[ari_c]

Well, it took a long time since I hit 50,000 total miles until I reached 50,000 EV miles. But 1.5 days later I managed the long slog of putting another 140 miles on the odometer.

So, my VOLTEC warranty is now (actually 2 days ago) officially 50% over, or 50% yet to go. I guess it depends if one is a half empty or half full type of person.

As for battery life, I would say I cannot tell any difference now or 29 months ago when I drove it off the lot with 5 miles on the odometer. I actually get a much better range now than before due to much better driving technique. I am still getting the same kWh out of the battery. Now that it is warmer out and if I don't play any games conditioning the battery, I can still get 9.8 kWh out of it. If I do play games, I can get as much as 10.3 kWh, sometimes a little less.

I have no doubt when I hit 100,000 EV miles that the battery will still be just as good as it is today or as it was 29 months ago.

 

[Paulacton84]

congratulations, I enjoy your posts, especially the ones that I can predict are coming, and I admire your level of intensity about your gas free driving, and I hope that you enjoy knowing somewhere in the back of your mind, that if you ever needed to, or wanted to, you could just keep on driving, kind of like Forest Gump and his running...,

But I'm also glad that I don't have your level of intensity about gas use.... I'd much rather say- "hey, there is a guy in Virginia who has been pure battery driving for over 40,000 miles," than "I'll be late tonight dear, I need to stop and charge..."

 

[Jeff N]

Congrats on your 3,320 mpg lifetime average. I've got 52,000 miles EV and 80,000 total so I'm down at a lowly 120 mpg.

 

[Edju]

Congratulations Ari!

I'll share some of my extreme public charging stories during my road trips, probably via PM. I have another trip coming up (~ 600 miles R/T), and I'm hoping to curb my charging-itis.

 

[Paulacton84]

Congratulations Ari!

I'll share some of my extreme public charging stories during my road trips, probably via PM. I have another trip coming up (~ 600 miles R/T), and I'm hoping to curb my charging-itis.

all right, I confess, I have looked at the plug share map in the hopes of plotting a volt cross country drive using public charging stations..., but I ran out of "where to go next" somewhere in Pennsylvania.... My thought was to go west bound electric and them come back east bound non-stop at the "speed limit" and see If I could break 50 hours....

 

[ShannonVolt]

I guess what we'll never know is how much smaller your unuseable battery buffer is now compared to when it was new. Thanks for sharing.

 

[2BeLivingGreen]

ari_c.....standing ovation here! Well done and very impressive. I have crossed the 50k barrier with mine but that is total miles and not just EV like yours. I agree that the car and battery perform just as well as when the car was driven out of the dealer's lot the first day. No squeaks, no rattles and I cannot tell any loss of battery performance. I will likely write up a brief story shortly when I hit my first 50 miles of all EV this spring as it will be over 3 years, over 50k all miles and 50+EV range.

Nice job ari_c, the VOLT simply is the best ongoing car experience I ever had and your write up just proves it! The VOLT is a real paradigm shift in the car market and I will never go back to an ICE only car again.

 

[Edju]

all right, I confess, I have looked at the plug share map in the hopes of plotting a volt cross country drive using public charging stations..., but I ran out of "where to go next" somewhere in Pennsylvania.... My thought was to go west bound electric and them come back east bound non-stop at the "speed limit" and see If I could break 50 hours....

Paul, check out what Kris Trexler did in 1998 with his EV1 . I met Kris in 2010 at one of the first Volt block parties at the GM's Advanced Powertrain Technology Center: http://www.kingoftheroad.net/charge_across_america/charge_html/chargehome.html

 

[ari_c]

Thansk everyone! It's been a lot of fun.

all right, I confess, I have looked at the plug share map in the hopes of plotting a volt cross country drive using public charging stations..., but I ran out of "where to go next" somewhere in Pennsylvania

I've looked at going south from Northern VA and of getting to Richmond. Not possible! Once I get south of Woodbridge, there is nothing! Going north to Baltimore is doable. I wish I took advantage of public chargers my first day coming home from Eldersburg, Maryland (near Baltimore). I could have stopped at a MOMs in College Park, I just was so excited my first day, I just wanted to get the Volt home.

 

[bro1999]

I wish I took advantage of public chargers my first day coming home from Eldersburg, Maryland (near Baltimore). I could have stopped at a MOMs in College Park, I just was so excited my first day, I just wanted to get the Volt home.

How could you have known you were about to begin your 99.9% gas-free journey.

Just as a comparison, I also have a 2012, and have driven almost 21k total miles now (~16k EV miles). I haven't noticed any discernible range loss. I just completed a battery-depleting run yesterday, and I managed 48.1 miles on 10.4 kWh, according to the in-car screen. Not bad, considering I was driving on the highway for about 90% of the trip with 4 people in the car.

 

[Billtphotoman]

Congratulations Ari! You have saved a lot of $ at the pump.

 

[ari_c]

Congratulations Ari! You have saved a lot of $ at the pump.

Well, I have been to the pump 3 times in 29 months. I won't be visiting again for about 10 months or so. Whenever Fuel Maintenance strikes again!

Total gas purchased: $30.64. I figure my fuel savings based on $3.75 gal and a 23 mpg car to be $8,152. This does not count electricity. My average EV range is 44.1 miles based on OnStar data. A full charge costs me $1.20. So I've spent roughly $1,360 on electricity. So my total savings is about $6,800.

That really brings down the cost of ownership. I plan on driving my Volt for a long time, so it will actually pay for itself and then be making money compared to me driving a gas powered car! Of course none of this calculates reduced maintenance costs. In 50,000 miles I have spent $312. Most of that on tire rotations (6 of them).

 

[Ohm Happy]

Congra! Your dedication to this is outstanding, and you share the similar standings with very few others comparatively. I, OTOH, have outstanding MPGcs, so I've got you beat there. lol.