[JoeReal]

Going into winter, I saw my EV Range slowly getting lower, from the highs of 60 into the 48 mile range. After the recall service was done for the Reduced Propulsion issue I noticed significant improvement in my range for the same kWH used. During the warm days of fall, my range displays 60 miles, sometimes as high as 65 miles. Then it slowly crept down to 56, 55, 53, 51, and now 48 when the lows are in the upper 30's. I park my car outside the garage.

Then after the recall, I got all 50-53 mile range again even though the minimum temperature are in the high 20's. But driving the car will actually give you slightly higher mileage. I have 75% freeway driving and 25% city driving. For the past several days, my range has been between 50-53 depending on minimum temperature. Just this morning, when it got down to 27 deg F, I got a 50 mile range on the display. I preconditioned the car, then drove the car for 54 miles on the usual route and I still got 2 miles remaining. My range actually improved after the recall, has anyone else noticed this?

 

[snorth]

What is the reduced propulsion recall?

 

[TrueJournals]

I find this pretty hard to believe.

Are you encountering ERDTT when getting this improved range? It's possible that during the update, your "deferred" (~16 degrees) setting got changed to "on" (~32 degrees) and you're seeing improved range because you're burning gas to generate range.

Do you use the heat much? You said you preconditioned -- for how long? Did you turn the heat off after getting in the car? Perhaps you could post a picture of your energy screen to convince me

 

[acarney]

I can't figure out how a per-kW increase in miles could take place unless your electric load (heat and etc) was reduced or a drastic change in driving habit. The only way I could see this being done is if they opened up another kW or two from the battery because they felt it was safe to extend the SOC range, but that would be very odd.

Have you noticed any additional charge time? We'll have to gather more data points for this and ideally under mild conditions (say 50 to 70F) where we can leave most additional system off and just look at the absolute energy usage over say two or three miles. That would give us the best case miles/kW. If that's roughly the same (3 to 4 miles/kW) then the only way there is an improvement is with increased battery amount (a deeper discharge ability) OR somehow improved regen abilities? (maybe a slightly more drastic regen in L or a remapped regen force when using the paddle which was more efficient?)

 

[mpmoore1979]

Maybe they added air to your tires!

 

[JoeReal]

My tire pressure is maintained at 38-39 psi in the cold morning, I maintain it in this range ever since, I have pumped only twice to maintain at this pressure. My total kWh display when it gets to zero range is 14.1

I don't have ERDTT, and I download my VoltStats reading every other day and I know that I don't have extra gasoline burning ERDTT based on the readings.

Also, my mpg cs improved. I am now hitting between 55-80 mpg cs while on the freeway and this has brought my lifetime mpg cs to 44 up from 38.

At first I thought the recall upgrade messed up my range estimates as sometimes the remaining range drops by 2 mile increment instead on 1 mile increment, but that was just the initial. It is now normal again. Also I happen to notice that after recharging, when my display states 50 miles, after driving for 2 miles on a level load, my display would state 53 miles! But after driving it for 54 miles, I get 2 miles remaining, without turning the gasoline on.

This could just be wind anomalies. Maybe I have tail winds when I go to work, and the wind reverses direction to become tail wind again when I go back home. I haven't check the wind changes especially on the freeway and compared them in the past. I know that our weather has changed into winter mode and with it, usually we had north winds instead of the south or southwest.

 

[DonC]

Hard to understand what's going on. I can see how the estimates might change after an upgrade. All the driving history might get wiped and the estimates might be showing the defaults. But you're talking about something else. Getting 55 mpg much less 80 mpg on the freeway in CS Mode seems impossible.

 

[Splitting Atoms]

Hard to understand what's going on. I can see how the estimates might change after an upgrade. All the driving history might get wiped and the estimates might be showing the defaults. But you're talking about something else. Getting 55 mpg much less 80 mpg on the freeway in CS Mode seems impossible.

Maybe VW did the reprogram...

 

[supchrgamx]

Maybe VW did the reprogram...

OUCH
the rest of the letters to post

 

[2VoltFamily]

Going into winter, I saw my EV Range slowly getting lower, from the highs of 60 into the 48 mile range. After the recall service was done for the Reduced Propulsion issue I noticed significant improvement in my range for the same kWH used. During the warm days of fall, my range displays 60 miles, sometimes as high as 65 miles. Then it slowly crept down to 56, 55, 53, 51, and now 48 when the lows are in the upper 30's. I park my car outside the garage.

Then after the recall, I got all 50-53 mile range again even though the minimum temperature are in the high 20's. But driving the car will actually give you slightly higher mileage. I have 75% freeway driving and 25% city driving. For the past several days, my range has been between 50-53 depending on minimum temperature. Just this morning, when it got down to 27 deg F, I got a 50 mile range on the display. I preconditioned the car, then drove the car for 54 miles on the usual route and I still got 2 miles remaining. My range actually improved after the recall, has anyone else noticed this?

My guess is the you are not talking about range at all but the displayed expected range on the dash since you say "During the warm days of fall, my range displays 60 miles, sometimes as high as 65 miles." So your ACTUAL range and what is displayed on the GUESSOMETER are completely different things.

So if you have been keeping track of your actual range with an odometer reading (not the guessometer) before the dealer visit and after the dealer visit and those were significantly different then maybe something changed but I doubt it.

I suspect your observations are flawed due to the mixing of actual range vs. the guessometer and not distinguishing between them. A dealer service to the computer or disconnecting the 12v battery would reset the guessometer to the 50-53 range similar to what a new car would be.

Nothing has change most likely only your perception of the facts.

 

[supchrgamx]

View attachment 125817

they transferred some of the heating load from the batteries to the engine, leaving more battery for movement
the 3 updates changed the characteristics of the car quite a bit
paddle better on ice
first time I didn't loose last 2 km when I switched to mountain mode
engine seems smoother
the car makes more sense in cold weather

-18C outside, just sucks in the car
but -27C outside is just fine , I think its because they cycle the engine between 60 and 70C at that temp, but at -18 they cycle the engine between 53 and 63C, think they should move that cycle up a bit . at that outside temp I can really feel the engine temp drop in the heater below 56C. or better yet when the heater is on high the motor cycles between 60 to 70c
did I mention its a awesome car
30,000 city now has 3 volts , it begins
personally now looking for #2

 

[dharper]

Like the OP said, my range was slowly creeping down since I started to use more cabin heat. Then I notice that my guessometer had jumped about 8-10% after my reduced propulsion recall as well. My guess is that the guessometer is based on the way you use Kws from the battery, which has been higher than the GMs calculated average. Thus, after every drive, the guess would slowly get lower. Then after the recall, they probably reset some data, taking the guess back up to the GM average. Well that is what I think.

 

[supchrgamx]

after my update my range had not changed ,but the way the car now acts I'm sure it will go up ,hopefully up the 10% you seen

 

[DA\Volt]

Going into winter, I saw my EV Range slowly getting lower, from the highs of 60 into the 48 mile range. After the recall service was done for the Reduced Propulsion issue I noticed significant improvement in my range for the same kWH used. During the warm days of fall, my range displays 60 miles, sometimes as high as 65 miles. Then it slowly crept down to 56, 55, 53, 51, and now 48 when the lows are in the upper 30's. I park my car outside the garage.

Then after the recall, I got all 50-53 mile range again even though the minimum temperature are in the high 20's. But driving the car will actually give you slightly higher mileage. I have 75% freeway driving and 25% city driving. For the past several days, my range has been between 50-53 depending on minimum temperature. Just this morning, when it got down to 27 deg F, I got a 50 mile range on the display. I preconditioned the car, then drove the car for 54 miles on the usual route and I still got 2 miles remaining. My range actually improved after the recall, has anyone else noticed this?

Your message is very confusing.

Are you claiming you've actually been able to physically drive more miles before deleting the battery to zero since the recall, or are you just saying the guessometer estimates further range?

Your last few sentences suggest to physical range increase.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[wordptom]

My tire pressure is maintained at 38-39 psi in the cold morning, I maintain it in this range ever since, I have pumped only twice to maintain at this pressure. My total kWh display when it gets to zero range is 14.1

I don't have ERDTT, and I download my VoltStats reading every other day and I know that I don't have extra gasoline burning ERDTT based on the readings.

Also, my mpg cs improved. I am now hitting between 55-80 mpg cs while on the freeway and this has brought my lifetime mpg cs to 44 up from 38.

At first I thought the recall upgrade messed up my range estimates as sometimes the remaining range drops by 2 mile increment instead on 1 mile increment, but that was just the initial. It is now normal again. Also I happen to notice that after recharging, when my display states 50 miles, after driving for 2 miles on a level load, my display would state 53 miles! But after driving it for 54 miles, I get 2 miles remaining, without turning the gasoline on.

This could just be wind anomalies. Maybe I have tail winds when I go to work, and the wind reverses direction to become tail wind again when I go back home. I haven't check the wind changes especially on the freeway and compared them in the past. I know that our weather has changed into winter mode and with it, usually we had north winds instead of the south or southwest.

You mention "a significant increase in range with the same kWh Used," but you don’t provide numbers reflecting how far you actually do drive using the 14.1 kWh of power. Did the number of miles you can drive using a fully charged battery (actual miles, not estimated) change at the time the recall was performed, or was it only the full charge range estimate that changed? If the AER did not change, it’s evidence your driving is consistent, but the algorithm that calculates the full charge range estimate is relearning your habits.

You write of examining your Voltstats numbers to confirm you’re not burning "extra gas" for ERDTT. This suggests you do use gas during your commute. Perhaps you prefer to use Hold for driving at freeway speeds (some people do if they’re not sure the round trip commute can be driven entirely on the available battery power). Often these portions of such commutes are relatively short distances. Changes to MPGcs are amplified when only small quantities of gas are used. For example, a trip MPGcs of 38 mpg allows you to drive 13 miles using 13/38= 0.34 gallons of gas. If tail winds reduce the amount of gas needed to drive the same 13 miles by 0.09 gallons, your trip MPGcs increases to 52 mpg. Mileage readings ranging from 55 to 80 MPGcs perhaps reflect terrain- or environment-assisted mileage over short distances using small amounts of gas. If your lifetime gas consumption is low, then regularly hitting 50+ MPGcs during short freeway trips could well increase the lifetime MPGcs from 38 to 44.

 

[Andy00778]

I mentioned in the other thread about this update that the gas engine felt " different", but with the short test I couldn't say more. Since then I have done several long drives on gas, and noticed my gas milage has gone up. At 65-70 it used to get just over 40 mpg , now getting around 43-44 mpg. Temperature and terrain not an issue as I am in Florida and it's really flat here.

No change in Electric mode characteristics.


Anybody else noticed a mpg change?

 

[JoeReal]

Sorry for the vague wordings on my posts. For other information and clarification what I do every weekday.

My car is charged using the OEM EVSE connected to a NEMA 14-50 with a modified plug to give me 240V. Everyday around 5:10 AM, I precondition the Volt and then proceed to have coffee, breakfast. then I precondition it again at 5:25. Then I groom myself and dress up for work and I am at my warm car at 5:50 AM, pick up a friend for car pool, and then proceed to work. There's two of us in the car. So it is significant load. At about 6:15 AM, the outside air temperature reaches minimum, then it begins to rise or fall depending upon sections of the freeway passing through various cities and open spaces.

Anyway, I keep track of my initial EV Range at the lower left, and compare it to the EV miles traveled on the upper right of the middle console. I add the two together mentally, to gauge how I was doing when it comes to total EV miles, the driven plus the estimates remaining from the guessometer. So I know exactly what my remaining range is, and the EV miles that I have driven. And all of those numbers that I have shown you are real that I have tracked since the recall.

I download the daily readings from VoltStats every other day and load them unto the spreadsheet to do other calculations.

I find it hard to believe about the anomalies that I have observed because I really do watch the metrics of my car every day. I did not write to brag about this, nor I am trying to persuade you to believe what I have shared. I wrote the original post to find out if someone else has this good anomalies that I have observed and some of you did, so I know I am not crazy. I will continue monitoring my car as the winter progresses. Our coldest is around mid-January unless there's a wayward arctic blast coming our way.

 

[JoeReal]

And here's my mpgcs history on a 15-day moving average from VoltStats. I also show when I experimented with mountain mode, and how the recall impacted my mpgcs. I still drive the same route almost every day. The one spike that you saw reaching up to near 90 mpg cs is I think when we got tail winds blowing as we went home.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=125905

 

[acarney]

How long does this recall/update take? Is it something that I can just wait there for if I call in advance of coming in? Or does it take a couple hours up to half a day?

 

[khalfyard]

Just had the recall done this morning. Will get back if I see any big difference. it's -10C here, and my G-O-M range has dropped from 101km to 63km in the past month... Still driving over 90% on battery though, so all is peachy.