[Mega Volt]

So good to be back. I feel like I’m “home” again in my 2018 Silver Ice Premium! I bought my first Volt in August 2012 and absolutely loved it. I love cars and generally keep them on average about 3 years. In 2015, I traded the Volt for a Mercedes Benz Electric Drive. With two dogs, I thought the small suv/crossover design would be convenient. And while it was, the car itself was an absolute nightmare, and is in the process of being bought back by Mercedes under the California Lemon Law. After being stranded twice due to two faulty drive trains, and assorted other issues, I will get every penny I paid towards my 3 year lease back, minus .22 cents per mile for which I’ve driven the car.

I didn’t think I had anything to worry about being that the drivetrain was provided by Tesla in a partnership that went bad, providing Mercedes with no support for issues to their batteries.

I had a Tesla Model 3 reservation which I thought would coordinate perfectly with the Mercedes end of lease for July ‘18 which it did, but cancelled the reservation after finding out that monthly payments would be north of $700.

So.. I’m home again! And I LOVE the new Volt!! There is NO comparison between the Mercedes EV on its best day, and the Volt. It’s good to be home.

As a side note, my spouse’s first EV was purchased shortly after my first Volt. It was a BMW i3. It has since been traded in for a Bolt EV.

We’ve been to the “dark side” and couldn’t be happier with our Chevrolet’s!

 

[sosmerc]

You are a perfect example of what GM could do to greatly satisfy those potential EV buyers that really want to go EV, but don't think they can afford it. GM could be the one to make it affordable if they truly wanted to. Next couple of years are going to be interesting...especially if Tesla really does offer a version of the Model 3 with a starting price of $35,000.

 

[caronjeff]

Great to know. GM did serious Research and development on the VOLtec system investing countless hours and millions of $ to get it right. It would seem some other auto companies kind of throw paint on a wall to see if it sticks. Or a token attempt at EV technology. I have heard nothing negative about the Bolt either. Give us a quick summary on that EV?

 

[Kraven]

Interesting journey with your vehicles, ending back with two Chevys. I’ve seen those Mercedes electric drive small SUVs, look nice but IIRC range of around 80 miles total, so targeted to a small niche audience. Sounds like Mercedes took care of you in the end, not sure how much effort you had to put into getting that result.

I see the Model 3s around a bit more now, spoken with a few owners and they love them. My overriding thought is yes, it looks great, 300+ mile range, but the value proposition between what they cost today vs. a new Volt brings it down to a pure luxury spend and throwing pretty much any practicality out the window. For what the Volt delivers at this pricepoint, I think it’s a no contest from a value proposition.

Very few people will need the range the Model 3 LR delivers in more than say 5 to 10% of their daily use cases. For me, if Chevy would build a Volt (or a similar vehicle, maybe a CUV or slightly larger Volt easier to get in/out, etc.) with an 80 to 100 mile EV range with the gas engine backup that would be perfect. No need to spend on a 75kwh battery if you aren’t going to use the full capability all that much. The ability in the Volt to be able to switch to hold mode when you want (at highway cruising speeds ideally) and flip back to battery at slower speeds/around town/<50 mile round trips is great.

GM, get an 80 - 100 mile range PHEV out there ASAP and you might have a Tesla killer on your hands... if you educate the market about what the Volt is. Honda may end up doing this last bit with the public and their marketing of the Clarity.

 

[Kraven]

Great to know. GM did serious Research and development on the VOLtec system investing countless hours and millions of $ to get it right. It would seem some other auto companies kind of throw paint on a wall to see if it sticks. Or a token attempt at EV technology. I have heard nothing negative about the Bolt either. Give us a quick summary on that EV?

One of the deal killers for me now with the Bolt is lack of ACC. Also, a bit small for my liking although when inside of the Bolt it feels roomy enough. Wonder how they would hold up in various high speed collision scenarios given there’s not much meat on the front or back of them. That’s just me, owners seem to really like them just fine. ACC is something you don’t miss if you’ve never had it, and something you wouldn’t do without once you have had it.

 

[Guest]

GM, get an 80 - 100 mile range PHEV out there ASAP and you might have a Tesla killer on your hands... if you educate the market about what the Volt is. Toyota may end up doing this last bit with the public and their marketing of the Clarity.

Toyota is marketing the Clarity?

 

[sosmerc]

One of the deal killers for me now with the Bolt is lack of ACC. Also, a bit small for my liking although when inside of the Bolt it feels roomy enough. Wonder how they would hold up in various high speed collision scenarios given there’s not much meat on the front or back of them. That’s just me, owners seem to really like them just fine. ACC is something you don’t miss if you’ve never had it, and something you wouldn’t do without once you have had it.

Absolutely agree......ACC is a must have feature once you have experienced how well it works in the Volt.

 

[stuart22]

If only more people could realize and accept reality and truth like you. Instead of letting nameplate worship dominate their car buying decisions.

GM's electrics are clearly the finest balance between technological advances and value. In short - GM electrics work, and work well.

Case in point: Bolt vs. Tesla Model 3. The time it took GM to develop the Bolt was lightning fast - a fraction of what Tesla has done with the Model 3, which with all its problems probably should be considered still in its developmental stage. In spite of the short time it took from being an idea to being in dealer showrooms, the Bolt hit the market running - complete and finished, immediately gaining much deserved respect from both media sources and customers.

 

[DonC]

One of the deal killers for me now with the Bolt is lack of ACC.

Absolutely agree......ACC is a must have feature once you have experienced how well it works in the Volt.

Just wondering how important ACC really is. I have ACC and it works great. However, I use it on trips, never around town. Given I wouldn't use the Bolt EV on a trip I'm not sure not having it would be a big deal. Not sure I'd pay for it, though I likely would want all the safety features that came in the package. I really want super cruise, which seems to be as big a step up from ACC as ACC is from regular cruise control.

I am puzzled why the Bolt EV doesn't offer it as an option. As many have mentioned, seems odd not to have ACC on the vehicle you plan to use for fully autonomous driving.

 

[DonC]

Sorry to hear about all the problems you had with the MB. Likely teething problems.

As a side note, my spouse’s first EV was purchased shortly after my first Volt. It was a BMW i3. It has since been traded in for a Bolt EV.

Lots of people hate the look of the i3, but I've come to like it. Seems like a fun little car. Did your wife not like it or was it just the limited range? Or something else? Our utility worked with BMW and were offering some great deals. Had I needed a car I might have looked at it.

 

[Qinsp]

My problem with the Model 3LR PUP base edition is that it is not really for sale for most the buyers. They completely stopped California sales quite a while ago. No cars, no invites, no news.

As far as I can tell Tesla went out of business. Only a very small percent of reservationists have been issued invites to configure. I've seen 3 Karma Reveros? this year, and only one Tesla Model 3 in person.

I wish Jaguar would hurry up with the iPace. If I knew that getting any kind of Model 3 might take 3 years or more, I would have bought something to play with in the mean time.

And to dust the Model 3 with some sugar, apparently the last OTA update included de-rating the powertrain. This is what many owners are claiming, but nobody has published data yet.

 

[Steverino]

Welcome back!

Like you, our two car family consists of a Volt and a Bolt. Lot's of fun, no regrets, and virtually no gas used anymore.

I never liked the i3's pig snout, but I'm ok with the overall look of the car.

Surprised by the MB issues, but have heard from many the MB's (and BMW's) are very expensive to maintain in general.

 

[BAZINGA]

I have ACC on both my 2017 Volt and 2017 GMC Acadia and wouldn't want a new car without it, but it's real value is on long trips and right now without a SuperCharger/Destination Charger like network the Bolt is a great city car but not yet a car you can hop into and take a multi state trip to see the grand kids or grandma.

I will keep saying it, GM needs to install a couple of CCS chargers at every GM dealer within 5 miles of an interstate. That would go along way to bridge the gap until all the private companies get their act together.

 

[Steverino]

I have ACC on both my 2017 Volt and 2017 GMC Acadia and wouldn't want a new car without it, but it's real value is on long trips and right now without a SuperCharger/Destination Charger like network the Bolt is a great city car but not yet a car you can hop into and take a multi state trip to see the grand kids or grandma.

I will keep saying it, GM needs to install a couple of CCS chargers at every GM dealer within 5 miles of an interstate. That would go along way to bridge the gap until all the private companies get their act together.

Your trip to Milwaukee is doable (barely) with DCFC stations that exist now. I posted where those are for you. And one is a Chevy dealer. Not as plentiful as SuperChargers (yet), but the DCFC network is growing.

 

[VoltAP1]

Interesting journey with your vehicles, ending back with two Chevys. I’ve seen those Mercedes electric drive small SUVs, look nice but IIRC range of around 80 miles total, so targeted to a small niche audience. Sounds like Mercedes took care of you in the end, not sure how much effort you had to put into getting that result.

I see the Model 3s around a bit more now, spoken with a few owners and they love them. My overriding thought is yes, it looks great, 300+ mile range, but the value proposition between what they cost today vs. a new Volt brings it down to a pure luxury spend and throwing pretty much any practicality out the window. For what the Volt delivers at this pricepoint, I think it’s a no contest from a value proposition.

Very few people will need the range the Model 3 LR delivers in more than say 5 to 10% of their daily use cases. For me, if Chevy would build a Volt (or a similar vehicle, maybe a CUV or slightly larger Volt easier to get in/out, etc.) with an 80 to 100 mile EV range with the gas engine backup that would be perfect. No need to spend on a 75kwh battery if you aren’t going to use the full capability all that much. The ability in the Volt to be able to switch to hold mode when you want (at highway cruising speeds ideally) and flip back to battery at slower speeds/around town/<50 mile round trips is great.

GM, get an 80 - 100 mile range PHEV out there ASAP and you might have a Tesla killer on your hands... if you educate the market about what the Volt is. Toyota may end up doing this last bit with the public and their marketing of the Clarity.

I agree with this assessment. A small ICE is probably going to be MUCH cheaper than an extra 40-50 kWh of battery capacity for a decently long period of time. I think we'll be well into the mid-late 2020 timeframe before the big battery comes on cost parity with a present day small ICE + ~25-30 kWh battery. Then it's going to take another chunk of years before the big battery becomes notably cheaper.

 

[hellsop]

Just wondering how important ACC really is. I have ACC and it works great. However, I use it on trips, never around town.

For curiosity's sake, why not? I mean, even with NORMAL cruise control, I'm popping it on anytime the speed limit is 30 and above and I'm not dealing with a stop every three blocks.

 

[Guest]

I've driven a car with ACC. Not something I would ever use myself. That and lane warning etc. are just toys that lull you into a false sense of security and take your attention off of what's happening around you. In airplane piloting terms, loss of situational awareness. If you are too tired to be aware you shouldn't be driving. If your attention span is too short you need to hand in your licence. In either case, you are an accident waiting to happen. At least until full auto piloting has all the kinks ironed out.

 

[Eagleco]

I agree with F1 Spyder.

Also, I actually enjoy driving, all aspects of it including gauging when I need to slow down and speed up in relation to traffic. Why would I want to use a feature like ACC, that actually takes away from me something I enjoy doing? I rented a car with ACC recently and that did nothing to convince me otherwise either.

I am not a multi tasker either, and don't even like to converse with my passengers, let alone talk on the phone while driving. I enjoy being fully immersed in driving 100%.

In fact a car like the Volt is the only vehicle I was willing to give up driving a stick shift for. And our other car, which I drive when my wife has the Volt, is a stick . My wife has no interest in ACC either, and she too drove a stick until we replaced it with our Volt.

Another Tesla on "Autopilot" crashed a few days ago. Right into a parked police SUV. We prefer to stay in control of our cars until full autonomous arrives and is clearly safer than we can drive.

Jon

 

[Kraven]

For curiosity's sake, why not? I mean, even with NORMAL cruise control, I'm popping it on anytime the speed limit is 30 and above and I'm not dealing with a stop every three blocks.

I was thinking the same when I read DonC isn’t using it around town. For me I always use it around town, 50MPH roads and the like. For me there are more cops looking to write speeding tickets, especially on downhill slopes, and the ACC is a great assist here.

Like FI Spyder says, you do need to be careful as it can lull you into a false sense of security so staying vigilant is key of course. I think the pros outweighs the cons from a safety perspective.

 

[Eagleco]

It's possible that using ACC is safer than not using it assuming one is 100% paying attention regardless. One has to fight human nature though to do so. The natural tendency is to slack off a bit, which is what is happening in these Tesla crashes.

It's been over 40 years since I rear ended anyone, and that long since my last accident too. That was a 5 mph crash as a teenager when I allowed myself to be distracted. I learned my lesson.

Keeping track of my speed at all times is part of my enjoyment of driving too. It's also been over 40 years since my last speeding ticket so I learned my lesson there too.

I don't expect that after over 40 years I am going to start rear ending people and speeding because I don't have ACC.

We ended up buying a 2018 Premier with DC 1 & 2 , so it would have been pocket change to add ACC if we wanted it. I like the safety features that simply provide information, like the blind zone alert, rear cross traffic alert, and forward collision alert.


Jon