GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

First of all I want to say hello to everyone. I know its been a long time since I’ve written a post here, but I am always out there lurking. Its hard to believe it has been five months since I stopped running GM-Volt.com. I do appreciate the stellar job Jeff Cobb and the crew at VerticalScope are doing with the site, and I hope you are too.

Anyway, I wanted to come back and write about my current experience with my Volt. I picked up my own personal Volt VIN #8 back in December and have been enjoying it thoroughly every single day.

I actually switched my jobs from my old practice location 26 miles from home to a new practice and position which is only 3 miles from home. I now drive just 6 miles per day, but do occasionally make long road trips and will use the gas engine on those occasions.  Finally I too fit into the 78% demographic of US drivers covering under 40 miles per day – obviously one of the best ways to conserve automotive energy is to drive less, whether gas or electric.

To date have amassed 6380 miles on my Volt and have a lifetime average 203 MPG.

The car has performed flawlessly and sweetly all the way – I still get a thrill each day  I get inside and start her up.  I also still get freaked out when I forget and leave the car fob inside – that horn blast reminder remains a bit startling.

I got a postcard in the mail the other day from the Chevy dealership I bought my Volt, inviting me to come in for service.  It is shown above.  This struck me as unexpected because I had come to believe I wouldn’t have to service the Volt for a long while – even up two years if I rarely used the engine.

I realize all cars need regular tire rotations, but why would my Volt need service?

I emailed my friendly Volt advisor Rebecca for advice.

She wrote:

The only two things you need to have done are tire rotations and oil changes. The tire rotations are first done at 7,500 miles, and then an oil change at least every 2 years. The oil changes are depending on how much you are using the extended range. Also, the oil life system in the vehicle will tell you when to change the oil.

That sounded about right to me.  I figured I would also ask my friend through these years and eternal source of Volt enthusiastim, Volt vehicle line director Tony Posawatz what he thought.

“I would take it in,” said Posawatz.  ”They will update your software to the latest version.”

That sounded like a good idea.  After all as an early adopter I always want the latest version of software!

My question for the day.  Have any of you serviced your Volt yet or thought about it?

Dr. Dennis is the founder of GM-Volt.com and currently writes the blog Extreme Longevity.  You can also follow him on Google Plus and Twitter.

The first Chevy Volts to roll off the assembly line went straight to waiting owners in a symbolic move by GM that this is the car for the people . Usually when a new car rolls out, dealerships get the first copies so that they can serve as demos to customers.

Since demand for the Volt has been so high for so long, GM made sure the most eager early adopters, many of us right here in fact, got our cars even before the dealers got their demos.

Starting within the next few weeks however, GM will begin supplying dealerships with vehicles to place on their lots for customer test drives.

Dealerships in the initial launch markets of California, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C will be the first to receive cars.

With cars in lots, more and more interested consumers will get to experience the masterpiece vehicle firsthand, undoubtedly leading to further increases in sales.

“We know the best way to experience the Volt is to get behind the wheel and drive it. Now dealers will have the ability to allow consumers to form their own opinions of the Volt through test drives and demonstrations,” said Cristi Landy, Chevrolet marketing director.

At this point, according to GM officials, more than 300,000 consumers have registered on Chevrolet.com as being interested in the Volt. Furthermore, GM reports that 85% of customers who go there to research the Volt actually look at other models as well.

“We are seeing that the Volt is increasing traffic onto our dealer showroom floors and is exposing consumers to Chevys line of ‘gas-friendly’ vehicles, including the Cruze Malibu and Equinox,” Landy said.

By the end of the first quarter GM expects about 550 demo Volts to have been delivered. By the end of 2011 over 2500 demo models will have been delivered, and in every state consumer deliveries will have commenced.

Source (GM)

I’ve had my Volt for just under a month now, and while I’ve greatly enjoyed the car, I thought I should write some details about the Chevrolet Customer support experience in regards to the Volt, given my “unique” situation. While my dealer experience was less than stellar to say the least, I feel it necessary to write about how phenomenal the support has been from General Motors.

First, I should probably discuss a bit about my situation and experiences with my dealer, though it certainly isn’t my intent to bad mouth them, and I will in fact leave out many issues I had with my dealer that weren’t related to the physical car. I also think my negative experience with a dealer is more an exception than the norm, as I’ve read many great dealer experiences in these forums. As most of you may know from my forum posts, my scheduled date to receive my car was delayed when I received a call from my dealership stating that my Volt had been dented. Apparently there was construction at my dealership, and they made a real bad call by parking it next to a pile of construction materials. Those construction materials subsequently fell over, resulting in both driver side doors being dented, as well as damage to the driver side quarter panel. (Dealer: -1) Needless to say, I wasn’t very pleased. This call came in about 16 hours before I was going to leave with a friend to get my Volt, and about 1 hour after I sold my existing car. GM got involved rather quickly, with numerous personnel responding to the situation. They offered me a rental car given that I sold my car hours earlier. (GM: +1) I declined, however, as I figured I could carpool with some friends in the interim. GM also over-nighted door panels and parts to make sure that whatever solution I chose could be done quickly and effectively, to minimize delay of my Volt. (GM: +1)

I was given numbers to various GM personnel and told to call them whenever I had questions, and they also updated me frequently, whereas the dealer had gone silent. (GM: +1) Eventually, I settled on having my doors repaired, rather than new panels installed. My thinking (and there are varying opinions here) was that repair of the doors would minimize the amount of the car’s factory finish that had to be touched or repainted. I made sure the dealer knew that any “paint booth” time for the car meant the battery should be removed due to the high temperatures, though they didn’t seem too interested in hearing about that. After the work was done, I drove 5 hours to take delivery; the doors looked magnificent, and I was about to be the proud owner of a new Volt!

However, just prior to delivery, I noticed that the center display wasn’t working. My dealer said it was working before, and wasn’t sure what the problem was. The dealer didn’t have any technicians on hand to look into it; they all took the day off, as this was the day before Christmas eve. The dealer wasn’t able to call a technician in either, because they are a union shop and apparently it’s not that simple (or so I’m told). I called my Volt advisor who was very sympathetic and told me she was going to start calling area dealers to see if another place nearby could assist. (GM: +1) Meanwhile, the dealer managed to get a hold of a Volt hotline at GM. (Dealer: +1) GM decided to send a Field Service Engineer (FSE) to the dealer, and also send parts their immediately in case something may need to be replaced. (GM: +1)

The FSE arrived within an hour and immediately began diagnosing the problem. It was eventually determined that the Nav unit needed to be replaced, and they weren’t sure why the failure occurred. However, the part wouldn’t arrive until the next day. GM offered me a hotel room and a rental car, but I declined as I needed to travel about 7 hours to visit family for the holidays, and wanted to ensure I got there in time for Christmas. The FSE then said he would likely make the 7 hour trip after Christmas to replace the Nav unit and see to it that my problem was resolved. (GM: +1) So, I left with my Volt, sans a working center display.

On my way to family, I stopped at my friend’s in-law’s house to get some items I left there, and when I started the car back up, I received a “Reduced Propulsion” message on the display; it seemed as if the engine was driving the car directly through an electric motor, with no battery system to speak of. I hit the OnStar button and my call was immediately answered. I asked if they could do a diagnostic which they did, and they said the battery system needed immediate servicing. They suggested, however, that I could try turning the car off and then on again. I did, and I didn’t receive the error again… Great! I drove off, and didn’t stop again until I needed gas. Once my tank was full, I went to start my car, and again came this “Reduced Propulsion” message. This time, I couldn’t get it to go away. I called OnStar again, and as I was waiting to be transferred to a higher level technician, I figured out that I could avoid the error by making sure I took my foot off the brake immediately after pressing the power button. I told the OnStar technician this and he said he would make a note of this behavior and appreciated my feedback and patience. (GM: +1)

After that, I eventually arrived to visit family, and enjoyed the holidays with them. The error message did not come up again so long as I used my little trick to avoid it. A few days later, the same FSE that had helped diagnose the radio problem made the 7 hour drive and replaced my nav unit, fixing my center display. After that, I had difficulty recreating the “Reduced Propulsion” message, so he just said to give him a call if anything cropped up again. (GM: +1) I also had many people at this dealership checking the car out, and loving it. Despite being in a state that isn’t even an initial market for the Volt, they had two certified Volt technicians, and they were ecstatic to be able to see the Volt “in the flesh”.

Throughout this time, I received multiple calls from my Volt advisor providing me information and soliciting some from me too. I was eventually told that GM would very much like to replace my battery, so they could do some analysis on the error I received, as they had not seen it previously. They also wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have any further issues, and were very apologetic. They said they would overnight a battery to my hometown dealer, and as soon as I made the trip back home, they would do the swap. (GM: +1)

I met another FSE from my hometown region, and he performed my battery swap without any major issues. This dealer also had many people interested in seeing the car, taking quite an interest and asking many questions. I was told by the FSE that a battery engineer from GM would likely be calling me to ask for more details surrounding the error I had seen. He also provided me his number and told me to call him if I had any issues whatsoever. (GM: +1)

I received another call from my Volt advisor, again apologizing and asking if there was anything they could do for all my troubles. I mentioned the possibility of a Voltec charger, and she said she would look into it. A few days later, i was told they were going to provide me with one free of charge. (GM: +1)

Shortly after, I received a call from the battery engineer, and spoke with him at length about all the details surrounding my battery issue, as well as the other issues I encountered in case they were related. He was very professional and we had a great conversation. I mentioned that, in my mind, it may have been the lack of removing the battery if the car went into a paint booth for the clear coat to be cured, which he thought could be a possibility as well. (I mention this because I don’t think my battery issue in any way reflects on the quality of the Volt.) In the end, he gave me his phone number and email address, and told me to contact him anytime if I needed anything. He also extended an offer to me to tour the various parts of the GM Hamtramck operations, including the plant, test track, and battery facility, should I ever be in the area. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, he also stated that I should expect a call from Mickey Bly, the Executive Director of Advanced Battery Development, to extend the same offer and chat with me some more, stating Mr. Bly had also read some of my GM-Volt blog entries. (GM: +5)

While I haven’t heard from Mr. Bly yet (I suspect he’s very busy), this whole chain of events have had one very consistent element present: unrelenting and amazing customer service from GM. They truly are putting their best foot forward with the Volt, and their customer service has been nothing less than exemplary. I hope that everyone who reads will also see that, even with the issues I had (which weren’t that bad, and mostly related to the dealer), the Volt delivers a truly amazing experience, both in the way it drives, and the customer service from GM that comes with the car.

I have since been driving problem-free, and am thankful for all of the support from GM: the engineers, advisors, FSE’s, not to mention from our own WopOnTour. Everyone at GM has been more than helpful, and I don’t feel that can be overstated. In a world where good service is often overlooked, I want to tip my hat to everyone at GM who is a part of such amazing customer service. You make the Volt experience even better than it already is, and I didn’t think that was even possible!

Lets start off by saying the obvious. GM needs the Cruze to be a winner in the US. It has never been more clear given GM’s August results. The bulk of GM’s 25% downswing was because of not being able to compete in the compact and mid-size car market. Well, that and being up against CFC (cash for clunkers) in the summer of 2009.

The Chevrolet Cobalt production has long stopped in Lordstown, Ohio, and there has been a very large gap between that car and the new model because of production delays. The Cruze finally starts production on September 8th of next week, and with no current compact in production, many GM customers are either delaying their purchase, waiting to see if GM’s latest offering will be worth it, or going elsewhere. August sales of the Cobalt fell 67% to 5,643 cars from 17,393 the year prior. /yeesh

Part of GM’s solution to get the word out on the Cruze, and to regain lost market share from their Japanese rivals, is to return to a old strategy. Namely, asking their 3,000+ Chevrolet dealers to go out and buy a new Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic so potential Cruze customers can compare the two, right on the spot…at a Chevy dealership.

The thinking behind the promotion is fairly straight forward, and makes sense at first glance. The Civic, like the Cobalt, is very long in the tooth, and is scheduled for a much anticipated, full model overhaul for May of 2011. Likewise for the Corolla, which is the best selling car of all time, now having been on the market since a more slight model upgrade happened in October of 2006 (as the Axio in Japan), and is also firmly behind the curve, looking dated at this point.

Margaret Brooks, Chevrolet small-car marketing director, said at a press conference for the Cruze that she expects customers to “come away with a favorable view of the Cruze,” but is that good enough.

The bottom line for GM with this promotion, and why it is not likely to be a success, is that people are coming to your dealership to see your car…why show them what the competition has to offer? Even if your product is better, if it gets consumers in the mood to start shopping around, like to Ford with the Fiesta and upcoming Focus, or to Hyundai/Kia-who really know how to sell a small car, why do it? People might start to wonder why the Cruze doesn’t have a hatch, or a two door option, or why you have to pay the premium dollars to get the 40 MPG version?

I commend GM for the effort and having faith in their cars, the Cruze is as good or better than just about anything in its segment right now, but they have tried this before with the Saturn Aura, and more recently with the Malibu against the Camry/Accord, and it just did not work.

Sell the car…not the competition.

(Source: Automotive News – sub)

Editor’s Notes: You can also check out brand new pictures below of the Chevy Cruze hatchback.  This car is going on sale in Europe though won’t appear in the US.

US Chevrolet Cruze retail production will begin next on Wednesday September 8th at the Lordstown Plant in Ohio and the official Chevrolet configurator is now online. Pricing begins at $16,275.

Tim Allen has been hired as the official celebrity spokesperson and will appear in advertising also slated to begin next week.

When Fiat took over control of Chrysler there was some natural synergies that looked to be exploited, like Chrysler can’t built and sell a small compact car to save their life. Fast forward a few months, and the announcement came that Fiat would introduce the 500, Italy’s answer to the Mini Cooper, at Chrysler dealerships around the county at the end of 2010, with a convertible version in 2011.

Not far behind that announcement was another. Joining the Fiat 500, would be the 500 EV, an all electric version of the same car. The Fiat 500 can travel approximately 100 miles per charge (is this some kind of industry standard?) and according to Fiatsler’s CEO Sergio Marchionne. the small EV will go on sale in early 2012 for around $32,000. No word yet on whether that is a ‘post-rebate’ figure, but given the price of the standard petrol version…it is.

Right. So all good then?

Nope.

This coming Monday, Chrysler/Fiat has set up a meeting for 600 odd of their finer dealers, trying to convince at least 200 of them that paying several hundred thousand dollars for a separate/unique showroom and having a dedicated sales team is a good thing to do. Did I mention that the 500 is the ONLY car from the brand that will be available in the US? Sergio must be a heck of a salesman.

One east coast dealer considering the Fiat for his dealership commented to the WSJ (sub req’d) that, “…the enthusiasm for the Fiat coming to the market has diminished.” While adding that over that time the plan from Chrysler had changed “at first, it was something that would be mixed in (with Chrysler models)” on the showroom floor, whereas now “they are going to have to present a compelling story and product to back me investing at least $1 million to build a new showroom.” /you think?

According to Chrysler, dealers will have until September 22nd to make their decision and sign off on the franchise requirements to become a Fiat dealer. So what happens if Fiat doesn’t find 200 mentally challenged willing Chrysler dealers? Mr. Marchionne says he will shop the idea around outside the Chrysler dealer network.

As they say in Italy, “In bocca al lupo!!!”

Today I finished the second training module for the 2011 Chevrolet VOLT. Just like the first one, much of the information presented was a review of what I had already learned here on GM-Volt.com…

The emphasis in this section was on the “Driving Experience” that will set a new standard in what an ‘electric car’ or ‘hybrid car’ can be. The review started with three words: Comfort, Quality, Quietness. From there the discussion quickly moved into “Performance”. The 2011 Chevy VOLT will have the feel of a 250hp V6 mid-size sedan with 273 lb.-ft. of torque and a top end speed of 100 MPH.

Based on the recent videos shown on GM-Volt.com and others, I think it will be easy to show that driving an Extended Range Electric Vehicle will be a lot of fun! The “VOLT experience” really shines once you get inside, and that is the focus for today.

Here are some of the new images and descriptions:

When you open the driver’s door, the driver’s steering wheel screen comes to life and shows the current status of the car’s charging system. It shows if you are charging by 120V or 240V and the ETA to completion of charge if it is not already done.

Also, what is the EV range based on the current charge status if you drove away immediately. The current Odometer reading is shown too.

When you close the door there is a synchronized animation between the two 7″ screens welcoming the driver.

(in this image the two 7” high resolution screens are shown side-by-side as animation welcomes you)

If the driver has the keyfob in their possession inside of the car, the START button will be flashing blue. Just push the button to start the car. Shortly after, an audio cue will play when vehicle is ready to drive.

When the car is “On”, you are presented with the configurable driver’s information screen. It can be set to a very ‘simple’ display, or with as much information as you need.

Please remember that these are only ‘sample images’ and not to use these for debates about EV or CS mileage figures. Just like in the first training session there was no mention of gas tank size or charge sustaining mode MPG figures.

There were only a few images of the driver’s display but I found them easy to read and very colorful.

Next came a quick overview of the buttons on the center stack, shown in ceramic white and black.

VOLT customers will be able to easily track the overall performance of the vehicle with additional screens like these which are activated by pressing the “green leaf” button on the center stack:

This one shows the Energy Efficiency for today’s drive based on your Driving Style and where you have the Climate Controls set. There is also a choice for Energy Usage, which I believe everyone here is going to study closely when they take a ‘real’ test drive.

The driving modes were covered again and the three factors that will affect your maximum EV Range: Terrain, Temperature and Technique (driving technique).

It ended with a review of the options available for the VOLT, along with a review of “Chevrolet Connect” powered by OnStar. This is one of the features that makes the ‘connected experience’ really shine.

Using this SmartPhone App, you can pre-program your charging start time and set it to ‘text you’ when the charge is completed. It can also be set to remind you to plug in your VOLT, or alert you when the car is unplugged before or during a scheduled charge. These functions can also be set from your desktop computer through the “MyVolt.com” website. With so many ways to communicate with your car, it seems unlikely that anyone could “forget” to plug the car in when it is needed.

The 2011 Chevrolet VOLT Walkaround Video should be available very soon for your review.