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Replying to Interactive Review: 2011 Chevrolet Volt

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[quote name="Drew Dowdell" post="652329" timestamp="1298169010"]<p>End of first full day with the Volt:106 miles traveled47 mpg28 EV milesToday was a typical Saturday for me. I did some work at one of the places I do consulting at, rewiring part of their network. Before arriving at work at 11am, I stopped at Lowes to pick up some supplies. Part of the way through the job, realized I would need to make a another run out, stopped at Target and Best Buy then back to the job site. After completing work at 2pm, I raced back to my house to pick up Albert. Along the way is when the regenerator kicked on for the first time. Now, Albert likes to keep his heated seat set at broil and he was stealing my Em Pee Gees. Every time he wasn't looking, I would shut his seat off to get my Em Pee Gees back. He caught on to this fairly quickly and I gave up trying. We stop and pick up two friends to go out to a late lunch/early dinner at Cheesecake Factory near downtown. Have a nice long meal with them and then head back to their place to play with the cats and give our friend his belated birthday gift. We leave their house at around 6:30pm. Albert doesn't want to go home yet and says he want to go to IKEA. So it's back through downtown and out towards the airport. After spending about an hour at IKEA we head back home getting in around 8:45. Total miles for the day: 106. As I said, this is a typical Saturday for us... and a Saturday that we couldn't have done in a vehicle like the Nissan LEAF. Thoughts so far:[list][*]Driving for MPGs becomes a bit of a game. Due to my scheduling, I was rushing during most of the day, so I wasn't hypermilling, but you're easier on the throttle and top speed.[*]I wish the DRLs wouldn't come on by default.[*]The quality of the materials is very high. It wouldn't have taken GM much more to let this car wear a Buick or Cadillac badge. The seats are the first thing that come to mind that would need improvement. They're not bad, but Buick's and Cadillac's are both better.[*]LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that it has a boot up sound and and a shut down sound. This was something I complained about with the [url="http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/54911-interactive-review-2010-ford-fusion-hybrid/"]2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid[/url]. In that car there was no affirmative signal that all systems were go for take off since the engine doesn't start when you start the car. The Volt has that signal.[*][s]I wish there was a charge door release button on the keyfob[/s]. [color=#ff0000]DOH! VOLT: 1 - Drew: 0.... it helps if you actually read instructions guys. The Volt DOES have a charge door release on the keyfob. [/color][*]I'll repeat that the center rear view mirror is too small. The hatch glass offers more viewing area than the mirror can cover top to bottom. Rear visability is excellent.. so good that I find myself turning around to back up rather than use the rear view camera. Turning around gives a much better view than either the mirror OR camera can offer.[*]I would have liked some sort of cargo cover for the rear hatch area.[*]It drives very well so far. I haven't put it through any handling paces, but spending a long distance in the Volt isn't anything to be scared of.[/list][/quote] [quote name="Drew Dowdell" post="652329" timestamp="1298169010"]<p>End of first full day with the Volt: 106 miles traveled 47 mpg 28 EV miles Today was a typical Saturday for me. I did some work at one of the places I do consulting at, rewiring part of their network. Before arriving at work at 11am, I stopped at Lowes to pick up some supplies. Part of the way through the job, realized I would need to make a another run out, stopped at Target and Best Buy then back to the job site. After completing work at 2pm, I raced back to my house to pick up Albert. Along the way is when the regenerator kicked on for the first time. Now, Albert likes to keep his heated seat set at broil and he was stealing my Em Pee Gees. Every time he wasn't looking, I would shut his seat off to get my Em Pee Gees back. He caught on to this fairly quickly and I gave up trying. We stop and pick up two friends to go out to a late lunch/early dinner at Cheesecake Factory near downtown. Have a nice long meal with them and then head back to their place to play with the cats and give our friend his belated birthday gift. We leave their house at around 6:30pm. Albert doesn't want to go home yet and says he want to go to IKEA. So it's back through downtown and out towards the airport. After spending about an hour at IKEA we head back home getting in around 8:45. Total miles for the day: 106. As I said, this is a typical Saturday for us... and a Saturday that we couldn't have done in a vehicle like the Nissan LEAF. Thoughts so far: [list] [*]Driving for MPGs becomes a bit of a game. Due to my scheduling, I was rushing during most of the day, so I wasn't hypermilling, but you're easier on the throttle and top speed. [*]I wish the DRLs wouldn't come on by default. [*]The quality of the materials is very high. It wouldn't have taken GM much more to let this car wear a Buick or Cadillac badge. The seats are the first thing that come to mind that would need improvement. They're not bad, but Buick's and Cadillac's are both better. [*]LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that it has a boot up sound and and a shut down sound. This was something I complained about with the [url="http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/54911-interactive-review-2010-ford-fusion-hybrid/"]2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid[/url]. In that car there was no affirmative signal that all systems were go for take off since the engine doesn't start when you start the car. The Volt has that signal. [*][s]I wish there was a charge door release button on the keyfob[/s]. [color=#ff0000]DOH! VOLT: 1 - Drew: 0.... it helps if you actually read instructions guys. The Volt DOES have a charge door release on the keyfob. [/color] [*]I'll repeat that the center rear view mirror is too small. The hatch glass offers more viewing area than the mirror can cover top to bottom. Rear visability is excellent.. so good that I find myself turning around to back up rather than use the rear view camera. Turning around gives a much better view than either the mirror OR camera can offer. [*]I would have liked some sort of cargo cover for the rear hatch area. [*]It drives very well so far. I haven't put it through any handling paces, but spending a long distance in the Volt isn't anything to be scared of. [/list][/quote]

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Topic Summary

Drew Dowdell

Posted 23 February 2011 - 10:26 AM

It doesn't matter which plug. It heats up at the same rate regardless.

It's ready to go in about 5 minutes.

aaaantoine

Posted 23 February 2011 - 09:24 AM

Trying to heat the car from freezing will drain your battery pretty quick. The Volt user manual even says to use the heated seats because it takes less energy than fully heating the whole cabin. However, because you can pre-heat the car while still plugged in, you can get the cabin to a comfortable temperature while still on the grid and then the car can maintain that temperature much more efficiently when on the road.

That is cool. How long does it take to heat up while on the 120v plug?

Drew Dowdell

Posted 22 February 2011 - 09:58 PM

Interesting you should mention preheating the car because Inside Line just posted about heating draining the battery but it appears they, or at least this certain writer, don't know how to preheat the cabin.

Trying to heat the car from freezing will drain your battery pretty quick. The Volt user manual even says to use the heated seats because it takes less energy than fully heating the whole cabin. However, because you can pre-heat the car while still plugged in, you can get the cabin to a comfortable temperature while still on the grid and then the car can maintain that temperature much more efficiently when on the road.

daves87rs

Posted 22 February 2011 - 09:30 PM

This would be perfect for the wife and her short trips.

SeanLoh

Posted 22 February 2011 - 09:27 PM

Interesting you should mention preheating the car because Inside Line just posted about heating draining the battery but it appears they, or at least this certain writer, don't know how to preheat the cabin.

Drew Dowdell

Posted 22 February 2011 - 09:12 PM

Day 4 with the Volt:
22 miles driven
21 EV miles
So little gas used that it didn't register on the meter.
Trip computer says 212mpg for the day.
77.5 mpg since the Volt was dropped off.

The regenerator kicked on when I first left because it was only 19 degrees outside.

Awesome thing about the Volt is that you can Remote Start it while it's in your garage and plugged in to warm up the seats and interior without draining your EV miles.

Satty

Posted 22 February 2011 - 06:50 PM

Ally will give you a 0% loan for $7500 until tax time.

Cool, didn't know that. But I still want to know the sales cap on the tax credit. It seems it was only available to Toyota hybrid buyers until they hit 150k units.

pow

Posted 22 February 2011 - 06:37 PM

I haven't kept up on things, how long does the tax credit on the Volt run? People keep calling it a $33 thousand dollar car when really its $40 grand with an end of year subsidy that's going to run out when GM hits the quota

Ally will give you a 0% loan for $7500 until tax time.

Satty

Posted 22 February 2011 - 05:53 PM

I haven't kept up on things, how long does the tax credit on the Volt run? People keep calling it a $33 thousand dollar car when really its $40 grand with an end of year subsidy that's going to run out when GM hits the quota

pow

Posted 22 February 2011 - 05:47 PM

The Volt doesn't feel like an econobox. It looks like no other vehicle on the road, its doors close solidly with a thunk, and in electric mode, it provides for an unmatched smooth, silent driving experience. Consumers make decisions based on how much "value" they see in a vehicle beyond cost-per-mile, and to me, the Volt is easily worth its $33,500 price after incentives.

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