Okay, I think I'm going to have to do something about this after replying to the Maximum regen rate? thread. So as to not hijack that thread, I'm starting a new one. I think that is the correct thing to do protocol-wise.
Here's the scoop:
I bought a 2013 CPO Volt. This car was only the second Volt that I have ever touched and the first (and only) that I have ever driven so I don't exactly know what to expect. Volts are rare here but I did see one driving in Atlanta last week.
What follows here are pieces of information that I am hoping that someone knowledgeable with Volts might see a common thread and might know of a possible root cause. I'm sorry for it being long but I would hope that a complete summary would be best.
For reference, my other vehicles is a blown 6.2 4WD Silverado. My last car was a recently departed CTS V-Sport (wrecked while parked) which I have not replaced since I didn't drive it much once I got the Volt.
I purchased the Volt to be my daily driver to "save" my Silverado from grunt daily miles. For this, the Volt has been SUPERB! Electric driving is a pleasure and CS mode isn't bad.
The first point is that I think the battery is fine. I get a solid 30 to 40 miles on a charge, assuming good weather and no climate usage, and have seen a period of over 600 miles without any gas usage. My record is like 46 miles on a charge using 10.4 kWh.
I do use the car to drive out of town but am disappointed with CS fuel economy, averaging 24 to 28 MPG on premium gasoline. I did get caught in an area where premium was not available used had one tank of regular unleaded and quoting Mr Ripley, believe it or not, I got 34.x MPG on that tank. Engine seemed to perform fine but I did return to premium fuel and my mileage has since returned to the mid-20's. I could one could add "better MPG with regular than premium" to the wonky evidence.
One interesting point that could be a clue: Highly optimistic fuel consumption reporting. I have begun and ended several out-of-town trips by fueling up at my "favorite pump" with Shell premium, filling in the same manner, and have come to realize that the fuel measured in is considerably more than the car indicates using the Trip B display.
For example, my last trip covering 281 miles two weeks ago, my car indicates that I used 6.5 gallons but Mr Shell sold me 8.3xx gallons. I started with a full charge and recharged at my destination. I recorded on paper that 28.0 + 28.3 miles were on electricity thus leaving 224.7 miles on gas. According to the car, I got 34 MPG or so but calculated 27 MPG according to the pump.
This disappointment is compounded by the net cost being about the same as the pickup. 20 mpg at $2.00 per gallon versus 26 mpg at $2.80 per gallon. But okay, I have just lived with that, wondering about trying another tank of regular unleaded.
Another point is that I just had to put new brake pads on my car. The dealer said the hardware was fine and yet the CPO inspection said the brakes were good. I purchased the car at night after driving to another state and didn't give the brakes a real look over as they felt fine and no pulsation so I cannot confirm that.
The Maximum regen rate? thread really got me thinking. The peak regen I routinely see is -12 to -15 kW while in Low and if braking, no matter how hard, only increases to -17 kW, a number I see frequently while slowing.
Today I realized something else. No matter how hard I press the brake pedal, as soon as the brake lights come on, the MyGreenVolt application will "ding" at me which I believe means the mechanical brakes are engaged. In fact, it is not possible to brake without engaging the hydraulic brakes.
I have been reading more here on the site and see that the peak power output should be over 100 kW. I cannot get it to go over 59 kW power output under any circumstance, Drive or Low, Normal, Sport, Mountain or Hold modes.
I had always thought that Volt performed okay, but I would never say it was "fast." I haven't tried to clock any numbers but remember that other Volt I saw in Atlanta last week? When the light turned green, he left me behind like I was a turtle. The peak numbers seem to confirm that my Volt is slower than other Volts.
Driving up Alabamas modest hills requires full throttle most of the time and accelerating / passing up hill is impossible. Passing on two-lane roads requires lots of room. Back in the 80's, I had a Chrysler K car for a rental that seems to have about the same passing power... they both got around but the sweaty palm detector went off in both cases.
In exactly four months, I've put 6,459 miles on the car, 58.3% EV. How it drives hasn't changed one bit.
There are no check engine lights. I have pulled codes and there is nothing there. Fluid levels look fine. Fluid colors look fine.
My question is if anyone can see something in common with these issues?
The problem is that I can't go into a dealer and say "bad fuel economy" or "poor performance" without something to go on.
On top of that, I don't like the dealer (it's not my regular wonderful non-Volt dealer). For example, when I got the car, the battery coolant level was low and went to buy genuine GM 50-50 to fill and they said that I couldn't do that and quoted $500 to top it off saying it was "sealed for life system" and such. They also quoted $150 to replace the front-right turn signal bulb.
I did the top offs myself anyway without issue, put the Volt on the lift at my good dealer and they let me change the bulb, installed a VoltGrille and VoltPhone mount.
Also the day I got the car, I purchased four Pirelli P7 tires which have performed well, no tire wear, 40 to 41 psi.
Oh, I drove to Tennessee and had a discharged battery in Chattanooga. As left Chatty on IH 24, I remember about the grade up to Monteagle so I engaged Mountain Mode. The engine revved up a bit and I forgot about it until I reached the beginning of the grade, I would say about 45 minutes later.
I was wide open throttle the whole way up doing only 45 mph until Reduced Engine Power came up on the drivers display and dropped to 20 or 25 mph. The battery was fully discharged again; sadly, I did not note the battery level when I started up the grade. Thankfully the Pilot truck stop was in sight where I pulled in, let the car idle in MM for about a half hour while I ate. When I returned to the car, the charge then was only at 3 bars, but it was enough for me to continue my trip.
After the incident, I researched here regarding MM and had bookmarked a couple of threads. One Paging WOT, MM acceleration issue, BAD clearly indicates 80kW when the generator is operating and 110kW in the normal mode, which I fundamentally understand, two motors, one has to generate and such. However I clearly remember going up Monteagle seeing 59kW a number of times. (I see this number A LOT.)
Well, that is all of the information that I can think of. Is there anything else that I can add here?
I do like the car and it suits my needs well. My original idea was that if I liked the Gen 1, I'd later get a Gen 2, even though I have never seen one in person, but I like this car enough, I can see myself driving it for four or five years, assuming the capacitive touch controls and unresponsive touch screen don't drive me crazy. Actually, I wanted the car when it was first shown but since I didn't a local dealer that sold it, I never considered it until recently. And with the prices of the CPO Gen 1's, it was too much of a temptation.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas that might help me get this car up to speed, no pun intended.
Here's the scoop:
I bought a 2013 CPO Volt. This car was only the second Volt that I have ever touched and the first (and only) that I have ever driven so I don't exactly know what to expect. Volts are rare here but I did see one driving in Atlanta last week.
What follows here are pieces of information that I am hoping that someone knowledgeable with Volts might see a common thread and might know of a possible root cause. I'm sorry for it being long but I would hope that a complete summary would be best.
For reference, my other vehicles is a blown 6.2 4WD Silverado. My last car was a recently departed CTS V-Sport (wrecked while parked) which I have not replaced since I didn't drive it much once I got the Volt.
I purchased the Volt to be my daily driver to "save" my Silverado from grunt daily miles. For this, the Volt has been SUPERB! Electric driving is a pleasure and CS mode isn't bad.
The first point is that I think the battery is fine. I get a solid 30 to 40 miles on a charge, assuming good weather and no climate usage, and have seen a period of over 600 miles without any gas usage. My record is like 46 miles on a charge using 10.4 kWh.
I do use the car to drive out of town but am disappointed with CS fuel economy, averaging 24 to 28 MPG on premium gasoline. I did get caught in an area where premium was not available used had one tank of regular unleaded and quoting Mr Ripley, believe it or not, I got 34.x MPG on that tank. Engine seemed to perform fine but I did return to premium fuel and my mileage has since returned to the mid-20's. I could one could add "better MPG with regular than premium" to the wonky evidence.
One interesting point that could be a clue: Highly optimistic fuel consumption reporting. I have begun and ended several out-of-town trips by fueling up at my "favorite pump" with Shell premium, filling in the same manner, and have come to realize that the fuel measured in is considerably more than the car indicates using the Trip B display.
For example, my last trip covering 281 miles two weeks ago, my car indicates that I used 6.5 gallons but Mr Shell sold me 8.3xx gallons. I started with a full charge and recharged at my destination. I recorded on paper that 28.0 + 28.3 miles were on electricity thus leaving 224.7 miles on gas. According to the car, I got 34 MPG or so but calculated 27 MPG according to the pump.
This disappointment is compounded by the net cost being about the same as the pickup. 20 mpg at $2.00 per gallon versus 26 mpg at $2.80 per gallon. But okay, I have just lived with that, wondering about trying another tank of regular unleaded.
Another point is that I just had to put new brake pads on my car. The dealer said the hardware was fine and yet the CPO inspection said the brakes were good. I purchased the car at night after driving to another state and didn't give the brakes a real look over as they felt fine and no pulsation so I cannot confirm that.
The Maximum regen rate? thread really got me thinking. The peak regen I routinely see is -12 to -15 kW while in Low and if braking, no matter how hard, only increases to -17 kW, a number I see frequently while slowing.
Today I realized something else. No matter how hard I press the brake pedal, as soon as the brake lights come on, the MyGreenVolt application will "ding" at me which I believe means the mechanical brakes are engaged. In fact, it is not possible to brake without engaging the hydraulic brakes.
I have been reading more here on the site and see that the peak power output should be over 100 kW. I cannot get it to go over 59 kW power output under any circumstance, Drive or Low, Normal, Sport, Mountain or Hold modes.
I had always thought that Volt performed okay, but I would never say it was "fast." I haven't tried to clock any numbers but remember that other Volt I saw in Atlanta last week? When the light turned green, he left me behind like I was a turtle. The peak numbers seem to confirm that my Volt is slower than other Volts.
Driving up Alabamas modest hills requires full throttle most of the time and accelerating / passing up hill is impossible. Passing on two-lane roads requires lots of room. Back in the 80's, I had a Chrysler K car for a rental that seems to have about the same passing power... they both got around but the sweaty palm detector went off in both cases.
In exactly four months, I've put 6,459 miles on the car, 58.3% EV. How it drives hasn't changed one bit.
There are no check engine lights. I have pulled codes and there is nothing there. Fluid levels look fine. Fluid colors look fine.
My question is if anyone can see something in common with these issues?
The problem is that I can't go into a dealer and say "bad fuel economy" or "poor performance" without something to go on.
On top of that, I don't like the dealer (it's not my regular wonderful non-Volt dealer). For example, when I got the car, the battery coolant level was low and went to buy genuine GM 50-50 to fill and they said that I couldn't do that and quoted $500 to top it off saying it was "sealed for life system" and such. They also quoted $150 to replace the front-right turn signal bulb.
I did the top offs myself anyway without issue, put the Volt on the lift at my good dealer and they let me change the bulb, installed a VoltGrille and VoltPhone mount.
Also the day I got the car, I purchased four Pirelli P7 tires which have performed well, no tire wear, 40 to 41 psi.
Oh, I drove to Tennessee and had a discharged battery in Chattanooga. As left Chatty on IH 24, I remember about the grade up to Monteagle so I engaged Mountain Mode. The engine revved up a bit and I forgot about it until I reached the beginning of the grade, I would say about 45 minutes later.
I was wide open throttle the whole way up doing only 45 mph until Reduced Engine Power came up on the drivers display and dropped to 20 or 25 mph. The battery was fully discharged again; sadly, I did not note the battery level when I started up the grade. Thankfully the Pilot truck stop was in sight where I pulled in, let the car idle in MM for about a half hour while I ate. When I returned to the car, the charge then was only at 3 bars, but it was enough for me to continue my trip.
After the incident, I researched here regarding MM and had bookmarked a couple of threads. One Paging WOT, MM acceleration issue, BAD clearly indicates 80kW when the generator is operating and 110kW in the normal mode, which I fundamentally understand, two motors, one has to generate and such. However I clearly remember going up Monteagle seeing 59kW a number of times. (I see this number A LOT.)
Well, that is all of the information that I can think of. Is there anything else that I can add here?
I do like the car and it suits my needs well. My original idea was that if I liked the Gen 1, I'd later get a Gen 2, even though I have never seen one in person, but I like this car enough, I can see myself driving it for four or five years, assuming the capacitive touch controls and unresponsive touch screen don't drive me crazy. Actually, I wanted the car when it was first shown but since I didn't a local dealer that sold it, I never considered it until recently. And with the prices of the CPO Gen 1's, it was too much of a temptation.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or ideas that might help me get this car up to speed, no pun intended.