Snow tire mileage

What you are seeing doesn't surprise me. Snow tires are softer, much unlike the hard tires that come on the car. Mileage also goes down with temperature. In Eastern Washington my electric range on a full charge has dropped from 54 miles to 48 miles in the last couple weeks (with OEM tires still on), and like you, the temperatures are still fairly mild. I have bought a a set of studded tires mounted on rims ready to put on when the weather demands, and I fully expect another large drop in mileage when I do. I learned last winter that the OEM tires are horrible in snow and ice, so good winter tires and that drop mileage it just part of the reality of of owning a Volt. I don't plan on installing those tires until snow or freezing rain is in the forecast.

cVolt2013 said:

You guys are scaring me about driving my 2018 on snow/ice. I drove a 2013 for 3 winters without any problems. Thru snow so high I basically plowed the street. No problems on the original tires.

Is everyone saying the Gen2’s with original tires aren’t as good?

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I don't know where you live, but where I live there is considerable snow, freezing rain and lots of hills. While I love my Volt, I will be the first to admit that it is not best car made for winter conditions. 1) there is not enough ground clearance for avoiding "plowing" through snow if it snowed 3" or more. Plowing is not nearly as safe as not plowing. 2) The car tends to understeer when loosing traction, which is not as desirable as oversteer. 3) running high tire pressure to maintain economy isn't the best thing to do when searching for traction. (Snow tires do help immensely) 4) the cabin heating system is lacking compared to an ICE car.

If you live on flat land, and only drive on plowed roads, the Volt will suffice, but even then it is stretching it to say the car is a good car for winter driving compared to many other vehicles.

All that said, I still love my Volt, but drive my old 4wd truck or will drive my wife's new Hyundai Kona when the weather gets really bad.

Eagleco said:

Driving for over 40 years in Minnesota, and have never owned an AWD vehicle.

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I have driven through a few winters in rural Northern Minnesota too. While it gets really cold there, it is fairly flat and relatively easy to drive there in the winter. I can believe a Volt would do OK there. Move to a rural mountainous area in Western Montana, Idaho, Eastern Washington and Eastern B.C., Western Colorado, etc. where there are long steep uphills and downhills, lots of curves, not regularly plowed roads and little traffic; I would bet you would change your tune in a hurry about the value of AWD cars. From my 50 years of driving, I would say that 4WD is by far the best in winter weather, followed by AWD, then Front Wheel Drive, and Rear Wheel Drive is the worst. Driving too fast for conditions is a problem with the driver, not the vehicle. So is driving too slow. If the road is flat and plowed, you can drive most anything with most any tire. But snow tires are always safer than regular tires in winter conditions.