[curmugeon]

I am a new member considering the purchase/lease of a 2017 Volt. There is a lot of confusion regarding charging the EV battery using the gasoline engine driven generator. Can someone point me to reliable definitive information about this topic for the 2016-2017 Volt. Thanks.

 

[caronjeff]

You have to think of the Volt as a pure electric car, until you have used the battery to its minimum. Then think of the Volt as a hybrid. The engine starts at that point and runs just hard enough to maintain that minimum charge. You can force a higher state of charge into the battery by selecting hold mode, or Mountain mode. In those cases the engine will run at higher RPM and power to charge up the battery. You will obtain some battery reserve but not a full battery with the engine running and selecting hold, or mountain. Most advice is to not overthink it. Just get in and drive wherever you need to go, local or highway. Plug it in when you can, put gas in when needed.

 

[srmarti]

I would think the owner manual and the FAQs on this site are a good place to start. Caronjeff gave a good starting point.

 

[Fourdoors]

I was told that Hold mode saves the electric charge for a later time. For examp,e, if you are starting out doing freeway driving, switch to Hold mode to run as a hybrid. When you get to the city switch back to Normal mode to start using the electric charge.

 

[bentbiker]

I was told that Hold mode saves the electric charge for a later time. For examp,e, if you are starting out doing freeway driving, switch to Hold mode to run as a hybrid. When you get to the city switch back to Normal mode to start using the electric charge.

That is correct, only Mountain Mode will build SOC and only if it is activated when the SOC is below the set point for that mode; the Gen1 set point is ~40%, and I believe the Gen2 is slightly lower.

 

[TSquare]

I am a new member considering the purchase/lease of a 2017 Volt. There is a lot of confusion regarding charging the EV battery using the gasoline engine driven generator. Can someone point me to reliable definitive information about this topic for the 2016-2017 Volt. Thanks.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos that should help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yRS-AJ1VQU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3-wGOyT2-I