[SSonnentag]

I'll be taking my Volt on it's maiden voyage out of town this weekend. Does the ICE produce enough energy to power the car up this section of freeway at 70 mph when in range extending mode? My battery will be depleted long before I reach this area and am wondering if I need to reserve some battery to keep up with traffic on the hills.

Thanks

 

[SharkVolt]

If in doubt, switch to Mountain Mode at the start of the trip, and keep it there, than it can climb any hill in the entire country with cruise control at over 80 mph without losing 1 mph, and with no overheating or downshifting required!

 

[Kraven]

...or downshifting required!

What do you mean by downshifting?

 

[JoeReal]

I'll be taking my Volt on it's maiden voyage out of town this weekend. Does the ICE produce enough energy to power the car up this section of freeway at 70 mph when in range extending mode? My battery will be depleted long before I reach this area and am wondering if I need to reserve some battery to keep up with traffic on the hills.

Thanks

It might lose the climbing power if you don't have EV Range left. However, 20-30 minutes before the climb, put it in mountain mode then it will reserve climbing power for you that you can go over 75 mph without losing power. As others have suggested, you can put it in Mountain mode at the start of the trip until you arrive at the summit and then put the gear in L and switch to Normal mode.

 

[Fyodor]

What do you mean by downshifting?

What you might have to do with a conventional car and transmission.

 

[16513]

I like to keep a little battery in reserve by selecting Hold before depletion. In this condition the climb is easy, without resorting to mountain mode ahead of time. Having some juice to get you from the freeway to home on city streets is a good energy plan.

 

[Michaelh310]

Put it in Mountain mode at the start of your trip and just drive. It's that simple. That's what it's for.

 

[Arcanox]

It might lose the climbing power if you don't have EV Range left. However, 20-30 minutes before the climb, put it in mountain mode then it will reserve climbing power for you that you can go over 75 mph without losing power. As others have suggested, you can put it in Mountain mode at the start of the trip until you arrive at the summit and then put the gear in L and switch to Normal mode.

Shifting to L does absolutely nothing if your foot is on the pedal or Cruise Control is active.

 

[DonC]

I've driven this. Don't remember this being that steep of a climb. In fact the only places I've noticed the car needing more power was coming up to Mammoth or up back up the mountains on I8, both of which are more altitude gain. But just to be safe use Mountain or Hold. If you see the car using the battery then you know that you needed some extra power.

 

[mike100]

I would consider you alter your trip strategy and not deplete your battery on highways. Never use up your battery on the first part of a trip. Put the car in hold as soon as you leave town saving the charge for the last half of the trip or through slower areas where you will be going under 50 mph...you really don't need MM for the climb out of Palm Springs.
If anything, you will get stuck in holiday traffic and will be going 9 mph with everybody else trying to return to LA- in which case you will be golden because you could go 100 miles on your charge at that rate.

 

[SSonnentag]

I would consider you alter your trip strategy and not deplete your battery on highways. Never use up your battery on the first part of a trip. Put the car in hold as soon as you leave town saving the charge for the last half of the trip or through slower areas where you will be going under 50 mph...you really don't need MM for the climb out of Palm Springs.
If anything, you will get stuck in holiday traffic and will be going 9 mph with everybody else trying to return to LA- in which case you will be golden because you could go 100 miles on your charge at that rate.

That's actually a great idea. I won't be able to charge over the weekend anyway, so I'm better off saving the charge for local driving once we're over there. Thanks!

 

[voganni]

Actually, I've discovered that putting the car in L with cruise control engaged will prevent the speed from increasing on downhill sections. It will use the added regen to slow the car to the set speed. There is no other effect of being in L with cruise on. No lurching or anything. Discovered this by accident!

 

[Kraven]

Actually, I've discovered that putting the car in L with cruise control engaged will prevent the speed from increasing on downhill sections. It will use the added regen to slow the car to the set speed. There is no other effect of being in L with cruise on. No lurching or anything. Discovered this by accident!

I never experienced the speed increasing on downhill sections in D, seems to maintain a constant speed. I have recently started trying L and Sport Mode (been doing D and Normal) and I think, especially around town, I like the L/Sport better. I have also been on freeways using L/Sport with the cruise but my mind sees the L and thinks "Low" although I know that's not the case. I flip it back to D on highways however I realize I don't need to. I think psychologically, maybe for those of us that have been driving for a long time, having it say "B" instead of L might help.

Regardless, I believe I'm moving toward L/Sport as being my default driving setup.

 

[Arcanox]

Actually, I've discovered that putting the car in L with cruise control engaged will prevent the speed from increasing on downhill sections. It will use the added regen to slow the car to the set speed. There is no other effect of being in L with cruise on. No lurching or anything. Discovered this by accident!

Odd, I swear mine slows down on downhill sections even in D. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly; I hardly ever use cruise control.

having it say "B" instead of L might help

Yeah, I thought it was odd that it was "L" (Lincoln's hybrids say "L" too, even though it doesn't really put it in "low" gear...just a lot of engine braking). Toyota labels theirs "B" even though it uses engine braking instead of regenerative.

 

[JoeReal]

Shifting to L does absolutely nothing if your foot is on the pedal or Cruise Control is active.

The L happens to be marvelous on downgrades, they never overspeed when you are in cruise control unlike the D which tend to overspeed at steeper grades. It's just very comfortable for me to use L after reaching the summit. When the ground is level and I get off the freeway, I switch back to D. That's just how I comfortably use the car.