[DOKbrown]

who has a MBP warranty that will cover the hybrid system + battery ??​

I was about to purchase this used VOLT & use APCO’s membercare.

The 3-page brochure says ELITE covers “hybrid”

thank god I confirmed that this does NOT cover the high voltage battery.



MemberCare - MemberCare - Vehicle protection & solutions for your credit union



The car is 1-owner & in good condition but I would feel better if I had coverage for the battery. It is a 2013 with 101,000 miles so the GM warranty has expired



https://www.harborchevrolet.com/inv...volt-base-fwd-4d-hatchback-1g1rc6e42fu106960/



if any1 knows of a warranty that will cover the VOLTEC system, it would be much appreciated. I expec to covers tires, brakes, etc on a car this old.



Thank you in advance,

Lorenzo

 

[Steverino]

Move to "? Buying, Selling"...

there is no warranty that will cover the Volt's battery other than the oem warranty or a warranty by a refurbisher like Greentec Auto.

 

[DOKbrown]

in case anyone was wondering
---only 31 mile range fully charged as of today.

 

[DOKbrown]

Move to "? Buying, Selling"...

there is no warranty that will cover the Volt's battery other than the oem warranty or a warranty by a refurbisher like Greentec Auto.

thank you for the quick response

 

[Steverino]

only 31 mile range fully charged as of today.

Sounds normal

 

[DOKbrown]

other than the BCM Module with gen 2, the VOLT’s batteries seem pretty reliable

I scaled down to a $1k warranty since none of their warranties were gonna cover the battery.

 

[Bushpilot]

31 miles in the winter in a 2013? That is pretty good.

 

[MikeBCo]

in case anyone was wondering
---only 31 mile range fully charged as of today.

Depends on the temperature and driving condition... if that is 31 miles at 75MPH in -20F weather running the heat full blast in 12" of snow, that's not too bad...

 

[DOKbrown]

Lenders reluctant to lend on old chevy VOLTS ????



I am buying a chevy VOLT from a local chevrolet dealer for $10-12k.

I put $2k down but the lender insists they want more b/c they only value the car at $9k. It is a 2013 with 100,000 miles.



I was also shocked to find that no 1 has an extended warranty that will cover the VOLTEC battery.



I find this to be a shame b/c this is a great used affordable car. I have the funds & credit but I imagine this will steer other buyers away from this useful vehicle. Evs are not going to make a major changes in the market until you get can get quality used ones for $10-15k. Most car buyers do not want to pay $60-80k for some sporty EV SUV. I think the model Y is the best thing out there but I’d rather have 2 volts/bolts + solar panels for $80k.

 

[Steverino]

I was also shocked to find that no 1 has an extended warranty that will cover the VOLTEC battery.

Given that a replacement battery pack could cost $6k up to $25k and that this event will happen around years 10 to 15, the warranty would need to make enough money to cover that expense, plus profit. Think of a home fire insurance policy where the home is almost guaranteed to burn down somewhere between years 10 and 15. Few if any would insure against that fire, and if they did, it would be extremely expensive. You'd be better off self-insuring via a forced savings plan.

Expecting an automotive extended warranty to cover a near certain (and expensive) event is unrealistic. They'd want you to pay $25k or more for it to avoid going bankrupt.No way you'd pay that, hence, no warrantees like that are offered.

Most car buyers do not want to pay $60-80k for some sporty EV SUV. I think the model Y is the best thing out there but I’d rather have 2 volts/bolts + solar panels for $80k.

The Chevy Bolt EV is in the $26k -$31k range. The upcoming 1 LT Chevy Equinox EV will be in the 30k-ish range. The new Ultium-based EV's like the Equinox EV are designed to allow bad battery bricks to be replaced with new ones coming from the factory, something the Volt can't do.

 

[obermd]

Given that a replacement battery pack could cost $6k up to $25k and that this event will happen around years 10 to 15, the warranty would need to make enough money to cover that expense, plus profit. Think of a home fire insurance policy where the home is almost guaranteed to burn down somewhere between years 10 and 15. Few if any would insure against that fire, and if they did, it would be extremely expensive. You'd be better off self-insuring via a forced savings plan.

Expecting an automotive extended warranty to cover a near certain (and expensive) event is unrealistic. They'd want you to pay $25k or more for it to avoid going bankrupt.No way you'd pay that, hence, no warrantees like that are offered.



The Chevy Bolt EV is in the $26k -$31k range. The upcoming 1 LT Chevy Equinox EV will be in the 30k-ish range. The new Ultium-based EV's like the Equinox EV are designed to allow bad battery bricks to be replaced with new ones coming from the factory, something the Volt can't do.

Actually, after watching Sandy Munroe's tear down of the 2nd Gen Volt battery GM could indeed swap out bad modules. There are four modules that can easily be separated from each other. Also, based on that tear down, I suspect that with some care, individual battery cells can be replaced as Sandy took one of the modules apart and showed a battery cell by itself. It's just that GM sold so few Volts that it's not cost effective for them to do this level of work. I can't find this video but there are multiple youtube videos featuring the Chevy Volt's battery and how to disassemble and replace individual cells.

 

[hellsop]

People keep saying "Oh, it should be EASY to replace the cells with new ones, just pop 'em open and..." and then we don't hear about anyone actually doing it. Which means either it's wildly more work than they were expecting, or wildly more expensive once they DO do the work. At this point, I wouldn't buy a BRAND NEW 10 YEAR WARRANTY for $30k, for example, because I can buy a Bolt for that, get 200 miles more range, and a free B2B warranty on a whole new car.

 

[Steverino]

multiple youtube videos featuring the Chevy Volt's battery and how to disassemble and replace individual cells.

I can't find a single one showing someone replacing individual cells, obermd. Modules can be replaced, sections can be replaced, but an individual cell? I'll say not possible until someone shows otherwise and the Volt driving on the resulting hack job.

I'm not saying people at GM's technical center could not do it, heck, they could probably make a few new cells by hand. I'm saying a dealer can't and an owner can't.

I'm happy to be proven wrong...

 

[obermd]

Sandy had a battery cell out of the module. The Volt's battery modules are actually made up of multiple blades of three cells (gen 1) and two cells (gen 2). These blades appear to be the least replaceable units in the Volt's battery and they are all identical.

Youtube video showing how these are assembled:

 

[Steverino]

Sandy had a battery cell out of the module

Thanks, yes at about 22 seconds in, obermd.

The cells pouches are welded together. Note he said he cut it out of the cell group, That's a destructive process. I've seen this done in other videos where they cut through the welded tabs. What I have not seen is a reassembly with a new cell obtained from....somewhere (but let's say from another salvaged module), re-welding the cut-off tabs, reassembling the module and then the section it was in and then re-installing in the car and all is good. No one has yet got further the destructive tab cutting stage. Some have said they think it might be possible to rewed the cells somehow, but no one has done it.

 

[DOKbrown]

What is the best test to see whether the battery will die anytime soon ?
Can only GM/CHEVY dealers perform this test ?

 

[hellsop]

What is the best test to see whether the battery will die anytime soon ?
Can only GM/CHEVY dealers perform this test ?

The short answer is "we don't know." We have some things that can be watched for and checked. The most critical thing SEEMS TO BE the variation in voltage between cell groups at the bottom of the State of Charge, which can be checked by MyGreenVolt with the cell-voltage upgrade. 140mv difference causes problems. You want to see as little as possible, but you should start worrying if it's 100mv or more when the car is on, at the bottom of the charge, parked and ICE cycled off.