There aren't any examples to demonstrate the actual life. All we have is projected life based on the engineering data and general experience with the system components.

 

So, what I’m asking is, how many miles of electric use should an owner expect to get from their Volt - still excluding the battery. I would presume that the electric motor and generator should go a considerable numbers of miles, but I simply can’t find any info on this for any electric car. Everybody wants to talk about batteries, but not about the electric drive train.

What about simply the age of the Volt in years? Is a car heavily constructed in electrics and electronics going to last longer or less than a typical more mechanically oriented car.

Put simply, electric vehicle will last longer than an ICE vehicle. The noise, vibration, and harshness of the ICE will literally rattle the vehicle apart over time. EVs have far fewer parts and are not, essentially, attempting to contain thousands of little explosions every minute. An easy way to remember this is that most electrical equipment comes with life expectancies in the hundreds of thousands of hours. You can do a lot of driving in that time.

 

I believe someone at GM said the electric motor was tested to three lifespans. I expect the Volt's propulsion will last much longer than the average car. Unfortunately the rest of the car is made of standard car parts, so years from now Volts will be running fine but everything else will be falling apart.

 

Take the battery out and the Volt is basically a car like any other. I expect a normal life for struts, door locks, window motors, wheel bearings, etc. These things will probably fail/need replacement like any other car. The body and paint, same thing. With care and regular maintenance, I expect my Volt to last 16-20 years. My other cars have lasted that long (and where still running), no reason the Volt can't.

 

I made the bet on 15-20 years. They will probably be planting me about then. Or at least pulling my DL.

 

it will totally depend on how is taken care of but my estimations are it will last 150,000-200,000 miles if maintained properly..... gm gave up testing the electric motors at 600,000 miles and they were still going strong. the electric motors in my washer and dryer are 25 years old and the one on my air compressor in my shop is about 45 years old...... they all work just fine.

 

The only real wearing parts in electric motors are the bearings so expect at some point those bearings will wear out. The transmission is a planetary gear system with clutches so the clutches could fail. They should all last a long time though compared to standard cars.

 

And the clutches on the VOLT will last more than a long time as they are engaged at virtually zero rpm difference. The VOLT is smart in that the generator becomes a motor to spin up to match the ICE speed before the clutches are engaged. Several threads and forum postings on all that.

I expect the VOLT to last a long time, longer than other cars. Less vibration and far less underhood heat and thermal cycling with the high temperatures that an ICE undergoes daily. The electric motor, simple transmission, electronic driven accessories (only one belt for the water pump), A/C comp like a refrigerator (rather than the conventional ICE ones), all contribute to a long life vehicle. Shocks, tires, bushings will wear more like a conventional car, but to replace those will be easy as the savings in energy costs will easily pay for them.

The VOLT is a paradigm shift in so many ways.

 

I would say the typical Volt will easily be active for over 500,000 miles and 20-25 years after which some cab company will buy the lot of them and upgrade them by stretching the cab 6" and installing a high capacity battery that will only require the bar of the T configuration under the seat and replace the rear buckets with a rear bench. The reduced battery size will still be capable 70 miles AER and be lighter.

 

The Electronics will be the weak link, power electronics in general don't have long lifetime and with metal migration in semiconductors, that will be whats going to need repair first. It will be very cost prohibitive in 10 years out to be replacing any control module, just look at what it costs today for 8-10 years old car climate control or ECM unit, your looking 500 bucks+ and the Volt has what 18 different electronic modules?

 

Hi Henry:

I don't follow you. I called my old shop and 15-year old-servers are not having power supply problems. I thought the Volt power switching is done by relays they call contactors.

BTW, what is metal migration in semiconductors?

thanks

 

I have worked with electric motors since I had my first battery powered toy car (about 55 years ago), and I can say that electric motors last very long. The only parts that wear down or fail are the wear points, such as bearings and brushes (for DC motors). I have a Craftsman 7-inch electric hand saw that my Dad bought in 1964 and it still runs well after 49 years. The other electric motor failures are burned or open armature wiring due to heat or work overload (too much current), and in the Volt both problems are avoided by the controller.

If you count all the electric motors in any modern vehicle (including ICE models), you can easily count over 30 motors, starting with the "starter" (pun intended). So if any vehicle that has electric motors is treated correctly, the motors can last more than the rest of the vehicle, and the proof is all the used motors resold on eBay and other automobile sites.

 

Funny I was thinking about this yesterday, I think what you'll find is the first thing to go will be oil gaskets and seals. Particularly seals, they will start weeping transmission fluid.
Next might be failing solenoid valves and clutches.

At what mileage? depends, it will be a bell curve of failures, a few early on (100-120k miles?) most at some mid point (175-220k miles?) and some will last long (300k?).

 

I've had my Volt 6 months and it just turned over 3000 miles, so at that rate I expect it to last 50 years.

 

The car can easily go that far. The question is will you make it that far. Of course, you might be one of them thar whipper snappers 8^)

 

As the title of the thread says, indirectly, I expect my volt to last my lifetime I low 50s but except the car to outlast my driving. And I expect to be happy with it for going on 2 years and still feel new car excitement.

 

Forty years ago the life span of a typical ICE was considered to be 100,000 miles. I think with today’s higher production quality machining standards most people would agree that a well maintained ICE should easily go 200,000 miles.

Agree. I think the production quality coupled with modern oils and precise fuel injection systems really made a difference. By the mid-80s, 200k was not a big deal for a well maintained car. My first car, a sad little 1985 4 cylinder Chevy Celebrity soldiered on past 200k on the original engine and transmission. My 1986 BMW 528e was close to 250k when I grew tired of dealing with various non-drivetrain related ailments. I have an indifferently-maintained 1993 BMW wagon coming up on 240k. When I bought it from a friend (cheap!) I asked about the last oil change. "Bret just changed it when he did the cooling and suspension work." "Mike, that was 10,000 miles ago." "Huh. I guess it needs an oil change."

Anyway, it would not surprise me to see 300k mile Volts some day if the high power electronics Henry_FL noted are either not troublesome or can be repaired/replaced reasonably.

 

The long term challenge with the Volt will be the computer systems and electronics. If they are well designed for the
elements and the task at hand they should last long enough that you will probably get tired of driving the car, get a new one,
or pass it on to one of your kids. I have been driving for over 46 years. Cars back in the 60's lasted at best 100,000 miles which
was a milestone in those days.

In 1993 I purchased a brand new 1994 Honda Civic VX model, the high MPG model which is quite rare today, I put
on over 200,000 miles, gave it to my dad, then it went to my niece, nephew, and at the end my brother. When he finally passed
it along to a friend it had well over 300,000 miles on the original engine.

 

The GM vehicles I work on most are 12-15 years old. If the Volt is in that good shape in 12 years I'll be happy. New England winters can make it hard to predict just how well everything will be doing 10 years from now.

Like other GM cars, I expect most of the parts to be in decent shape at 100K miles. Since I am the original owner of this car, I expect it to easily make it to 150-200K.

 

Worst Enemy: Heat or Humidity?

Thanks for all of the thought provoking replies.

Another longevity question: which would be considered the worst enemy of all of the Volt's high tech electrics and electronics, high humidity or high heat?

Since I'm in Tucson, and it is pretty hot here at times, should that result in an expected reduction in Volt lifespan?

 

Thanks for all of the thought provoking replies.

Another longevity question: which would be considered the worst enemy of all of the Volt's high tech electrics and electronics, high humidity or high heat?

Since I'm in Tucson, and it is pretty hot here at times, should that result in an expected reduction in Volt lifespan?

I'd say far and away its neither of these the real worst enemy is other cars... (i.e. crashes).

Of those two, high heat (>150F) is worse which is really only going to happen with lots of solar loading. And the impact of heat is only if the electronics are running.. the car actually has a separate electronic cooling subsystem so protects its inner core as so as you turn it on. Most of the parts are rated higher than that.

Humidity only has an real impact if impacts corrosion.

 

Computer systems, electronic control modules, and dash screens will be first to go from a long term perspective. The only other high power switching system that I could compare to the power relay electronics of the traction motors would be an inverter for a solar array. Depending on the type of capacitors used to power the systems these will wear out, increase their power draws and fail. We're talking 12-15 years before these components start to fail and even that will be a worst case scenario imo.

I honestly would be more concerned with structural integrity of the frame and suspension components long before I'd be worried about any electronics failing. Our cars are designed to handle a lot of weight with the lightest and cheapest components possible to cut cost while extending EV range. GM Volt tech at a local dealer indicated to me a few months ago when I was in for a new charge plug that the front end on the early cars has started to "loosen up" after a few years and there's nothing that can be done about it. The good thing is resale on these will be very high thanks to the lack of mechanical issues with the line.

Will we keep ours for more than 5-7 years? No in fact I anticipate mine will be sold in about 3 with hers going soon after. I've only had mine 9 months and already clocked over 13k miles. New technologies will come out, Tesla cars are gorgeous, and the interior will certainly show its age. The Volt is a great car and I love driving it everyday but before we bought them we knew they were a stepping stone to pure EVs.

 

I love car and motorcycle sites...usually a lot of discussion on which oil to use and how often to change it so that the car will last as long as possible. I can say that I have driven several cars over 150k miles...an '80 Ford Fiesta, '85 Chevy Sprint 3 cylinder, '89 Ford Escort, '03 Windstar and am currently flogging a '03 Taurus with 200k miles on it. In every case the engine and tranny were still going strong, while everything else around them started to fall apart. (Cloth, seats, minor electrical glitches like electric door locks, trim panels....)

Properly maintained and cared for, any modern car should go 200k miles. Especially the Volt.

Recommended Reading - "How to Make Your Car Last Forever....
http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Your...69/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371420711&sr=8-1&keywords=make+your+car+last+forever

 

Take out the battery and you will have expected life similar to other ICE cars. However, depending on how often you use your ice generator I would venture to guess it may continue to out pace ice cars in long-term reliability. Many owners including myself rarely use the ice, so if you figure 2,000 ice miles per year could you imagine the Volt's total mileage in 5 or 10 years from now? Could be a great selling point for pre-own Volts and what it could do with increasing its value?

 

Yup! And that deserves a resounding...BAZINGA!

 

Nobody has mentioned exhaust. Many here seem to be running ICE infrequently. I have not read anything on the Volt's exhaust system (or even seen it). Did it get special treatment, or should we expect rust to set in from lack of usage? Every once in a while I run battery hold to run the engine, because seems like it runs maint. mode pretty rarely in the non-winter months.

 

From the looks of it, the exhaust is at least mild grade stainless steel, so corrosion shouldn't be an issue for a while. Maybe in extremely harsh areas where they salt the roads regularly during winter, but I'd expect the exhaust to last as long (or maybe longer) than the stock exhaust on an ICE. Remember, running exhaust through the pipes doesn't prevent corrosion, and in fact, it promotes it.

 

At age 77 and with a new 2013 Volt, I expect the Volt and I to expire at the same time. About when the loan is paid off.