Basically, once the battery is discharged, you are done with the battery. However, the Volt will keep a minimum charge available to help when needed. But this charge is not shown on the display. You can, however, enlarge this minimum charge by using the Mountain Mode and it will show this level on the battery display. In my opinion, the best way to travel long distances, is to run in HOLD mode while on the interstate then switch to normal for city driving. Save the battery for slow traffic and the ICE for high speed driving.

 

Thanks. What kind of mileage does the car usually get on the highway in Hold mode?

 

Most will get around 45MPG.

 

The Volt is an extended range electric vehicle, not a plug-in gas hybrid. That means when the battery is fully charged, your 2018 Volt will give you full performance using battery power only (charge depleting mode, the gas engine will not come on) until the charge level drops to a programmed level. At that point, the system switches to charge sustaining mode, and the gas engine will start (or you can switch to Hold Mode to engage CS mode). The 2018 Volt has three Extended Range Modes. Depending on driving conditions, speed, etc., the propulsion may be a blend of electric and gas propulsion, or just one or the other. When the system switches to gas use, generator output will be used to maintain the battery charge level, so the electric motor can make its contribution as needed... when extending the range the electric motor can use power from the battery buffer or from the generator output to provide its contribution to the propulsion.

The Volt is an extended range electric vehicle (motor uses battery only/battery supplemented by gas-generated electricity), so the function of the Energy Info display on the center console screen is to track the use of the fuel you buy (electricity from the utility company to charge the battery, gas from the gas station for the gas engine). "Electric Miles/kWh Used" records the distances driven using the "grid power" you get by charging the battery from the wall socket. "Gas Miles/Gal Used" records the distances driven in charge sustaining mode, when the engine burns gas to propel the car and/or to crank the generator.

Once the battery is depleted, you’ve used up the "grid power," so no more Electric Miles/kWh Used until you "buy more kWh," i.e., recharge from the wall again...

The regenerative braking system will put some charge back into the battery (especially if you drive down a long, steep hill). If that "regen" is created while driving in Electric Mode, then distances driven with the electric motor using that regen battery power will be counted as Electric Miles. If that regen is created while driving in Extended Range Mode (charge sustaining mode), the distances driven with the electric motor using that regen battery power will be counted as Gas Miles. In a Volt, a large number of the recorded "Gas Miles" may actually be distances driven using only the electric motor and battery power or generator output power.

 

This is a lot of great information, but I'm having trouble following. Is there some place or some book where I can get a good basic introduction to how a Volt works?

 

Thank you for the explanation. Now I better understand how the car thinks and why it reacts like it does.

 

So, I can't say enough about Mountain Mode. I believe they called it that because 'If You Think You'll Be Driving Pass The Battery Range' Mode was too long. For everyday running around there's usually plenty of battery range. But for long excursions Mountain Mode is paramount as it uses available battery energy to assist the generator output. I've noticed it using the generator to replenish the reserve buffer. Not really sure why Hold mode is ever needed unless you're overthinking and saving battery range for some reason.

 

This is good info. I was thinking Hold mode for long trips, but maybe Mountain mode is better?

 

Not really. Mountain Mode will not start until 80% of the battery is used. I like to keep as much battery as possible to use on the city streets while off of the interstate. Hold Mode switches the car to ICE immediately.

 

Starting a long trip on mountain mode will leave you with 20% battery if you decide to go into EV mode. Depends on your goals. If you're taking a trip to somewhere to spend the day in a city touring and don't have a charge point planned Hold mode is a smart idea. Travelling under 90km/h you'll get much better km per KW. In city and traffic the car gets much better km per kW more opportunity to regenerate also.

Sometimes mountain mode is fun as you're approaching traffic or city driving so you have 20% battery available to go EV only and avoid then engine stop start cycles. Car performs more sluggishly when it's at 0% on the indicator. I usually would hold for the bulk of long trips then within 50km of my next charge switch to EV mode. When I hit traffic under 90km/h drop in to EV mode. In the winter the same idea, but mountain mode instead of EV mode. Don't like to deplete too low in winter. Car will warm battery and cool battery even when not charging if it needs to. When I say winter I mean below freezing down to -30C. Similar logic probably should apply during a heat wave.

 

Great tips. I didn’t know what I didn’t know when getting the volt, especially with how the modes are best used and how/where EV and charging work with the gas engine in a practical sense.

 

Khp3655,


Yes you can partially charge the traction battery with the engine but I don't recommend it, there will be a loss in the conversion of gas engine energy to electricity to battery and back to the electric motors, gas mileage will plummet to 20 or so MPG. The Volt is a PHEV and needs a full charge every time it's driven for the best health of the traction battery. A HEV was designed to not require charging because it can't be externally charged and is a different "animal" than a PHEV. The Volt has hundreds of lithium Ion cells that are connected serially like a chain, one bad cell or "link" and the chain or traction battery fails. To help prevent this from happening when you charge the Volt or any PHEV to full, after all of the cells are charged, a balance charge routine is run to bring all of the cells up to an equal state of charge. This reduces the strain on the weaker cells in the pack making your battery live longer. This balance charging only occurs after a full external charge (engine charging can't do this). When starting your PHEV, battery depleted and running your pack with different cell levels of charge, will stress the weaker cells and increase their wear which is a bad thing. The battery will someday die, so there is no reason to hasten it's death by "slightly abusing it" on a regular basis by not fully charging it daily or every time the car is used. Remember the ABCs of chargeable electric cars "Always Be Charging"

Stephen

Hello all. I just got my 2018 Chevy Volt. It’s a bit of a learning curve as this is my first car with an electric component. When I got it from the dealer, the battery was almost fully discharged. It was a long drive home, mostly highway and a bit hilly and I never saw any regeneration of the battery. I got about 36mpg with the gas engine.

PHEV: Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle
HEV: Hybrid Electric Vehicle

It seemed like all the flow to the battery was immediately used again. I wanted to see if I could use “hold” to build up the EV part but the option was grayed out. It is now home and charging. My question is: could I have used the gas engine to charge the battery and gain EV range while driving (and the battery at 0 miles)? Thank you!

 

Khp3655,


Yes you can partially charge the traction battery with the engine but I don't recommend it, there will be a loss in the conversion of gas engine to electricity and back to the electric motors, gas mileage will plummet to 20 or so MPG.
The Volt is a PHEV and needs a full charge every time it's driven for the best health of the traction battery. A HEV was designed to not require charging because it can't be externally charged and is a different "animal" than a PHEV. The Volt has hundreds of lithium Ion cells that are connected serially like a chain, one bad cell or "link" and the chain or traction battery fails. To help prevent this from happening when you charge the Volt or any PHEV to full, after all of the cells are charged, a balance charge routine is run to bring all of the cells to an equal state of charge. This reduces the strain on the weaker cells in the pack making your battery live longer. This balance charging only occurs after a full external charge (engine charging can't do this). When starting your PHEV, battery depleted and running your pack with different cell levels of charge, will stress the weaker cells and increase their wear which is a bad thing. The battery will someday die, so there is no reason to hasten it's death by "slightly abusing it" on a regular basis by not fully charging it daily or every time the car is used. Remember the ABCs of chargeable electric cars "Always Be Charging"

Stephen

This is the best advice you will get. Always plug it in at home when it's cold, so the battery will be heated and charged. Always plug it in at home when it's hot, so the battery will be cooled and charged. Always plug it in at room temperature so the battery life can be extended.

 

So, it seems like the summation is keep it charged as much as possible, but it is okay to stop charging to use it when needed. Since we have an old house and a full charge takes 19 hours, we just need to plug it in when home. Is it better to leave the car partially charged rather than fully discharged when possible? I am thinking like when on a long trip, that it is better to have some remaining charge rather than running it down to 0.

 

Khp3655,

19 hours? I would set charging to 12 amps charge instead of the 8 amps automatically set by the Volt.
For traveling you can set the car in mountain mode when you start your trip, the Volt will discharge the traction battery down until it hits the mountain mode reserve level and then start the engine moving into hybrid operation. Little choices will help your lithium ion battery live longer. I now have a Honda Clarity and treat it the same way, charge every day its used (overnight) and set to engine charge for long trips. Try to setup 240 volt charge if possible, there are several ways to do this. Some Chevy EVSEs (charging cord) can be converted to 240 volts but you will also need to get 240 volt outlet installed or use an electric dryer outlet source if you have one available. I setup TOU (time Of Use) with my power utility company, 12:00am to 6:00 am half price with SDGE, hence the air conditioner timer you see in my picture.

https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/evse-charger-recommendations.346878/?post_id=5105718#post-5105718

Stephen

 

It's nice to see such great answers here. Really good answers. Stephen explains really well.

Plugging in and charging is also how that 12V starting battery in the trunk gets charged and maintained. Not charging for many months will cause it to go dead... Interesting to know it does not have a standard alternator to charge the 12v as you drive.

 

Interesting to know it does not have a standard alternator to charge the 12v as you drive.

but it does have a 360V to 12V APM that does charge the battery when you drive.

 

Considering you do not need to plug in the gen 2 volt (i.e. on a long road trip), if thee was no APM, the 12V battery would be dead in a matter of hours. Yes there is an APM. No I do not have a reference to it.

 

You can pop the hood release when parked (causes the ICE to automatically start) and it will give some charge to the traction battery. About 30 minutes this way will give you a 15% charge. Don’t do this while driving.

 

You can pop the hood release when parked (causes the ICE to automatically start)

IF the car is ON!

 

Not sure why you would want to charge the battery by running the ICE. You lose quite a bit of efficiency, as someone else pointed out. Best to run on EV until it gets down to zero miles, then just run on gas 'til you can charge it up. And when you do charge, always "fill er up" if possible. Unless you're storing the car for a month or more, there's no reason not to fill up the battery. Mountain mode is helpful when your in a hilly area because the ICE is not as torquey as the EV, so it's nice to have some juice in the EV when going uphill. But that's the only time it makes sense to reserve battery juice. When going on a trip that I know will use up the EV juice, I do play the game of switching to Hold on the highway, just enough so that I run out of EV battery when I get home. But the truth is, I probably only get miniscule benefit by doing that. The Volt's voltec engine is a unique marvel, and it's a huge shame that it is no longer being used. Enjoy your Volt!

 

Mostly, I was noticing that the green bars never go up, even when going down a long hill and using the regen paddle. I know that hybrid cars often add miles and charge while in a regen mode. It seemed like the Volt wasn’t doing that and I was curious if it could.