[outdoors722]

Hello all,

I just wanted to introduce myself and my Volt. The information on this forum was very helpful to me in researching and buying a used Volt. I'm the proud new owner of a Silver Topaz 2014 Volt that's just off a lease from its first owner. It has a little higher mileage than I was shopping for (40,000 miles) but it is a hard-to find loaded base model, so it has all the options I desired (Bose, backup camera, navigation, Enhanced Safety Package 1) without the leather seating I detest and the Enhanced Safety Package 2 which I didn't want. It also has California HOV stickers. I got it for a very good price, so I'm happy and I don't doubt that it'll provide me with many years and miles of faithful service.

The previous owner had the windows tinted, which looks quite good with the black window trim. I've already ordered some WeatherTech floor mats, VoltShelf, VoltMat, and VoltScreen from VoltShop, and some brighter interior LED light bulbs. I'm not very impressed with the headlights so I'm still researching options to improve the road illumination, and I'm leaning towards getting some Switchback LED front marker lights to go along with the DRL diodes to enable nighttime DRLs.

I'm looking forward to learning more about the car and enjoying the challenge of "relearning" how to drive with an entirely new sort of driving experience; I find this car's unique mix of all-electric and hybrid modes to be fun and fascinating! Thanks for building such a great community and being so welcoming to newbies.

-- Geoff

 

[saghost]

Congrats!! Welcome. Relearning is entirely optional. You can drive the Volt exactly like any other car, and everything will be fine. On the other hand, the Volt is one of the most unique cars ever built, with all sorts of quirks to be explored and taken advantage of in the right situations.

 

[wizard_of-ahs]

Welcome to the fold !
I also purchased a 2014 in April......love this car. Even took a 1600 mile trip and averaged 43 mpg
I'm right at 66% EV and 34% gas. Hopefully I'll be racking up many more EV miles.

 

[Sean-a-Tron]

Welcome to the Cult of Volt! There's not much to learn about driving a Volt aside from braking earlier and slower to help regen. Though that's entirely optional (But you might as well). Also turning on "Hold" mode when driving long distances on the highway to preserve EV miles for when in town is a good efficiency tip.

 

[outdoors722]

Obviously the Volt doesn't require "relearning" how to drive; perhaps that was a bad choice of words on my part. What I meant is that the Volt is so much more than just a regular car; it offers a much more involving driving experience if the driver chooses to take advantage of the opportunities it provides. I have experience "hypermiling" in other vehicles, so it'll be interesting to see what sort of efficiency can be extracted from the Volt compared to driving it in a more normal manner. The different drive modes almost make driving the car like a video game. It'll be a fun challenge!

Truth be told, when I started shopping for a new car the Volt hadn't even crossed my mind; I'd always considered the Volt to be an expensive car, so it never showed up on my radar. My employer is changing my reporting location for work, so I was pretty bummed that I was no longer going to be able to ride my bicycle 8 miles a day to work and was going to have to commute by car 50 miles a day. Originally it was the Hyundai Ioniq with its lifetime battery warranty that caught my attention, but after frustrating experiences with all three local Hyundai dealerships, I started looking at other options and weighting the pros and cons of each. Then all of a sudden I had an epiphany and looked at prices and availability of used Volts, and lo-and-behold it immediately shot straight to the top of my list with its unique combination of features and its astounding bang-for-the-buck. A couple test drives later, I found the exact car for me. So yeah, I'm pretty thrilled. I love how the car has taught handling yet a smooth ride, like a modern Buick. It's so roomy inside even for my 6'3" 275lb body, yet it's hardly any bigger in our garage than my wife's R53 Mini Cooper parked next to it. The Volt really is a marvel of engineering.