[ad#post_ad]Thanks to the watchful eye of astute GM-Volt reader Don O, a new information-filled Volt test drive video has been unearthed.  The 8 minute segment appears on Aol Autos Tranlogic and includes in it some never before disclosed information.

The vehicle was test driven by an enthusiastic reporter named Bradley who seemed very psyched about the car.  He got to take it around GMs Milford proving grounds and put it through some rigorous paces.  It appears to be a near if not 100% calibration build, and GM let him check things we have never seen before.  One was to let him time the 0 to 60 which came out at a respectable 8.53 seconds in Sports mode.

We also find out that the Mountain Mode keeps the battery state of charge at 45% instead of the 30% level when the generator goes on normally.  GM had not previously disclosed that buffer level.

He was also allowed to drive the car through the transition into generator mode and beyond.  At time 5:50 in the video he was shown a real data display on the car illustrating how that Volt performed from when it was first charged that day.  Interesting figures to note was that it managed 43.7 miles before the generator came on, breaking the 40 mile goal range.  The car then traveled an additional 16.1 miles using .59 gallons of gas for an average real-world MPG of 27.3 MPG.

Of course it isn't fair to say that this will be the official average MPG in charge sustaining mode, but one could assume weather conditions were fairly good and driving fairly tame considering the car did get more than 40 miles of EV range.

We don't expect GM to ever officially release charge sustaining MPG, but will report the ca'rs overall fuel economy including the 40 miles of EV range.  For the drive in this test video, for example, the Volt got a combined 100 MPG over those 59.7 miles of driving.

The reporter appeared to come away quite happy about the Volt and having apparently also driven the Nissan LEAF found the Volt superior in interior room, handling and driving performance.  The Volt "borders on sporty and is fun," he said.

See video below:


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