PiP/Volt January 7-11 Switcheroo

+1

Thanks guys for the great data. It looks like the volt is a good match for Jeff N's trips but not so much for Devprius.

I don't think there is much controversy on what rate to use, the problem is finding the real numbers. The best rate to use is the marginal rate for your actual vehicles. If you were building additional solar to charge, or your use made the utility add more wind, you could use that rate. Since Devprius said his roof is maxed out, I would not count the solar, nor the renewables on the grid, nor the old thermal gas, nuclear, hydro. Those things would be on whether you charged your car or not. If you are charging on peak the numbers for fossil are different than off peak for pg&e, but can't remember who got these figures. If you are on peak it would be higher marginally since the extra power comes from out of state and has more losses. Your marginal is likely ccgt natural gas, which is slightly higher than the average rate for california. I am not sure why davis used the ineffiecnt gas, unless you are charging on-peak all the time you would likely be using the most efficient natural gas. PG&E needs to build more of this and renewables, so the number should get better over time with your increased energy use. I would just use the pg&e rate without having all those other numbers.

 

I wish. Our neighbor has an almost perfect roof for solar. Faces nearly due south. No obstructions/protrusions (vents) at all on the south facing side. Ours faces southeast. We get great production in the morning/early afternoon, but drops off a lot in the later afternoon. During the summer, the production drops off after 3pm. In the winter, it's closer to 1pm. Less sun, and less good sun.

 

It usually takes a year or so for the EV/HV percentage and lifetime MPG to level off....

In the first month of owning my Volt, I was at 95/5 and 500+ MPG. In the 2nd month I went on vacation and drove a week without plugging in. My EV % fell to about 40/60 and my MPG fell to 100. After more than one year, several road trips, and lots of daily commutes, EV/HV percent has settled into about 75/25 lifetime and lifetime MPG is about 150 MPG. Now with 15,000 miles, each road trip has less impact on the lifetime percentage/MPG. My lifetime MPG used to drop 25-50 MPG after a long trip. Now, it drops less than 5 MPG...

Some PIP owners are getting close to one year now, so they are probably seeing the same thing. They probably have a better handle on what their lifetime EV/HV percentage will be...

 

It looks like both of them managed about 2.5 X as much EV driving in the Volt vs the PiP. I was a bit surprised it wasn't higher for both drivers. David used about 13% more gasoline in his PiP vs the Volt, not insignificant considering David's driving style and lack of time to "learn" the Volt. I think Jeff already knew how to drive the PiP.

 

Always... since each season must be experienced in full at least once first. Seasons vary from year to year too.

It can also take longer for those who drive a very small number of miles, making effects of an long & random trip amplied.

Then of course, there's the influence of charging opportunities increasing as owner proceeds.

 

208 3 phase seems to deliver 3.03KW vs 3.3KW for 240 single phase.

 

I'm thinking it was probably wired for 220 if we assume the car is trying to pull the max amperage it can:

3030 watts / 220 volts equals 13.77 amps
3300 watts / 240 volts equals 13.75 amps

 

Thank you for a great comparison between the PIP and Volt!
One question: which one is quietest on the highway?

 

The Volt.

 

In terms of road noise? It was pretty close between the two, though I think the Volt had the slight edge. Or in terms of engine (ICE) noise? The Volt's ICE ran less, obviously, so it wins. But I seem to recall that when both ICEs were on, it was pretty much a wash between the two.

 

really? I must be going deaf then because I can't tell when the ICE comes on in my Volt except for the dash readout.

The only chance I had to drive a PiP it was out of EV charge but I could easily tell when the ICE was on and off.

 

I may be more sensitized to it, but my Volt's ICE is like fingernails on a chalkboard when it turns on. However, I suspect the PiP is at least as bad. I haven't had a chance to try one though as every time I think about taking one out for a test drive I find my wife has our EV

I will say this, the Volt's transition to its generator is smooth, and is less noticeable to me at highway speeds than at slower speeds.

 

I'm with Zythryn.. cannot tell if the Volt's ice is on on the highway, but if starts up at low speed its noticeable But that may also be because of heightened gas-anxiety and when it goes on at low speeds it because of ERDTLT or error on my part to not use MM to save the right amount. So at low speeds it just may be the whine of failure I hear so loudly.

 

I drove 6 EVs, the Volt and a PIP during a 4 hr market research project back in September. Both the Volt and PIP had quiet engines on surface streets. On the freeway I'd give a slight edge to the Volt especially during hard acceleration. But not a big deal.

Mike

 

driving on flat roads at 70+ mph, at least on most of the roads here, the road noise will drown out any ICE revs by far. i can really only hear the ICE in my PiP when doing hard acceleration on the freeway (city streets are a diff story obv).

 

I drove home from the airport last night with two colleagues. Sixty miles-Interstate. They both remarked on how quiet it was and how nice the ride. I agreed. Surprising because I hear to the contrary from others on this site.

 

I "feel" the ICE vibration in my right leg (which tends to lean against the middle of the vehicle) more than I hear the engine...... but I usually am cranking the tunes on the radio...

At freeway speeds, the tire noise is pretty loud, and drowns out the ICE when it is running...

 

You guys should have thrown in a bonus trip to Vegas to factor in life is not just to and from work.

Then for bonus points you could have seen which car holds more hook... ahh heck I'll keep it PG-13.... Clowns...