[konimail]

After about a month of driving the newly acquired VOLT 2 i realized I notice a few interesting differences between my 2014 leased new 2 years ago with 41k miles currently, and the 2013 purchased recently with 33k miles.
I absolutely love the experience to a point, I find the below listed "issues" part of the fun.


Braking.
2014 - One of the biggest complaints about the VOLT when i got it two years ago was the goofy feel of the brake.
I continue to feel a profound and sudden change from regen to mechanical brakes when slowing down to creep speed. Enough to spill the coffee,
2013 - does not do that - it seems a lot smoother transitioning from regen to mechanical brakes,

Acceleration.
2014 - seems to have a bit more oomph , with more instant reaction even at highway speeds when in sport mode
2013 - seems to hesitate a bit at highway speeds when stepping on the gas, as if it was looking for a proper gear like in a conventional car,

Comfort,
2014 - Cloth seats feel like a wooden bench, even more so, now that the 2013 with leather arrived.
2013 - Leather seats are excellent, surprisingly comfortable ( and heated !! ) . Wiefy even made a comment that the car is bigger inside. It must be the seats?

Center console,
Terrible in both, altho it seems i've gotten used to it,

Economy
2014 - seems to be getting a little better all electric mileage, compared to 2013

Other.
Whats up with the push-button-to-open plug door in the 2013. It should say "push button 17 times to open" on it.
Im glad GM eliminated it in the 2014

I never owned two same cars at the same time, and was just wondering if anyone noticed similar phenomenon. They just feel different mechanically. One would think in today's high tech world they should feel identical.

P.S.
When one of my clients mentioned to me he's in a marked for a gas sipping car, I literally slapped him when the word Prius came out of his mouth.
Two weeks, and many conversations later, he was a proud owner of a 2017 VOLT.
He absolutely loves it too.

 

[mvanzanten]

My 2013 charge port door gets finicky in cold weather. It should only take 1 press of the button to open. Try applying some silicon spray to the latching mechanism.

Late model year 14's got the larger battery. Perhaps this is where the additional range is coming from.

 

[firehawk72]

My 2013 charge port door gets finicky in cold weather. It should only take 1 press of the button to open. Try applying some silicon spray to the latching mechanism.

Late model year 14's got the larger battery. Perhaps this is where the additional range is coming from.

I have a 2012. Mine starting sticking once. I applied some silicon spray. It has worked flawlessly since. I find it to be one of its best features. I really believe I would miss it

 

[llninja]

EV range of the 2014 is to be expected - it has a slightly bigger battery. Another metric to look at is if you were to do a full battery burn, look at the total KWh used. The 2013 should be something between 10.3 and 10.6 and the 2014 might hit 11.3.

I'm not sure why the acceleration would change at all. The drivetrains should be the same.

As for the difference in braking, you might need to go borrow someone's 2014 to make sure there isn't something wrong w it's your 2014.

 

[konimail]

My 2013 charge port door gets finicky in cold weather. It should only take 1 press of the button to open. Try applying some silicon spray to the latching mechanism.

Late model year 14's got the larger battery. Perhaps this is where the additional range is coming from.

I'll definitely try the silicon, Thanks for the advise

EV range of the 2014 is to be expected - it has a slightly bigger battery. Another metric to look at is if you were to do a full battery burn, look at the total KWh used. The 2013 should be something between 10.3 and 10.6 and the 2014 might hit 11.3.

I'm not sure why the acceleration would change at all. The drivetrains should be the same.

As for the difference in braking, you might need to go borrow someone's 2014 to make sure there isn't something wrong w it's your 2014.

I remember reading about it. I think they made the switch late in 2014? I don't think mine has that as I don't recall ever seeing KWh on the GOM ( guess-O-meter) ever going over 10.~~

 

[SSonnentag]

I wonder if the "throttle" response curve was tweaked a bit from 2013 to 2014. I always thought my 2013 had a mushy throttle response while in normal mode and a twitchy throttle in sport mode. The 2017's curve is much more linear feeling in normal. Actually, now that I think about it, I never have tried the sport mode on my 2017.... Hmmmm

 

[konimail]

I understand that the drive train has several clutches that engage the two motors based on the power demand.
It almost feels like the 2013 is always late. Its far more aggressive in SPORT, but still hesitates.
I don't feel that as much in the 2014.

 

[SSonnentag]

I understand that the drive train has several clutches that engage the two motors based on the power demand.
It almost feels like the 2013 is always late. Its far more aggressive in SPORT, but still hesitates.
I don't feel that as much in the 2014.

I completely agree. In RE mode, the 2013 was scary at times. When I would pull out to pass and stomp on the accelerator. The car would nose-dive and stall for a couple of seconds before engaging again and accelerating. This is completely non-existent in the 2017 model.

 

[konimail]

I completely agree. In RE mode, the 2013 was scary at times. When I would pull out to pass and stomp on the accelerator. The car would nose-dive and stall for a couple of seconds before engaging again and accelerating. This is completely non-existent in the 2017 model.

O?
So you may be onto something speculating the drive train may have been tweaked for 2014 model year.
I will definitely run some more tests soon.

 

[2VoltFamily]

Braking.
2014 - One of the biggest complaints about the VOLT when i got it two years ago was the goofy feel of the brake.
I continue to feel a profound and sudden change from regen to mechanical brakes when slowing down to creep speed. Enough to spill the coffee,
2013 - does not do that - it seems a lot smoother transitioning from regen to mechanical brakes,

There was software update to braking. Not sure if it applies to 2014 or not but worth checking. One of my 2013s needed the update.

 

[Joe67]

What a thread

 

[PIYIRIO]

I've had my 2015 a whopping 4 days, but my biggest complaint is the brakes. I haven't gotten used to them yet and I'm not sure if I will. Like you, I feel the switch from regen to mechanical... you either aren't stopping as fast as intended or you're nearly being thrown\spilling coffee... there is no sweet spot

I have a smaller complaint about the accelerator pedal... it feels like there is about a mile of pedal travel! Every car I have owned has had maybe 4" max of pedal travel, typically only using 1-2".

FYI all updates were done at the dealer before I picked it up so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[flyingsherpa]

I completely agree. In RE mode, the 2013 was scary at times. When I would pull out to pass and stomp on the accelerator. The car would nose-dive and stall for a couple of seconds before engaging again and accelerating. This is completely non-existent in the 2017 model.

Huge drivetrain difference gen1 vs gen2... gen2 will not have the "highway hesitation" of gen1 because it can immediately apply max power, while gen1 has to go from power-split to serial mode, which requires slowing and locking the ring gear... this will feel a bit like turbo lag. It should not be different 2013 vs 2014 though.

My 2013 brakes feel like normal brakes to me, but my friend with a near identical 2013 complains about his like you do about your 2014. My guess is that it's down to the individual car's adjustment, perhaps a dealer could tweak it a little?

 

[Dutch]

OP, here's the fix for the sticking charge port door

 

[2VoltFamily]

Huge drivetrain difference gen1 vs gen2... gen2 will not have the "highway hesitation" of gen1 because it can immediately apply max power, while gen1 has to go from power-split to serial mode, which requires slowing and locking the ring gear... this will feel a bit like turbo lag. It should not be different 2013 vs 2014 though.

My 2013 brakes feel like normal brakes to me, but my friend with a near identical 2013 complains about his like you do about your 2014. My guess is that it's down to the individual car's adjustment, perhaps a dealer could tweak it a little?

You may want to tell your friend to see if it needs the software update. Many 2013s needed it.

 

[SSonnentag]

For what it's worth, I never had any issues with the brake feel on my '09 Civic Hybrid, '12 Prius, '13 Volt or my current '17 volt. Maybe I'm not brake finicky.

 

[mkcomply]

My 2013 likes to pop the charge door open randomly in the cold it seems.