How quickly can a volt charge at a high speed charging station? Does it make any sense to try and plan out stops or buy converters for use while on a trip? Or just use the gas engine and don’t worry about charging until stopped for the night/at a destination?
Khp3655
Moot point, it can't DC fast charge. See https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/2018-volt-adapter-for-ccs-dc-charging.340795/
This is the correct answer. One thing to add: keep it in Hold mode with at least three bars so you have lots of spare energy.
With my 2012 Volt, when I went on week-long trips, I just used gas the whole time. Recharging resumed when I got home. Never a problem.
So, let’s contemplate what an interesting "no-gas" trip might be possible if the "53-ev-mile per full charge range when new" Gen 2 had fast-charging capabilities...
Are no-gas long trips possible in a Volt? I seem to recall a posting from long ago describing a "no gas" trip taken from Virginia to Pennsylvania and back in 2015 by forum member ari_c in his 2012 Volt (he took great pains to avoid driving any Gas Miles; one of his posts says he reached the 100,000 mile mark with his Volt at 99.9% ev). I haven’t located his original trip description posting, but one thread I viewed includes his posting from May 25, 2016 (references no doubt to L2 charging):
"I took my Volt on a 300 mile r/t drive to Kennett Square PA for NDEW last September. I drove it 100% EV stopping 4 times each way to charge."
So imagine driving a 2018 Volt (jury-rigged to use DC fast-charging), on a "no-gas" trip, perhaps from coast to coast on the interstate, pulling off to recharge every 50-ish miles (once an hour?) at one of those fast-charging stations located conveniently every 40 miles or so along the route (???)... that suggests a required stop at every station unless we can slow down enough to get 80 miles of range out of one charge... let’s see... perhaps a 15-minute wait for a charging station to become available, then 15 minutes for the recharging activity itself?... so perhaps 100+ miles driven for every 3 hours of driving/charging activity???
Are no-gas long trips possible in a Volt? I seem to recall a posting from long ago describing a "no gas" trip taken from Virginia to Pennsylvania and back in 2015 by forum member ari_c in his 2012 Volt (he took great pains to avoid driving any Gas Miles; one of his posts says he reached the 100,000 mile mark with his Volt at 99.9% ev). I haven’t located his original trip description posting, but one thread I viewed includes his posting from May 25, 2016 (references no doubt to L2 charging):
"I took my Volt on a 300 mile r/t drive to Kennett Square PA for NDEW last September. I drove it 100% EV stopping 4 times each way to charge."
So imagine driving a 2018 Volt (jury-rigged to use DC fast-charging), on a "no-gas" trip, perhaps from coast to coast on the interstate, pulling off to recharge every 50-ish miles (once an hour?) at one of those fast-charging stations located conveniently every 40 miles or so along the route (???)... that suggests a required stop at every station unless we can slow down enough to get 80 miles of range out of one charge... let’s see... perhaps a 15-minute wait for a charging station to become available, then 15 minutes for the recharging activity itself?... so perhaps 100+ miles driven for every 3 hours of driving/charging activity???
I've never fretted over charging our 2013 GEN 1 on long trips. We've visited 38 US states in it. Neither of out Volts have ever been plugged into a public charging station. We did, however, take advantage of free electrical outlets (for L1 charging) while at motels during our trips. In northern states it's common to find motels with outdoor outlets to accommodate engine block heaters for their guests. Fargo ND comes to mind where we noticed that.
Our 2013 sometimes averaged ~40 MPG on gas on many of our trips. I'll take that as a win. We've since purchased a diesel-powered motorhome for out-of-town travel, so it's a mute point on fuel savings now. But both of our GEN 1 Volts (2013 and 2014) rarely use gas for our local errands around town.
EDIT:
One time we did get worried after leaving Sturgis and couldn't find a station that sold Premium gas along our route. We were down to two gallons when we finally found one. I don't know if that's still an issue with GEN II volts.
Our 2013 sometimes averaged ~40 MPG on gas on many of our trips. I'll take that as a win. We've since purchased a diesel-powered motorhome for out-of-town travel, so it's a mute point on fuel savings now. But both of our GEN 1 Volts (2013 and 2014) rarely use gas for our local errands around town.
EDIT:
One time we did get worried after leaving Sturgis and couldn't find a station that sold Premium gas along our route. We were down to two gallons when we finally found one. I don't know if that's still an issue with GEN II volts.
When I use power from home charging, it costs me about $0.03 per mile to drive my '17 Volt. That compares very favorably to the ~$0.08 per mile if I'm using gas. However, electricity at public chargers tends to be very expensive. I typically see $0.50 to $0.60 per kwh. At that price, it would cost more more than $0.10 to drive a mile on electricity. My Volt will probably never get public electricity unless it is free.
$/kwh x10 = $/gallon.
DC-fast charging is significantly more expensive than getting gas everywhere ive seen. maybe thats just my area, but we are not even talking about convenience.
working on adding a 2nd 6.6kw obc to my volt since there are so many free level 2 chargers in my area. ~10kw ac charging is pretty close to what you would get with a chademo dc kit that qc charge used to sell for tesla roadsters and rav4 ev's. i think they do around 50kw at bolt like speeds and have weird quirks like requiring you to keep the car running while charging so that it will thermally manage the battery.
DC-fast charging is significantly more expensive than getting gas everywhere ive seen. maybe thats just my area, but we are not even talking about convenience.
working on adding a 2nd 6.6kw obc to my volt since there are so many free level 2 chargers in my area. ~10kw ac charging is pretty close to what you would get with a chademo dc kit that qc charge used to sell for tesla roadsters and rav4 ev's. i think they do around 50kw at bolt like speeds and have weird quirks like requiring you to keep the car running while charging so that it will thermally manage the battery.
OK, been away for a while, but what's with all this mountain mode talk? Why, unless you know you have a weak cell (or are planning to scale a mountain), would you use mountain mode?
Just yesterday, I drove on electrons for 10 miles until I got on the interstate. Then, I switched to Hold mode until I got off the interstate. Stayed in Normal at my destination and on the way home until I ran out of juice back on the interstate about 20 miles down the road, finishing the trip in CS mode. I got the maximum electric miles (well, I used up all the e-miles the car had), and charged up when I got home. What would have been the advantage to using mountain mode?
Just yesterday, I drove on electrons for 10 miles until I got on the interstate. Then, I switched to Hold mode until I got off the interstate. Stayed in Normal at my destination and on the way home until I ran out of juice back on the interstate about 20 miles down the road, finishing the trip in CS mode. I got the maximum electric miles (well, I used up all the e-miles the car had), and charged up when I got home. What would have been the advantage to using mountain mode?
By "high speed charging stations", do you mean level 3 (aka DC fast charging)? Volt Gen 2 (and 1) do not support DC Fast charging, if that's what you meant. You can look for Level 2 (aka J1772) charging stations. For long trips, I would stick to gas unless a stop of yours just so happen to have Level 2 charging available. When my family go on long trips, we charge when available and is convenient. If none are available, just put gas in and be on our way. Keep in mind that Volt's onboard charger max out around 3.3 kW/h even though Level 2 charging station have a maximum output of 6.6 kW/h. There are times where I wish GM install 5kW/h+ onboard charger, but I get why they went with a 3.3: better battery preservation. DC Fast charging isn't typically available on PHEVs. The ones that do support DC Fast charging (level 3) are Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and 2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV.
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