[timlange3]

Getting a 2017 Volt tomorrow. Have a 2013 since 10/2012. One of the kids gets the old Volt and their older gas burner goes away.

I know I will get more range.

I know I will miss the Homelink, WTF??

I will miss the 12V port on the dash for my dashcam, what do 2017 owners do to power dashcam?

I will miss the lower window in the hatch.

2017 seems to sit higher than 2013. Quieter cabin due to bench back seat?

Other than the instrument cluster and info center, what other differences have others found between the 2013 and 2017?

Tim.

 

[turboguy327]

You should hardwired the dash cam either way. It makes it seamless and leaves the port open for use and will record parking lot incidents.

 

[Joe67]

You should hardwired the dash cam either way. It makes it seamless and leaves the port open for use and will record parking lot incidents.

I had two electronics stores recommend I do not keep the dashcam powered on full time in my Volt compared to my other vehicles. Maybe nothing but mine is hard wired to the ignition lead.

Another reason to hard wire is no dangling wires to attract unwanted attention.

 

[turboguy327]

I had two electronics stores recommend I do not keep the dashcam powered on full time in my Volt compared to my other vehicles. Maybe nothing but mine is hard wired to the ignition lead.

Another reason to hard wire is no dangling wires to attract unwanted attention.

I've had my blackvue650s 2 channel hardwired 12+ first in my truck, then the volt for a combined 2.5 years with no ill affects. The volt sat for 6 days unplugged without affecting the 12V. Original 2013 battery.

 

[Johnathan Vail]

I went from a loaded 2012 to a not-loaded 2017 and love it. I lost the backup beeps but the 2017 camera is much better. Also lost homelink button and GPS but the Android Auto more than makes up for it. In general I love it and the new range gets me to and from work on one charge even in Winter. I have a running list of difference here:

http://volcano.newts.org/2016/12/04/chevy-volt-2012-vs-2017/

As for the dash cam the 2012 had the dash compartment with power and my 5 minute "test" install lasted like 4 years. I still haven't figured out the 2017 but I might pull down the pillar trim and headliner and maybe wire it to the onstar/light pod. Not sure yet.

 

[quirkySquirt]

Not all of us are handy enough to tear into our new Volts without creating more problems, so for those less inclined to disassemble or cut/drill things, below is a mock-up of how I routed the power cable for my mirror dash cam. The cable was routed into the headliner (no need to peel it back, there's a 2mm gap), along the front passenger's weather stripping, below the glove compartment along a gap where the hinge is (but it's not the hinge, glove compartment opens just fine), along the seam between two pieces of trim in the front passenger's foot well, then finished at the 12V outlet next to the AUX input.

I didn't stuff the cables behind the trim since I didn't feel comfortable breaking any clips prying the trim away. So I fashioned some anchors using electrical tape. The tape went around the power cable with an excess "flag" folded over multiple times to create a thick anchor that I could slip into the seam between trims. I simply pry the trim pieces enough to slide the thick anchor behind the trim. When I release the trim, it pulls the electrical tape (and the dash cam power cable) tight against the seam between trims.

I'm going to take pictures soon (hopefully before the new year) along with test recording of my dash cam later in another thread.

My future idea for this is also to provide an alternate battery buffer for the dash cam's "park mode" so they can be on all the time without a hit to my Volt's 12V battery. It will be ugly, but hopefully not in-your face ugly.

 

[jehrler]

Getting a 2017 Volt tomorrow. Have a 2013 since 10/2012. One of the kids gets the old Volt and their older gas burner goes away.

I know I will get more range.

I know I will miss the Homelink, WTF??

I will miss the 12V port on the dash for my dashcam, what do 2017 owners do to power dashcam?

I will miss the lower window in the hatch.

2017 seems to sit higher than 2013. Quieter cabin due to bench back seat?

Other than the instrument cluster and info center, what other differences have others found between the 2013 and 2017?

Tim.

We just turned in our leased 14 for the 17 and we love it. They really upped the ante in our opinion.

But, as to the Homelink, what we did was to put our keychain sized garage door opener in the storage "bin" on the driver's door armrest.

https://www.amazon.com/Chamberlain-LiftMaster-Craftsman-956EV-Keychain/dp/B004OVU66O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483199413&sr=8-2&keywords=keychain+garage+door+opener

The bin is deep enough that you don't trigger the opener with your arm on the rest, it is also deep enough that the opener doesn't pop out when opening/closing the door. It doesn't rattle even with no foam/cloth dampening. It is narrow enough that the opener stays oriented with the largest of the three buttons orientated to the front of the car. The range of the opener is at least the equivalent of the homelink. You can also feel for the opener without looking even if you are not a daily driver.

And, lastly, the remote button works better. The homelink button always required a long hold or a second push to open the garage and when I would drive the car I would be used to the quick button push on our opener in our other car (non-homelink). Would only work a 1/4 of the time. Now with the small remote the same button push works on both cars.

 

[Johnathan Vail]

Thanks. I like your non invasive idea. I may run it all the way back to the fuse box so that I can easily change between switched and unswitched power if I get another camera with park mode. Please update if you try an auxillary parking battery.

 

[Johnathan Vail]

So with the help of a friend who used to work for a alarm/starter shop we ended up running it from the headliner in the middle down the driver side pillar and wired right into the back of the 12v lighter plug. We ran the wire under the airbag and along the inside of the door gasket.

I had originally planned to use a fuse adaptor but it looks like all the fuses are "hot" all the time and relay switched as need later. I wanted it switched so we went with splicing to the 12 lighter.

 

[Sheldon]

We just turned in our leased 14 for the 17 and we love it. They really upped the ante in our opinion.

But, as to the Homelink, what we did was to put our keychain sized garage door opener in the storage "bin" on the driver's door armrest.

https://www.amazon.com/Chamberlain-LiftMaster-Craftsman-956EV-Keychain/dp/B004OVU66O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483199413&sr=8-2&keywords=keychain+garage+door+opener

The bin is deep enough that you don't trigger the opener with your arm on the rest, it is also deep enough that the opener doesn't pop out when opening/closing the door. It doesn't rattle even with no foam/cloth dampening. It is narrow enough that the opener stays oriented with the largest of the three buttons orientated to the front of the car. The range of the opener is at least the equivalent of the homelink. You can also feel for the opener without looking even if you are not a daily driver.

And, lastly, the remote button works better. The homelink button always required a long hold or a second push to open the garage and when I would drive the car I would be used to the quick button push on our opener in our other car (non-homelink). Would only work a 1/4 of the time. Now with the small remote the same button push works on both cars.

ditto; turned in our 2014 Volt for a 2017 Premier; what an upgrade! But the garage door opener clip is not as convenient as homelink.

 

[mw8385]

ditto; turned in our 2014 Volt for a 2017 Premier; what an upgrade! But the garage door opener clip is not as convenient as homelink.

Same here. I bought a bluetooth adapter for the garage door so I would not have a bulky door opener.
https://bluemate.com/

 

[quirkySquirt]

Thanks. I like your non invasive idea. I may run it all the way back to the fuse box so that I can easily change between switched and unswitched power if I get another camera with park mode. Please update if you try an auxillary parking battery.

I've finished by quick install journey at: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?271233-Dash-cam-placement-blindspot-vs-sideways

I'm going further kludgey in that I'll use a 12V-USB power converter -> 20Ah-USB-powerpack -> USB-12V power converter converter -> 12V dashcam power supplies. I think I can get 5W of power to run all 4 (actually 3) dash cams as I've successfully ran my Toguard Novatek 96655 mirror dash cam using just 2.5W of power and the SQ8 using even less at 0.5W of power.

I'm awaiting the USB-12V power converter to arrive. I already have a 20Ah USB power pack which I hopefully can get 5W of power out of using the USB-12V converter. I've already tested independently the Toguard Novatek 96655 mirror dash cam with 2.5W of power and the the SQ8 on 0.5W of power (total power required for all 3 cameras would be 3.5W of power). Even if I only get the 0.8A rated out of the USB-12V power converter, I'm hoping my conversion losses are such that I still have 3.5W of power left to power all 3 dash cameras. With the 20Ah USB battery pack, I can easily keep my cams running for a full work day. Question is how quick the battery pack can recharge to full during my 1 hr commute home.

 

[quirkySquirt]

*SNIP*

Forum server error forced me to retype the post. Combined it with above post. Mods, if you wouldn't mind deleting this post, thanks!