[SSonnentag]

I drove my 2013 Volt to work and back for a year, and now am driving a 2017 Volt on the exact same route (there aren't any route options).


My 1-way drive consists of 17.3 miles, with an elevation drop of 571 ft, followed by a gain of 560 ft.
The speed along the route is broken down as follows:

• 6 miles at 40mph
• 2 miles at 50 mph
• 7 miles at 55 mph
• 2 miles at 65 mph
• 3 stop signs
• 6 stop lights

The best my 2013 Volt could do was 4.1 kWh expended.
The best my 2017 Volt has done is 3.3 kWh expended.




I'm not trying to make any special point with this post, just reporting what I find to be interesting statistics.
I find the additional refinement of the Gen 2, coupled with the obvious improvement in efficiency (20% by my calculations), to be quite impressive.

 

[Jim Fallston Md.]

I have to agree with your assessment, I drove the 2012 the other day on a 25 mile round trip and used about 5 miles range more than my 2016 uses on the same trip.

 

[bjrosen]

You are doing exceptionally well, that's 5.25 miles per KW which would translate to a 75 mile range, the only time I've gotten close to that is when there was a huge traffic jam on Route 128 and I did the trip at 10 MPH.

 

[SSonnentag]

I typically use about .2 kWh more. In order to do this well I have to catch all the lights right and traffic has to be moving along at a constant rate, no accidents, construction, AC or heat, rain, wind, etc. But I'm comparing the most ideal circumstances for both cars.

 

[SSonnentag]

Another great benefit of the 2017 vs 2013 (for my situation) is that when it is hot outside, I can run the AC to work and back without running out of juice. My Gen 1 would run about 2-3 miles short during the hottest part of the year.

 

[jsmay311]

That's a significantly bigger difference between Gen 1 and Gen 2 than the EPA ratings show, so this might be a bit of an outlier.

Pretty nice, nevertheless.

 

[SSonnentag]

That's a significantly bigger difference between Gen 1 and Gen 2 than the EPA ratings show, so this might be a bit of an outlier.

Pretty nice, nevertheless.

It is, but it is real and consistent across all driving conditions. I could make my 34.6 mile round trip commute in my Gen 1 with 3-4 miles of range to spare during the cooler parts of the year (Arizona cool... 50-80 degree days). But in the summer when the car was cooling the batteries and me, my ICE would kick on a couple of miles from home. So when I decided to upgrade to the Gen 2, going from 38 to 53 EPA miles, I should have 15 additional miles. This would mean a remaining range of 18 miles in the winter and about 13 in the summer. Well, this winter I am routinely seeing 26 miles remaining when I get home, which equates to an estimated EV range of 60 miles. This is mirrored by the car's morning EV range estimates of 59-61 miles.

I do admit that today's run is an outlier though, as my range remaining when I arrived at work was reading 50 miles.

 

[wmtunate]

OEM Tires on both vehicles?

 

[SSonnentag]

OEM Tires on both vehicles?

Yep, factory tires on both. 40 psi.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Note that the EPA ratings are 35kWh/100 miles for Gen 1 and 31kWh/100 miles for Gen 2.
Simple expectation for Gen 2 based on EPA average would be 4.1kWh * 31/35 ~= 3.63kWh.

I think it's the elevation changes that make the difference.

EPA testing has a lot of lower speed driving and speed changes that emphasize weight and efficiency under acceleration.
Although your kWh numbers are ideal trips where you only have to stop at the stop signs, so you don't have to accelerate much, your elevation changes make the cars coast or run to stand still, and the reduced weight and greater drivetrain efficiency of the Gen 2 shine.

Or maybe, congratulations on your recent weight loss.

 

[SSonnentag]

Or maybe, congratulations on your recent weight loss.

LOL! I wish! I am working on that aspect this year though.

 

[jsmay311]

Note that the EPA ratings are 35kWh/100 miles for Gen 1 and 31kWh/100 miles for Gen 2.

This is true, but they're also rated respectively at 98 MPGe and 106 MPGe, which is a smaller spread than 0.35kWh/mi and 0.31kWh/mi. And the difference is too big to be explained by rounding.

(Using the standard 33.7 kWh/galllon conversion, 98 MPGe= 34.4 kWh/100 miles and 106 MPGe = 31.8 kWh/100 miles.)

That's always confused the hell out of me.

 

[SSonnentag]

Most likely calculated by two different methods/driving conditions.

 

[BAZINGA]

My 2017 Volt easily beat our 2012 and 2013 in terms of efficiency, I'm a creature of habit and drive the exact same route to/from work and my Gen 1 Volt's would use about 5.2 kWh on my 22 mile r/t my Gen II averages about 4.4 kWh.

I'm not surprised as I'm sure GM must have learned something from all those Gen I Volt's they sold.

 

[deeks]

The descent (elevation) in the morning is a great benefit to minimizing EV miles used,however,on your return home that slight climb should use a lot more EV miles.Routinely a full charge provides me 86 EV miles but we do have low speed limits (Big Island-HI)
2017LT-Heather Gray Metallic + Comfort Pkg (about 6200miles)

 

[alfon]

When we had our 2014 Volt the highest electric range we received was nearly 50 miles. That was summer with perfect conditions, 70 degrees, blue sky, and of course, dry roads. The 2014 is long gone as we traded it for our 2016 Volt in July 2016. Now our 2016 Volt has approached the 70 mile limit just on electric in perfect summer conditions. Even in winter, range is always around mid 40's or so with the 2016.

My wife in her 32 mile round trip to her business even in the toughest winter conditions, heat-defrost, can always make the trip with miles to spare. With the 2014 Volt many times the engine would kick in with a depleted batter 3-4 miles from home.

 

[Coppersnowboarder]

Test conditions vary from real life situations. I took my Volt for tire rotation this week and the mechanics lowered the tire pressure from where I had it at 40 pounds to where they wanted it at 34 pounds. Irritating. Compare hybrid plug-ins on the U.S. Department of Energy fuel economy web-site as well. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/PowerSearch.do?action=alts&year1=2016&year2=2017&vtype=Plug-in+Hybrid&srchtyp=newAfv