I'd say it's at least equal to any Japanese PHEV made so far, but there isn't many years in service to properly gauge the relative long term reliability.I will be driving a long commute about 80 miles each way. How is the reliability of the Volt. Compare it to the Japan made ev's . Thanks will want to keep up to and probably past 200,000 miles. Thanks any suggestions?
The 2016 was only available in California and was a fairly short lived model year. The 2017 was available everywhere, it came out in early 2016, I bought mine in May of 2016. If I were you I'd get a 2017 or 2018 so that you get all of the bug fixes. I doubt the 2019 will come out before the end of the year but if you can wait there is a small chance that there might be some upgrades to the 2019 model. Between 2016 and 2018 the only differences are paint color. GM hasn't said a thing about the future of the Volt so it's impossible to know if the 2019 will be any different from the 2016-2018 but I would hope that they would bump the battery size a bit in 2019.Thanks for the info . I was thinking the same about less parts than ice cars. I hope other gen 1 owners chime in with there mileage so can really get a good gauge. Not sure about destination charging trying get my company to put 1 in. that is my hope anyway. I am probably going to get a second hand 2016 or a leftover 2017. Hopefuly the 2019 comes out soon so I can a big discount on the car
Thanks again Tom
The 2016 Volt was sold in California and other California Air Resources Board (CARB) states. The states that have adopted the California standards are: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico (2011 model year), New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.The 2016 was only available in California and was a fairly short lived model year. The 2017 was available everywhere, it came out in early 2016, I bought mine in May of 2016. If I were you I'd get a 2017 or 2018 so that you get all of the bug fixes. I doubt the 2019 will come out before the end of the year but if you can wait there is a small chance that there might be some upgrades to the 2019 model. Between 2016 and 2018 the only differences are paint color. GM hasn't said a thing about the future of the Volt so it's impossible to know if the 2019 will be any different from the 2016-2018 but I would hope that they would bump the battery size a bit in 2019.
The Honda Clarity EV and PHEV are too new to compare to. On the other hand the Nissan Leaf has been around since 2010 and the Volt is by far the better vehicle. Even the 2nd generation Volt is already proving to be the better vehicle, at least from the battery management perspective. Nissan does nothing to protect their batteries from users other than list a bunch of "don't do … " entries in their owners manual.I will be driving a long commute about 80 miles each way. How is the reliability of the Volt. Compare it to the Japan made ev's . Thanks will want to keep up to and probably past 200,000 miles. Thanks any suggestions?
Of course the Leaf would be out of the question for the OP, it's range is too short. Even a Bolt would be questionable on a 160 miles commute without destination charging unless the OP lives in a winter less state.The Honda Clarity EV and PHEV are too new to compare to. On the other hand the Nissan Leaf has been around since 2010 and the Volt is by far the better vehicle. Even the 2nd generation Volt is already proving to be the better vehicle, at least from the battery management perspective. Nissan does nothing to protect their batteries from users other than list a bunch of "don't do … " entries in their owners manual.
There were some upgrades to the later 2017 Volt (and 2018) and the 2016 and early 2017 Volt. Adaptive Cruise control for one but I think there were others as well. Can't think of the other off hand but it was more important to me than ACC that it ruled out these early cars. Ended getting a good deal on a Gen 1 so it became academic and slipped my mind.Between 2016 and 2018 the only differences are paint color. GM hasn't said a thing about the future of the Volt so it's impossible to know if the 2019 will be any different from the 2016-2018 but I would hope that they would bump the battery size a bit in 2019.
FWIW, WA state adopted CARB emissions standards, but does *NOT* require manufacturers to give an extended warranty on emissions components. I have no idea the logic behind that, but it seems to be "let's just shift all the cost to the consumer to make us feel better" that seems so pervasive in WA.The 2016 Volt was sold in California and other California Air Resources Board (CARB) states. The states that have adopted the California standards are: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico (2011 model year), New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.
(It's also got the worthiness-standing that it's NOT self-reported so things like "average MPGcs (uncharged hybriding)" are authoritative and unbiased. EPA ratings, people obviously complaining and people obviously bragging, so consistency cannot be had for cars like Prius. VoltStats will give you real averages driving by real cars under real circumstances, without influence. You get 100 cars telling you "Yes, 40 MPG on just gas is totally reasonable to expect May through September in Wisconsin".)"I hope other gen 1 owners chime in with there mileage so can really get a good gauge"
So, no one else has mentioned this yet, but if you want to see some mileage quotes, check out voltstats.net. It's used voluntarily by volt owners to track. You can sort by mileage (sparkie is well over 400,000), but you'll also be able to see which are gen1 vs. gen2 (2016 forward).
I agree. You (the OP) will be buying lots of gas no matter what, given your commute. So for you the Volt is simply another high mileage car. You should test drive some other high mileage cars and see which one you want to spend 3 hours in every day. When running on gas, the Volt can get buzzy, and you'll be doing lots of that. And that's to say nothing of the backfire issue that GM has yet to solve on G2 cars when running on gas only.Now that I've owned them (new and used), I don't recommend hybrids or plug-in's for those folks looking for low cost transportation. One major out of warranty repair will wipe out any fuel savings. At nearly 40k miles/yr, the OP could be out of warranty in as early as 31 months into ownership; by 5yrs, 200k miles.
Get a conventional vehicle that has decent fuel economy, ACC, and that's comfortable because you'll be spending a lot of time in it. Start researching tires too.
GOOD LUCK!
A neighbor has a Bolt and does the daily 160 mile commute without destination charging with no issues. They bought a cheap low current (20A?) L2 charger off Craigslist for home charging, and even though they don't get a full charge overnight, they do get caught up on the weekends. Driving 75-80 on rural highways and taking full advantage of the HOV lanes when available. They did say that on the few "cold" AZ days range anxiety did come into play, but still made it without incident.Of course the Leaf would be out of the question for the OP, it's range is too short. Even a Bolt would be questionable on a 160 miles commute without destination charging unless the OP lives in a winter less state.
The OP didn't say where he lives. You live in AZ where the problem is excessive heat not excessive cold so a Bolt is a fine choice for a 160 mile roundtrip even without destination charging. Where I live in MA I would never choose a Bolt unless I had destination charging available. This time of year I'm getting 60-70 miles of range on my Volt but in the winter I've seen it drop below 40 miles. There are three bad things that happen to EVs in the winter, batteries lose up to 40% of their capacity, the heater slurps electricity, and because the Volt is FWD not AWD it needs snow tires which reduce it's range by 10%. If you live in a warm state none of that matters but if you live in a winter state I'd wouldn't want to do more than a 120 mile trip in the Bolt in the winter. Destination charging changes the equation for both the Volt and the Bolt. With the Volt you know you can make the trip with or without destination charging but if you have it then 60% of the trip will be on battery. With the Bolt even a few hours of destination charging is the difference between being on the hairy edge of making the trip in winter and and making it with a comfortable margin.A neighbor has a Bolt and does the daily 160 mile commute without destination charging with no issues. They bought a cheap low current (20A?) L2 charger off Craigslist for home charging, and even though they don't get a full charge overnight, they do get caught up on the weekends. Driving 75-80 on rural highways and taking full advantage of the HOV lanes when available. They did say that on the few "cold" AZ days range anxiety did come into play, but still made it without incident.
Recently took my 2011 Volt on a 1300 mile round trip to Grand Junction, CO driving on the REX in Mountain Mode pretty much the entire trip. Driving like I stole it because 10 hours in the saddle isn't all that pleasant no matter what the seat comfort might be. Many wide-open throttle passing event on the 2-lane indian reservation roads, 80+ mph speed limit on I-70 in Utah, and generally 5 over everywhere else. Final fuel number was 42.5 mpg with no recharging of the batteries - I was impressed. The Volt is an efficient vehicle with or without the EV driving mode.
VIN # B0985
Ditto here in Minnesota.The OP didn't say where he lives. You live in AZ where the problem is excessive heat not excessive cold so a Bolt is a fine choice for a 160 mile roundtrip even without destination charging. Where I live in MA I would never choose a Bolt unless I had destination charging available. This time of year I'm getting 60-70 miles of range on my Volt but in the winter I've seen it drop below 40 miles. There are three bad things that happen to EVs in the winter, batteries lose up to 40% of their capacity, the heater slurps electricity, and because the Volt is FWD not AWD it needs snow tires which reduce it's range by 10%. If you live in a warm state none of that matters but if you live in a winter state I'd wouldn't want to do more than a 120 mile trip in the Bolt in the winter. Destination charging changes the equation for both the Volt and the Bolt. With the Volt you know you can make the trip with or without destination charging but if you have it then 60% of the trip will be on battery. With the Bolt even a few hours of destination charging is the difference between being on the hairy edge of making the trip in winter and and making it with a comfortable margin.