Volt Pic Post.........High VOLTage or Low? Post pictures and stories/experiences of your Volt or someone's you know or have driven.

[lil' thumper]

Let's see pictures and hear stories of owner's experiences of Volts. (or of owner's you know)

I'll start with a Real Estate Appraiser in Eugene, Oregon.

Meet Frank Calciano of Calciano Associates in Eugene (also part time musician in a local band)



Put in his order two years ago and just took delivery a week ago Friday. First actual Volt to be sold in Eugene (not a demo or brought in from out of state and sold as used)

First experience? Dealer did NOT charge the car at time of delivery so he drives it home on gas.



Background on Frank's preparation. At his home in Southwest Hills (Eugene), he's got 110 voltage connection in the garage plus a 220 volt set up for quicker charging.

At his office in Eugene, he has another 220 volt charging area set up to extend his range as he has quit an area to cover for appraisals (Corvallis to Roseburg)

He's approached this over the past two years in a serious manner and has done his homework.

Flash forward to the first evening. Car is stored in garage and plugged in........charging commences.

Well, not really. On the dash, there is a light that is supposed to be solid green when charging.

He gets amber.

Go to owner's manual "possible utility interruption by OnSTAR"



No charging happens.

turns out this was a one time problem and all that was needed was a reboot. Onstar communication was just a sideshow at that moment

**comments from Frank as of 10/17:

I like the posting of the Volt. Aparrentlly the On Star was not fully setup in the first couple of days having do with registration and password setup. Anyway it works now. Have driven 233 miles of 266 total miles on electricity.

Thanks
Frank

In the morning, move the car outside under gas power and establish phone linkup.

**edit.... realize now that ON Star is simply a cell signal. He has really poor cell reception at his house... so moving the car gained just enough signal to make the hookup to talk to the onstar people.

On star people are ticked that the dealer didn't charge the car. Tells Frank to reboot the whole car and start over. (just like a computer)

Charging happens over the next 4 hours.





**The crutches. Frank is also a gungho baseball player. Slide into 3rd base (or home, I can't recall) and broke his fibula a couple weeks before the car arrived.... Doesn't keep him out of the driver's seat, though)




Fran Calciano and son Dennis size up to the realization that there isn't much trunk space. (She remarks how she's glad she has her Honda Odyssey )


Frank let me take it for a spin out thru the wine country of Eugene with 4 of us onboard.

Car is low to the ground.... handles well (wide profile tires and suspension is well damped).

Quiet..............

......really quiet at speed

Lots of torque and hill climbing around Eugene is effortless on battery power.



Charged up in about 5 hours on 220

****update on the whole onstar thing****

you don't need onstar to charge the car.

I'll try to explain what happened.

Frank hadn't really set up the onstar yet since he just got the car. This and somehow the car locked onto "no charge status"

When the charging didn't happen, one of the explanations in the owner's manual was that onstar was delaying the charging "utility interruption was the way they put it" to wait for a more economical time. Something about getting the best charging rates from the local utilities.

But mostly this was two fold. Once the onstar connection was made and he talked to them and the reboot occured the next day, charging was good to go. All very strange indeed for the first time out.

So, no... you can charge without onstar being on ( it was just confusing that night to figure out why no charging and he wasn't able to contact onstar for questions.)

Since then, charging has been occuring without a hitch and certainly no more indications of "possible utility interruptions" from the light display of solid amber.

Solid green all the way

[czykvw]

God I love everything about this car.
Both gas & electric. The looks with the low belt line, the interior & configuration of the seats.

Dont know anyone that owns one yet but I like to walk over and stare at them when I spot them in a parking lot. Only cause its a rare sight to see around here.

Hope to see more stories & pics of the volt!

[Bixmen]

crap.... car can't communicate with OnStar because the house is over the garage and no satellite linkage.

Wait, what? is that right? really? wouldn't that be true with TONS of garages?

[lil' thumper]

Wait, what? is that right? really? wouldn't that be true with TONS of garages?

That's what I thought, but it was certainly true that we couldn't get an OnStar linkup till we moved it out of the garage the next morning.

Seems awfully strange to me as well.

**just checked. The ONstar uses cell phone repeaters just like your mobile phone, so it should have worked. However, due to the fact that Frank's house has poor cell reception and is spotty at best, the Onstar would have had difficulty getting a signal (just like the signal outage that is common for his cell phone there)

So.... yes correction. Onstar non communication wasn't due to the garage like I thought. We just had to move the car a little bit to get better signal.

from another forum

OnStar uses cell towers for vehicle communication which will work just fine in most covered areas. Hell, in some of the Boston tunnels I think they have cell repeaters down there.

[KahviVW]

Wait, what? is that right? really? wouldn't that be true with TONS of garages?

Or what if you are in an area without cell coverage?

[lil' thumper]

Or what if you are in an area without cell coverage?

from the Corvette forum

Onstar uses CDMA and AMPS which is a cellular network through Horizon ... i think he means Verizon here (land based) for phone service. It uses satellites for the GPS in onstar.
It's possible that there could be areas where onstar phone service will not work.

[Dawg Dee-Lux]

Having driven the Leaf - I love the idea about the Volt/Ampera.

A wagon would solve ALL my driving needs.

[Aonarch]

[AZGolf]

Or what if you are in an area without cell coverage?

Then you shouldn't buy a Volt in the first place because you live in the middle of nowhere.

[McBanagon]

God I love everything about this car.
Both gas & electric. The looks with the low belt line, the interior & configuration of the seats.

Belt line isn't that low, the tops of the door sills are blacked out. Still looks low, though.

[lil' thumper]

Update from the Calciano's

Fran Calciano after looking at the crashed Volt pictures:

Volt is a safe car from the looks of it and I'm glad to hear it! It sure feels smaller and therefore more vulnerable then driving the minivan. Glad to hear the design will keep us safer than it appears! We had a blast driving on windy roads to and from the coast this weekend - did a fun circular route to get us up to Western Oregon U. for Dennis on Saturday morning, leaving from Newport on the coast. It sure was pretty!

Brakes are a little touchy for sure. It handles very well! The seats are quite comfortable but not much room to change position. We haven't decided whether we'll take it when we drive to California. It is definitely more fun to drive but less room to change position.

[2.0_Mazda]

(just like a computer)

Yeap, that's what this car is

[Punch Dub]

I really like the IDEA of the Volt, but not the actual car. I drove one a few weeks back and was mildly impressed. Lots of cool tech, but lots of typical GM too.

But let me get this straight, you have to get an Onstar signal to charge the car?! WTF for? So they can monitor it incase of fire?

[nopal 6.0]

A neighbor has one, I think his was one of the very first to be sold in the east and has only had to fill up twice since he got it.

All his driving is less than the electric range so all he uses is electricity and no gas for about 4 months now.

Love the Volt and would love to own one but it's too pricey at the moment and my commute is more than 100 miles.

[Dawg Dee-Lux]

Is that guy in the first pic related to Spock?

[lil' thumper]

I really like the IDEA of the Volt, but not the actual car. I drove one a few weeks back and was mildly impressed. Lots of cool tech, but lots of typical GM too.

But let me get this straight, you have to get an Onstar signal to charge the car?! WTF for? So they can monitor it incase of fire?

no..... you don't need onstar to charge the car.

I'll try to explain what happened.

Frank hadn't really set up the onstar yet since he just got the car. This and somehow the car locked onto "no charge status"

When the charging didn't happen, one of the explanations in the owner's manual was that onstar was delaying the charging "utility interruption was the way they put it" to wait for a more economical time. Something about getting the best charging rates from the local utilities.

But mostly this was two fold. Once the onstar connection was made and he talked to them and the reboot occured the next day, charging was good to go. All very strange indeed for the first time out.

So, no... you can charge without onstar being on ( it was just confusing that night to figure out why no charging and he wasn't able to contact onstar for questions.)

Since then, charging has been occuring without a hitch and certainly no more indications of "possible utility interruptions" from the light display of solid amber.

Solid green all the way

[big byrd]

They have 2 for sale now locally, haven't went in to check them out yet.

You should update the first post, with why it wasn't charging or the same question about onstar will be asked a million time by the TL;DR crowd.

[lil' thumper]

They have 2 for sale now locally, haven't went in to check them out yet.

You should update the first post, with why it wasn't charging or the same question about onstar will be asked a million time by the TL;DR crowd.

thanks...

[Lightnin']

Carey Bailey.... first volt owner in Oregon




Bailey's experience with the volt?

Carey Bailey, who drives 30 miles each day to work in Sutherlin in northern Douglas County, said he was unimpressed with electric cars that were so compact that they made him feel claustrophobic.

Bailey, who has been driving a Chevrolet Volt since January, described the financial benefits of his new car. He commutes daily to Sutherlin and said he swapped a $500 monthly gas bill for a $30 increase in his electricity bill.

“The car is making its own payment by me not having to buy gas,” he said.

[Corbic]

I just want to take a moment and say -

**** YOU TOYOTA.


**** YOU.


Seriously. Thank you ****ing god damn much for making the first gen Prius in that god damn shape so now every hydrive/eco car will have to resemble that because people are stupid.



This is what the car of tomorrow should have looked like.



not a updated god damn previa.

[Impeccable]

I just want to take a moment and say -

**** YOU TOYOTA.


**** YOU.


Seriously. Thank you ****ing god damn much for making the first gen Prius in that god damn shape so now every hydrive/eco car will have to resemble that because people are stupid.



This is what the car of tomorrow should have looked like.



not a updated god damn previa.

Hmmmm none of the new cars resemble the first generation PRIUS

[koston.]

I just want to take a moment and say -

**** YOU TOYOTA.


**** YOU.


Seriously. Thank you ****ing god damn much for making the first gen Prius in that god damn shape so now every hydrive/eco car will have to resemble that because people are stupid.

Woah... 1st gen Prius is just a regularly, boring looking, car.

[zombie06]

Seriously. Thank you ****ing god damn much for making the first gen Prius in that god damn shape so now every hydrive/eco car will have to resemble that because people are stupid.

I like the Volt, but this comment has a little bit of truth to it despite its harsh tone.

In any event, I'm going with this:

[sn0w3n]

I just want to take a moment and say -

**** YOU TOYOTA.


**** YOU.


Seriously. Thank you ****ing god damn much for making the first gen Prius in that god damn shape so now every hydrive/eco car will have to resemble that because people are stupid.



This is what the car of tomorrow should have looked like.



not a updated god damn previa.

The prius has a coefficient of drag of .25 . Its not a matter of looks, it's a matter of engineering. Please go to www.ecomodder.com for lots good information aerodynamic efficiency

[Sledge]

I just want to take a moment and say -

**** YOU TOYOTA.


**** YOU.


Seriously. Thank you ****ing god damn much for making the first gen Prius in that god damn shape so now every hydrive/eco car will have to resemble that because people are stupid.

Actually the first gen Prius looked very similar to a Toyota Echo. It was the second gen Prius that put real aerodynamic design into sheetmetal. But you knew that because I can tell from your incredibly intelligent posts (much like this one).

[hardcore4life]

Carey Bailey.... first volt owner in Oregon




Bailey's experience with the volt?

DAAAMN $500 /month gas bill???? What was he driving , a hummer? I pay $100 a month for gas

[Jesarray]

DAAAMN $500 /month gas bill???? What was he driving , a hummer? I pay $100 a month for gas

I know this guy Carey is an easy target for derision, but doing the math, he might not be too far off.

Carey Bailey, an electrical engineer from Cottage Grove, Ore., used to spend about $500 a month in gasoline for his 75-mile roundtrip commute.

so 20 work days times 75 miles commute (and probably a little extra for errands after work) gives 1500 miles monthly

add in probably 30 a day for weekends and that gives you 240 monthly for the weekends.

(He probably liked to go up into the mountains as well on the weekends and that would add even more miles onto his vehicle total...but i'm not going to pile on for that)

Total: 1740 miles at 15 mpg (if he was driving a large BMW, Crown Vic, pickup or jeep which is common in Cottage Grove, Oregon) and you get 116 gallons of gas. Price of gas back when he bought was around 4.25 for premium and it's conceivable he was using premium

Add it up and you get 492 dollars a month for gas

At first it seems inconceivable that gas could cost that much. That's because most of us are already driving more fuel efficient cars and not doing that many miles

I'm going to give him the benefit of the nod to acknowledge he was very well forking out a ton for gas.

[hardcore4life]

So ok Volt is a great car because people don't buy gas for a long time , but uhm how states going to fix the roads if nobody buy gas anymore, i always thought highway maintenance fund comes from gas tax , how long till government or state will start charging electric car owners for highway and road use.

[curvedinfinity]

I love these things. I have the feeling my Ma will pick one up in a year or two.

[uncleho]

So ok Volt is a great car because people don't buy gas for a long time , but uhm how states going to fix the roads if nobody buy gas anymore, i always thought highway maintenance fund comes from gas tax , how long till government or state will start charging electric car owners for highway and road use.

The time frame it will take society to phase into a significant amount of EV-only use will be measured in decades me thinks (i.e. a couple-three), so don't worry. The politicians have 2-3 decades worth of "debate" and "compromise" to sort it out.

[AZGolf]

So ok Volt is a great car because people don't buy gas for a long time , but uhm how states going to fix the roads if nobody buy gas anymore, i always thought highway maintenance fund comes from gas tax , how long till government or state will start charging electric car owners for highway and road use.

You must not know how American government works. Creating new taxes has never been an issue for American government. We're experts at it.

[TurboWraith]

I just want to take a moment and say -

**** YOU TOYOTA.


**** YOU.


Seriously. Thank you ****ing god damn much for making the first gen Prius in that god damn shape so now every hydrive/eco car will have to resemble that because people are stupid.



This is what the car of tomorrow should have looked like.



not a updated god damn previa.

Pretty sure that basic shape is the best compromise of interior space and drag. Which is why it is so popular.

[Corbic]

Pretty sure that basic shape is the best compromise of interior space and drag. Which is why it is so popular.

I doubt it. The reason Honda went with that shape for the Insite was because their Civic Hybrid while nearly equal in performance to a Prius did not sell as well because it was not as easily recognizable as a hybrid.

If that was truly an great economy design, they why are no other economy cars in that shape?

[Powderkeg]

interesting trip stats for this one down in Florida





owner's comments below

This summer we took the Volt on a 3,318 mile road trip from Miami, FL to Albany, NY - and back. I started the trip with a lifetime MPG average of 74.3, and ended it with 57.6.

I had pre-reserved my hotel rooms on the route, and for each call I had requested the ability to plug-in. Only in NC did they not remember this conversation, but they were able to accommodate me anyways.

[Nourdmrolnmt]

I doubt it. The reason Honda went with that shape for the Insite was because their Civic Hybrid while nearly equal in performance to a Prius did not sell as well because it was not as easily recognizable as a hybrid.

If that was truly an great economy design, they why are no other economy cars in that shape?

you seriously are showing a TON of ignorance lately...

oh wait, you have always been an idiot.

its THE most aerodynamic shape that is available with enough passenger and cargo space...