Eric Balmer (sp?) and his car Sparkie are up over 400k miles. I doubt that was done mostly electric.

 

Check Sparkie: https://www.voltstats.net/Stats/Details/1579

2012 Volt with over 410,000 total miles, of which close to 300,000 miles are gas, and about 140,000 are electric. Per owner Erick Belmer, car is going strong .. no issues with gas engine, and no noticeable degradation in battery.

 

It is pretty much a standard GM engine and the transmission is basically a gear box, much less complicated than a 'normal' ICE transmission. The only consequence would be that your gas bill would only be slightly less than an ICE car instead of extremely lower. Gas only MPG is 40+mpg.

 

Thanks. I'll be charging occasionally since it only covers half of my daily commute and no way to charge at work. I'll sometime charge at home overnight since it's currently parked outside and need to figure out how to get 220V closer to the car. Thanks.

 

Charging overnight on 120V 12A may be enough. 240V will be twice as fast, but if you are home for 8 hours anyway, it's a moot point. So if you have a dedicated 120V 15A circuit (nothing else like a freezer sharing it), you may be good.

 

There were plenty of GE employee operated GEN1 Volts that were next to 100% ICE operation...

 

My friend (who convinced me to get a Volt) actually almost never charges his, as his apartment complex doesn't allow it. He's had his several months longer than mine and has only had one service item (coolant leak, covered under warranty). If I had to guess, his is probably 98% gasoline miles.

 

I certainly wouldn't have bought a Volt if I couldn't charge mine daily. It sounds like it's really not the best type of car for him.

 

The 5ET50 is a brand new drivetrain so not sure if we can count on the Gen 1 experience. You might want to check out the Malibu hybrid forums as that?s a closer approximation of your Volt life ?gas only.? The Malibu hybrid uses a modified Gen 2 Voltec design.

 

Even if you had to drive just on gas with a 2016-18 Volt you would still get better mpg's than probably 90% of all the cars out there. Our 2016 Volt Premier has averaged over 46 mpg just on gas since purchased new in July 2016, and computed by voltstats.net for somewhere around 7,000 gas only miles.

 

I don't think anybody should be concerned about the life of the car between the two modes. It was meant to be driven extensively in either mode. The only difference between engine on and engine off is that the engine is running; all the same transmission parts are used in both modes. The Lithium battery may lose a tiny bit of its capacity slightly faster if it's never being charged to full, but it will be negligible for the most part.

 

You will be disapointed driving an EREV on engine only. The Volt is great because of it's battery, not it's engine. The engine does weird things that only make sense if you are driving on EV most of the time. If you are always on engine, you'll just have a funny acting car.
Save your money and buy a good ICE car with good gas mileage. For near 40K, you will get a much better engine, and likely a more luxurious interior.

 

The engine behaves very similar to both non-Volt hybrids I've driven (Toyota SUV, Lincoln sedan). The only difference in behavior is that when in any mode but Mountain Mode, the engine will not work its hardest, and instead will stay revved up even when coasting for a few seconds. In MM, it revs more to keep the battery at its setpoint just like how a hybrid with a tiny HV battery works. This essentially lets the engine last longer and slightly reduces fuel consumption.

Also in terms of wear, the hardest work any ICE has to do accelerate from a stop to about 20mph. This is where fuel economy is poorest and the most engine wear can happen. In the Volt, I believe the battery buffer is used (even if depleted) to get the car going from a stop so there would be less wear on the motor over time due to this.

This is true; the battery is used first while accelerating, and the engine picks up the slack, even with 0 EV miles. There's no torque converter to wear out either. Even on non-plugin hybrids, the engine works very little until about 20-30 MPH where the electric motors start losing torque.

 

Also in terms of wear, the hardest work any ICE has to do accelerate from a stop to about 20mph. This is where fuel economy is poorest and the most engine wear can happen. In the Volt, I believe the battery buffer is used (even if depleted) to get the car going from a stop so there would be less wear on the motor over time due to this.

 

Thanks. Points taken. I have to explain a little. I already own a 2010 Prius with 160k miles, 17" after market wheels(big hit on mpg but cannot stand 15"), spring/sway bars and get about 44 mpg(actually less when calculated). I had head gasket issue on the Prius and soon will be needing another car for my kid. So I've looked at some cars and Prius is out of the question. Bolt is a bit limiting and I don't want to worry about charging even with 2xx miles per charge. I can't stand ICE car anymore without any regen energy recovery.

I like the Volt concept and bought it. The final price after Fed tax credit and CA($1500 rebate if it comes) basically put Volt in Prius price range or maybe cheaper but I don't know current Prius prices. I'm getting about 43-49mpg with Volt and it's much quieter and drives better(with the weight) than my Prius. I try to charge about once a week and use hold mode most of the time. I have no regret on my purchase. I can use electric if and when I can wire up an outlet closer to car parked on driveway. If I use home charging then I'll save some money. Charging at public charger paying about $0.30+ per kWh is like paying $4+ for gas so I just drive with gas below $3 for now.

I need to study more on how Volt drivetrain is setup. Hopefully, Volt is more reliable than my 2010 Prius.

 

Hopefully, Volt is more reliable than my 2010 Prius.

Wow, you've had problems with your Prius? My Prius C has been rock solid reliable.

 

leeb18c, The important thing to consider is that in battery mode or 'engine' mode, the same drivetrain elements are used. There will not be additional wear on the transmission if you drive in Hold mode exclusively as in that mode, the engine, which is a generator in actuality, charges the battery pack which then provides propulsion power to the car. The engine does not have its own separate drivetrain setup. In hold mode, the battery pack still powers the motors that drive the car. As another poster pointed out earlier, you will be using/paying for more gasoline and obviously more wear and tear on the engine/generator. The wear and tear on the transmission will be the same no matter the driving mode. There is a special case where the generator provides power simultaneously to the motors and battery, but that does not happen in normal driving conditions and was not part of your original question.

 

What you described is correct for the Gen 1 Volt but the Gen 2 Volt couples the gas engine to the drive wheels almost anytime the gas engine is running. There is a good description here http://gm-volt.com/2015/02/20/gen-2-volt-transmission-operating-modes-explained/

 

Whether a Volt is good for you, you can answer yourself.

How many hours per day will it be plugged in? How long is your commute. If you can fully charge it daily you will benefit from the Volt.

One of ours is on a 60 mile per day commute and the other is on a 16 mile per day commute. Both have lifetime 80 MPG. Neither uses any gasoline ordinarily.

 

Quick question -- are you considering just Gen 2? I had a Gen 1 and thought its gas operation was more smooth due to its serial hybrid modes. As other parallel/input-split drivetrain drivers here have already commented, perhaps the Gen 2's gas operation will feel more familiar to you and will be no big deal.

Personally, for me, I thought the Gen 1 seemed much smoother in gas operation than Gen 2 (so far). There is a purported increase in MPG, but I've got 700 miles on the gas engine and am getting only Gen 1 MPG numbers. Perhaps it will get better over time.

 

Disagree. Quiet, more torque than any econobox, mine does no "weird things" on gas. Any econobox with mileage close to the Volt on gas sounds like a box of ball bearings in a barrel in terms of noise. Reference point: 1) I drive my '16 on gas alot 2) my other car is a Porsche.

 

The engine by itself is not what this car is about. On the highway I find that in Hold mode I get very slight hiccups on a regular basis. Whereas in EV mode it's smooth as silk. Then there's also the backfire issue to worry about if you drive around a lot with an empty battery. GM seems to be in no hurry to address that issue. The other oddity is that the engine RPM has nothing to do with your speed, and it can get kind of buzz'y. If that's your primary mode of operation, it could be somewhat annoying. You can get a hybrid with similar mileage, or for the same money a higher-end car who's operation is more refined.

 

You can get a hybrid with similar mileage, or for the same money a higher-end car who's operation is more refined.

Or even a higher end, more refined hybrid!