Going Volt this time around.

Yes, that was what I figured.

 

The Volt has the best traction control I’ve experienced, it allows just enough slip that you can take off a lot faster, especially in slush conditions where traction control normally just stops you in place, hard to describe but usually not flat out tire spin.

 

The Volt's oil life meter is based on two things, how often the engine is ran via the RPMs when the engine is on, and age. It goes off a percentage, and it seems to drop 1% every week even if you don't use gas. Once it gets low enough, I think around 20% or less, then it starts to remind you to change the oil.

2011/12 Volts originally didn't account for age, so you may see some people driving those post about how they only changed the only once or maybe twice since they've owned it new years ago. GM put a technical service bulletin out on it to fix that so it does factor age into the life meter, but some Volt owners have avoided getting said TSB done.

GM's lack of marketing them is one reason. People are often surprised when I talk about my Volt, and would love to try one out, if only they had been aware of it. Many of their dealerships also not having a lot of them in stock, or sometimes hiding what they do have in the back of the lot doesn't help matters any.

But this is a general EV problem, as other EV's have similar issues. At least with the Prius Prime, a Toyota salesperson can basically just say "It's a prius that you can drive on electric for 25 miles.", and most people would immediately understand that. GM didn't have anything comparable, so it's more difficult for their salespeople to explain it in a short amount of time.

The higher sticker price also scares some people away. Why pay $35k for a Volt, when a $20k Cruze will work just fine, and gets okay mpg? While that may be true for some, the two cars, despite sharing some of the same underpinnings, are vastly different in terms of driving performance, not to mention the Volt's EV abilities. Toyota did do things right here, making the Prime just slightly more expensive than most Prius trims, and with the plug-in tax credit, the cheapest Prime is actually a little cheaper than the low end Prius trim.

My guess is that if walk into a Chevy dealership, and you don't specifically ask for a Volt, but just want a car that has good mpg, they'll be more than happy to toss you into a Chevy Cruze or Malibu, and send you on your way so they can work with the next customer.

I thought about this too, which turned me off from considering a Volt earlier. Then as I thought about it, I realized I don't really take that many long distance trips where the Prius would make more sense from an mpg perspective. Plus the Volt is just way more fun to drive anyway.

I've owned my 2017 Volt for just a little over a year now as of this post, and have put nearly 18k miles on it. But I only have about 2200 miles on gas, mostly because of trips to nearby cities that are 1-3 hours away, and visiting relatives that live 6 hours away back in July.

Sure, a Prius would have saved me a tiny bit more on gas. But on my regular 40 mile work commute, it would still be burning gas everyday, whereas the Volt is as EV as a Nissan Leaf or Tesla Model S, meaning the gas engine won't engage so long as you have juice in the battery, unless it's really cold out. Or it's running EMM, or "Engine Maintenance Mode", where it runs the engine for 10-15 minutes every 6 weeks of no-gas use.

In fact, the last time I had to really fill up up was back in July, 5 months ago. I've burned maybe 3 gallons since.

I especially love the ability to preheat or cool my Volt safely in my garage, thanks to the electric heater and a/c. It's so nice to have a warm car when I leave for work on cold days.

 

I just made the jump to a Volt also. After 11 years with a Gen2 Prius and 5 years with the Prius Plug-in,
the extended electric range of the Volt was attractive.
I went with a CPO '17 Volt Premier. $25K for a car that stickered over $40K just 18 months ago.
And its cosmetically in showroom condition, with a better warranty than new.
I can only hope it'll be as reliable as the Prius'
The quiet electric drive is impressive, and the range seems to go on forever
compared to the 11 miles EV of the PiP.

 

Enjoy your Volt

 

+1 !!

Unfortunately the Volt's tax kickbacks will probably sunset before I can get my hands on one.....but I would love to have one in my driveway!!

Enjoy the regen-on-demand!

 

Current estimates/guesses have been full credit until July ‘19, half until Jan ‘20, quarter until July ‘20. Could be three less months for each step.

 

Find youself a nice CPO car like I did. And get the benefit of someone else's tax credit through tremendous depreciation. It'll be practically like new, with a better warranty. I couldn't distinguish between my '17 and new a '18, except for the $15K savings.

 

congrats! how do you find the hatch space compared to pip?

 

Expectations were for the phaseout to already have been triggered. Bolt was intended to squash Telsa Model 3. Of course, the original plan was for Volt to have pushed the mainstream threshold. Neither have lived up to the hype. Targeting the wrong audience was the biggest mistake... which leads to the question of what comes next.

Will GM finally deliver a plug-in their own showroom shoppers will be interested in? Without the tax-credit, appealing to anyone beyond us is a very difficult challenge.

 

Oh my god John, give it a rest already.
This isn't some marketing piece, this is based on the number of electric cars GM has sold in the US and the rate they are selling them. It is likely they will hit the number in 1st quarter, possibly 4th quarter of this year if they have a big surge.

 

Pretending the problem doesn't exist is terrible advice. I refuse to become an enabler. What do you suggest the next step should be?

Keep in mind the talks of tax-credit renewal. Not addressing how the first round was wasted isn't good for anyone. Remember how the point was to reach ordinary consumers... not just enthusiasts?

 

This was a simple question about when the rebates were running out.
A simple estimate of the time until GM sold their 200,000 ev, based on the number sold to date, and the rate of sales. Simple as that.

 

The topic is "this time around" which makes it quite reasonable to bring up the next... especially with the OP's recommendation.

 

If that were the case, based on trends in Truck design and sales we would end up with this new GM 1500 Plug In Hybrid

Comfortably seats 7

 

I'd say hatch space is not as wide, nor as deep. With the seats folded down, it's got good length. The Prius was an excellent use of interior space.
The front seating area of the Volt does strike me (and the wife) as being more roomy and comfy. It really is a nice (electric) car and i'm impressed with it in many ways. Really surprised it hasn't got more mainstream recognition / appreciation and they don't sell more.
This is the best part..... and it keeps increasing....

 

The Voltec drive is super quiet and smooth. When the ICE starts it's imperceptible and stays that way most of the time it's on. I'm averaging 46 MPG, CS mode, during the little time it runs. The ride has a very 'planted' feel, perfect dampening and rebound IMHO.
EV -Sport mode is impressive when you floor it.
I couldn't quite embrace it as a new car, but as a pre-owned it strikes me as a great value.

 

Started my drive with this ..



Drive a Volt like a Prius and you get this:



49 mile EV drive in slow and go traffic, and the remaining range is .....