[frmr_pontiac_own]

for anyone else looking at potential 2019 volts, I have had mine for a few weeks now and so can give some pros/cons to the car.

Overall:
1) Is the Volt a good car? Yes. It is well composed, drives smoothly, and is one of the few cars that might actually be worth its asking price. You begin to appreciate the volt after seeing how flawlessly the battery regenerates while braking, the transition from motor to battery (you likely won't notice), and how on other hybrids things seem cheap and flimsy with battery a second thought, not the primary focus.

Pros:
1) Battery life will be between 45 and 55 miles on a full charge which seems fair. Depends greatly on your driving habits and exterior temperature. I believe a typical person can get to and from work without ever using gas. I do and I drive 25 miles each way in heavy traffic.

2) Due to single speed "transmission" the volt, like all electric cars, is extremely smooth and quiet. No more jerky modes or clunky crawls. Instant power and max torque is an addictive quality.

3) Faster charge rate is worth it. I did not think I would have any reason to consider it since 2.5 hours or 5 hours on a 220 charge seems equally bad-- but there have already been a few times where the faster rate has come in handy. The reality is, I doubt anyone will ever say-- I wish my car would take longer to charge, but on occasion you might say-- I am glad it charges faster than older models.

4) Car seats fit very well as rear facing or forward facing. This is not a small thing if you need them and was a point of concern for me due to the compact size of the car. Also, rear window shade options is very well done and something I think all models should have available.

5) Center console screen is sharp and quick. Lag present on other non-luxury car systems is not here on the volt. Rearview camera is particularly sharp.

6) Adaptive cruise control is essential and changes the way you will drive. Should you have frequent bumber to bumper traffic on a freeway-- the adaptive cruise control nearly takes away the hassle. You do have to have a hand on the steering wheel, which is a bummer.

Cons:
1) Lane keep assist. This feature appears to be actively bad. All functionality for good lane keep assist is there, however, it almost seems as if GM forced their software designer to make it foolish and weak. This feature needs adjusting. Shame on GM for delivering it bad on purpose.

2) Porcelain blue interior. I got this option sight unseen. It is nice in that it brightens up the otherwise sea of black interior you would get-- but, the blue is timid at best and rather dull. Further, the hard plastic interior is a blue coating on otherwise black plastic. So if one scratches the interior then you get blue and black stripe interior. See child seat fitting above for why this can be a real problem.

3) Need the heater on? Apparently that's a crime against batteries as it will suck your juice worse than a 1980s 20-D battery boom box.

4) Wiper speeds. No auto rain sensing wipers for some reason. Adaptive cruise control where the car is practically driving itself, but your time will be spend navigating the clunky wiper mechanism which had its golden age during the 1990s.

5) Hard plastic on door. We can forgive most hard plastics as they are lighter in weight than soft touch stuff. Except on the top of the door. We rest our arm there and the armrest in the door middle is the size of a fly.

6) Side mirrors do not auto-fold. Auto fold mechanism does not add a lot of weight and the point of a compact car is to be able to go where fat cars can't.

7) Rear cup holders take away what little comfort seat #5 would have had. I just don't see why cupholders had to go where they did in the rear. Seems lazy.

8) Shifter head is blue. A dark, vivd blue. But why? It matches no other color option in the car no matter what your configuration. It seems like someone ordered a pile of these a few years ago and GM is slowly sending them off with each unlucky volt. It violates design 101.

9) Ambient interior lighting option is not worth the money. That was a waste. The light ring on the charge port has value though.

10) garage door opener rear view mirror is a homelink and not the greatest. Sure is pricey for the bottom basement one we get.

11) Power seat is nice, but lack of memory setting makes it cumbersome if two drivers exist. Also, why no power seat for passenger?

 

[269983]

6) Adaptive cruise control is essential and changes the way you will drive. Should you have frequent bumber to bumper traffic on a freeway-- the adaptive cruise control nearly takes away the hassle. You do have to have a hand on the steering wheel, which is a bummer.

I'm still puzzled as to why so many people find this to ne a must have feature. I have it on my BMW and I don't find it very useful. My Volt doesn't have ACC (it's an LT) but I don't want for it in stop and go traffic (which I've had to deal with this entire week). I put the selector in "L" and let the regenerative braking slow the car down. Occasionally I may actually have to press the brake pedal. The only benefit I can see ACC offering over what I'm doing is so that you don't have to pay attention to what you're doing (i.e. driving).

 

[josby]

for anyone else looking at potential 2019 volts, I have had mine for a few weeks now and so can give some pros/cons to the car.

Thanks, as someone considering buying a 2019 Volt, this helped me a lot!

 

[josby]

I'm still puzzled as to why so many people find this to ne a must have feature.

1) If you're someone like me who gets annoyed when stuck behind someone going under the speed limit on a no-passing road, ACC is a great stress reducer. Actively controlling your speed, you're constantly looking at the speedometer and being reminded they're going too slow. With ACC, you can just hang behind them and ignore your speedometer. It makes a big difference for me.

2) Using regular cruise at interstate speeds, it annoys me to constantly come up behind slower cars and have to tap the brakes, then hit resume once they're no longer in the way. ACC eliminates that.

3) Bad traffic is the biggest reason for me. The constant gas-brake-gas-brake for 20 or 30 minutes in a traffic jam is really draining. Every minute feels like 20 normal minutes. With ACC, I just sit looking at the traffic like a front seat passenger would. I'm ready to hit the brake if needed, but I've never needed to. I arrive at my destination with a feeling more like I'd been a passenger in a car that was stuck in traffic rather than a driver. It's a much better feeling.

If none of those three things ever bother you, then I can see why you wouldn't care one way or the other about ACC. But hopefully you can see why some would consider it a must-have. I'll definitely never own another daily-driver without it.

 

[Lotus54]

I recently saw a Volt video, I think it was at a car show introducing the Gen 2 car. One of the Volt project people was being interviewed, a couple of times she said her favorite part of the car was the ‘jewelry’ on the shift lever! I thought it is ok, fits (sort of ) with some of the other blue lighting etc (I have a blue car also). But favorite? Jeessshh.

I quite like the ACC, I rarely get into and bumper to bumper stuff, but lots of times end up behind someone on the two-lane road that is constantly speeding up and slowing down. Haveing the ACC defiantly makes it easier and a LOT less annoying for me.

Good review on the new car.

 

[tony604]

7) Rear cup holders take away what little comfort seat #5 would have had. I just don't see why cupholders had to go where they did in the rear. Seems lazy.

I'm guessing cuz the battery is there which created that big bulge anyways so they figured they might as well make use of the space.

 

[mjones21]

This is a pretty good, and fair, list. The heat thing is really significant, not only does it kill the battery, but it warms up SO slowly unless you really crank it. I think that's the number one reason I'd tell people to shell out the extra on heated seats, which work fast, heat up quickly, and are much easier on the battery.

On the cupholders in the back, they didn't just decide to stick some cupholders there haha. The traction battery is a T shape that runs through the middle of the car, from under the front center storage bin under the middle back seat, and then across the area directly behind the back seats. So the cupholders are really there to provide some function to an otherwise extremely obtrusive and obvious giant plastic cover.

But like I said, overall, one of the fairer appraisals of a Volt I've seen. That the blue plastic is just painted on is a major bummer.

I've got a black 2017, and while I was complaining about how hot it got in the summer, the greenhouse effect while in the sun is like a complimentary precondition now!

 

[Barry]

Too bad they omitted the power seat position memory setting. That to me is the killer feature of a power seat. Most of the other items seem like normal engineering trade offs (except the easily scratched porcelain blue interior).

 

[Eagleco]

I'm still puzzled as to why so many people find this to ne a must have feature. I have it on my BMW and I don't find it very useful. My Volt doesn't have ACC (it's an LT) but I don't want for it in stop and go traffic (which I've had to deal with this entire week). I put the selector in "L" and let the regenerative braking slow the car down. Occasionally I may actually have to press the brake pedal. The only benefit I can see ACC offering over what I'm doing is so that you don't have to pay attention to what you're doing (i.e. driving).

I'm puzzled too and it also basically says nobody should ever buy an LT or any Premier that does not have this option.

Personally I want to encourage as many people as possible to buy a Volt, so if all they can afford is an LT, I would never tell them don't buy it because it lacks an "essential" option.

ACC may be essential to the OP and some others, but it's actually not essential to all of us.


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[269983]

1) If you're someone like me who gets annoyed when stuck behind someone going under the speed limit on a no-passing road, ACC is a great stress reducer. Actively controlling your speed, you're constantly looking at the speedometer and being reminded they're going too slow. With ACC, you can just hang behind them and ignore your speedometer. It makes a big difference for me.

2) Using regular cruise at interstate speeds, it annoys me to constantly come up behind slower cars and have to tap the brakes, then hit resume once they're no longer in the way. ACC eliminates that.

I can understand these first two, especially the second one. However I would not consider either to qualify as a must have.

3) Bad traffic is the biggest reason for me. The constant gas-brake-gas-brake for 20 or 30 minutes in a traffic jam is really draining. Every minute feels like 20 normal minutes. With ACC, I just sit looking at the traffic like a front seat passenger would. I'm ready to hit the brake if needed, but I've never needed to. I arrive at my destination with a feeling more like I'd been a passenger in a car that was stuck in traffic rather than a driver. It's a much better feeling.

This is the one I find most puzzling. Having driven in stop and go traffic I rarely need to touch the brakes. The speeds are so low that regenerative braking is sufficient to slow the car in 99% of the cases. I merely let off the accelerator pedal and it slows down. Basically it's one pedal driving 99% of the time. I cannot see how ACC would improve on this other than to remove the requirement I have to press the accelerator pedal when traffic begins to move at anything faster than a crawl.

All of this is preference and I can see why, for your second example, you may want it. I also understand the first example but I would be annoyed with or without ACC. The third is the most baffling. This past week I've paid particular attention given how much I've read about ACC.

 

[Chrisby18951]

I'm still puzzled as to why so many people find this to ne a must have feature. I have it on my BMW and I don't find it very useful. My Volt doesn't have ACC (it's an LT) but I don't want for it in stop and go traffic (which I've had to deal with this entire week). I put the selector in "L" and let the regenerative braking slow the car down. Occasionally I may actually have to press the brake pedal. The only benefit I can see ACC offering over what I'm doing is so that you don't have to pay attention to what you're doing (i.e. driving).

I use my ACC all the time, I travel the interstate regularly as well as occasionally use it in traffic otherwise. I find that it makes me drive safer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[josby]

I merely let off the accelerator pedal and it slows down. Basically it's one pedal driving 99% of the time. I cannot see how ACC would improve on this other than to remove the requirement I have to press the accelerator pedal when traffic begins to move at anything faster than a crawl.

I hadn't thought of that. Interesting. I'm a potential Volt buyer but have only owned ICE vehicles, so I haven't experienced the regen braking. I'm not sure if it's the constant switching between brake and gas pedals that is the negative part of it for me, or if it's just something about having to constantly be varying your speed up and down.

Out of curiosity, if you get stuck in bad traffic in your ICE BMW, do you find the ACC to be a big relief then?

 

[Eagleco]

I use my ACC all the time, I travel the interstate regularly as well as occasionally use it in traffic otherwise. I find that it makes me drive safer.


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If it makes you drive safer, then by all means, use it.

I've managed to avoid an accident for over 40 years now, and that includes receiving a 30 year million mile accident free safe driver award in my career. Maybe just luck.

Perhaps I would be an even safer driver with ACC but I'm not losing any sleep over not having it. My wife and I both tried it in a rental car ( 2017 Chrysler 300), and neither of us particularly cared for it.

I read about those with ACC and Tesla drivers with Autopilot, who say it's saved them from accidents. It makes me shudder to think of all the accidents they must have been in before they had a car with those features.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[FreeElectrons]

I am also an owner of a 2019 - for about a week now. Premier in iridescent pearl with homelink and driver confidence 1 + 2 packages. I echo OPs comments for the most part, especially concerning some of the interior plastics. I have the black interior, which I suspect is a little easier to maintain than the blue if only because if you scratch the black there's just more black underneath.

I will note that in my opinion the ACC on the Volt rates a 10/10 for me. I drive 38 miles on the highway each way for my regular commute, and use the ACC the entire way, set to 70. It handles stop-and-go traffic like a champ, backs off quickly if someone cuts in front of me, accelerates and decelerates smoothly, and generally alleviates all pedal work for 99% of the drive. As for the LKA, I also like it a lot for what it does. It does not fight you to stay centered in the lane, and it is a far cry from autopilot, but it does what it designed to do - correct if and when you drift across the lane markers.

Most important for me - I have not used one drop of gas. I can charge the entire battery back up on Level 1 overnight at home, and recharge in 2.5 hours on Level 2 at work (and that part is free). With ACC set to 70, climate control on Eco, and normal accessories running, I make the drive with 10 miles of range left every time. Having an all-electric normal commute will certainly ease my conscience when I inevitably have to do a longer drive an engage the motor, and at that point I suspect I will be grateful not to have to charge en route. For me, so far, the Volt is excellent! Of course, I'll make sure to report back in if anything goes awry.

 

[FreeElectrons]

OP did also mention the ambient interior lighting on the 2019, so I'll add one note about that, even though I assume it is probably identical to the 2016-2018 models. i did not pay any extra for the optional lighting package, as far as I know, but I still have some lights. I have the illuminated charge port (really nice), and blue LED illumination in all the interior door handle recesses. I have also LED (or maybe fiber optic?) pinstripes in the front doors, which are really very nicely done. I think the optional package only adds cupholder and footwell lighting to this? In that case, I would definitely agree that it is not worth it.

 

[martik777]

Personally I want to encourage as many people as possible to buy a Volt, so if all they can afford is an LT, I would never tell them don't buy it because it lacks an "essential" option.

It's a tough sell, almost no one understands the Volt or takes the time to research it, plus their negative impression of GM does not help.

 

[Joeparaski]

My 2019 Premier is one week old today and being that this is my first EV I'm really enjoying it. I too have no need for ACC, heck, I rarely ever use regular CC anyway....I like to be the one controlling the car. I do wish that it had folding mirrors and a place to put your sunglasses overhead. I find no difference between using the paddle on the shifter for regenerative braking or using the regular brake pedal....they both seem to be doing the same thing. I also thought I could get away with just plugging it into a regular wall outlet, but the way I use the car I really do need to charge it often and as fast as possible so I went out and bought an EVDuty charger. I added Husky carpet liners (they are perfect and much better than Weathertec). Also, the ProClip holder for my I-phone is top quality and the best phone holder I've ever come across.

Joe

 

[Badandy]

I'm puzzled too and it also basically says nobody should ever buy an LT or any Premier that does not have this option.

Personally I want to encourage as many people as possible to buy a Volt, so if all they can afford is an LT, I would never tell them don't buy it because it lacks an "essential" option.

ACC may be essential to the OP and some others, but it's actually not essential to all of us.


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I'm still puzzled as to why so many people find this to ne a must have feature. I have it on my BMW and I don't find it very useful. My Volt doesn't have ACC (it's an LT) but I don't want for it in stop and go traffic (which I've had to deal with this entire week). I put the selector in "L" and let the regenerative braking slow the car down. Occasionally I may actually have to press the brake pedal. The only benefit I can see ACC offering over what I'm doing is so that you don't have to pay attention to what you're doing (i.e. driving).

If it makes you drive safer, then by all means, use it.

I've managed to avoid an accident for over 40 years now, and that includes receiving a 30 year million mile accident free safe driver award in my career. Maybe just luck.

Perhaps I would be an even safer driver with ACC but I'm not losing any sleep over not having it. My wife and I both tried it in a rental car ( 2017 Chrysler 300), and neither of us particularly cared for it.

I read about those with ACC and Tesla drivers with Autopilot, who say it's saved them from accidents. It makes me shudder to think of all the accidents they must have been in before they had a car with those features.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

If you all can’t fathom why someone might prefer to steer rather than steer plus modulate the accelerator and/or brake every two seconds in monotonous, slow-speed bumper to bumper traffic I don’t know what to tell you.

 

[billnoroville]

my 2 cents

The OP, sounds like someone giving an opinion based on his experiences, not yours (no one in particular).
"for anyone else looking at potential 2019 volts, I have had mine for a few weeks now and so can give some pros/cons to the car."

On 9/8/18 I bought a 2016 LT with under 20k miles. Pretty red with leather seats. This makes my 66th car with my last one being a Mustang Cobra (up to 36 motorcycles owned which I still own 2). I turn 70 in December. My wife drives a 2016 Prius. With that said, I have test drove Gen 1 and 2 but never bought one right after a test. When looking at getting a car for traveling and local use I narrowed it down and decided to try a Volt. Simple as that.

I find the Volt has some unique operating features, none scary but different. Example is the Regen switch on the steering wheel. Reminds me of a hand operated motorcycle brake. My plans are to read and learn about MY NEW CAR. I hope to find my Volt is as much fun to drive as many cars I have owned and hope my Volt is reliable as I think it should. If not, I will get rid of it.


So far on this Forum, I have read examples that have helped me understand the Volt by knowledgeable members when covering topics on this forum. I also see where members get defensive about their Volts and are quick to jump in. Small arguments is what it sounds like. Not really any name calling. I find both these types of postings on every forum I have joined over the last 10 years. I feel comfortable here and take what I want and ignore the negatives. I will even post when I can provide something I think is new.


If you are new to Volts, great. Post and share about your new car. Good or Bad, after all it is your car. I like new read new postings (no searching required).

 

[martik777]

66 cars WOW! I'm a few years younger but have only owned 5 cars which in total cost less than the Volt.