[mroehrs]

Bought a 2011 volt in 2012 to drive between my 2 ranches (Consider it as my work truck). The distance between my ranches is 45.6 miles. I have solar and or wind at both locations so my cost of electricity is zero. I have 131,000 miles on the car.

When I got the volt in 2012 I was able to get approximately 43 miles range. Yesterday I set a record of 53 miles range. My driving habits have been consistent year in and out by hyper-miling. Hence I'm getting better range today than I did when I purchased the car. I bought it used in 2012 with about 24K miles and without a warranty on the battery.

Of the 131,00 miles at least 100,000 of the miles are in EV mode so it is likely one of the highest ev mile'd volts out there as I drive about 90 miles on EV mode a every day, 6 days a week.

Very pleased with the car, excluding tires all I've spent on the car is (1.) the car needed reprogramming @$173 cost to the GM dealer and (2.) a faulty valve used for coolant. I bought a new valve on on E-bay and replaced myself. (Thank god for the use of an OBD to identify the problem.)

Took the attached pictures last night.

We (My Wife) also has a 2011 volt with 155,000 miles. Unlike me she drives as a free spirit so she does not have the same lifetime millage (about 76 mpg) but similar results in reliability. She did break the windshield by trying to load a 10' pipe in the back but that's not a volt related problem.

I would not be too afraid of buying high millage volts as they have proven themselves to be quality vehicles proven the test of time.

 

[Belgin]

As a design engineer, I have read a lot about the Gen 1 development. The car is over designed. GM (Lutz) wanted to be sure the cars were bullet-proof. They even termed the car pharmaceutical-grade due to redundant parts and extra battery testing involved. My 2014 has been perfect, no issues. I think the car has never gotten it's due to the engineering marvel it is and how it layed the ground-work for the LG batteries that are used in many other EV's now. It's not often you can get a car that is costing $10,000+ more to make than what they sold it for. If it was made by BMW or Audi it would have been an $80K car.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

I do a lot of traveling for entertainment and to visit with my grown children. I have a 2014 bought new (with the 17.1 kwh battery) in 2015 from the dealer. I've made road trips of 8,000 and 10,000 miles and a few of 3,000 miles. Now at about 53,000 on the odometer, I'm beginning to wonder about how long I will have this car under warranty (around two years by my rough calculation). I've been debating about continuing to drive the car without factory warranty. Your experience speaks to putting many more miles beyond 100,000.

As for gaining efficiency, I just returned from a 3,000 mile trip and drove in CS mode the whole time (with the exception of the first 43 miles on battery). I averaged 43.6 mpg on the ICE this trip; 42.6 mpg for the 10,000 mile trip last year; 41.5 mpg for the 8,000 mile trip in 2015. Aside from the ICE wearing in and losing some friction, the tires are original and now have ~53,000 wear on them - something that contributes to decreased rolling resistance (and I keep them inflated to 42-44 psi).