I pulled up to charging-stations here and was surprised to see a Volt plugged in today. Turns out it's not actually a consumer purchase, just the owner of a local GM dealer passing through. But I bet he'll be quite shocked (pun intended) to see my PHV plugged in right next to the Volt. .
Speaking of which, John, you haven't updated your site in sometime. I'm looking forward to the info you have on the PHV, and photo's of course.
There's a bunch of updates on the way. It's been taking a very long time to research, collect data/photos, and organize for the paradigm shift of now using plug-provided electricity. In the meantime, two videos are available... http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-prius-plug-in/105347-phv-prius-owner-videos.html .
Thank you!! Your work is greatly appreciated! I'm super excited to find out the extreme specs, like the rpm limit of the generators, battery info, etc. A big thank you John!
Saw a brand new Volt today in Almaden Valley (part of San Jose). It had no plates yet and had the temp dealer placard for DGDG (Del Grande Dealer Group | New Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Volkswagen, Fiat, Buick, GMC dealership in San Jose, CA 95136).
Brand new white one parked in the Hitachi/XOJet parking lot in the Sierra Point office park in South San Francisco
Saw another new Volt today (well, yesterday) in south San Jose. It was a blue one and didn't have plates yet. Interesting...
The other day after lunch, I was walking over to plug the PHV in with a friend. We came across a Volt. The first thing he mentioned was his dismay about how low the front spoiler was. I held my phone underneath for true perspective. His reaction became shock. What the heck was GM thinking making it so low? The rest of the exterior looks small too. It's actually rather surprising Volt is so often compared to Prius. When you see the size difference in person, you immediately think that Prius c is the more appropriate comparison. .
Code:          Length    Width    Wheelbase Prius C      157.3     66.7    100.4         Prius 3rd gen   175.6     68.7    106.3     Volt        177.1     70.4    105.7
Sorry, I meant interior, as seen from the exterior. It's obviously different when you're actually sitting inside in front. But I do find the rear legroom quite compact. The sunken & smaller cargo area doesn't work for me either, not with a large bike to routinely transport. It doesn't matter anyway. Product diversity is required. When a larger Voltec vehicle is offered, what specs do you think will be offered? .
Aerodynamics. It's not that the car's extremely low, but there's a thin piece of plastic the bottom of the spoiler that makes it very low. Naturally, being so low they've designed it so that it's cheap and easy to remove or replace. I wish more manufacturers would do something like it. If you don't have a specific need for high ground clearance even the standard amount is wasting gasoline. The exterior's large enough, it's the interior that's compromised by the battery. Rear legroom is tight and somebody wrote that the rear seats are very hard.
I had fashioned an airdam out of plastic garden edging for the HHR. It was probably good for an extra mpg.
Have you ridden in the back of a volt. If you have that is progress. What did the driver think of the car? I've never ridden in the back of a prius, and I have one. As for the next voltec, other than the cadi, my vote is for something like the equinox. That is a space that isn't being covered well.