[Bob G]

My Volt continues to amaze me. While naysayers use a 35 mile battery range, I'm getting 50's even with expressway driving thrown in.

I know my lifetime 131 MPG (over 16000 miles) is low compared to some, but my Volt has 60 mile workday commutes with no charging opportunity. So I'm actually quite happy to be getting even that.

And then I have to remind myself that 131 MPG is actually quite fantastic. Just look at those people in the car commercials gushing at the prospect of getting 30-40 MPG with a new car. I mean, My Volt is gets more than 40 MPG when using it's gas generator.

What a fantastic car. Superb engineering. A great balance of fuel economy, ride, fit and finish, and practicality. I laterally don't think about gas prices anymore and feel I am doing my part in weening us off foreign oil. Can't wait to see what GM has up their sleeves for version 2.0.


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I am definitely *not* a "naysayer" (I love my Volt!), but 35 miles on a charge is about all that I can expect. I've done as bad as 23 miles (cold day; heat on) and as high as 40.7 (warm day, no accessories) on a charge. On gasoline, I have done between 25 MPG (in town, fooling around with mountain mode) and 33 MPG (loaded, mountain pass, 70 MPH). I am planning a summer vacation that involves longer distances and less mountains, so I am hoping to get better gas mileage.

I am glad you are getting incredible range. I wonder how much variation is due to the "three T's" (temperature, terrain, and technique) and how much is just manufacturing variation among individual cars.

 

[dgb40356]

Bob G,

A friend on mine and I both have Volts and I can say driving style plays a big part. He came from performance cars(corvette,BMW M3) to the Volt and I came from a Sentra. He has more of a lead foot style than I do so I always get better mileage. He has tried driving the way I do and says it does make a difference but enjoys driving a little more aggressively. At first I was actually surprised he liked the Volt after the power he was used too, but after driving mine a few times in sport mode I can see why he does.

 

[jaksecret]

Glad you are drinking from the same punch bowl as the rest of us. My worst performance ever was 19 miles with the heater blasting on a cold night with a 1800 foot elevation change at 65mph.

My best came recently, coming down that hill and driving at highway speeds with a 3000ft vertical elevation change down-- almost 60 miles!

 

[wainair]

That's great. I'm regularly getting 55miles to a charge and my lifetime average is 1.51l/100km or 156 USmpg!! This tank my mileage has been 0.2l/100km or 1176 USmpg!!! Astounding eh?!? My HAL never fails to impress me.

 

[astrand1]

I'm right there with you guys. Im getting between 48-52 miles per charge, and thats with the AC on most of the time. What I tend to do is pre condition the car if plugged in and then as soon as its nice and cool inside i switch the climate control to eco. I use low as much as possible and travel at 60 or so mph in the right lane when on the highway. When I have to go into CS mode I do find that keeping it under 62mph causes the generator to shut down quite frequently for miles at a time. This car never stops amazing me! so far on this tank of gas i have gone 600+ miles and used 2.9 gallons of gas. Not too shabby!

 

[Steverino]

I wonder how much variation is due to the "three T's" (temperature, terrain, and technique) and how much is just manufacturing variation among individual cars.

I'd say its the three T's.

Temps here have been high 90's, low 100's.
Terrain in fairly flat in northern Illinois.
Technique is a huge part I think. Keep the green ball centered, anticipate stops to avoid and eliminate aggressive braking, drive the speed limit with cruise control, using L when slowing down, using fan, eco, or nothing, keeping windows up, keeping the car clean and waxed, 40 PSI tires. Avoiding speeds over 60 MPH, taking the shortest route to a destination. All help.

 

[Brian Loves Cars]

Great post!

Plus its awesome to drive!

 

[ntvolt]

I'm an appraiser and I actually AVERAGE about 5 miles per kilowatt used, which equates to roughly 53 miles per full charge. That's normal daily driving to different locations for my inspections. In fact, my car, when I first bought it, said my range was 35 miles, now because it's apparently learned my driving style says my range is 50 miles when I start off each day. I have reached as high as 61.2 miles on a single charge. I'm at 7,000 miles and have only used 4.2 gallons of gas. I good portion of that is because every month the car forces me to let the engine run for about 10 minutes to cycle the fluids.

 

[ckk]

I got 42.5 miles on one battery charge yesterday; that's one of my highest. I got my 2013 Volt back in October so all my driving so far has been fall/winter (not too cold; in central Oklahoma). temp. yesterday was nice, 50'sF in the morning and then upper 60's in the evening.

also the ICE mileage was around 42 mpg yesterday too, by coincidence (42 miles on battery, plus 42mpg on ICE). so that was one of my high scores.