[M'header]

Good evening all,

I picked up my 2017 Volt on 20Jul, Premier, Pepper Dust Metallic, black&brandy leather, Driver pkg 1 & 2, Navigation, floor mats. Have 917 miles on it so far. 36 mile round trip commute. Battery range started at 53 and has slowly krept up to 68 and has seemed to peak out there. Heavy AC use this time of year, flat Florida, no hills. When I get home from work there is 27-30 miles left. Have not run the battery "out" yet.

I have read that the ICE will occasionally run by itself but hasn't yet. This past Friday I decided to try the "hold mode" and could hardly tell the difference. I could feel a clutch going in and out occasionally. Watching the "Flow" screen, the Volt seems to start from a dead stop on battery power and goes to ICE power at about 16-18 mph. When I got home from work and plugged in, the charge light went solid green in a very short period, so obviously the ICE-gen was replacing battery usage for the entire trip.

This is my first new car in 12 years. Last new car was a 2005 VW Golf TDI, 113,000 miles, 35.8 mpg lifetime, most on surface street, stop and go driving, same commute. The electronics in the Volt is culture shock compared to the Golf, which basically had none. One feature the Golf had that I miss is the ability to raise all the windows with the key in the door, if you forget to raise a window before getting out of the car. Of course, the Volt doesn't use a key, but the remote can lower all the windows but cannot raise them. If I forget to raise the window before getting out, I have to get back in and turn everything on to raise the window. A very small item but I miss it. Is there any way to configure the remote or the outside lock button to raise all the windows if held for 5 seconds?

My Golf diesel had good low rpm torque, but the Volt has MUCH more. This is a fun car to drive.

Still learning to use all the Volt features and hope to learn tips from others through this forum.

Everyone be safe looking at the eclipse tomorrow.

M'header

 

[jcanoe]

You are correct, you can configure the Volt to enable the key fob Unlock button to lower the windows by holding the Unlock button but you cannot use the key fob to raise the windows.

Congratulations on your new Volt. Florida's climate and terrain is ideal for maximizing the Volt's EV range. If you drive at a constant 30 - 35 mph (but who does that?) you could get more than 70 miles of EV range, especially on flat roads. When using gas the Volt will meet or exceed its EPA rating of 41 city, 42 combined, 43 highway MPG using 87 octane unleaded fuel. If you watch your speed you could exceed 50 mpg when using gas.

If you don't regularly use the gas engine the Owner's Manual recommends keeping the Volt's gas tank 1/3rd full, about 3 gallons. The Volt will manage the gas engine and the fuel in the fuel tank with two separate programs. The Engine Management Mode (EMM) will start the gas engine every 6 weeks for a short time to circulate the engine oil and the other fluids. This maintains the engine seals and ensures that the internal engine parts are lubricated. The second program is Fuel Management Mode (FMM). If you don't use the gas in the tank, after ~12 months, the Volt will enter FMM and start to use up the old gas. You can let FMM burn all of the old fuel or you can add some fresh fuel to extend the time until the next time FMM runs. The Volt will compute the average age of all of the fuel in the fuel tank; i.e, if you have 1 to 2 gallons of old fuel in the fuel tank and only add a small amount of fresh fuel this won't suspend the FMM program for very long but adding an equal amount of fresh fuel to whatever old fuel is in the fuel tank will extend the time until the next time FMM runs for ~ 6 months.

Feel free to experiment with Sport Mode, Mountain Mode and Hold Mode. It is a safe bet that you will never need to use Mountain Mode in Florida. Mountain Mode will build up and maintain a 20% battery reserve so that the Volt's two electric motors can tap this battery reserve and help the gas engine when ascending or passing on long mountainous roads.

One of the Volt's best features is being able to precondition the Volt's cabin when the weather is warm or cold. You can use the key fob or the MyChevrolet App on your smart phone to precondition the Volt. Preconditioning also warms the battery if the Volt determines that the battery temperature is too low, i.e. colder than 40 F then the Volt will use some power to raise the battery temperature to between 40F and 65F. (A scenario where the Volt needs to precondition and heat the battery during preconditioning is not likely to occur in Coral Springs.) Each preconditioning cycle lasts 10 minutes, you can precondition 2X before you have to start the Volt using the Start button on the dash.

Also, you can leave the Volt parked and powered on with the AC running for several hours (more than enough time to leave someone in the Volt with the AC on while you run an errand.) Note: The Volt will automatically power off in 2 ~ 2.5 hours if you forget to turn off the vehicle. The AC is not a huge drain on the battery the way that the electric resistance heat will noticeably affect your EV range. There is a thread on window tinting on the forum, you may decide to have your Volt's glass tinted as this will make a difference in how hard the AC needs to run to keep the cabin cool.

 

[alfon]

Congrads on your new 2017 Volt. My wife and I are on our 2nd Volt, the first being a 2014 Volt we purchased new in Oct. 2013, we traded it in July 2016 for our new Volt Premier. Your Volt will probably get mid 40's mpg's just on the gas engine, probably better than your TDI and thats on regular gas instead of Diesel which usually cost more than regular gas as well.

Don't be afraid to use the gas engine once in a while as well, as the 2016-17 Volts gas engine is quite fuel efficient, and at times our Volt gets over 50 mpg just on gas in hold mode.

Electric range in summer should be high 50's to low 60's. Its nice to know with a fully charged Volt its your choice with just a push of a button you can drive on 100% pure electric or elect to use hold mode, and save that fully charged battery when and where you want to use it. Not many cars have the capability to do that, but the Volt does.

 

[gadgeTT]

Congrats! I have only seen a small handful of other Gen2 Volts around the area. I live in Deerfield Beach so I'm not far from and sometimes driving in the Coral Springs area. Say Hi if you see me and my Citron Green Metallic Gen2 - kinda rare so I doubt anyone else local has one.

Enjoy your gas-free driving!

 

[Andy00778]

Had my Gen 2 down in Florida (Pembroke Pines) since Nov/15 and at that time it was the only one in Florida. Think the local dealer has been selling lots of them since they arrived in the state around March/16. Heading back down in November and I am often in Deerfield so will watch for you.

Congrats! I have only seen a small handful of other Gen2 Volts around the area. I live in Deerfield Beach so I'm not far from and sometimes driving in the Coral Springs area. Say Hi if you see me and my Citron Green Metallic Gen2 - kinda rare so I doubt anyone else local has one.

Enjoy your gas-free driving!

 

[hellsop]

Watching the "Flow" screen, the Volt seems to start from a dead stop on battery power and goes to ICE power at about 16-18 mph. When I got home from work and plugged in, the charge light went solid green in a very short period, so obviously the ICE-gen was replacing battery usage for the entire trip.

Yup, the kicking on/off of the ICE is unrelated to speed, driving, etc, and is only related to whether the charge level is within a small buffer window of the set point. The "run the battery out" does the same deal, but it's an automatic fixed point for that point instead of Hold Mode's "set the target here". So the speed at which the ICE turns on won't always be 16-18 or a distance or ... well, anything. You could be sitting there with the AC on, use up enough power, and the ICE will come on and charge the battery back up. The window *seems* to be someplace around a half kwh between its high water and low water points, but we don't know for sure.

This is my first new car in 12 years. Last new car was a 2005 VW Golf TDI, 113,000 miles, 35.8 mpg lifetime, most on surface street, stop and go driving, same commute. The electronics in the Volt is culture shock compared to the Golf, which basically had none. One feature the Golf had that I miss is the ability to raise all the windows with the key in the door, if you forget to raise a window before getting out of the car. Of course, the Volt doesn't use a key, but the remote can lower all the windows but cannot raise them. If I forget to raise the window before getting out, I have to get back in and turn everything on to raise the window. A very small item but I miss it. Is there any way to configure the remote or the outside lock button to raise all the windows if held for 5 seconds?

Nope. But putting the windows up even if their closed kind of becomes part of the shutdown ritual just as checking the charge port for a cord plugged it becomes part of the habit of getting in.

 

[M'header]

Good afternoon,

Hope everyone got to see the eclipse yesterday. Unfortunately, I was in a meeting the entire afternoon and only saw the daylight change from the meeting room window

Thanks all for replying to my comments and questions. This seems to be an active group. Hopefully it will be helpful and as I get to use my Volt more, I may be able to add to the discussion.

I have turned on the AC before getting in the car, and it is GREAT. Disappointed to know that there is no present way to raise all windows from outside the vehicle. Is there a "feature wish list" for the Volt? This would seem to require only a very few lines of code to accomplish.

I drive from Coral Springs to FLL every day and do not believe that I have seen another 16-17 Volt. I have seen older ones, but only one or two. Too bad there are not more around or maybe I am not looking close enough.

To Andy, do you drive your Volt from Ontario to FL? If so, how is it on long drives. I would like to drive to Massachusetts in the fall. Haven't been home in several years now and my wife and I no longer are up to flying. Too much hassle today.

Got to get back to work. Thanks again for the replies.

M'header

 

[Coppersnowboarder]

Your internal combustion engine will kick-in for a few miles when the temperature is about 13 degrees outside in order to warm the battery system. However, you are unlikely to experience this event in Florida.

 

[M'header]

Good evening Coppersnowboarder,

I saw plenty of that kind of weather when I lived in Massachusetts, too cold to start, snow plow plowing a 6ft mound across the driveway, snowy, icy roads,.... Been in south FL for 31 years now and have only seen two frosts. In the 12yrs I had the Golf, I never had to use the TDI preheater. I HOPE I will NEVER need the Volt battery heated here.

Speaking of that, Saturday I washed the car, unplugging it before washing. It was at full charge. After washing, I plugged it back in and the radiator fans started almost immediately. Occasionally, when working in the garage, I can here the fans starting and stopping occasionally (the car is outside). At these times, the Volt has been plugged in since the night before, so obviously the battery is fully charged. What is up with the fans running? Has it something to do with the battery?

 

[hellsop]

Good evening Coppersnowboarder,

I saw plenty of that kind of weather when I lived in Massachusetts, too cold to start, snow plow plowing a 6ft mound across the driveway, snowy, icy roads,.... Been in south FL for 31 years now and have only seen two frosts. In the 12yrs I had the Golf, I never had to use the TDI preheater. I HOPE I will NEVER need the Volt battery heated here.

Just leave it plugged in and the Volt will take care of what it needs. And you won't even notice.

Speaking of that, Saturday I washed the car, unplugging it before washing. It was at full charge. After washing, I plugged it back in and the radiator fans started almost immediately. Occasionally, when working in the garage, I can here the fans starting and stopping occasionally (the car is outside). At these times, the Volt has been plugged in since the night before, so obviously the battery is fully charged. What is up with the fans running? Has it something to do with the battery?

Yup. It also cools the battery when it needs to as well. If it's plugged in, it'll chill down to maintain a temperature between 85 and 72F, which is a temperature at which the battery can give fully. The battery's well insulated and it's a LOT of thermal mass, so it doesn't take a LOT of cooling to keep it at temperature when it's NOT charging (it takes about 8 hours in 115F heat unplugged to raise the battery temp from 80F to 90F), but charging does create a lot of heat that needs to get pulled out, and those heat-producing reactions continue for some time after the charging pe se is done.