Saved by the Volt last night
We drove to the winery last night to fine tune the acids of our wines as protection against the heat wave. It was very hot and dark and we drove along our favorite back roads for a quicker trip. Then my partner, suddenly screamed to alarm me that we're going to collide to a vehicle without lights, but by then the Volt automatically slowed down to match the speed of the vehicle without visible tail lights. I then explained that it is one of the safety features of the Chevy Volt. The vehicle is a tractor, and you know how slow they travel, was pulling a trailer with bales of hay so that the hay was covering all the trailer lights, and the tractor cannot be seen from behind the bales of hay, so it was almost invisible on a dark night on a country road. Am so glad that I got the Adaptive Cruise Control package and it alerted me of the vehicle ahead even if I can't visually see it and it automatically slowed down to keep a safe distance. It is no wonder why the second generation Chevy Volt got the highest safety rating among all the US manufactured cars.
I wish they'll have the ACC soon on the Chevy Bolt EV. It's the only thing that's holding me from buying it.
I wish they'll have the ACC soon on the Chevy Bolt EV. It's the only thing that's holding me from buying it.
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Benefit with radar is it is not sensitive to light levels.
I imagine Bolt EV comes with ACC and high speed auto braking next update, it will have to in order to compete at all with Model 3. Super cruise would be better.
I imagine these features will be standard, I think automakers have agreed to make AEB standard by 2022, hopefully radar based systems, and not just camera based.
Current Bolt EV offers AEB, but only less than 50 mph.
I imagine Bolt EV comes with ACC and high speed auto braking next update, it will have to in order to compete at all with Model 3. Super cruise would be better.
I imagine these features will be standard, I think automakers have agreed to make AEB standard by 2022, hopefully radar based systems, and not just camera based.
Current Bolt EV offers AEB, but only less than 50 mph.
So your ACC was on? If so, how fast was it set to, and what gap?
I'm curious how well the Volt does without the ACC active. My last car would release the gas and apply hard breaking if I didn't react in time to a slow/stopped vehicle.
If you were using ACC you would never have collided with that trailer, and would have started slowing down long before you got very close, and it wouldn't have been too scary. If you weren't using ACC, that's when the real "safety" features kick in. Please illuminate further.
I'm curious how well the Volt does without the ACC active. My last car would release the gas and apply hard breaking if I didn't react in time to a slow/stopped vehicle.
If you were using ACC you would never have collided with that trailer, and would have started slowing down long before you got very close, and it wouldn't have been too scary. If you weren't using ACC, that's when the real "safety" features kick in. Please illuminate further.
The Bolt does have automatic emergency braking. I believe it works up to 50 mph.
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The Bolt will flash its LED HUD and alert beep as you approach a slower vehicle, and brake if you don't, which is what I assume happened with the Volt also.
It has adjustable parameters for distance, which I have set to the most sensitive, so I set mine off once in a while, but thankfully, not really because I wasn't paying attention, so far.
I really like that feature, and believe there would be way less rear enders if ALL cars were mandatory to include it.
It has adjustable parameters for distance, which I have set to the most sensitive, so I set mine off once in a while, but thankfully, not really because I wasn't paying attention, so far.
I really like that feature, and believe there would be way less rear enders if ALL cars were mandatory to include it.
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Joe was the REFLECTIVE SMV sign on the back of the trailer as required by law
My setting was on medium gap. It wasn't even a bother to me but my partner was panicking as he has better night vision than me.
Unfortunately, it was covered by dangling hay. If the trailer is only to be used on the farm and the farmer's private road, there are no requirements on what should be on them. However, farmers sometimes forget and use the trailer on regular public roads for short distances.
Fair enough that ACC works well. But I don't so much attribute that to the Volt itself. ACC has been in use as far back as 2005 by MB (Distronic). Volvo has had it since 2007. I think Chevy only first had this technology in 2014.
It's good to get this real-world example of how well the system works. Seeing a demonstration in an advertisement looks impressive, but leaves doubt about how it works in the wild. I have scarcely ever driven a car with the feature, and have never activated it.
Thanks.
Thanks.
I have been driving cars exclusively with this feature since 2007, and use it extensively. I can tell you I wouldn't buy any car without it. For several years I was buying more expensive cars because that's all that had it. Now every Toyota can be equipped with it. I really hate driving rentals because I "need" that feature.
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That, hold me to give any second test drive to the Bolt EV until then, I'll enjoy my Volt gen1.
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Haven't had a dramatic example like the "no-lights tractor and trailer at night" episode, but ACC on my 2017 Volt worked great on a recent long trip during freeway driving. It really keeps the distance by slowing down, and it had to hit the brakes once or twice when someone cut in front of me or suddenly hit their brakes. I usually get on my brakes quickly after the three red dots/warning beeps, so don't know if it would brake to a stop, but it will definitely brake to slow you down. Great feature. I have it set on the farthest distance back, and it forces me to lane change quicker than I normally would, although I keep a pretty good distance in front of me when driving manually. I live in rural areas; had not thought about the farm equipment/trailer/no lights at night situation. It's just a matter of time until it happens to me.
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