An Open Letter from Volt Owners: “Why are Chevy Volt Owners Keeping Their Keys?”

43105 Views 58 Replies 49 Participants Last post by jljeeper, Mar 17, 2013

Jeffvolt349

Discussion Starter · Dec 2, 2011

To Whom It May Concern:

In light of the recent news stories in the press concerning the Chevy Volt, the Volt owners would like to set the record straight.

We are keeping the keys to our Volt. We love our Volt and we feel safe driving our Volt.

We have done our homework and we know that we know that there is no other car that offers all the advantages of a Volt. We take pleasure in the smooth driving experience. We get a thrill from the high torque performance. We feel at ease in its comfortable elegance. Perhaps most of all, we love the convenience and affordability of driving on electricity everyday and having the option of a back-up gas generator for long distances. This is the beauty of extended-range electric drive – it’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s the future that’s available today.

Volt owners are glad that NHTSA, GM, and other manufacturers have developed protocols to handle electric cars in a variety of circumstances. This is standard procedure with gas-powered cars and trucks as well. Just as it is necessary to empty a gas tank after a major impact, it is necessary to deplete a battery after a major impact. This is a simple and straightforward process and Volt owners feel assured knowing that government and industry is working together to ensure this technology succeeds for us as consumers and citizens.

Lastly, we encourage every driver in this country to test drive a plug-in electric car for him or herself. There is only one way to really know the electric car experience – and that is to drive one.

We are leading the way for a new movement in America – a movement to bring the joy back in driving, save money, and invest in our future. We look forward to you joining us.

Sincerely,

Chevy Volt Drivers

1 - 20 of 59 Posts

voltage692

· #2 · Dec 2, 2011

As a general rule -- always speak for yourself.

I'm still trying to figure out what all this means to me personally. There are probably only about 60 Volt owners actively expressing their thoughts day to day on this board, so don't tell me every Volt owner's stance is represented here and I am the only one that deviates.

There's a lot of aspects about this whole situation that many have clearly not thought through. I personally currently have over $50K invested in this car, and that's a lot of money which doesn't even begin to account for the safety of my passengers and me.

Jeffvolt349 said:
To Whom It May Concern:

In light of the recent news stories in the press concerning the Chevy Volt, the Volt owners would like to set the record straight.

We are keeping the keys to our Volt. We love our Volt and we feel safe driving our Volt.

We have done our homework and we know that we know that there is no other car that offers all the advantages of a Volt. We take pleasure in the smooth driving experience. We get a thrill from the high torque performance. We feel at ease in its comfortable elegance. Perhaps most of all, we love the convenience and affordability of driving on electricity everyday and having the option of a back-up gas generator for long distances. This is the beauty of extended-range electric drive – it’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s the future that’s available today.

Volt owners are glad that NHTSA, GM, and other manufacturers have developed protocols to handle electric cars in a variety of circumstances. This is standard procedure with gas-powered cars and trucks as well. Just as it is necessary to empty a gas tank after a major impact, it is necessary to deplete a battery after a major impact. This is a simple and straightforward process and Volt owners feel assured knowing that government and industry is working together to ensure this technology succeeds for us as consumers and citizens.

Lastly, we encourage every driver in this country to test drive a plug-in electric car for him or herself. There is only one way to really know the electric car experience – and that is to drive one.

We are leading the way for a new movement in America – a movement to bring the joy back in driving, save money, and invest in our future. We look forward to you joining us.

Sincerely,

Chevy Volt Drivers

Noel Park

· #3 · Dec 2, 2011

Amen Brother. Preach on!

jackphillips

· #4 · Dec 2, 2011

Voltage692,

Please.... you have to be kidding. If you are afraid of this nonsense then be afraid to drive at all!!!

The only people that should be concerned about this test are the body shops that store the vehicle for repair where it may sit for a while after an accident.

Would you place a ICE in a garage after it was hit and it was leaking gas?????

voltage692

· #5 · Dec 2, 2011

We don't have ALL the facts yet. I know what we have been told so far, but I also know that Akerson said in an video interview that there are "concerns" GM had with the results that they share with the NHTSA that need to be addressed. However, he failed to elaborate on those "concerns."

So you better be kidding me or you're kidding yourself to have made your final decision without the all the facts.

jackphillips said:
Voltage692,

Please.... you have to be kidding. If you are afraid of this nonsense then be afraid to drive at all!!!

The only people that should be concerned about this test are the body shops that store the vehicle for repair where it may sit for a while after an accident.

Would you place a ICE in a garage after it was hit and it was leaking gas?????

jamesjcm

· #6 · Dec 2, 2011

I think the gentleman from an earlier post said it best when he qouted Charlton Heston

bonaire

· #7 · Dec 2, 2011

I have to telepath Ackerson on this, but his "concerns" remark tied in with his remark about the pack being breached 5" or whatever it was and we have to think that they are looking deeper into "impact issues" where cells or packs are punctured/breached/bent/shorted/etc. Definitely no concerns on day to day regular usage. I think they want to make sure that any accident that leads to a pack being breached does not cause any excess risk beyond a normal ICE experience.

Steverino

· #8 · Dec 2, 2011

Based on what I know, I am not concerned. That could change upon new information.

Remember a few years ago, when people were burning down gas stations by filling gas cans in the plastic liner bed of pickups, or by getting in and out of their car while refueling? Static electricity was sparking the gas fumes. It made the news, people where told to discharge body static by touching the metal gas pump housing. Notice the no smoking signs posted around gas pumps? There are a bunch of safety issues we deal with when it comes to gasoline. Never had them with horses!

So if electric cars need to have their batteries discharged and analyzed after a crash, it's just more of the same in my opinion. It's just that people have come to expect and understand gas as flammable. They have come to treat it with some caution. Electric batteries are new, that's all.

mustardman

· #9 · Dec 2, 2011 (Edited)

voltage692 said:
As a general rule -- always speak for yourself.

I'm still trying to figure out what all this means to me personally. There are probably only about 60 Volt owners actively expressing their thoughts day to day on this board, so don't tell me every Volt owner's stance is represented here and I am the only one that deviates.

There's a lot of aspects about this whole situation that many have clearly not thought through. I personally currently have over $50K invested in this car, and that's a lot of money which doesn't even begin to account for the safety of my passengers and me.

Then get informed or sell it. Nuff said. There is more than enough info out there to tell you everything you need to know. You might want to look into crash and burn statistics of regular ole gas cars btw. Thought I would leave that bread crumb for ya because I think you need it.

voltage692

· #10 · Dec 2, 2011

bonaire said:
I have to telepath Ackerson on this, but his "concerns" remark tied in with his remark about the pack being breached 5" or whatever it was and we have to think that they are looking deeper into "impact issues" where cells or packs are punctured/breached/bent/shorted/etc. Definitely no concerns on day to day regular usage. I think they want to make sure that any accident that leads to a pack being breached does not cause any excess risk beyond a normal ICE experience.

Thanks for the speculation, but you do know what it's worth to me and this discussion, don't you?

Rashiid Amul

· #11 · Dec 2, 2011

Voltage692,
I am really surprised by your response. Do you really feel unsafe in your Volt?
If so, please give it to me. I have no doubt that car is safe, unless you rolled recently.
It which case, I would do what GM stated, and continue on.
Sounds like you either didn't think your response through,
or you're afraid of your own shadow.

jaksecret

· #12 · Dec 2, 2011

I think we get that you're concerned, sir. That's your perogative. The rest of we who are posting are not. That's our perogative. So what are we talking about exactly?

dgruber

· #13 · Dec 2, 2011

A little cool-off time might be appropriate here...

I'll speak only for myself and my wife: Based on what we've read so far, we feel quite comfortable continuing to drive our Volt every day. Obviously as new information becomes available, we'll evaluate it and consider whether it affects our opinion about the safety of the car.

voltage692

· #14 · Dec 2, 2011

Just read and comprehend the posts. Your answers are there clearly. People don't read well these days.

Rashiid Amul said:
Voltage692,
I am really surprised by your response. Do you really feel unsafe in your Volt?
If so, please give it to me. I have no doubt that car is safe, unless you rolled recently.
It which case, I would do what GM stated, and continue on.
Sounds like you either didn't think your response through,
or you're afraid of your own shadow.

Electric Lurker

· #15 · Dec 2, 2011

I remain firmly planted in the view of wanting to wait and see what the results of the investigation show.

That said, I will continue to drive the Volt. I also don't believe we have evidence that the car poses an undue risk.

But when the results are in, I might have a basis for getting out of the "middle of the road."

gene1138

· #16 · Dec 2, 2011

I myself am not concerned at all. In this latest report it took three weeks for the fire to start after a significant collision test. I for one don't plan on demolishing my Volt and sit in it for 3 weeks or keep on the premises of my home for that matter.

The car has been in 2 home fires that I recall which the Volt was not the cause and there was no breach to the battery that I remember reading about.

We have seen 2 significant car crashes with 2 Volt owners on this forum with no report of the vehicle catching fire.

All of this doesn't make me any more concerned about the Volt then I was with the gas guzzlers that I've driven. And how many car fires have we've seen on the side of the road? I know I've seen several in the past few years.

Now if the Volt was a Pinto then I might be concerned.

timlange3

· #17 · Dec 2, 2011

I had my first horse riding experience a few years ago. My wrangler had several warnings of what to do and not do around the horses, even when not touching them! Never had a car kick me!

Jeff N

· #18 · Dec 2, 2011

voltage692 said:
There's a lot of aspects about this whole situation that many have clearly not thought through. I personally currently have over $50K invested in this car, and that's a lot of money which doesn't even begin to account for the safety of my passengers and me.

These battery fires are a potential problem only in severe crashes and so far have only happened many days after the initial damage. The crash safety tests became more difficult to pass starting in 2011 and the Volt got among the best results. It got an overall 5 out of 5 stars for crash safety including 5 stars for side impact generally.

For the specific test that damaged the battery pack and resulted in a fire 3 weeks later, the Volt got 5 stars for driver protection. That test rams the car into a fixed 10-inch steel pole at 20 mph at a 70 degree angle that hits in the middle of the driver's door. It's a new test taken from the European crash testing program EuroNCAP. Starting in 2011, 20% of a manufacturer's cars have to pass this pole test with all of them passing by 2014.

No other Volts that were crash tested by the U.S. government, the insurance industry test program, or by EuroNCAP have resulted in battery fires. Only the one side-impact pole test conducted by the U.S. caused the one battery fire to occur 3 weeks later. GM and NHTSA did more side-impact tests and couldn't reproduce the failure. So, a couple weeks ago, they reproduced the problem in the lab by directly damaging Volt battery packs in the same way as the one battery that caught fire originally and then they rotated them upside down to simulate a roll-over as this is also part of the side-impact test.

Early results indicate it is the combination of the impact damage plus turning the battery pack upside down which can sometimes trigger an eventual fire many days later. In the new lab tests, one out of the three battery packs tested caught fire after more than a week. The roll-over aspect of the crash test is primarily aimed at trucks and SUVs. The Volt is very unlikely to roll over in the real world because the battery gives it an unusually low center of gravity.

All of which means that the Volts on the road are among the safest cars -- probably in the top 10 percent and quite possibly in the top one percent of cars on the road. And you know what that means.... I need to make a bumper sticker that says "Occupy Safely: We are the 1%". Except that might be taken the wrong way.

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mustardman

· #19 · Dec 2, 2011 (Edited)

voltage692 said:
We don't have ALL the facts yet. I know what we have been told so far, but I also know that Akerson said in an video interview that there are "concerns" GM had with the results that they share with the NHTSA that need to be addressed. However, he failed to elaborate on those "concerns."

So you better be kidding me or you're kidding yourself to have made your final decision without the all the facts.

What facts are you missing? Perhaps I can help? I'm real good with google and reading comprehension and know something about common sense as well. I can explain to you how batteries work and what can happen when you short circuit them and how gasoline works around sparks.

I can also provide a history lesson on how uninformed people and regulatory agencies react to new technologies. More accurately in this case, how they react to really really well proven technologies packaged in a new way.

voltcrazy

· #20 · Dec 2, 2011

Jeffvolt349 said:
To Whom It May Concern:

In light of the recent news stories in the press concerning the Chevy Volt, the Volt owners would like to set the record straight.

We are keeping the keys to our Volt. We love our Volt and we feel safe driving our Volt.

I couldn't agree more!!!!

1 - 20 of 59 Posts

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