[SkepTeach]

Hello everyone. I have a quick question about my 2017 Volt. For efficiency's sake, I obviously want the car to be as light as possible while commuting. I have a ~30 mi commute each day, and plan to top off the charge each evening. Right now, my car has half a tank remaining from what the dealer put in before I drove off the lot on Saturday. I've accumulated about 225 mi so far and haven't used gas since getting home from the dealer.

So my question is, what is the appropriate amount of gas to keep in the tank if I'm planning to only ever run the car on electrical power? Ideally of course.

I've read that it will periodically engage the gas engine - though I'm not sure how periodically - so I wouldn't want it to be empty, but I also don't want the added weight dragging down my efficiency.

Suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[SkepTeach]

Oh, and feel free to roundly chastise me if this is something easily found in the manual Honestly I haven't taken the time to sit down and read through it yet.

 

[rickabe]

I do 45-65 miles a day and keep 3 gal or less in the tank. I add $5 whenever the low fuel warning chimes in. Have used 25 gal since buying the car last November and have 14K on the odometer.

 

[Joe67]

I value my fuel pump / sending unit and prefer to keep it cool. Full tank in my car.

 

[Dark_Stang]

Your Volt's tank is 8.9 gallons. A gallon of gas is about 6 lbs. So it's not like you're carting around a whole bunch of extra weight in fuel.

But, if you don't burn the gas in a year, the car will go into Fuel Maintenance Mode and burn it all up. So if you aren't going to use it all within a year, only keep a few gallons in there.

 

[SkepTeach]

Great, thank you all for the replies!

 

[AZ EV Driver]

So you are worried about carrying somewhere between 3 gal and a full tank of 9 gal. That is a difference of around 40 pounds on a vehicle that weighs well over 3000 lbs. I challenge you to document the difference in efficiency in your real world driving. If you don't want to burn gasoline, then you should consider driving a BEV rather than a EREV.

VIN # B0985

 

[fotomoto1]

As a southern, I consider warmth to be a good thing and I know Arkansas can get pretty darn cold. The ICE is much more efficient at making heat than the electric heater so you might find you'll use more gas than you think. 60mile r/t commute in the winter will mean burning gas daily. Also IIRC your intro post said you would do more daily driving for work than just commuting, correct?

 

[SkepTeach]

Yes, I consider my 'commute' to include my trips between the schools I serve. This type of vehicle is definitely a first for me so it's taking some time to adjust, and you're right, we haven't really gotten to winter yet. It's over 60 outside right now but our Jan-Feb can get fairly chilly.

AZ EV, I actually did consider getting an i3 BEV instead of the Volt, but the numbers just didn't make sense in my case. As it is, I am enjoying the aspect of no range anxiety while using as little gas as possible.

 

[alfon]

Here on the Pacific Ocean on the northwest coast of Oregon during the winter storms roll in from the Pacific with winds often over 80-100 mph. Power at times could go off for days. So we keep our Volt full with gas as when the power goes off you can not charge, but you still have gas to get you back and forth to work etc.

I could care less about the extra few pounds of gas in the tank. I care more about being without the use of our Volt for possibly days at a time.

 

[BAZINGA]

Most of the year about 2 gallons, but I bump that up to 4 gallons in the winter. I use so little it would just go bad.

I have averaged over 92% electric on my 2012, 2013 and my 2017 is sitting at 99.6% with the dealers 7 gallons gas argh....... I hope I can burn that off over the winter.

 

[caskConditionedAle]

I read that about 70% of Americans are overweight (myself included). If you are worried about 30 lbs of gas causing a problem, how about 30 lbs of fat? Personally losing 20 lbs could go a long way to better health AND longer range!

 

[telveer]

I keep about 2 gallons.

 

[SkepTeach]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have three other vehicles as backups, so not worried about that. Also, I actively work to keep myself in that remaining 30%.

I'll just keep a few gallons in the tank and see how long until the car requires me to use it.

Thanks!

 

[16513]

The roads you drive every day are a factor. With cheap gas I use Hold fairly often on the freeway on longer local trips where I might not make it home on the battery. I like having 1/3 tankful to leave something for unplanned use and a depleted battery.

 

[Dutch]

I'm flashing back to my backpacking days.

but if anyone cares to put it in perspective
1 gallon of gas=6.183 pounds
6.183 pounds x 8.9 gal = 55.028 pounds

A Volt weighs (officially) 3,794 lb, So a full tank of fuel is 1.44% of the weight of your car.

 

[Mister Dave]

Full tank in my car.

+1. Never know when I'll need to go on a sudden long trip.

Always keep your supplies full whenever possible.

6.183 pounds x 8.9 gal = 55.028 pounds.

Pfffft. Small children and some dogs weigh more.

 

[SkepTeach]

Pfffft. Small children and some dogs weigh more.

Which will *never* find their way into my car

Well....maybe my two dogs very rarely, but they weigh maybe 20 lbs together.

 

[Mister Dave]

Well....maybe my two dogs very rarely, but they weigh maybe 20 lbs together.

But but....... there goes your mileage!

Driving naked reduces weight too.

 

[Dutch]

And once again I find myself missing Elemental.