you use the paddles. It is more associated with slowing the car down using the brake pedal,or going downhill to limit speed. It has everything to do with braking the vehicle to capture that energy and charge the battery with it.
I was simply saying that the term "regenerative braking" refers to the electric motor slowing the car down, thereby capturing some kinetic energy of the motion of the car. There is no capturing of energy by brake pads contacting brake rotors. Applying the brakes is actually counterproductive to "regenerative braking".
No no no this is a fancy hybrid it still takes gas just buy a true all electric ev I own a Nissan Leaf and I never run out of range
+Josh Williams maybe you might want to try one first, I go 6 months on a tank of gas. In fact I burned more gas this last week going down to Key West from Orlando than I did all the previous year. Your Leaf would have never made it without stopping for a charge.
"cohesive design language" mmmm wank factor right there
Dude looks like he’s stuck in 2009 lol
@ 3:40 - This whole regenerative braking issue is extremely over glamorized & only beneficial under certain conditions. There're many situations where you'll be saving much more power by allowing the vehicle to coast in neutral as you do when trying to regain traction in icy conditions. Always slowing down too fast/soon, then having to apply power to make up the extra distance uses more power!
Always promoting regenerative braking is just a deceptive way of glamorizing the failure to come up with a clutch mechanism & multi ratio gearbox to handle the high upfront torque of an electric motor. It's a lazy sloppy design that's really geared towards slapping the thing together in record time so it can be available for sale A.S.A.P.
+Afrocanuk I'm guessing you have never had an electric car. Regen is awesome, instead of using friction to slow down your car it puts a good chunk of that energy back into the battery. After driving my 2013 for 3 years, I have used less than a mm on the pads.
You know the now the version of the new volt is called the the bolt right
Only the old one is called volt
You need to get a pair of pants that fit.
Decent video. But those cargo pants gotta go.
Good commentary but awful video - way overexposed, not enough cutaways (What's the 5th seat look like?) and lots of wind noise. Go out and hire a professional to do your videos instead of the old DIY set up the camera, push record, and hope for the best.
+johnny mars I agree on the production quality, but the content seemed to be right off a Chevy press release or executive talking points list.
i usaly drive 99 miles with 1 charge in my 2014 Nissan Leaf 24 kwh Cevy Volt 18.5 kwh and 45 miles... Useless car.
+Romeo Sierra Its not a pure EV, its got a range extender like the BMW product. Advantage with Chevy is that you don't have range anxiety and don't have to worry about finding a charge station.
Kyle Greenhalgh yes range anxiety... i did drive from Austria to Norway and back with no worry about finding a quickcharger. Show me one Place in Europ or USA without electricity. Evan the rubish 110V Grid in US can Carge my Car.
If you don't own a garage, this car is pretty much pointless. When will these batteries become portable, so I can charge up overnight in my house?
+GT6SuzukaTimeTrials I don't have a garage but I do have a 2013 Volt. My Level 2 Charger is attached to the house and the cord is long enough to reach the car in the driveway. Furthermore there are alot of Level 2 chargers out there for public use at many shopping centers or parking garages.
Who's gonna be yanking these heavy batteries out to take in the house to charge? Even if you could that would be to much.
What if I live in an apartment? I'm kind of screwed then, aren't I?
Zero Motorcycles makes electric bikes with portable batteries you can bring inside. I'm probably going to buy one of them, but I'd also like a car to have the same idea...
Richard Joash Tan I hope you have a garage then, or live in a safe neighborhood where people won't unplug your charger or worse...
+GT6SuzukaTimeTrials If you do not like the Volt; than, do not buy a Volt. The issue you are having trouble with applies to all electric cars, not just the volt. If you live in an apartment, there must be an outside 110 outlet.
This guy barely know more than what he read in the brochure
Drag Coefficient 0,285 ??? Are you kidding me? Boxy Golf has better 0,27 value than this. That needs a lot of effort to do it so bad :)
So how exactly is this innovation? An electric car that gives you 42MPG after the first 50 miles? That's worse than many of the hybrids out there. GM charges you a shit load of premium just to give you the electric name when it's performance is no where near what an electric vehicle's should be. You're better with a Accord hybrid. For the same price you'll get a lot more features, much better performance, much larger car, and 50 MPG. And let's not forget the fact that you won't have to deal with the shitty GM quality and reliability.
+Rizwan Javed Try this in any hybrid. Any hybrid.
postimg.org/image/j54m2a5gx/
You can't do it. You miss the point entirely because you think that the Volt runs on gas at a specific mph. Fact is, the Volt can do 100 mph in full electric. No hybrid in the world can do that. Not even the BMW i8. Sorry. I've used 42 gallons of gas in 4 years. The Accord hybrid would have used at least 10 times more gas than that.
And by the way ... Volt was named most reliable car in it's class after 3 years of ownership by JD Power. That class includes two cars that have been around 50 years. The Toyota Celica and the Honda Civic.
Try keeping up with current car news.
+Rizwan Javed
haha...ok. Drive a Prius, then drive a Volt and tell me which one is more fun to drive. Sounds like Electric envy to me.
+Mark Rubinsky Exactly correct. Just leave the fifth passenger home and bring more gas money when you drive the Volt.
Mark Rubinsky Lol Prius is cheaper and after the first 40 miles Volt will not come even close to Prius's MPG. I haven't driven a Prius but I've heard that it's transition from electric only to gasoline is seamless and one of the best.
Please don't embarrass yourself by comparing Volt to something else in hopes that Volt will be better. I don't know how the Volt owners don't commit suicide because of that annoying ass constant sound from the engine when gas free range has been exhausted. At 40 miles it doesn't take long to use it up. I wouldn't be surprised if even a Cruze drove nicer than Volt. On electricity alone the Volt drives nicer but ass soon as the engine kicks in, game over. It can't match Prius despite costing more.
The entire point of electric cars is to NOT USE FUEL. and Volt clearly fails at that.
Chevy Volt: The only car in the world that can make a V8 enthusiast defend a Prius.
I guess the point to keep in mind is that the Volt is a plug-in hybrid, not an electric car. Sorry GM. Electric cars don't have gas engines that can drive the vehicle without the electric motor. The Volt just happens to have a very large battery which creates the need for other compromises. Nothing wrong with the design, just doesn't meet the objectives I look for in this type of vehicle. Prius has a electric shorter range, but better overall mileage. C-Max has a middle ground electric range and is roomier with comparable mileage. If I wanted a stylish or fun hybrid, I would probably look at Lexis, not Chevy. But that's just me. If someone loves the Volt, God bless, but it's not the ultimate hybrid by any measure.
Shave ur beard ginger
I really dont like presentations of this guy, it's like he is reading somewhere and doesn't drive the cars he reviews... Change man....
What's up with that beard
dude's style is straight from 1999
What happened to Ron Doran?
4.5 hours just to get roughly 50 miles? Tesla gets you 58 miles in 1 hour alone. GM never fails to reinforce my perception that they build the worst cars.
+Rizwan Javed Tesla requires a 60 amp 240 volt charger. The Volt only requires a 16 amp 240 volt charger. Can your home system deal with a 60 amp requirement?
Dave Zykerman My friend has a Model S and he charges it at home and quickly. Tesla's come with a lot of converters and other equipment charging equipment.
+Rizwan Javed I agree with you. But those chargers are 240/60 amps. A Volt would also charge quickly at 60 amps. The problem is that GM restricted the Volts batteries to a 240/16 amp charge; they believe that lower and slower will allow the batteries to last longer.
Dave Zykerman Even with 60 amps, Tesla isn't worried. They're offering infinite mile/10 year warranty.
+Rizwan Javed Yes, Tesla is an excellent electric car. But it costs $90,000 more than a Volt. You are comparing a $125,000 car to a $35,000 car.
STOP! trying to make sound sophisticated 4 special it's a hybrid
Stop trying to act like you know something more. The 3 different cooling systems and aluminum used in the car alone tell me it's sophisticated
he could build a hybrid in his back yard, pffft so unsophisticated
Dude it is not 1997. Cargo pants, sneakers, random facial hair and that shirt which does not go with any of it? You're making Canada look bad!
Just another common hybrid... dislike and move to Tesla..
Meme car...
Looks like a civic. Nothing new. Just garbage copy cat design.