Hello, great video, I’m currently driving the last year of the first-generation Chevy Volt 2015. This car is absolutely…amazing! This car rocks. It is very heavy, handles the road like it is on a track, the car feels stable and solid. Quick as a rabbit! Easy to park, maneuver and is a great city car. My car gets around 40 miles of range on average per charge. This car is built well, no rattles or squeaks so far. The only downside is driving with the windows down, is the most annoying thing about this car. This September 2024 I will have owned my car for 6 years and have only used approx. 85 gallons of gas. I have only driven in "L" low gear since I owned it this way it’s able to regenerate my battery as I drive. Fully electric until the battery runs out, however that does not happen very often. With a 220v charger at home I can go to the gym, run errands then plug it in and within an hour I’m back at 40 miles of range. Lastly, I Love how quiet it is...I call it my Ninja mobile because it makes no noise…none. The newer models must make a sound when moving under 5 MPH. Mine came with Leather & Suede Seats, Navigation, Rear View camera, Red Exterior with Tan Interior, and front heated seats. In October 2023 I needed to have the software updated due to some errors codes that would not going away, had to take to the dealer, dealer charged $400 for the software update…other than 1 oil change and I did replace the 12v battery just because it was 8 years old, that’s all the maintenance I have done on my car for the past 5 years…crazy. Update: 7-20-24 currently 65,000 just replaced the driver side window regulator, a few days ago window started making noises then it stopped working all together. I was able to install the new part with no issues in about a half hour. The hardest part was getting the door cover off, I had to use a small metal pry tool on the bottom of the panel, once I got it started it popped right off. The only other tools needed were a 7mm and a 10mm socket (see TH-cam for videos). Hey all, if I can do this repair anyone can, I'm 66 years old. I must say this was much easier than I thought.
My 2012 had 210 000 and I just changed the front passenger side wheel bearing and front axels as they were getting noisy. One of the rear brake pads fell off the back plate causing the back plate to go into the rotor and chew it up. So 2 rotors and a new set of brakes to the back. All software updates to keep the cells balanced was done in 2019. My 12v battery is stull the original one that came with the car in 2011.
I've got HOLD mode on my 2013. I use it on long road trips to keep some battery in reserve. Typically, I drive on battery until I get up to speed on the interstate, then switch to HOLD. Along the way, if I need to overtake another car, and need a little extra "oomph" I'll switch into SPORT mode for a couple of minutes, then switch back. That way, when I get to my destination, I've still got some battery power to drive around town. It's a distinction without much of a difference, I suppose, but that's what suits me.
You are absolutely right. The only problem I've had after driving my highly depreciated 1st gen is that when I bought it, it came used from FLA and had WATER ONLY in the washer fluid reservoir, so it cracked upon freezing. There was no easy way to replace it, so that cost me $200 in labor. The thing handles great, is not slow, and I just love the thing. 30,000 miles ZERO other issues**. My job has free charging and I have seen no degradation in battery performance. I'm looking now at a Bolt, so as to allow my employers the wonderful opportunity to pay for ALL my driving expenses. There is downward pressure on the prices in the used market, and I have seen plenty on Cargurus for HALF their original price with 20K miles. Regarding the battery packs, Chevy says that they would not throw in a 3 or 5 thousand dollar battery pack (refurb market price; way more from dealer, of course) and that they would instead replace only the faulty components. **OOOPS...mis-statement....I had it sit for a few weeks so I could drive the sportscar instead....and a FRIGGIN' squirrel, or other animal, chewed a hole through the hood insulator and put a bunch of NUTS in it! Still shaking nuts out of the hood for two weeks now! Stupid squirrel!!!
It was a white footed mouse. They like the insulator material for bedding, known issue. Use shavings of Irish Spring Original soap in the hood insulator material.
Finding a Premier with all the frills is actually a really nice car, lane keep, adaptive cruise, blind spot warning, plenty of daily EV range, good long long distance range for road trips, GM dropped the ball when they prioritized the Bolt instead of spreading the Voltec technology throughout their SUVs and pickups. From what I understand it was getting magnetic materials for the motors that was tough (and expensive) at the time and the Bolt got the better materials for that. That and the battery pack for the Volt was enormous and needed lots of active cooling due to the chemistry. With cheaper modern batteries they would have probably been profitable, especially since the R&D costs would have been spread out.
Excellent comparison between Gen1 and Gen2. I drive a Gen2 and find it to be an excellent car overall. My two issues with the car are: 1) the middle back seat has a seatbelt, but is not effectively a seat for trips over 3-4 km. 2) The side pillars block the view when shoulder checking. Blind zone alert is necessary and I have to keep my side mirror view wide of the back of the car in order to see what's coming up from behind. Other than that, The Gen2 Volt is an excellent electric car for 90% of my driving without any range anxiety on longer drives and road trips. I generally average 39-41MPG at highway speeds on longer trips using the gas generator.
Blind spot is an issue on all the new cars. They all have very wide A and B pillars for roof structural strength. This is how they acheive the 5 star crash safety rating.
For some reason I once had a passenger (full car/carpooling) claim that she found the centre seat extremely comfortable. No clue how, but hey, maybe it's usable for some.
if anyone is wondering, got 130k miles on the clock on my 2013 volt. got it at about 95k miles about a year ago. once the trip meter goes over 100k it says 99,999miles but the mpg is still reporting accurately also when driving if you want a less agressive way to emergency stop the car, you can press the on/off button 4 times. girlfirend discovered this when trying to go into hold mode but clikced the wrong button. no issues in my volt. added 200w of solar panels and upgraded the 12v system to 4kwh of lifepo4. getting around 50 miles of range now, about 40 miles of range before my mods.
Interesting video. I have a 2nd GEN 2018 Chevy Volt. My Charged up range is 135 km in Spring - Summer - Fall or 84 + miles. Driving the car nets me over 160 km, or 100 imperial miles during that period. During the winter months, I normally get 85 km / 53 miles until the temperature reaches -40 Celsius that temperature seems to get the worst mileage and dips the battery to roughly 70 km / 35 miles. Thus far I have had the car for over 5 years and have NOT experienced any degradation of the battery or charging mileage. My mileage using the ICE is close to 3.8 L / 100 Km or 65 + MPG. I have found that the ICE fuel tank is kinda small at 7 imperial Gallons. It says 9 Gallons but that is USA Gallons which are smaller than what I am used to here in Canada. I live in Northern Ontario, but drive to Toronto a few times per year. My car has 168755 km on it and the only expense I have had is to change the Brakes all around at 145,000 km. I have also done oil changes more often than you have. I was informed by my OnStar Ambassador to change the oil at 20% LIFE. Which is exactly what I have been doing. Other than the free oil changes that were offered when the car was brand new. NOTE ** my mechanic did say that my brakes were like new and did not need to be changed. I am a senior and do not want to worry about stopping in an emergency so NEW brakes were put on for my safety (Peace of Mind) mostly. Caveat I mostly only ever use the regen paddle on the rear of the steering wheel. I apply the brakes only to hold the car in heavy traffic because the paddle doesn't stop the car fully as it creeps along at 5 kph or at a traffic light. Your synopsis of the HOLD function is not correct though. The Volt is always in EV mode. When you turn on the car it will always default to EV mode. On top of that, putting the car into HOLD mode still uses the ICE but the car will still use the battery to some degree. If you do not trust what I am telling you. Fill up your range then go for a ride, and then switch to HOLD and put your center screen to view where the propulsion screen shows the battery and ICE running while you are driving the vehicle. The battery will show that it is being depleted as GREEN arrow's in the direction of the front wheels at some points along your ride. This is not continuous as it is on an Algorithm in software that regulates when the battery automatically assists with the ICE on a regular ride. Notice that these GREEN arrow's turn to brown as they approach the front wheels. Notice that the engine has BLUE arrow's that also change to BROWN. Note that mixing the Color's Green plus Blue change to BROWN. While the car does reserve some battery the range does go down for battery mode. While it is true that the car does regen battery in mountain mode it does not replenish the battery if the range remaining in the battery is above 18 km. Mountain mode does act as a generator but will only recharge the battery up to 18 km in my 5 years of driving experience with my VOLT.
I drive a 2013 Volt with 108,000 miles and still get 38-40 miles on battery. Great car, zero problems. IMHO, Chevy made a bad decision discontinuing the Volt.
@12voltvids It really a shame that GM discontinued the Volt being that the concept of the on board generator is a great feature to have charge your vehicle while driving if you cant get to a charging station like you mentioned previously and being that I know someone with the KIA SOUL EV who got rid of it for that issue alone when he was moving from NYC to Virginia!
It was one of the dumbest moves IMHO. However even though initially they said the volt is dead, they are doing that with all their sedans because none of the American car makers are doing very good with sedans. Trucks, Crossover and SUV are what are selling from the big 3. I have been hearing rumours that the Voltec platform is coming back as a 2021 new model as a new SUV or Crossover body. That would make perfect sense because those are the vehicles that are selling, and to have a hybrid version that will go 40-50 miles on no gas at all, but not have any range limits for when people want to hit the road. That would be the perfect car. Mitsubishi is already doing it with their outlander phev. I actually would have bought one if it had more range but it only goes 20 miles on the battery. Ford is bringing back the Escape as a plug in hybrid this year, so I am betting that GM will not sit on the fence on this one and will indeed fulfill the rumours and release a plug on crossover or SUV using the volt power plant, which is superrior to all the rest, because all the other designs the gas engine fires up if upi put your foot on the gas, and the volt does not start the engine until the battery is totally used up.
This was a great video contrasting the two generation Volt cars. As a owner of two "His and Hers" Gen II Volts, we use the Hold Mode on interstate trips that exceed the range of the battery. We save the battery for use in urban areas to save fuel. On those trips we use the GPS to predict the distance to home and put it back in Normal (on Battery) when the remaining distance is close to the battery range. The goal is to have the battery hit zero when we hit the driveway. This maximizes both the battery range and the MPG capabilities of the cars. With the Regen Paddle on the steering wheel, we only use the brakes to hold the car or when absolutely necessary. We will likely never ever replace the brake pads. The adaptive cruise control is a must have option on the Gen II cars. With practice using the Adaptive Cruise Control and the Regen Paddle you can literally drive a majority of the time without using the pedals at all.
ACC is a great option to have. It’s one of those things I probably wouldn’t have ordered, but it was on the fully optioned Premier car I bought. I absolutely love it!
The best explanation of the regen braking on a volt I have seen. I have been trying to figure out driving in "L" vs. the regen paddle and if they work together. I am looking for a used 2nd Gen Volt for my next car. My commute to work is 52 miles one way, mostly highway, and I would like to do it all in EV mode. I have a couple level 2 charging stations at work, but they usually have Teslas hooked up to them. They spend all that money on a Tesla then are to cheap to charge them at home. Worst case there are regular 120V outlets at each corner of the parking garage I can use to get some charge. Thanks for the great video.
The worst tesla drivers are the model 3 drivers. Our big shopping mall has 12 dedicated tesla charge stalls, and 20 free level 2 chargers, yet none of the tesla drivers will use then, they clog up the rest that everyone else if fighting over. Why? Because they are free and the dedicated tesla chargers that nobody else can use (because the plug is different for starters) are not free for model 3 owners. Model S and X drivers get to use the tesla chargers for free, but the cheaper model 3 does not get access to it. They have to pay a couple of bucks to use it, so they use level 2 chargers that everyone else wants. I havent used any gas in my Volt since I got back from my holidays in July.
I too, am annoyed by the Tesla drivers who take all the charging stations, while we cannot use theirs. I’m annoyed that they use these spaces, when they have more than enough range to make it to & from their jobs at the places around the area that have charging stations. So, they have their charging stations locally that we cannot use, plus they have the range to where they don’t need to. They could allow some of us with less range to use them. I’ve noticed that the Tesla owning hospital employees at one of the local hospitals (where my doctor office is) make it so that the rest of us who have less range, cannot use it. They do this despite a 4 hour limit, after which time a fee is charged.
One additional reason to use the hold mode... If you are on a longer than a 'battery only' trip, you can save some battery charge for when you get into 'stop and go' or very slow traffic, where the battery will give you VERY efficient travel, that you wouldn't have in gas mode, if you have already used up all your battery charge.
When the battery is dead, and the car running in gas mode and you hit stop and go traffic the engine turns off, and only runs for a minute or so putting a small charge in the battery and then turning off for 5 to 10 minutes. Then on again for 1. Where I live I can drive to the city and home on battery. The other day I was given a big antique radio (future rebuild project) and my friends place was 50 KM out. Made it all the way there, and 90% of the way home. The last 10KM on gas, used 0.6 litres of fuel.
@@12voltvids Another use for HOLD: in the U.S. (Pennsylvania, to be specific), there are stretches on the Pennsylvania Turnpike where there can be 95 to 100 miles between gas stations. It would be good to reserve battery power if you didn't have the foresight to make sure you had enough gas in the tank. BTW, the USB drive that I used in my car was labeled "Car Tunes".
I have a 2014 Volt with only 22500 mi (36000km?). Retired now, best car I ever had. Now US states are slapping registration fees on hybrid and electric cars to make up for the lack of gas tax revenue. $100/yr in Ohio for hybrids. Not too bad, Illinois is looking at $1000.
@@jazbell7 Same here. In cold weather battery range is shorter, and a little more gas gets used on the first gen. Will find out how the new one does this winter.
@@teacfan1080 I would expect this to happen here as well at some point, but right now the governments are giving us incentives. The first one I got a 5000 discount, and a 10,000 discount on the second one. Our electricity here is plentiful and hydro electric generated, so electric cars are very green here, and green is the color the governments like.Electric cars are everyone in my neighborhood. There are 16 in a 2 block radius of my house now, and will probaly be 20 by the end of the month.
My experience with traction control on a traditional vehicle is if the car gets stuck in snow, traction control will limit the wheels of the car to around 20 MPH. Mine does not have the switch. The other car we have that does will pull out in the snow with traction control off.
Enjoyed the "censored" blocks in front of your registration tags. And those are nice looking vehicles. You're even prepared if you want to play a 45 RPM record if the player has no adapter. 5:00
We had two 2013 Volts... I recently (Actually yesterday) traded one in on a 2019. At first I didn't like the driving experience of the newer one but I'm getting used to it. Brakes are more sensitive and the regen braking is stronger. I like the 50+ mile electric range for sure! With our driving patterns as retired folk, we virtually never buy gasoline.
I agree the first gen handles better as it is lower but i like the longer range and quicker acceleration on the 2019. Wife drives the 2012 now. Lots of miles on that car. Almost 180,000 and no problems other than tire replacements so far.
@@12voltvids My wife's 2013 has less than 50,000 so it's a keeper. It's kept garaged and plugged in and she takes good care of it. I don't think we'll have to get her another car for a long time, barring any unfortune.
@@mikelieber1 I bought both of mine brand new My 2019 is an LT with the most of the Prem upgrades. Power seats, Leather, Bose sound 7.2KW charger. My price out the door was 39000, but there was already the 10,000 government rebate, so without that it would have been 49K. When I bought the 2012 it was the premiere model and that one was 47000 after the 5000 rebate we got at that time. The 2012 now has 180,000 on the clock, runs like a champ and has only lost 5 miles of range and that was after the cell balance update. What they did was intentionally raise the low power cut off for when the engine starts to prevent the cells as they age from ever being tax too much to prevent a low voltage condition. It basically took away .5 KWH of range. A small price to pay to protect the battery. If the battery fails. I certainly would spend the 4000 to replace it, because the car has paid for itself in gas and maintenance savings. Oil change every 2 years and 2 sets of tires is the only thing I have had to do to it. The brakes are original, and still have plenty of life.
Nice video. We own both Gen1 and Gen2 Volts as well - great cars. Regarding the button to unlock the car, couldn’t you just use the button on the driver-side rear door to unlock the car? My 2015 has ‘unlock’ buttons on all four doors.
Yes I did and then that button eventually failed too. The 2 on the passenger side doors works. On my 2019 I usually use the fob as to not wear out the door switch. Don't know if the second gen has the switch problem but the first gen they certainly wore out after about 7 years.
The P brake is an electronic parking brake so I would never activate it like you do if I had brakes failing, for those you need to hold the button to slowly brake, other than that it’s like handbrake/footbrake
In an emergency if you have lost your main brakes the park brake will stop the car using only the rear mechanically activated parking / emergency brake. The brakes are very light duty however only designed to hold the car from moving so doing this will wear them down fast. It's for parking and emergency use if the main brakes fail. Think if it like your reserve chute.
This is a pro Volt owner with other pro Volt owners chiming in. A friend of mine owns a first gen Volt with 150,000 and loves it. But I would never own the vehicle for only one reason: it is the MOST difficult vehicle to get in and out of. I banged my head on front door pillar both getting and exiting. Three of us went to lunch recently and I rode up front. I am 6 feet tall and with the seat all the way back I still had to contort my neck to get in the car; the same with getting out resulting in a sore neck. Returning home I requested the back seat and found it to be even more difficult to get my head under the roof pillar. The headroom in the rear is terrible and claustrophobic! The ergonomics of the Volt are terrible for normal sized people!
I'm 6'2 and i have no issues getting in and out. I wouldn't ride in the back though. For myself and the wife it's just us. when the kids were around they rode in the back and they are 5'6 and 6'0 and yes my son complained about the head room. 2nd gen a little better. My gen 1 us now at 210,000 and going strong.
Does owning an Electric car require more planning? In USA, the only charging stations I know of are Tesla brand at Sheetz stations... do those work for Chevy? Refuel time can be an issue to those who drive distance. I usually keep a vehicle until it is very worn out, with over 150K miles, and a good deal of rust.
A full on electric requires knowing where the DC charging stations are, but as I found on my recent road trip there are popping up everywhere. I didn't bother using public stations much on my road trip because the volt has a gas generator on board so when I travel I just run gas through it but I did stop at a few and plug in for an hour when I was stopping for lunch. Every station I saw had level 2 as well as level 3 stations. One night there was a Mitsubishi dealer next to the motel I was staying, so I just plugged into the public station at the dealer over night. Unfortunately they no longer make the volt only the bolt which is battery only no backup engine. The bolt will go about 230 miles between charge and the volt 53 before the engine starts and then another 350 on 9 gallons of regular fuel. Thing about the volt is it runs exactly the same on gas as battery. No performance changes. I just did a 2000 Mile road trip in mine. Video will be done one of these days.
I got so close to owning one at an affordable price for my budget..then the car prices shot up 2-3k...So I will still not have my first car. Hopefully the prices go down.
It was/is a great car. Both of mine are still on the road. One has well over 200,000 miles and has just had the back brakes done. No other car has been as trouble free. Gm was stupid to kill it, and IT'S COMING BACK! Next year as a 2026 model there will be a new car or more likely an small suv or cuv that uses the volt platform, which is a proper ev with gas backup. It's NOT a plug on hybrid. All of those use the engine in conjunction with electric. Hammer the gas and the engine starts even if battery is full. They all do that. Only the volt was full electric until the battery was totally flat and then, and only then did the gas start unless you pit it in hold or mountain mode.
I own (and love) my 16 volt. But the battery degradation has gone from about 58 mi to 40 mi. within about 6-7 years (now has 93k mi) Chevrolet claims it’s normal, won’t do anything for it. Other than that, it’s the best car I’ve ever owned!
My 2012 when new would get about 57km on charge. Now it is down to about 49 in warm weather and in cold weather perhaps 35. The last update reduced the range a fair but as they set the minimum charge level higher. Now as soon as the temperature hits freezing it runs in gas mode most of the time but the range comes back when the weather warms. My 2019 when warm out gets about 90km but in the winter about 60. The update on the old one is to extend battery life. I also changed tires to regular (not low rolling resistance) and that reduced the electric range slightly as well. Still they are the best 2 cars I have owned.
@@patrickflohe7427 no actual driving range. When it's cold our ur starts up in gas mode right away now to preheat the pack. I'm not talking sub zero either. It does it above freezing too. All to minimize stress on an old battery pack.
@@12voltvids I used it for quite awhile, due to a commute of 48-50 miles depending upon where I had to work at my company, and park. Because even though mine is a ‘19, there is no getting 100 miles (about 161 kms) on a charge. It would enable me to use the battery miles more, when I needed or wanted them. Later, I was fortunate enough to be able to charge at work….that enabled me to use the battery alone, both ways (as long as I didn’t use the heater much or at all).
Hello, i hope you have enough experience with chevy volt, i real like the 1st generation look than the 2nd one and i wish to buy a 2015 used chevy, i found one but i haven’t pay for it yet . What is your advice on that
I’m 22 never actually had my own car (walk everywhere nearly believe it or not) but I’ve been saving up and have about enough to pay for 60% of the 2017 used. (In the current market anyways I’d be able to pay most of it off if it wasn’t for the meh market…) I’m interested in buying one for my first car would you recommend it, my daily commute is very short (maybe 5 miles at the most, but I do go out on days off (maybe 20 miles ) I think it’d be awesome to have a vehicle that not only allows me to not have to spend money on fuel for the daily commute but also when I go out of town. But I did have questions like anything to look out for in 2nd gen models, and good pricing.
Both of my volts have been excellent my first one is over 10 years old now and all i have had to do is replace the tires. My second gen has has a couple of issues. A relay failed and the FM radio reception is intermittent. Appears to be an antenna issue as after it rains alot the reception is bad, but when it is dry the reception is good. The dealer will be looking at that again next time i have it in. It's great to not have to buy gas very often. About every 3 months on the old one and i went an entire year on the newer model. I would buy another one in a second and am still pissed that gm discontinued the car. One of the bonehead moves they have made.
How is that. You are burning gas. I use the battery up completely and let the car switch over. Hold mode is really only there for those areas that charge a smog toll to enter the city. If you have a long drive to the city use hold till city limits then switch to electric mode so no smog toll need to be paid. My daily commute is less than the battery range so i seldom even see the engine start. I got almost a full year out of a tank of gas. My wife averages 4 months in the 10 year old volt that has less range than the 2019, but she still averages about 3000 km per tank.
Thanks for video! I am in the market for a use volt How can you tell if the Hybrid battery is on the way out ? How is it handle in snow ? Cheers from Ontario !
Couldn't tell you how you can tell if battery is on way out as i haven't gotten to that point. Even on my old 2012 which I have had 12 years now it is still performing fine. I have lost a little range on the battery about 5km per charge but most of that happened after changing to more sticky tires and after the last software update. There was an update that was released in 2019 which changed the low set point where the car changes from EV to gas. That reduced the EV range a few km. Dropped the usable battery capacity from 9.8 to 8.9kw. This was done to kick start the gas engine sooner to keep the cells at a higher voltage. This was to prevent the propulsuon reduced message and the engine running like crazy to recover charge. Incidentally there was an earlier update that gave more range and then they realized that it was allowing the battery to get too low in some circumstances which caused some to end up with a dead pack due to a cell getting out of balance. Original owners were all contacted by gm to have the recall done asap to prevent battery failure as it aged. Now the car operates completely differently than before. If the temperature is a lite cold the engine will start even when battery is full and run through a battery warm up and cell balance and then it switches back to ev and operates for the full battery capacity before changing back. In the really cold weather it just runs on gas and doesn't strain the battery at all keeping it mostly charged. But as soon as the weather warmed up everything returned to normal. I am referring to the first gen car. It handles great in the snow. If considering one get the VIN and call gm to see if the update has been done. Mine has 200k on it now and no mechanical issues. Still on original 12 volt battery and original brakes too.
Haven't had to get any parts. When my gen 2 Popped the HV disconnect relay, flat deck picked it up on a Monday morning, picked up a loaner Monday evening after work (got a brand new bolt) got call Wednesday that part was in and car ready. Never had any problems with service. My gen 1 is 12 years old and have not had any issues. It has gone in for software updates as they released them and sent me recall notice but always done on 1 day. My local dealer has a volt tech however and he knows his stuff.
Computer monitors how long the gas is in the tank. After 1 year it will force you to burn it, as the engine will run each time until more gas is put in. In the 2019 after my road trip is done this summer I will run it down to 1/4 and leave it there. The car also starts the engine for 3 minutes every 6 weeks to lubricate parts. They thought of everything. On my first gen I generally have to fill it every 8 months anyway, just due to the weekly trip past the battery range, and burning 1 litre of fuel on that longer trip. The new one I don't anticipate using any fuel except when traveling which I do a couple times a year. Also in very cold weather it will start the engine to run the heaters in the battery so that energy is not wasted heating the battery to operating temperature. In a pure EV the battery is used yo heat itself up in cold environment to operating temperature, which reduces it's range.
@@michac3796 Only if you "drive" the car in the garage. Normally, once you get out of garage and the car is exposed to the ambient weather, if it's really cold (like sub-zero Fahernheit) a dashboard indicator will come on saying, "Running engine due to temperature." This only lasts for a couple of minutes, and then you're back to all-EV mode.
@@taiwanjohn Yes on first gen. Second you can turn that feature off if you are just doing short trips and it will just reduce the range of the battery.
@@michac3796 Obviously it only starts when you have the car on, and a message pops up on the screen saying that the system needs to do engine maintenence, and you have to click OK. You can defer it once, until the next start cycle for example if you are just turning the car on for a few seconds to move it.
@@Hi-Tech-Ray technically it still is my car. My name is on the registration. Yes I know how it works, she has been hanging around here for 36 years. I remember years ago she came home with the car and said it wasn't running properly. I said what do you mean. She said well on the way home a red light came on in the dash. I said what did the light say. She said "oil", I said and you drove it home? She said "I was with (a former co worker that had mental issues) and this woman was freaking out at the though of her pulling over so she drove her home. That was the only time I ever had to replace an engine!
@@12voltvids Holy crap! A guy at work told me about his buddy, who had the unfortunate experience of his wife seizing his engine. She called him, telling him the car was dead on the side of the road and wouldn’t start. As he sat in the car, trying to determine why it wouldn’t even crank, he noticed some black tape on the instrument panel lens. When he pulled it off, he saw the red oil was on. When asked why she did that, she said that she was tired of looking at the annoying red light. The next day, I immediately had a talk with my wife, saying “Sweetie, what do you do immediately, if the oil light comes on?” & “what do you do if the temperature light comes on?” It’s hard to believe that people are that dumb, but some are.
38:15 You're not going to get any heat or cold until the ''max'' button is lit. Doesn't matter what temp you set the thermostat on, is not working until the MAX button is lit. Looks like i'm the only one who knows this and who's frustrated about it 🤷♂until i redesigned the face to a red/blue logo. Now theres no more confusion
@@surf2257 On the second gen it limits the heater to 4kh and on high it heats at the full 7kw so it heats faster. On cool same thing. Fan runs at higher speeds on max. Uses a little more battery power.
@@12voltvids Thanks for those details. I'm going to redesign the ECO button as well to smaller dots, and then it will be like it should have been. Intuitive.
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Hello, great video, I’m currently driving the last year of the first-generation Chevy Volt 2015. This car is absolutely…amazing! This car rocks. It is very heavy, handles the road like it is on a track, the car feels stable and solid. Quick as a rabbit! Easy to park, maneuver and is a great city car. My car gets around 40 miles of range on average per charge. This car is built well, no rattles or squeaks so far. The only downside is driving with the windows down, is the most annoying thing about this car. This September 2024 I will have owned my car for 6 years and have only used approx. 85 gallons of gas. I have only driven in "L" low gear since I owned it this way it’s able to regenerate my battery as I drive. Fully electric until the battery runs out, however that does not happen very often. With a 220v charger at home I can go to the gym, run errands then plug it in and within an hour I’m back at 40 miles of range. Lastly, I Love how quiet it is...I call it my Ninja mobile because it makes no noise…none. The newer models must make a sound when moving under 5 MPH. Mine came with Leather & Suede Seats, Navigation, Rear View camera, Red Exterior with Tan Interior, and front heated seats. In October 2023 I needed to have the software updated due to some errors codes that would not going away, had to take to the dealer, dealer charged $400 for the software update…other than 1 oil change and I did replace the 12v battery just because it was 8 years old, that’s all the maintenance I have done on my car for the past 5 years…crazy. Update: 7-20-24 currently 65,000 just replaced the driver side window regulator, a few days ago window started making noises then it stopped working all together. I was able to install the new part with no issues in about a half hour. The hardest part was getting the door cover off, I had to use a small metal pry tool on the bottom of the panel, once I got it started it popped right off. The only other tools needed were a 7mm and a 10mm socket (see TH-cam for videos). Hey all, if I can do this repair anyone can, I'm 66 years old. I must say this was much easier than I thought.
My 2012 had 210 000 and I just changed the front passenger side wheel bearing and front axels as they were getting noisy. One of the rear brake pads fell off the back plate causing the back plate to go into the rotor and chew it up. So 2 rotors and a new set of brakes to the back. All software updates to keep the cells balanced was done in 2019. My 12v battery is stull the original one that came with the car in 2011.
I've got HOLD mode on my 2013. I use it on long road trips to keep some battery in reserve. Typically, I drive on battery until I get up to speed on the interstate, then switch to HOLD. Along the way, if I need to overtake another car, and need a little extra "oomph" I'll switch into SPORT mode for a couple of minutes, then switch back. That way, when I get to my destination, I've still got some battery power to drive around town. It's a distinction without much of a difference, I suppose, but that's what suits me.
You are absolutely right. The only problem I've had after driving my highly depreciated 1st gen is that when I bought it, it came used from FLA and had WATER ONLY in the washer fluid reservoir, so it cracked upon freezing. There was no easy way to replace it, so that cost me $200 in labor. The thing handles great, is not slow, and I just love the thing. 30,000 miles ZERO other issues**. My job has free charging and I have seen no degradation in battery performance. I'm looking now at a Bolt, so as to allow my employers the wonderful opportunity to pay for ALL my driving expenses.
There is downward pressure on the prices in the used market, and I have seen plenty on Cargurus for HALF their original price with 20K miles. Regarding the battery packs, Chevy says that they would not throw in a 3 or 5 thousand dollar battery pack (refurb market price; way more from dealer, of course) and that they would instead replace only the faulty components.
**OOOPS...mis-statement....I had it sit for a few weeks so I could drive the sportscar instead....and a FRIGGIN' squirrel, or other animal, chewed a hole through the hood insulator and put a bunch of NUTS in it! Still shaking nuts out of the hood for two weeks now! Stupid squirrel!!!
It was a white footed mouse. They like the insulator material for bedding, known issue. Use shavings of Irish Spring Original soap in the hood insulator material.
Finding a Premier with all the frills is actually a really nice car, lane keep, adaptive cruise, blind spot warning, plenty of daily EV range, good long long distance range for road trips, GM dropped the ball when they prioritized the Bolt instead of spreading the Voltec technology throughout their SUVs and pickups. From what I understand it was getting magnetic materials for the motors that was tough (and expensive) at the time and the Bolt got the better materials for that. That and the battery pack for the Volt was enormous and needed lots of active cooling due to the chemistry. With cheaper modern batteries they would have probably been profitable, especially since the R&D costs would have been spread out.
Excellent comparison between Gen1 and Gen2. I drive a Gen2 and find it to be an excellent car overall.
My two issues with the car are:
1) the middle back seat has a seatbelt, but is not effectively a seat for trips over 3-4 km.
2) The side pillars block the view when shoulder checking. Blind zone alert is necessary and I have to keep my side mirror view wide of the back of the car in order to see what's coming up from behind.
Other than that, The Gen2 Volt is an excellent electric car for 90% of my driving without any range anxiety on longer drives and road trips. I generally average 39-41MPG at highway speeds on longer trips using the gas generator.
Blind spot is an issue on all the new cars. They all have very wide A and B pillars for roof structural strength. This is how they acheive the 5 star crash safety rating.
For some reason I once had a passenger (full car/carpooling) claim that she found the centre seat extremely comfortable. No clue how, but hey, maybe it's usable for some.
if anyone is wondering, got 130k miles on the clock on my 2013 volt. got it at about 95k miles about a year ago. once the trip meter goes over 100k it says 99,999miles but the mpg is still reporting accurately
also when driving if you want a less agressive way to emergency stop the car, you can press the on/off button 4 times. girlfirend discovered this when trying to go into hold mode but clikced the wrong button.
no issues in my volt. added 200w of solar panels and upgraded the 12v system to 4kwh of lifepo4. getting around 50 miles of range now, about 40 miles of range before my mods.
How
@@davethevicar88 made a post on the gm chevy volt forums under gen1 -> mods
@@vevenaneathna thanks
Interesting video. I have a 2nd GEN 2018 Chevy Volt. My Charged up range is 135 km in Spring - Summer - Fall or 84 + miles. Driving the car nets me over 160 km, or 100 imperial miles during that period. During the winter months, I normally get 85 km / 53 miles until the temperature reaches -40 Celsius that temperature seems to get the worst mileage and dips the battery to roughly 70 km / 35 miles. Thus far I have had the car for over 5 years and have NOT experienced any degradation of the battery or charging mileage.
My mileage using the ICE is close to 3.8 L / 100 Km or 65 + MPG. I have found that the ICE fuel tank is kinda small at 7 imperial Gallons. It says 9 Gallons but that is USA Gallons which are smaller than what I am used to here in Canada. I live in Northern Ontario, but drive to Toronto a few times per year. My car has 168755 km on it and the only expense I have had is to change the Brakes all around at 145,000 km. I have also done oil changes more often than you have. I was informed by my OnStar Ambassador to change the oil at 20% LIFE. Which is exactly what I have been doing. Other than the free oil changes that were offered when the car was brand new.
NOTE ** my mechanic did say that my brakes were like new and did not need to be changed. I am a senior and do not want to worry about stopping in an emergency so NEW brakes were put on for my safety (Peace of Mind) mostly. Caveat I mostly only ever use the regen paddle on the rear of the steering wheel. I apply the brakes only to hold the car in heavy traffic because the paddle doesn't stop the car fully as it creeps along at 5 kph or at a traffic light.
Your synopsis of the HOLD function is not correct though. The Volt is always in EV mode. When you turn on the car it will always default to EV mode. On top of that, putting the car into HOLD mode still uses the ICE but the car will still use the battery to some degree. If you do not trust what I am telling you. Fill up your range then go for a ride, and then switch to HOLD and put your center screen to view where the propulsion screen shows the battery and ICE running while you are driving the vehicle. The battery will show that it is being depleted as GREEN arrow's in the direction of the front wheels at some points along your ride. This is not continuous as it is on an Algorithm in software that regulates when the battery automatically assists with the ICE on a regular ride.
Notice that these GREEN arrow's turn to brown as they approach the front wheels. Notice that the engine has BLUE arrow's that also change to BROWN. Note that mixing the Color's Green plus Blue change to BROWN. While the car does reserve some battery the range does go down for battery mode. While it is true that the car does regen battery in mountain mode it does not replenish the battery if the range remaining in the battery is above 18 km. Mountain mode does act as a generator but will only recharge the battery up to 18 km in my 5 years of driving experience with my VOLT.
I drive a 2013 Volt with 108,000 miles and still get 38-40 miles on battery. Great car, zero problems. IMHO, Chevy made a bad decision discontinuing the Volt.
Everyone has that opinion. Aparantly they are bringing a new one back next year for 2026 model year.
@12voltvids It really a shame that GM discontinued the Volt being that the concept of the on board generator is a great feature to have charge your vehicle while driving if you cant get to a charging station like you mentioned previously and being that I know someone with the KIA SOUL EV who got rid of it for that issue alone when he was moving from NYC to Virginia!
It was one of the dumbest moves IMHO. However even though initially they said the volt is dead, they are doing that with all their sedans because none of the American car makers are doing very good with sedans. Trucks, Crossover and SUV are what are selling from the big 3. I have been hearing rumours that the Voltec platform is coming back as a 2021 new model as a new SUV or Crossover body. That would make perfect sense because those are the vehicles that are selling, and to have a hybrid version that will go 40-50 miles on no gas at all, but not have any range limits for when people want to hit the road. That would be the perfect car. Mitsubishi is already doing it with their outlander phev. I actually would have bought one if it had more range but it only goes 20 miles on the battery. Ford is bringing back the Escape as a plug in hybrid this year, so I am betting that GM will not sit on the fence on this one and will indeed fulfill the rumours and release a plug on crossover or SUV using the volt power plant, which is superrior to all the rest, because all the other designs the gas engine fires up if upi put your foot on the gas, and the volt does not start the engine until the battery is totally used up.
This was a great video contrasting the two generation Volt cars.
As a owner of two "His and Hers" Gen II Volts, we use the Hold Mode on interstate trips that exceed the range of the battery. We save the battery for use in urban areas to save fuel. On those trips we use the GPS to predict the distance to home and put it back in Normal (on Battery) when the remaining distance is close to the battery range. The goal is to have the battery hit zero when we hit the driveway. This maximizes both the battery range and the MPG capabilities of the cars.
With the Regen Paddle on the steering wheel, we only use the brakes to hold the car or when absolutely necessary. We will likely never ever replace the brake pads.
The adaptive cruise control is a must have option on the Gen II cars. With practice using the Adaptive Cruise Control and the Regen Paddle you can literally drive a majority of the time without using the pedals at all.
Yes I use the brake just to hold the car at lights too. My first get has 180000 miles on original brakes.
ACC is a great option to have.
It’s one of those things I probably wouldn’t have ordered, but it was on the fully optioned Premier car I bought.
I absolutely love it!
The best explanation of the regen braking on a volt I have seen. I have been trying to figure out driving in "L" vs. the regen paddle and if they work together. I am looking for a used 2nd Gen Volt for my next car. My commute to work is 52 miles one way, mostly highway, and I would like to do it all in EV mode. I have a couple level 2 charging stations at work, but they usually have Teslas hooked up to them. They spend all that money on a Tesla then are to cheap to charge them at home. Worst case there are regular 120V outlets at each corner of the parking garage I can use to get some charge. Thanks for the great video.
The worst tesla drivers are the model 3 drivers.
Our big shopping mall has 12 dedicated tesla charge stalls, and 20 free level 2 chargers, yet none of the tesla drivers will use then, they clog up the rest that everyone else if fighting over. Why? Because they are free and the dedicated tesla chargers that nobody else can use (because the plug is different for starters) are not free for model 3 owners. Model S and X drivers get to use the tesla chargers for free, but the cheaper model 3 does not get access to it. They have to pay a couple of bucks to use it, so they use level 2 chargers that everyone else wants.
I havent used any gas in my Volt since I got back from my holidays in July.
I too, am annoyed by the Tesla drivers who take all the charging stations, while we cannot use theirs.
I’m annoyed that they use these spaces, when they have more than enough range to make it to & from their jobs at the places around the area that have charging stations.
So, they have their charging stations locally that we cannot use, plus they have the range to where they don’t need to.
They could allow some of us with less range to use them.
I’ve noticed that the Tesla owning hospital employees at one of the local hospitals (where my doctor office is) make it so that the rest of us who have less range, cannot use it. They do this despite a 4 hour limit, after which time a fee is charged.
One additional reason to use the hold mode... If you are on a longer than a 'battery only' trip, you can save some battery charge for when you get into 'stop and go' or very slow traffic, where the battery will give you VERY efficient travel, that you wouldn't have in gas mode, if you have already used up all your battery charge.
When the battery is dead, and the car running in gas mode and you hit stop and go traffic the engine turns off, and only runs for a minute or so putting a small charge in the battery and then turning off for 5 to 10 minutes. Then on again for 1. Where I live I can drive to the city and home on battery. The other day I was given a big antique radio (future rebuild project) and my friends place was 50 KM out. Made it all the way there, and 90% of the way home. The last 10KM on gas, used 0.6 litres of fuel.
@@12voltvids Another use for HOLD: in the U.S. (Pennsylvania, to be specific), there are stretches on the Pennsylvania Turnpike where there can be 95 to 100 miles between gas stations. It would be good to reserve battery power if you didn't have the foresight to make sure you had enough gas in the tank.
BTW, the USB drive that I used in my car was labeled "Car Tunes".
@@chucklemberg4968
Mine is the sd card. I was going to call it cartoons
@@12voltvids Me, too. Great minds think alike.
I have a 2014 Volt with only 22500 mi (36000km?). Retired now, best car I ever had. Now US states are slapping registration fees on hybrid and electric cars to make up for the lack of gas tax revenue. $100/yr in Ohio for hybrids. Not too bad, Illinois is looking at $1000.
None here yet, as they want to encourage electric and plug in adoption. Hell many of the public charge stations are free to recharge at.
That's happened in ND as well. Punishing people for using less gas. I would love to own a car like this to stick it to the oil companies!
JAMES AZBELL I only put gas in the car about 2 times per year, and mostly use gas when the temperature is really cold.
@@jazbell7 Same here. In cold weather battery range is shorter, and a little more gas gets used on the first gen. Will find out how the new one does this winter.
@@teacfan1080 I would expect this to happen here as well at some point, but right now the governments are giving us incentives. The first one I got a 5000 discount, and a 10,000 discount on the second one. Our electricity here is plentiful and hydro electric generated, so electric cars are very green here, and green is the color the governments like.Electric cars are everyone in my neighborhood. There are 16 in a 2 block radius of my house now, and will probaly be 20 by the end of the month.
My experience with traction control on a traditional vehicle is if the car gets stuck in snow, traction control will limit the wheels of the car to around 20 MPH. Mine does not have the switch. The other car we have that does will pull out in the snow with traction control off.
Enjoyed the "censored" blocks in front of your registration tags. And those are nice looking vehicles. You're even prepared if you want to play a 45 RPM record if the player has no adapter. 5:00
They are just my "HAM" tags, which are not registered to my address.
Great comparison, very detailed and well thought out. Thank you!
Like the physical buttons and touchscreen buttons on both models. Backups are good
Feels much like my old accord ex-l v6 when it comes to handling. I have a lot of confidence entering corners, especially in L
Thanks for sharing! I found a 2018 LT model with 19k miles with a 72mo/100k mile limited powertrain warranty selling for $19,898, is this a good deal?
We had two 2013 Volts... I recently (Actually yesterday) traded one in on a 2019. At first I didn't like the driving experience of the newer one but I'm getting used to it. Brakes are more sensitive and the regen braking is stronger. I like the 50+ mile electric range for sure! With our driving patterns as retired folk, we virtually never buy gasoline.
I agree the first gen handles better as it is lower but i like the longer range and quicker acceleration on the 2019. Wife drives the 2012 now. Lots of miles on that car. Almost 180,000 and no problems other than tire replacements so far.
@@12voltvids My wife's 2013 has less than 50,000 so it's a keeper. It's kept garaged and plugged in and she takes good care of it. I don't think we'll have to get her another car for a long time, barring any unfortune.
With the used car market the way it is, how much did you pay for the 2019 volt? LT or Prem ? - I cant find any deals within the Wash DC area.
@@mikelieber1
I bought both of mine brand new My 2019 is an LT with the most of the Prem upgrades. Power seats, Leather, Bose sound 7.2KW charger. My price out the door was 39000, but there was already the 10,000 government rebate, so without that it would have been 49K.
When I bought the 2012 it was the premiere model and that one was 47000 after the 5000 rebate we got at that time. The 2012 now has 180,000 on the clock, runs like a champ and has only lost 5 miles of range and that was after the cell balance update. What they did was intentionally raise the low power cut off for when the engine starts to prevent the cells as they age from ever being tax too much to prevent a low voltage condition. It basically took away .5 KWH of range. A small price to pay to protect the battery. If the battery fails. I certainly would spend the 4000 to replace it, because the car has paid for itself in gas and maintenance savings. Oil change every 2 years and 2 sets of tires is the only thing I have had to do to it. The brakes are original, and still have plenty of life.
Nice video. We own both Gen1 and Gen2 Volts as well - great cars. Regarding the button to unlock the car, couldn’t you just use the button on the driver-side rear door to unlock the car? My 2015 has ‘unlock’ buttons on all four doors.
Yes I did and then that button eventually failed too. The 2 on the passenger side doors works. On my 2019 I usually use the fob as to not wear out the door switch. Don't know if the second gen has the switch problem but the first gen they certainly wore out after about 7 years.
Very good explanations because i want to buy one of 2019 thank you so much.
2019 is good. Doesn't have the bad BECM module that the 16 to 18 models have.
The P brake is an electronic parking brake so I would never activate it like you do if I had brakes failing, for those you need to hold the button to slowly brake, other than that it’s like handbrake/footbrake
In an emergency if you have lost your main brakes the park brake will stop the car using only the rear mechanically activated parking / emergency brake. The brakes are very light duty however only designed to hold the car from moving so doing this will wear them down fast. It's for parking and emergency use if the main brakes fail. Think if it like your reserve chute.
This is a pro Volt owner with other pro Volt owners chiming in. A friend of mine owns a first gen Volt with 150,000 and loves it. But I would never own the vehicle for only one reason: it is the MOST difficult vehicle to get in and out of. I banged my head on front door pillar both getting and exiting. Three of us went to lunch recently and I rode up front. I am 6 feet tall and with the seat all the way back I still had to contort my neck to get in the car; the same with getting out resulting in a sore neck. Returning home I requested the back seat and found it to be even more difficult to get my head under the roof pillar. The headroom in the rear is terrible and claustrophobic! The ergonomics of the Volt are terrible for normal sized people!
I'm 6'2 and i have no issues getting in and out. I wouldn't ride in the back though. For myself and the wife it's just us. when the kids were around they rode in the back and they are 5'6 and 6'0 and yes my son complained about the head room. 2nd gen a little better. My gen 1 us now at 210,000 and going strong.
Does owning an Electric car require more planning? In USA, the only charging stations I know of are Tesla brand at Sheetz stations... do those work for Chevy? Refuel time can be an issue to those who drive distance. I usually keep a vehicle until it is very worn out, with over 150K miles, and a good deal of rust.
A full on electric requires knowing where the DC charging stations are, but as I found on my recent road trip there are popping up everywhere. I didn't bother using public stations much on my road trip because the volt has a gas generator on board so when I travel I just run gas through it but I did stop at a few and plug in for an hour when I was stopping for lunch. Every station I saw had level 2 as well as level 3 stations. One night there was a Mitsubishi dealer next to the motel I was staying, so I just plugged into the public station at the dealer over night. Unfortunately they no longer make the volt only the bolt which is battery only no backup engine. The bolt will go about 230 miles between charge and the volt 53 before the engine starts and then another 350 on 9 gallons of regular fuel. Thing about the volt is it runs exactly the same on gas as battery. No performance changes. I just did a 2000 Mile road trip in mine. Video will be done one of these days.
I love my 2014! 129000 miles. How come nobody shows the hidden ignition?
Hidden ignition?
I got so close to owning one at an affordable price for my budget..then the car prices shot up 2-3k...So I will still not have my first car. Hopefully the prices go down.
Would have been a great car if built on a Malibu or Impala platform and different type of battery cells
It was/is a great car. Both of mine are still on the road. One has well over 200,000 miles and has just had the back brakes done. No other car has been as trouble free. Gm was stupid to kill it, and IT'S COMING BACK! Next year as a 2026 model there will be a new car or more likely an small suv or cuv that uses the volt platform, which is a proper ev with gas backup. It's NOT a plug on hybrid. All of those use the engine in conjunction with electric. Hammer the gas and the engine starts even if battery is full. They all do that. Only the volt was full electric until the battery was totally flat and then, and only then did the gas start unless you pit it in hold or mountain mode.
I own (and love) my 16 volt. But the battery degradation has gone from about 58 mi to 40 mi. within about 6-7 years (now has 93k mi) Chevrolet claims it’s normal, won’t do anything for it. Other than that, it’s the best car I’ve ever owned!
My 2012 when new would get about 57km on charge. Now it is down to about 49 in warm weather and in cold weather perhaps 35. The last update reduced the range a fair but as they set the minimum charge level higher. Now as soon as the temperature hits freezing it runs in gas mode most of the time but the range comes back when the weather warms. My 2019 when warm out gets about 90km but in the winter about 60. The update on the old one is to extend battery life. I also changed tires to regular (not low rolling resistance) and that reduced the electric range slightly as well. Still they are the best 2 cars I have owned.
Are you talking about what’s displayed on the Guess-o-Meter?
@@patrickflohe7427 no actual driving range. When it's cold our ur starts up in gas mode right away now to preheat the pack. I'm not talking sub zero either. It does it above freezing too. All to minimize stress on an old battery pack.
Hold mode will actually still use some battery.
A lot of people do use this mode for long drives.
Never have used hold. Only normal sport and mountain mode.
@@12voltvids
I used it for quite awhile, due to a commute of 48-50 miles depending upon where I had to work at my company, and park.
Because even though mine is a ‘19, there is no getting 100 miles (about 161 kms) on a charge.
It would enable me to use the battery miles more, when I needed or wanted them.
Later, I was fortunate enough to be able to charge at work….that enabled me to use the battery alone, both ways (as long as I didn’t use the heater much or at all).
@@patrickflohe7427 my daily commute is under 80km so I rarely go past battery range.
@@12voltvids
Ya gotta love the range of the Gen 2 cars.
@@patrickflohe7427 it's good but the gen 1 still drives better in the Twisties and is more comfortable.
Hello, i hope you have enough experience with chevy volt, i real like the 1st generation look than the 2nd one and i wish to buy a 2015 used chevy, i found one but i haven’t pay for it yet . What is your advice on that
I’m 22 never actually had my own car (walk everywhere nearly believe it or not) but I’ve been saving up and have about enough to pay for 60% of the 2017 used. (In the current market anyways I’d be able to pay most of it off if it wasn’t for the meh market…) I’m interested in buying one for my first car would you recommend it, my daily commute is very short (maybe 5 miles at the most, but I do go out on days off (maybe 20 miles ) I think it’d be awesome to have a vehicle that not only allows me to not have to spend money on fuel for the daily commute but also when I go out of town. But I did have questions like anything to look out for in 2nd gen models, and good pricing.
Both of my volts have been excellent my first one is over 10 years old now and all i have had to do is replace the tires.
My second gen has has a couple of issues. A relay failed and the FM radio reception is intermittent. Appears to be an antenna issue as after it rains alot the reception is bad, but when it is dry the reception is good. The dealer will be looking at that again next time i have it in. It's great to not have to buy gas very often. About every 3 months on the old one and i went an entire year on the newer model. I would buy another one in a second and am still pissed that gm discontinued the car. One of the bonehead moves they have made.
I use hold on my '15 when at highway speed (65+ mpg) as it's more efficient than EV mode.
How is that. You are burning gas. I use the battery up completely and let the car switch over. Hold mode is really only there for those areas that charge a smog toll to enter the city. If you have a long drive to the city use hold till city limits then switch to electric mode so no smog toll need to be paid. My daily commute is less than the battery range so i seldom even see the engine start. I got almost a full year out of a tank of gas. My wife averages 4 months in the 10 year old volt that has less range than the 2019, but she still averages about 3000 km per tank.
"eight amps" 33:28 Very nice editing skill sir! lol
Woauhhh !!! great video ,thank's a lot !!!
Thanks for video!
I am in the market for a use volt
How can you tell if the Hybrid battery is on the way out ?
How is it handle in snow ?
Cheers from Ontario !
Couldn't tell you how you can tell if battery is on way out as i haven't gotten to that point. Even on my old 2012 which I have had 12 years now it is still performing fine. I have lost a little range on the battery about 5km per charge but most of that happened after changing to more sticky tires and after the last software update. There was an update that was released in 2019 which changed the low set point where the car changes from EV to gas. That reduced the EV range a few km. Dropped the usable battery capacity from 9.8 to 8.9kw.
This was done to kick start the gas engine sooner to keep the cells at a higher voltage. This was to prevent the propulsuon reduced message and the engine running like crazy to recover charge. Incidentally there was an earlier update that gave more range and then they realized that it was allowing the battery to get too low in some circumstances which caused some to end up with a dead pack due to a cell getting out of balance. Original owners were all contacted by gm to have the recall done asap to prevent battery failure as it aged.
Now the car operates completely differently than before. If the temperature is a lite cold the engine will start even when battery is full and run through a battery warm up and cell balance and then it switches back to ev and operates for the full battery capacity before changing back. In the really cold weather it just runs on gas and doesn't strain the battery at all keeping it mostly charged. But as soon as the weather warmed up everything returned to normal. I am referring to the first gen car. It handles great in the snow. If considering one get the VIN and call gm to see if the update has been done. Mine has 200k on it now and no mechanical issues. Still on original 12 volt battery and original brakes too.
Did you ever try volt app for cell phone on 1 gen?
Pain in the Royal ass to get parts for even shockers can't get em anywhere man
Haven't had to get any parts. When my gen 2 Popped the HV disconnect relay, flat deck picked it up on a Monday morning, picked up a loaner Monday evening after work (got a brand new bolt) got call Wednesday that part was in and car ready.
Never had any problems with service. My gen 1 is 12 years old and have not had any issues. It has gone in for software updates as they released them and sent me recall notice but always done on 1 day. My local dealer has a volt tech however and he knows his stuff.
@@12voltvids yer I'm in UK though 😭
@@davethevicar88 that would explain alot.
Nice, what about the gas going off after not being used for long periods bud ?
Computer monitors how long the gas is in the tank. After 1 year it will force you to burn it, as the engine will run each time until more gas is put in. In the 2019 after my road trip is done this summer I will run it down to 1/4 and leave it there. The car also starts the engine for 3 minutes every 6 weeks to lubricate parts. They thought of everything. On my first gen I generally have to fill it every 8 months anyway, just due to the weekly trip past the battery range, and burning 1 litre of fuel on that longer trip. The new one I don't anticipate using any fuel except when traveling which I do a couple times a year. Also in very cold weather it will start the engine to run the heaters in the battery so that energy is not wasted heating the battery to operating temperature. In a pure EV the battery is used yo heat itself up in cold environment to operating temperature, which reduces it's range.
@@12voltvids This autolube starts indoors too? I.E. inside a garage?
@@michac3796 Only if you "drive" the car in the garage. Normally, once you get out of garage and the car is exposed to the ambient weather, if it's really cold (like sub-zero Fahernheit) a dashboard indicator will come on saying, "Running engine due to temperature." This only lasts for a couple of minutes, and then you're back to all-EV mode.
@@taiwanjohn Yes on first gen. Second you can turn that feature off if you are just doing short trips and it will just reduce the range of the battery.
@@michac3796 Obviously it only starts when you have the car on, and a message pops up on the screen saying that the system needs to do engine maintenence, and you have to click OK. You can defer it once, until the next start cycle for example if you are just turning the car on for a few seconds to move it.
Yes we know how wives could keep junk in their cars. Lmao
Looks like a bomb went off inside!
@@12voltvids did you know it becomes your car again when something goes wrong.. You know that wives are quick that way! something us married men know!
@@Hi-Tech-Ray technically it still is my car. My name is on the registration. Yes I know how it works, she has been hanging around here for 36 years. I remember years ago she came home with the car and said it wasn't running properly. I said what do you mean. She said well on the way home a red light came on in the dash. I said what did the light say. She said "oil", I said and you drove it home? She said "I was with (a former co worker that had mental issues) and this woman was freaking out at the though of her pulling over so she drove her home. That was the only time I ever had to replace an engine!
@@12voltvids
Holy crap!
A guy at work told me about his buddy, who had the unfortunate experience of his wife seizing his engine.
She called him, telling him the car was dead on the side of the road and wouldn’t start.
As he sat in the car, trying to determine why it wouldn’t even crank, he noticed some black tape on the instrument panel lens.
When he pulled it off, he saw the red oil was on.
When asked why she did that, she said that she was tired of looking at the annoying red light.
The next day, I immediately had a talk with my wife, saying “Sweetie, what do you do immediately, if the oil light comes on?” & “what do you do if the temperature light comes on?”
It’s hard to believe that people are that dumb, but some are.
38:15 You're not going to get any heat or cold until the ''max'' button is lit. Doesn't matter what temp you set the thermostat on, is not working until the MAX button is lit. Looks like i'm the only one who knows this and who's frustrated about it 🤷♂until i redesigned the face to a red/blue logo. Now theres no more confusion
Bullshit. It heats and cools fine on eco mode. I only use max on the coldest and hottest of days.
@@12voltvids Didn't know that, and what is ECO. So it means that you either need the MAX or the ECO button to have H/C.
@@surf2257
On the second gen it limits the heater to 4kh and on high it heats at the full 7kw so it heats faster. On cool same thing. Fan runs at higher speeds on max. Uses a little more battery power.
@@12voltvids Thanks for those details. I'm going to redesign the ECO button as well to smaller dots, and then it will be like it should have been. Intuitive.
Huh????
That is very incorrect.
You get heat in eco mode, or if the engine is running.
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Here's a good TH-cam video about the life and afterlife of ev battery packs you might find interesting:
m.th-cam.com/video/WqJW4NgobTU/w-d-xo.html