[wrusry]

Do you park outside or in a warmer than outside garage? Many of these older Volts (including mine) will run on gas in cold weather even when its warmer than the ERDTT trigger point. Today my 2011 started the ICE 30 seconds out of the garage, even though the Battery range showed 21. The outside temp was 33 Fahrenheit and my 2011 trigger point for ERDDT is 26. It ran in gas 13 miles before switching finally to battery, then showing the range at 19. It sat parked but unplugged out in the sun for 3 hours, upon restarting was on battery and everything back to normal. I figure the 11 years old battery needs to be babied, so I use mountain mode a lot in winter, and if ICE starts immediately as it did today, I just accept that the software is accomplishing saving my battery. All summer long it was great with 27-32 miles range.

This post is correct. It is not ERDTT. My 2012 Volt uses the ICE well above the ERDTT set point in the winter. I sometimes use MyVoltHold on a short trip. Otherwise, I just let the ICE cycle on and off. I think this behavior may have started with the software update a few years ago. I have 165k miles on mine and the car largely still functions well. Even with this behavior, the "gas mileage" is still good. I live in Austin, though. It may be worse in a colder environment.

 

[cristiejones626]

moved to Problems...

I'm n north Carolina . Temps vary often but my 2011 Volt was getting 37 on a full charge and now only 29. I baby it and keep it charged. How do I flush the coolant ??

 

[Lug_Nut]

Are you hoping a coolant change will restore some cooler weather range? Your drop from 37 to 29 is about 20% to 25%. That's reduction percentage is about what I experience each year when comparing my summer range to winter range.

 

[fceimaging_3737]

This post is correct. It is not ERDTT. My 2012 Volt uses the ICE well above the ERDTT set point in the winter. I sometimes use MyVoltHold on a short trip. Otherwise, I just let the ICE cycle on and off. I think this behavior may have started with the software update a few years ago. I have 165k miles on mine and the car largely still functions well. Even with this behavior, the "gas mileage" is still good. I live in Austin, though. It may be worse in a colder environment.

I had the software update 11-19-2019 and since then my Volt has the ICE running at elevated temperatures without the splash window indicating low temperature being the reason. Dealer at the time said ICE ran due to low temperature, when I asked him why is 62 degrees considered after update and not before his reaction was essentially to say I didn't understand my vehicle. At the time of update I also had all the fluids changed since they were original from when I purchased vehicle in May 2012. I think the battery heater was damaged at the time, not sure how though. Last year I purchased my greenbelt app and a reader. Readout shows high voltage battery doesn't draw any energy. With an unheated battery my Volt functions like my daughter's Prius. Dealers in my area of Maryland don't fix Volts,every issue is always met wit a recommendation to replace battery. Not buying another GM product. Not sure their factory trained service representatives know who they are doing...

 

[Filemon]

Don't get me wrong. I love the car. Mostly trying to figure out the ins and outs of it and clearly, from all the replies. It's not an easy task!!!

Thanks to all.

 

[scottf200]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah i edited the post to add the info about the gas as i knew it would come up.

The car is always plugged at home and stays plugged in the whole night before leaving in the morning.

Like i said, it's our first winter with a Volt. I just thought it was weird that the ICE ran her whole commute and stopped just about a mile from work. Then on her way back, while i was talking to her, it would switch from battrey to ICE back and forth. Sometimes revving pretty high also...

Can't seem to know figure out why really but we're still getting about 55mpg or 4.2 L/100kms

The very cold setting is not available in the 2012 unfortunately. That option didn’t start until 2013 models.
On a side note, you can usually prevent subsequent ERDTT cycles (after the initial one) if you run the climate in “comfort” mode. It drains your battery faster though.

a) Good suggestion on using COMFORT mode.
b) I'd also consider doing delay charging to end about 30 min - 1 hr before leaving for work.
c) You can also do 1 precondition/remote_start to help seemingly warm the ICE from testing back in the day.
This stuff was discussed in a thread in 2012:

COMFORT setting limiting "Engine Running due to low...

I still want to try putting a heat lamp under the motor in the garage on a timer. I wonder if the idea is that the cost of a little gas is less than the cost of the electricity to provide the same amount of heat?

www.gm-volt.com

1 precondition / remote_start = press the door lock button first, then press and hold the remote start button for 3 seconds.

 

[sbachman7117]

I had the software update 11-19-2019 and since then my Volt has the ICE running at elevated temperatures without the splash window indicating low temperature being the reason. Dealer at the time said ICE ran due to low temperature, when I asked him why is 62 degrees considered after update and not before his reaction was essentially to say I didn't understand my vehicle. At the time of update I also had all the fluids changed since they were original from when I purchased vehicle in May 2012. I think the battery heater was damaged at the time, not sure how though. Last year I purchased my greenbelt app and a reader. Readout shows high voltage battery doesn't draw any energy. With an unheated battery my Volt functions like my daughter's Prius. Dealers in my area of Maryland don't fix Volts,every issue is always met wit a recommendation to replace battery. Not buying another GM product. Not sure their factory trained service representatives know who they are doing...

I agree with your hypothesis that your battery heater is not working. I believe my 2011 has that problem too, possibly among other problems.