2012 Chevrolet Volt Racks Up 250,000 Miles, One-Third Electric, Rest At 39 MPG

Easier said than done on carbon tax going to green trans. A tax gets put into a general fund and spent as greedy politicians see whats' best for them. Like a states' gasoline tax (and federal too), every tax penny pumped on motor fuel do NOT all go to the infrastructure.

I know it stinks, but thats' our current system we have, The absolute best was to get the max amount to a green infrastructure is thru voting it into law. The law who specifically state any carbon tax is to be applied to building, maintaining, and expanding a green infrastructure.

Let toe PEOPLE decide this, not chance it to the politicians!

DBCassidy

 

From algorithm point of view it doesn't really matter how frequently it happens, just that it happens.

For example you could be racking regen miles while the charge isn't depleted yet, but when they will be used? right away or at the end? do they count or not? Or how about accessories, which electricity counts toward running them? How about if you turned A/C half way through?

Do you have any GM-source write up on how this being counted? thx

 

It's my impression that gas taxes have generally not been increased enough to keep up with inflation (because of anti-tax ideology) and these days significant road and bridge expenses are partially paid out of the general budget.

 

The issue of accessory or A/C energy usage actually applies to all cars at all times (even a conventional ICE) so it does not need to be specially accounted for. If you crank up accessory power it will be drawn and accounted for during whatever mode you are in at that moment.

By default, the Volt starts off in EV mode and uses the high voltage battery until it runs out of usable charge (15-22% remaining depending upon model year and battery pack version). Any regen during that period goes back into the battery and is used again and the usable charge runs out. Once the usable charge runs out the Volt switches in hybrid or "Charge Sustaining" mode and then all energy from the gas engine and all regen are counted as coming from the gas engine.

You can push buttons to manually "hold" the current grid energy in the battery and force the car into hybrid mode and later switch back to use that held grid battery level.

 

So you have no info how much regen is being recovered in hybrid mode? I am guessing it should be higher than 16% in "C" as battery can take more charge.

 

Correct.

You can see the regen in real time (kW flowing back into the battery) on the driver's display but there is no separate display area which counts up and displays the cumulative regeneration as kWh.

 

SO WH

 

how does the warranty work - is it based off of their scan tool saying there is only X % of usable capacity left - prior to reaching 100,000 miles?

 

The warranty is based on the odometer so at 114,000 miles I no longer had any warranty coverage.

If I had waited and bought a Volt in the last half of the 2012 model year then I would have qualified for the California $1,500 rebate, the HOV "diamond lane" sticker, and a 150,000 mile battery warranty that would have covered by repair expenses. In my case I'm glad I didn't wait. The joy of driving my Volt for an additional ~1.5 years more than made up for the added expense of having to pay for this repair myself.

 

understood, but my question was about the specifics when the car is within warranty. How does it work .... what is unacceptable loss that triggers warranty work .... 10% 20% 30% of original capacity?

 

Also, increased traffic, population expansion has hasten the demise of the highway infrastructure. Ideas of a "carbon tax" is really just another way for politicians to keep your money and spend it on their own pet projects.

DBCassidy

 

Ah, I didn't read your comment carefully enough. I don't know exactly what reduction in battery capacity would trigger a replacement under the warranty. I don't think it's happened to anyone yet.

In my case it was just a control board inside the battery pack that went bad and the car issued a error code that precisely identified the failed board.

I was able to continue driving for 2-3 weeks because the car reverted to a series hybrid mode that minimized the use of the battery. It was like driving a train. The engine came on when I started the car and never turned off. Power was supplied by the engine without any boost from the battery so the driving feel was unusual but it worked for several hundred miles of commuting until they had the replacement part and I brought it in for service.

 

Sparkie's closing in on 275,000 miles.

Volt Stats: Details for Volt #2012-07353 (sparkie)