New GOM Record for my 2013 Volt

FYI, the 2011/2012 Volt display was limited to a maximum 50 mile estimated ev range, and the later Gen 1 models had a maximum of 60 mile estimated ev range. Back then, actually getting 50+ miles per charge was a nice challenge.

If you could average ~5.4 miles/kWh for your day’s driving, even if you actually drove only 20 miles/day before recharging, you could then get your full charge reading up to that 60 estimated max (i.e., your historical average mileage times total available power in a full charge), and it required posting a photo of your day’s end usage screen to prove you could actually drive 60+ miles on one charge.

There is no display limit for the Gen 2 Volts, so that same person who gets 5.4 miles/kWh during their 20 mile daily drive in a Gen 1 Volt would see a full charge ev range estimate of 76 estimated ev miles or so in a Gen 2 Volt if they continued to drive only 20 miles/day... Maintaining a high ev mileage rate for a full 14.1 kWh of battery power is challenging, and how many owners actually drive the 76+ miles it would take to prove you can drive this far on a single charge (especially without any use of Hold mode) before recharging? Perhaps that’s why you see more photos posted by Gen 2 drivers of their full charge range estimates than pictures of their AER accomplished ev miles driven on a full charge...

TomOwens said:

When it's warm I can see 5.4 - 5.7 miles/KWh on my commute home from work for the first 28 miles. It's the last 5 miles that always brings it back down to less than 5.0. Those last few hills and a couple of miles of soft dirt road. Maybe I should move into town and sell the farm.

Click to expand...

Note that the computer algorithm creating the "start of day, full-charge" range estimates tends to be fuel-specific, so if you reach a point as you travel homeward where the usage screen shows such good ev mileage (e.g., 5.4 - 5.7 miles/kWh), you can game your stats by switching to Hold and staying there (i.e., driving on gas) until you get home and plug in... next morning’s ev range will be influenced by your previous day’s good ev mileage...

Works the other way, too... one forum participant’s daily commute is just a tad further than his electric range, so he chooses to use Hold to turn on the ICE during a downhill portion of the drive. Uses very little gas during that portion of the trip because of the drop in elevation, so his Voltstats numbers show his MPGcs (gas mileage when using gas) in the 60-70 mpg range...

My end of summer start of day ev estimates for the 2012 Volt I bought in April of 2012 are in the upper 40s (first year 48, next 49, and then 50!) because around town I usually drive only a half-battery charge’s worth of distance or less on a normal day (retirement has its benefits). I do much of my driving in slower traffic, and I have the luxury of putting off errands until the driving weather is better, which helps the average mileage!