I'm a new owner as of February, and loving the Volt-o-rama.
Tho, sadly, it's in the shop right now to have a heater element replaced. Somehow I managed to burn it out But they're doing the recall fix in the process. Two birds and a stone and all.
Anywho, I was traveling last week and had to rent a car for a ~200 mile drive. I ended up with a Ford Mustang, the V8 kind that goes REALLY FAST. It was fun and all... but ... when I got back in my Volt, I was impressed with the Volt much more. I wouldn't trade it for a Mustang
The Volt is IMHO a smoother ride, is more responsive off the line, is quicker to steer, and is more comfortable. When I was driving the Mustang, it seemed like it took FOR EVER for the engine to rev up and the auto tranny to engage if I punched the accelerator from a dead stop. I'm sure the 30-60+ acceleration of the Mustang is way more than the Volt, but I'm betting that for 0-30, the volt would hold it's own. Anyone happen to know the 0-30 times?
Ok, I know, I sound like a total speed freak and I'm really not. But the responsiveness of the volt in sport mode has made me into a bit of an addict about this - being able to hit the throttle and get an instant response. Must be something in that reptilian part of the brain.
The Mustang did do better at higher speeds. At above 70, the Mustang was incredibly stable and confident. It was easy to get it up above the speed limit without even noticing. In the volt, when I'm running above 70, it's still pretty smooth, but not as smooth or confident as the Mustang. Well, not surprising.
I did once take the Volt up to it's max speed of 101. On a test track in the open desert, of course . When it got to that, it said "speed limit reached" and it cut back on the throttle. It does pretty well at higher speeds.
I owned one of the first Prii (plural Prius?). This Volt is soooo much more fun to drive!
One last comment. I took the Volt for a 2,000 mile drive to S. California and back recently. It was a champ. Overall mileage was ~38.2 MPG (according to internal system). Average speed through desert was, well, something I can't really say in an open forum.
I only charged it once on the way there, but on the way back there was no power outlet at the motel. (And, besides, I was in a motel near Area 51, in a blizzard, and the power went off after I witnessed two transformers blow up. It was a spooky night.)
Anyway, thanks to all of you who're advocating for the Volt! I've been an EV buff for a while, I even did the crazy thing of starting a bike shop that focused on electric bikes. It's good to see some momentum building.
OH YEAH, I forgot to mention one more big advantage of the volt compared to other electric-only EV's. Recently the city decided to replace sewer lines, so they shut down our garage access for almost a week. There's no way to charge the car anywhere else around the house, and we had to park it on the street. If we'd been dependent on only charging, the volt would have been dead-in-the-water. Hurray for the backup generator! It's great for when power access is limited.