[coderedcomputing]

Greetings folks,

Recently bought a 2012 Volt, 80k miles on the clock. I've been reading a number of threads on here where folks are mentioning kWh used of 10+. I figured it was more folks talking about 2013+ models but it looks like that was on 2012s as well. I'm getting good range so for, my most recent best (light traffic, few mountain mode for actual large hills etc) has me at 38.4mi/9.1kWh used.

Attempting to link a photo of the trip summary but may not be at the post count. Will edit later.

Before I dig deeper into this and see if I need to take the car in to have the dealership do an assessment of the battery and the cooling system, wanted to get a general opinion of the kWh used figure. It's been consistently around the low 9 numbers.

 

[Henry_FL]

39 miles in a 2012 in 45 degree weather is outstanding, nothing to get "fixed"

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Greetings folks,

Recently bought a 2012 Volt, 80k miles on the clock. I've been reading a number of threads on here where folks are mentioning kWh used of 10+. I figured it was more folks talking about 2013+ models but it looks like that was on 2012s as well. I'm getting good range so for, my most recent best (light traffic, few mountain mode for actual large hills etc) has me at 38.4mi/9.1kWh used.

Attempting to link a photo of the trip summary but may not be at the post count. Will edit later.

Before I dig deeper into this and see if I need to take the car in to have the dealership do an assessment of the battery and the cooling system, wanted to get a general opinion of the kWh used figure. It's been consistently around the low 9 numbers.

I believe that 2012 peaks under 10kWh used.
But the amount reported is done using a software calculation. If you're seeing decent range, you're seeing decent range. The big concern would be if you're seeing low kWh numbers _and_ lower range than reasonably expected.

 

[coderedcomputing]

39 miles in a 2012 in 45 degree weather is outstanding, nothing to get "fixed"

I believe that 2012 peaks under 10kWh used.
But the amount reported is done using a software calculation. If you're seeing decent range, you're seeing decent range. The big concern would be if you're seeing low kWh numbers _and_ lower range than reasonably expected.

Got it, appreciate the quick replies. I'll just keep on with it and working on maximizing the range as much as possible. In another 15k miles I'll look into hitting up the dealership and pay for a full battery investigation prior to the 100k warranty expiring.

 

[hellsop]

Plus, there's a thing called peikert effect to keep in consideration: Basically, the faster you run out a battery, the fewer watt-hours you're going to get out of it before the voltage drops below a certain voltage, which is the normal method of checking charge state. If you drained the battery in 40 minutes, you'll see fewer kwh before empty than if you were driving on city streets and took an hour to do it. And you'd see even more kwh yielded up if you stopped for lunch one place, got a coffee from someplace else, took in a movie, then went shopping for a prom dress. And that's pure kwh -- above and beyond whatever gains in miles per kwh you'd get from driving 30 most of the time instead of 70.

 

[viking79]

My early 2012 shows 9.4 kwh when flat most days, but up to 9.8 or so at times.

 

[LANMAN]

In those temperatures, that would be in the range I would expect from my 2012 with 50K miles (42K electric). When new, the best I could do in the summer was 10.4 Kwh, and during the first winter (under 50 degrees or so) 9.6 Kwh was a good day. Last summer 10.0 Kwh was the best I saw. Also, I have found that a heavy load on the battery (high speed, going up a good sized hill) near the end will usually cause it to switch over a little earlier.

 

[coderedcomputing]

Plus, there's a thing called peikert effect

Gotcha, that also makes sense and googled it to read up on it more. My main work commute is 50 miles one way, so that would def. add to the kWh being 'low' but range being a good number.

 

[bluzer1]

Plus, there's a thing called peikert effect to keep in consideration: Basically, the faster you run out a battery, the fewer watt-hours you're going to get out of it before the voltage drops below a certain voltage, ...

Interesting, I looked up "Peukert's law" on Wikipedia, and under the section on battery chemistry, they state it doesn't apply to Lithium-Ion as it's countered by the Nernst Equation.
Although maybe in cold conditions the self-heating is not enough to fully counter it.

 

[Elemental]

2012 80,000 miles? THis sounds like the car I traded for the ELR.

Did you get this in Ohio?

Is it Summit White with Polished wheels? A small chip missing from the corner of the right rear tail light?

 

[16513]

My measurement for electric range is always miles/kWh. 4 is normal. Cold or high speed will drop it below and feather footing may get you 5 in summer. I occasionally use my smartphone calculator if I want exact numbers.

 

[somms]

2012 80,000 miles? THis sounds like the car I traded for the ELR.

Did you get this in Ohio?

Is it Summit White with Polished wheels? A small chip missing from the corner of the right rear tail light?

Small world.
If OP reports he also found a pair of fuzzy handcuffs and a french tickler stashed in his used Volt we'll know for sure who the previous owner was!

 

[Elemental]

Small world.
If OP reports he also found a pair of fuzzy handcuffs and a french tickler stashed in his used Volt we'll know for sure who the previous owner was!

HAHAHAHA! What can I say. Youd be shocked how bad good girls can be.

 

[coderedcomputing]

2012 80,000 miles? THis sounds like the car I traded for the ELR.

Did you get this in Ohio?

Is it Summit White with Polished wheels? A small chip missing from the corner of the right rear tail light?

Negative, got it out in VA and have the PO's information from some documents in the glove. I like to google people before buying the car, just like shopping for houses... you buy the person who owned it as much as you buy the item itself.

 

[canehdian]

Plus, there's a thing called peikert effect to keep in consideration: Basically, the faster you run out a battery, the fewer watt-hours you're going to get out of it before the voltage drops below a certain voltage, which is the normal method of checking charge state. If you drained the battery in 40 minutes, you'll see fewer kwh before empty than if you were driving on city streets and took an hour to do it. And you'd see even more kwh yielded up if you stopped for lunch one place, got a coffee from someplace else, took in a movie, then went shopping for a prom dress. And that's pure kwh -- above and beyond whatever gains in miles per kwh you'd get from driving 30 most of the time instead of 70.

This is further compounded in cold weather if you weren't plugged in and the battery is cold. The faster you deplete it, the less you get out of it, because the heater hasn't had time to warm it to enable it to release optimum energy. (balanced of course by the energy required by that heater, so in terms of efficiency it might be better, but in terms of max energy output it is worse)

 

[hellsop]

Negative, got it out in VA and have the PO's information from some documents in the glove. I like to google people before buying the car, just like shopping for houses... you buy the person who owned it as much as you buy the item itself.

PO left "Home" and about four other addresses in the GPS (white-bread suburb of Green Bay was Home) and about 200 tracks of terrible music on the HDD. The soundtrack to Space Jam and Eminem was among the best of that lot.

 

[VoltenRock]

Some later built 2012's got the larger '13 battery. You should check your vin and do some searches. 9.1 kWh on the larger battery would be a bit low, but I agree that 38 miles in those temps seems about right.

Also, make sure you've run a few "full" discharges and let the car sit for an hour before plugging in. That "seems" to help it recalibrate if the prior owner did lots of partial charges.

 

[Fourdoor]

I'm getting good range so for, my most recent best (light traffic, few mountain mode for actual large hills etc)

The volt is a wonderful car, but sales people seldom explain the different modes of operation because they don't understand them Mountain mode is for just that... mountains, like I-70 west of Denver CO... 7% grade for endless miles. Using mountain mode in other conditions will actually reduce your overall efficiency.

Keith

 

[NRA Life Member]

My 2012 has just under 73,000 miles on it and I bought it used about 5 months ago with 57,000 miles on it. My typical kWh each day is 9.6 almost without fail. Same commute, same speeds. I've seen as high as 10.1 on a stop and go day and as low as 9.4. Typical ranges in warm weather, say 70 degrees and up are in the low 40's. Temps right now are in the mid 40's and I get mid 30's on my emileage. My worst range was at 14 degrees and I got 20 miles. Overall I'm pretty pleased. My ICE gas mileage on the highway has been low 40's pretty easily. Interesting how different mph change your ICE gas mileage too. Not always intuitive. Oh and tire pressures are in the low 40's too.

 

[coderedcomputing]

The volt is a wonderful car, but sales people seldom explain the different modes of operation because they don't understand them Mountain mode is for just that... mountains, like I-70 west of Denver CO... 7% grade for endless miles. Using mountain mode in other conditions will actually reduce your overall efficiency.

Keith

Noted, this purchase was with a young sales person who knew nothing about the Volt at all. Doing all my learning from RTFM and pouring over forums such as this and the like. Part of my drive to work has me crossing Keyes Gap over the Blue Ridge Mountains. If I don't use mountain mode there, my battery sinks from 17/18 miles to nearly empty. After one drive in I figured "ok this mode HAS to be for that part of the drive in, over the actual mountain".