Will there be any anticipated damage if on the day I plan to get gas I put the car in Hold Mode and just run the tank dry? If not I'll report what happens in the Gen 2.
That video seems to indicate GM engineered an "extreme emergency" battery buffer of about 4-5 electric miles at the very bottom of the allowable battery state of charge that would allow you to limp along to a near-by fuel station (most likely, a gas station), to be accessed ONLY when you run out of gas and there is NO other remaining battery power. I suspect it might still be there in the Gen 2 Volt, but I don’t know why anyone would want to demonstrate its existence.
That said, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t put your Gen 2 Volt into Hold Mode to start the engine, then drive until you run out of gas. I would advise you have your battery charged when you do this. Some people caution against running out of gas for reasons that were of more concern some years ago regarding damage to fuel pumps, etc., which don’t apply to the Volt’s configuration.
Because of my driving habits (I try to take one annual multi-gas-tank vacation trip, but mostly ev around town), I’ve experienced 3 FMMs in the 6+ years I’ve been driving my 2012 Volt. Two of them I ended by running out of gas with my battery fully charged and ready for that moment... the access to Electric Mode returns when the engine has no more fuel, and if you have no gas, you drive in Reduced Propulsion Mode until you put at least enough gas into the tank to bring the FMM to an end (that’s enough gas in the tank to give you a gas range, not just Low).
The manuals for both Gen 1 and Gen 2 Volts say that if EMM or FMM is required and the fuel level is low, the EMM/FMM may eventually empty the fuel tank if fuel is not added. This will result in reduced, or no power. An adequate fuel level must be maintained in the vehicle to keep it operational. I’ve twice experienced the Reduced Propulsion Mode as a consequence of emptying the gas tank during an FMM, but I’ve never seen any posting indicating anyone had "no power" after they ran out of gas with some charge still in the battery. I suspect this warning is more to caution against first emptying the battery, and then emptying the gas tank.
If you do run out of gas and enter Reduced Propulsion mode, when you then add gas, the computer will perform an engine test when you first turn the Volt on again to confirm things are okay, and will then switch to battery power (if you have some charge remaining), or you can use Hold Mode and use the engine (see Out of Fuel/Engine Unavailable in the manual for full explanation).
Running out of gas actually leaves a very small amount of fuel remaining in the lines. An FMM occurs when the computer calculates the average age of the gas to be 1 year old. My next FMM following the two times I ran out of gas to end one occurred just 363 days later. The small amount of "old" gas remaining in the lines was enough to bring down the "average age" calculation for the full tank by 2 days.
During my third FMM (last Fall), I monitored the fuel volume using the Torque Pro app, and when the app reported 0 gals, 0% gas volume as I sat on a flat parking lot near the gas pumps, I started the car and drove over to the pumps (with the engine running, apparently on the fumes), and filled the tank. I then turned the car on, and no self-test was performed, as if a small enough amount of gas remained in the fuel lines to avoid the self-test. Can’t tell if that wee bit extra gas in the lines will shorten the time until my next FMM this coming Fall until it arrives.