Viewing Engine RPM?
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Is there screen on the DIC that shows power usage? On the first gen there is a "tab" that shows what your power demand/regen as well as a bar graph for engine when operating. It doesn't give an actual RPM reading, but rather just a visual cue from min-max. Hopefully you have something similar on the Gen 2.
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Can't control the RPM anyway, so I don't find the actual number to be important. The bar graph is as good as you're going to get without additional hardware.
In Gen 1, the closest you can get to seeing how much the engine is running is by looking at energy graph in the speedometer console. One of the screens has a small graph that shows energy generated by the gasoline engine. Gen 2 probably has a similar screen. I am not aware of any built-in screen/config in Gen 1 (I own) or Gen 2 (I read the manual) that shows engine rpm.
OBD2 is the only way, you have no control over RPM anyway, so it is arguably useless.
However, I wish manufacturers would catch on and have a customizable center screen that would allow showing various graphs and other data people use OBD scanners for.
However, I wish manufacturers would catch on and have a customizable center screen that would allow showing various graphs and other data people use OBD scanners for.
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I concur. With the screens all being digital displays why not give us the option to show the vehicle parameters we want. Personally I'd like to get my "analog" speedometer back.
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I can accept that. I enjoy driving my Volt, whatever excuse I can find that gets me behind the wheel. I'm sure my children look at me funny, behind my back. 8^)
True. But GM is not going to add that feature. And it's a "problem" that can be solved for about $20 (cost of bt obd2 dongle) and your smartphone screen (or u can dedicate an older smartphone for this)
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What about main battery temp.?...That will be interesting, in HOT and COLD weather.
Here is the data for hot weather: http://gm-volt.com/2013/05/03/volt-battery-thermal-management-system-in-the-hot-arizona-sun/
In cold weather, when plugged in, the Volt will cycle the battery heater to keep the traction battery at a minimum of 40F. 10 minutes of remote start and preconditioning will bring the battery temperature up to approx. 65F from 40F. When driving in cold weather the Volt will use some power to keep the battery, I believe, at a minimum of approx. 65 F.
This might result in a curious data point, but again there is nothing you can do about it. The battery is warranted for 8 years. If GM was concerned about replacing batteries in Canada or Arizona, they wouldn't sell the car there. But since they do, you can bet that they've covered their bases, and have no plans to replace a lot of batteries before 8 years.
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Get an OBD2 WiFi dongle and a Gen2 iPad. Install iPad somewhere within view, download one of the many highly configurable OBD diagnostic/dashboard apps out there (I use OBDFusion), configure the Volt PID values, and then configure a nice digital dashboard with all the data points you could ever want.
The WiFi dongle (vs bluetooth) is important as the iPad only supports Wifi.
You could also do the same with an Android tablet and something like the torque app, but second gen iPads can be had for fairly cheap now but are still very serviceable and durable...moreso vs comparable age Android tablets.
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The WiFi dongle (vs bluetooth) is important as the iPad only supports Wifi.
You could also do the same with an Android tablet and something like the torque app, but second gen iPads can be had for fairly cheap now but are still very serviceable and durable...moreso vs comparable age Android tablets.
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I'm with you. I'm far better at speed control with an analog (dial type) speedo to look at. My cruise control gets a lot more workout than it should.
I'd like to be able to check engine rpm too...just as a "everythings okay" diagnostic
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Your children looking at you funny has nothing to do with driving a Volt. This is simply what children do.
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I've used an app called My Green Volt to display data from the OBD on a tablet.I
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.MyGreenVolt
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.MyGreenVolt
I know we could all do this if we really wanted to, but it just seems silly that with a push of a few buttons this could all be displayed on our center stack if they really wanted us to see it. I would think that even Volt technicians would appreciate a feature like that so they wouldn't always have to pull out another special diagnostic tool, laptop,a and harness, etc.
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