[JoeReal]

I drove the 2017 Volt for 4,003 miles last April. Four thousand and two of those miles are fueled by electricity and only one mile from maintenance mode gasoline because the car has to make sure that all the parts of its built-in super charger aka generator, are lubricated, well maintained and functioning. Last month, my lifetime MPG was boosted to 685.

According to My Chevrolet website, I have saved 155 gallons of gasoline, and prevented the burning of 1.5 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. The savings last month on gasoline alone is about $525 while my electricity is free, at work or at charging station, or from solar at home.

About 3,000 to 4,000 miles per month of commuting in pure electricity is what my Chevy Volt can do without having to worry about charging nor planning my trips around charging stations. I typically average 40,000 miles each year with regular ICE cars and it seems I can do the same using electricity with my Volt plus maybe 4 times a year of 500 mile trips. No range anxiety, no worries about losing electricity because it has its own supercharger on board.

No other hybrid cars can do what our Chevy Volt does for me! It is the most efficient car I have ever used, and the ride is super nice.

According to VoltStats, I averaged 133.80 EV miles a day for the month of April. That boosted me to rank #9 in the Hall Of Fame at VoltStats.

 

[madmike]

That's a lot of EV miles in a month...what is your driving pattern?

 

[JoeReal]

That's a lot of EV miles in a month...what is your driving pattern?

Let's begin by saying that my regular daily commuting trip is 105 miles plus have been active volunteering after office hours for rare plant hobbyists. Weekends, I ran errands like crazy, helping friends repair landscape, replace plants, fix irrigation, other house repairs, spring time is crazy so I get 150-250 miles per day on weekends. I time my work duration on weekends while I'm charging.

 

[BAZINGA]

Holy cow, impressive. Since I bought my 2017 Volt last Aug I have driven 6014 miles, 5965 are electric. VoltStats show 99.2% all electric - Von Zipper. I don't care about MPGe, C02 reductions, gallons saved etc. for me 99.2% electric is the only number most folks can understand.

 

[madmike]

You must have awesome access to charging!

 

[JoeReal]

You must have awesome access to charging!

I have pre-installed a NEMA 14-50 plug for an RV in our house as it was being built, and so I just built an adapter for the OEM EVSE that came with the Chevy Volt, thanks to Chris of Texas and others who have shown how to mod an adapter plug, and so now I have 240V charging at home. An already paid Solar PV can make your recharging awesome and guilt-free. Charging at work is also free, but I feel somewhat guilty for sucking up the free electrons. There are many free charging stations to where I go to volunteer work on weekends, that could be part of the reason why they set those stations up to encourage volunteers to go electric.

 

[JoeReal]

I use the free charging stations, ChargePoint, and I've only used 2 kWh for free last month.

 

[JoeReal]

I use the free charging stations, ChargePoint, and I've only used 2 kWh for free last month.

Here's a better pic

 

[JimmyD]

That is simply amazing. More than two full charges per day on average!.

 

[JoeReal]

That is simply amazing. More than two full charges per day on average!.

Oftentimes 2 full charge. With 125-138 MPGe and sometimes getting 174 MPGe on one trip (80+ miles on one charge), I usually get 61-68 miles per full charge. Winter time has been the worst, only 48 miles per full charge when stormy and wet to 60 miles per charge when dry

 

[Sheldon]

That is simply amazing. More than two full charges per day on average!.

I guess you have the best case for workplace charging that is possible. And that's with GM's gen2 Volt "slow" 3.6kw L2 charging. Gen2 Volt overnight charging is easy, but getting more than a 2nd full charge every day takes another 4.5-6 hours on the average ... plus I think he said he was using the ChrisTx adapter so he's only getting 2.88kw at home. Also, public charging is often 3-phase, 3.3kw instead of 3.6kw.

gen2 volt l2 charging speed:
3.6kw, 12mph charging (240v charging @ 15 amps)
3.3kw, 11mph charging (3-phase public charging, 208v @ 16 amps)
2.88kw, 9.6mph charging (ChrisTx adapter, 240v @ 12 amps)

 

[llninja]

Welcome to the best automotive secret in America. I wish I had free charging at work. I have. 65 mile round trip commute in a gen 1 with $8 per 4 hours charging station. I won't use it until I've got the mortgage completely paid off, then I'll use it daily.

 

[V0ltastic]

Dam, that's a lot of seat time and it seems like you have an efficient system worked out too. Nicely done!

 

[JoeReal]

I guess you have the best case for workplace charging that is possible. And that's with GM's gen2 Volt "slow" 3.6kw L2 charging. Gen2 Volt overnight charging is easy, but getting more than a 2nd full charge every day takes another 4.5-6 hours on the average ... plus I think he said he was using the ChrisTx adapter so he's only getting 2.88kw at home. Also, public charging is often 3-phase, 3.3kw instead of 3.6kw.

gen2 volt l2 charging speed:
3.6kw, 12mph charging (240v charging @ 15 amps)
3.3kw, 11mph charging (3-phase public charging, 208v @ 16 amps)
2.88kw, 9.6mph charging (ChrisTx adapter, 240v @ 12 amps)

I use the ChrisTx adapter that I bring with me to work, so that's 2.88kW, then public charging station near home, which is either the 3.6kW or the 3.3kW depending on which slot is vacant. Most public charging stations in places that I volunteer to work for free have the 3.3kW chargers. Then I charge at home only to top-off or mostly charge at home some of the weekends, and that's the 2.88kW plugged into the 14-50 NEMA outlet.

 

[JoeReal]

Dam, that's a lot of seat time and it seems like you have an efficient system worked out too. Nicely done!

Thanks. I'm glad I loved the seat of the Volt and the Bose Sound System to listen to music piped through iPhone from Amazon, relaxing especially when traffic is bad. Thanks to the ACC, most of my driving has been stress-free and very few near misses and that's not caused by me.

 

[Mr X]

Sounds like a Tesla would do you better with more EV range. Driving Volt's the past 3 years I can say that I do not need to use gasoline so all the gas i'm slugging around is just useless and worthless and could be more EV range.


Can't wait to upgrade my Volt to a Tesla after my lease is done!

 

[jcanoe]

Sounds like a Tesla would do you better with more EV range. Driving Volt's the past 3 years I can say that I do not need to use gasoline so all the gas i'm slugging around is just useless and worthless and could be more EV range.


Can't wait to upgrade my Volt to a Tesla after my lease is done!

Gas weighs about 6 lbs per gallon, much less than the equivalent 33.7kwh in lithium batteries. The ICE and associated engine-related hardware weigh several hundred pounds. If, as you stated, you do not currently need to use the Volt's ICE and burn any gas then any EV you would drive in the future with a range of more than your current Volt's EV range would mean you would instead be slugging around hundreds of pounds of expensive lithium batteries and not use the full range of the batteries. So it would appear to be a toss up as to how you want to package and carry extra fuel and range.

 

[llninja]

Gas weighs about 6 lbs per gallon, much less than the equivalent 33.7kwh in lithium batteries. The ICE and associated engine-related hardware weigh several hundred pounds. If, as you stated, you do not currently need to use the Volt's ICE and burn any gas then any EV you would drive in the future with a range of more than your current Volt's EV range would mean you would instead be slugging around hundreds of pounds of expensive lithium batteries and not use the full range of the batteries. So it would appear to be a toss up as to how you want to package and carry extra fuel and range.

To pile onto this argument, who needs the two empty back seats that are only used occasionally. Might as well shed the headlights in the daytime. No need to carry glass when you have the windows open anyway. I don't want AC in the winter. Tire pump? Heck who needs the owner's manual? I don't need seat heaters in the summer. I never renewed onstar, so that should go too. Let's scrape that rear window defroster off. You can tape that back on when you need it right?

 

[quirkySquirt]

ROFL, llninja. Reminds me of https://youtu.be/yx2LkOZmY5s?t=119. "Weight reduction, bro!"

 

[llninja]

ROFL, llninja. Reminds me of https://youtu.be/yx2LkOZmY5s?t=119. "Weight reduction, bro!"

I hadn't seen this before. "What, you bought a Prius?"