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

[Balderdash]

so whats the increase on the electric bill a month for those not using solar energy?

Just shooting a few numbers here gives this

The volt efficiency is around 3 miles per kwhour

A person driving say 30 miles electric per day every day would drive about 900 miles electric per month would use about 300 Kw*h of electricity per month.

if you are paying 10 cents a kw... that's 30 bucks of electric versus probably 4 bucks a gallon times 36 gallons (25 mpg) gives $144 for the gas equivalent.

(yes, I know you may pay less for gas, but it's been high on the west coast for a long time and it seems we are talking about California here)

[uncleho]

So the early adopters are wanting to do something different and they have the bucks to vote with their wallet.

I don't understand why this is so hard to understand.

It holds true not only for the Volt or Leaf or first gen Prius, but the first cell phone, smart phone, PC, or... residential PV setups, which are really expensive for most anybody other than... people with money. Breakeven on PV systems is measured in decades... especially for those not benefiting from state incentives.

And to the point of incentives and how long they will endure? This concept is easy, too! Incentives are to motivate sales in order to basically grow the industry, evolve product efficiency, and help reduce impact on resources/environment. How hard is that to understand? Furthermore... it should be obvious that it won't be forever, because the point is... it is designed to bring said technology beyond fruition and into the mainstream enough such that the improvements in efficiency will help sustain sales without the need for incentives (because it is efficient enough to be affordable to more consumers).

Is this that complex to comprehend?

The question shouldn't be whether it makes financial sense to the buyer per se, but rather in the long term (compared to other alternatives) is there a point when the development/research/MFG/resources/etc. involved in advancing said technology/"solutions" pushing the bounds of waste... for the society? Does the overall 'cost' to find these tools outweigh the return? Are there other choices that could be considered that doesn't require the massive investment in human thinking and money and time? Because said effort in the end is using energy, too.

We use energy to develop/evolve technology to... help us use less energy. At what point do we actually push the effort to... conserve/recycle/moderate? That is 'tech' that isn't as complicated to figure out. It requires more planning, discipline, and strategizing than it does invention (i.e. It should be... dare I say... easier?).

[audifans]

On another note. As far as problems with Volts, the display seems to crap out on a few cars (just a few and were replaced on warranty by dealer)

The second technical issue, reported by a small number of Volt adopters, is the blanking out of the main display, followed by a return to normal functioning in a brief time.

Losing the speed, battery level, and fuel level displays, as well as other central vehicle functions, is a potentially serious problem with the electronics.
On this issue, Volt drivers who have experienced this problem are asked to bring their car in for assessment by their Chevrolet dealer.

The company will provide owners with a free loaner car for the period their vehicle is at the dealer.

Typically, the electronics in the original driver display unit are replaced to fix the problem. This is fully covered under the vehicle warranty, of course.

[AZGolf]

His entire array is generating a whopping 4.9 kilowatts of power

Are you sure you're not confusing power with energy? A solar array rated at 4.9 KW of power will produce an average of 21.6 KW/h of energy per day over the course of the year. That means averaging out summer/winter and cloudy/sunny days. 21.6 KW/h a day is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you live in a mild climate and use natural gas for heat in the winter.

[InternetMeme]

I have to admit, I REALLY like the Volt. At first I wasn't sure about it, but it's definitely grown on me big time. I've never really been too keen on the whole hybrid deal but the Toyota/Lexus system really works for me considering my daily commute to work (which is all city driving and incredibly short). My work has begun installing electric car chargers in our garage and had I not purchased my Lexus I'd have put some real consideration towards a Volt.

[Assle]

Can someone explain this?

Parrott’s credit with the electric company just accumulates, they never pay it out.

Does that mean it is a revolving credit where he can accumulate it in the "surplus" now and then just use that as credit to pay for future electricity bills later but he can never get a check for the value of that electricity from the utility?

[TopDown_]

Can someone explain this?



Does that mean it is a revolving credit where he can accumulate it in the "surplus" now and then just use that as credit to pay for future electricity bills later but he can never get a check for the value of that electricity from the utility?

Good question. I was mulling that one over myself.

[TDIBUGMAN]

Good question. I was mulling that one over myself.

Here in NJ, your account starts at zero - normally in August. Any extra credit gets you a check back.

I've had clients with solar panels everywhere, and even after not paying a cent for electricity, got back roughly $1200 every year.

Although I don't care for GM, I really like the Volt.

[Obin Robinson]

I've had clients with solar panels everywhere, and even after not paying a cent for electricity, got back roughly $1200 every year.

HOW MUCH did those solar arrays cost them? If you paid $8,000 for an array and you get a $1,200 cheque then I'm interested. If you paid $50,000 for the array to get a $1,200 cheque then I'll pass. Do you have more info on this? I'm genuinely interested.

obin

[spoonie]

it's worth noting that both solar and battery tech is experiencing huge advances at the lab level. that stuff has to trickle down eventually.

[Chris_V]

We spend about $80 a month in fuel for the Elantra and the car is 100% paid off. The insurance coverage costs about $45 a month. Factor in maintenance and the Elantra costs us about $150 a month for fuel, insurance, and maintenance to own. How long would it take for a Volt to cost us a total of $150 a month for fuel, insurance, and maintenance? Assume that the car costs $40,000 and we'd pay $40 a month for electricity to charge the car. Just for discussion sake how long would it take us to actually save money on a Volt?

obin

Oh, Obin, youre making the classic "how do we save money with a new car vs a paid of old used car" argument. You can NEVER save money by buying ANY new car vs an old paid off economy car. Doesn't matter if we're talking a Volt or a Golf or a new Elantra.

I could compare my paid of BMW 740iL to a new Elantra and show that I can't asve money even though the Elantra gets considerably better fuel economy using the same arguments. But it would still be a flawed argument.

You have to compare buying a car like a Volt with buying a different new car, like a new Accord or Camry (similarly sized, equipped, and priced) for those people that are going to buy a new car anyway. When looked at that way, you ARE saving money on fuel costs. Plus you're using vastly less foreign fuel and reducing individual point source air pollution.

[Obin Robinson]

I get what you're saying about the "we were getting a new car anyways" argument and an electric would theoretically save money. On the other hand I would like to see a cost breakdown of before and after expenditures. Those detailed breakdowns are ALWAYS missing from these electric vehicle analyses. Sure you're paying less for gas with the electric but what does it cost you to upgrade your electric system? What are the future maintenance costs of these vehicles going to be if/when the batteries crap out? Will these things be a nightmare to afford once the warranty runs out? Are they only really remotely affordable if they don't need the batteries or other electronics replaced? It is too soon to know.

obin

[spoonie]

I get what you're saying about the "we were getting a new car anyways" argument and an electric would theoretically save money. On the other hand I would like to see a cost breakdown of before and after expenditures. Those detailed breakdowns are ALWAYS missing from these electric vehicle analyses. Sure you're paying less for gas with the electric but what does it cost you to upgrade your electric system? What are the future maintenance costs of these vehicles going to be if/when the batteries crap out? Will these things be a nightmare to afford once the warranty runs out? Are they only really remotely affordable if they don't need the batteries or other electronics replaced? It is too soon to know.

obin

and this is why i appreciate all these early-adpoters to figure out that hell for us. i'm interested in about 5-7 years.

[Buckaroo banzai]

On the other hand I would like to see a cost breakdown of before and after expenditures. Those detailed breakdowns are ALWAYS missing from these electric vehicle analyses. Sure you're paying less for gas with the electric but what does it cost you to upgrade your electric system? What are the future maintenance costs of these vehicles going to be if/when the batteries crap out? Will these things be a nightmare to afford once the warranty runs out? Are they only really remotely affordable if they don't need the batteries or other electronics replaced? It is too soon to know.

obin

Good questions and of course we haven't even sorted out some of these battery replacement questions for the "lowly" Prius.

As to the upgrade on the electric, I can just say that the ones I know who have done the 110 charging (charging cord/plug comes with the cord) pay nothing extra, because it's just a plug in that requires no additional boost to the system

For those I've seen who have added the 220 version, it varies and could be as low as a DIY and adding a dryer 220 outlet (plus the cost of the cord/plug). I'll check on what they paid.

On a different note, here is an unexpected problem due to the charging heat that is generated.

the Charge Point system reported a ground fault to this owner during last year's Chicago Blizzard and cold

A Rat Ate My Chevy Volt



You can't make this stuff up. Well, maybe you can, but we didn't. Our Twitter followers have already learned that strange things started happening to the Cars.com Chevrolet Volt last Thursday night.

Around 9 p.m., I got an email alert from the ChargePoint network that our car had experienced a ground fault and the session had been terminated. (Senior editor David Thomas wisely chose to leave our Volt in our downtown parking structure, plugged in, during last week's big Chicago blizzard, and it remained there without incident.)

Monitoring the online ChargePoint portal from home, I hoped the charging station would reset, something it attempts to do a total of four times every 15 minutes. That's when I received an e-mail from our pal Todd Dore, treasurer of the Fox Valley Electric Auto Association, who parks and charges his converted Volkswagen Beetle right next to our Volt. He said that at 6:30 when he left work, we'd had a "furry visitor," a brown rat who scurried under our Volt, probably seeking warmth. The temperatures had been below 10 degrees.

Uh oh.

Rodents are known to climb into the engine compartments of conventional cars when it's frigid outside, so it made sense. The Volt maintains a minimum battery temperature when it's plugged in, even once fully charged. I named the rat "Chilly" and joked that maybe he was a saboteur....

When I arrived Friday morning, I returned the power connector to the charging station, which reset it, then reattached it to the Volt, which began charging again. No problem. But when I departed Friday night, I got warning lights: ABS, "Service Brake Assist" and "Service Stabilitrak." I drove it home anyway, hoping to get it serviced. The next day, I noticed the bottom rear window pane wasn't defogging, though the main window was.

This morning, Grossinger City Chevy of Chicago confirmed that Chilly the rat had indeed gnawed through a wiring harness in the engine compartment, causing, at minimum, the warning lights and rear defogger failure.

This won't be covered under warranty. It was, in the truest sense, an act of nature.

Chilly could learn a thing or two from the beaver in Bridgestone's Super Bowl commercial. That little guy prevented a Buick from plunging into a raging river. Chilly warmed his rodent ass, ate a snack and cost us about $600. An attempt to repair the harness should save us "thousands," according to the dealer, but the labor involved in extricating the harness from behind the headlight is extensive. Is Chilly a prankster? A disgruntled former bond-holder in "old GM?" Did Nissan send him?

There's good news and bad: The good news is our Volt, on its own merits, has been trouble-free for more than a month and 3,000 miles. The bad news is this could happen again. Presumably, an electric car with a thermally managed battery will be a tempting nest long after an internal-combustion engine has cooled off. If anyone has a home remedy for deterring pests, we're all ears. We'll be asking the same of Chevy, for sure

[shadylurker]

I'm excited to see this tech in the future, when it's cheaper. will be perfect in a cheapo beater wagon thing. I want pure utility no fancy stuff

[Barefoot_]

I thought this was a rather even handed review of this vehicle

[curvedinfinity]

I thought this was a rather even handed review of this vehicle

What a cool car. The seats in the premium interior look really nice.

[compy222]

i drove one a few weeks ago. a few brief insights.

its actually quite comfortable inside, the dash is well laid out and you have to try not to stare at the central LCD - lest you kill yourself. there was a lot of storage room in the boot area and the seats fold flat. the materials were pretty good and i liked the layout.

I drive an s2000 with a 60+mm single exit everyday, i wear earplugs on the highway. riding in a volt was like riding in a coffin, buried in the basement of a library built in a cornfield, in nebraska. the thing is SILENT. at first, this was extremely disconcerting, but after realizing the seats are pretty comfy, its a lot like a big electric golf cart.

i now understand why the car is torque limited after seeing the acceleration. while not a drag car, it certainly has no issues getting out of its own way.

overall, in the 10 minutes i spent driving it, i came away very impressed. its a nice car that sacrifices nothing to be what it is. my problem with cars like the insight and prius, that while being nice hybrids, they suck at being cars (i haven't driven the most recent prius as a disclaimer). the volt goes out of its way to be a car.

[Blunderbuss]

^ thanks, Compy...

nice to see "seat of the pants" review from TCL members

looking forward to more.

What a cool car. The seats in the premium interior look really nice.

I thought so as well

[Wheelstand]

From what I understand, there is a 1,500 dollar tax credit in Oregon for this car in addition to the fed tax credit of 7500

Seems like most of the volt owners are reporting around a dollar or 1.10 per nightly charge

[TDIBUGMAN]

HOW MUCH did those solar arrays cost them? If you paid $8,000 for an array and you get a $1,200 cheque then I'm interested. If you paid $50,000 for the array to get a $1,200 cheque then I'll pass. Do you have more info on this? I'm genuinely interested.

obin

Roughly $24,000 but he received a $16,000 credit back from NJ (which is in line with their current rebates). The house is about 3400 square feet, the a/c is cranked all summer and it is about a block from the ocean with no shade whatsoever.

He has had the system close to 5 years now. Watching the meter spin clockwise - sending power into the grid - then, at night, a slow spin counterclockwise is pretty neat.

[Bazooka]

couple more comments from the owners

Chevy VOLT #1398

His impressions: "Extremely Solid Car. Has a low center of gravity and really hugs the road. It also gets up to speed quickly. I would say it's a 4 door sports car. While running on electric power, it was completely silent. After an imperceptible switch to Hybrid, the car was still extremely quiet."

[Jesarray]

On a different note, here is an unexpected problem due to the charging heat that is generated.

the Charge Point system reported a ground fault to this owner during last year's Chicago Blizzard and cold

Rodents.... I can see how this could create some problems if the car stays warm all night long

You can't make this stuff up. Well, maybe you can, but we didn't. Our Twitter followers have already learned that strange things started happening to the Cars.com Chevrolet Volt last Thursday night.

Around 9 p.m., I got an email alert from the ChargePoint network that our car had experienced a ground fault and the session had been terminated. (Senior editor David Thomas wisely chose to leave our Volt in our downtown parking structure, plugged in, during last week's big Chicago blizzard, and it remained there without incident.)

Monitoring the online ChargePoint portal from home, I hoped the charging station would reset, something it attempts to do a total of four times every 15 minutes. That's when I received an e-mail from our pal Todd Dore, treasurer of the Fox Valley Electric Auto Association, who parks and charges his converted Volkswagen Beetle right next to our Volt. He said that at 6:30 when he left work, we'd had a "furry visitor," a brown rat who scurried under our Volt, probably seeking warmth. The temperatures had been below 10 degrees.

Uh oh.

Rodents are known to climb into the engine compartments of conventional cars when it's frigid outside, so it made sense. The Volt maintains a minimum battery temperature when it's plugged in, even once fully charged. I named the rat "Chilly" and joked that maybe he was a saboteur....

When I arrived Friday morning, I returned the power connector to the charging station, which reset it, then reattached it to the Volt, which began charging again. No problem. But when I departed Friday night, I got warning lights: ABS, "Service Brake Assist" and "Service Stabilitrak." I drove it home anyway, hoping to get it serviced. The next day, I noticed the bottom rear window pane wasn't defogging, though the main window was.

This morning, Grossinger City Chevy of Chicago confirmed that Chilly the rat had indeed gnawed through a wiring harness in the engine compartment, causing, at minimum, the warning lights and rear defogger failure.

This won't be covered under warranty. It was, in the truest sense, an act of nature.

Chilly could learn a thing or two from the beaver in Bridgestone's Super Bowl commercial. That little guy prevented a Buick from plunging into a raging river. Chilly warmed his rodent ass, ate a snack and cost us about $600. An attempt to repair the harness should save us "thousands," according to the dealer, but the labor involved in extricating the harness from behind the headlight is extensive. Is Chilly a prankster? A disgruntled former bond-holder in "old GM?" Did Nissan send him?

There's good news and bad: The good news is our Volt, on its own merits, has been trouble-free for more than a month and 3,000 miles. The bad news is this could happen again. Presumably, an electric car with a thermally managed battery will be a tempting nest long after an internal-combustion engine has cooled off. If anyone has a home remedy for deterring pests, we're all ears. We'll be asking the same of Chevy, for sure

[Gavin Calistros]

Another look at the Volt trunk space

article excerpt

Due to popular request, I’ve decided to put together a series of articles that officially reviews the 2011 Chevrolet Volt from an Owner’s perspective. Is this review series impartial? No not really – since I did buy the 10th Chevy Volt and love it. But what you’ll find in this review series that you won’t find in any other “popular” magazine articles is the perspective of one of the first Chevy Volt owner’s and a breakdown of all the things I like and all the things that annoy (no car is perfect and the Volt is no exception.)

If you have any special requests or questions that you want answered from the perspective of an owner – let me know and I’ll include a section on it.

The Chevy Volt comes in a very useful hatchback form, but make no mistake – it is still a compact car. Along with the trunk space, you can fold down one or two of the 40/40 split rear seats, which gives you enough room to move your daily life around. To give you some perspective I live with my significant other – but have no children. So typically there are one or two passengers in the vehicle.

Groceries are no problem in the trunk space as it is perfectly sized for a single layer of stand up paper bags. The trunk is more than copious for this task and you won’t need any of the seat space unless you have something particularly large. Loading and unloading is also straightforward and easy as the hatch easily lifts and lowers and is well sprung such that a light upward force opens the hatch and closing the hatch is done easily and securely with a little downward momentum.

I also Fence Epee 2-3 days a week and as such need to be able to transport a roughly 4 foot long bag on a frequent basis. In this case, I do need to fold down one of the 40/40 rear seats to lay the bag lengthwise (it does not fit widthwise in the trunk). While the bag fits, it’s not terrible convenient to get the bag in and out as the trunk does not open flush to the outside of the car, requires me to lift the roughly 30-40 pound bag into the car. This is made more difficult by the size of the bag as I have to lean quite far over to load the car.

http://www.mychevroletvolt.com/chevy...lt-trunk-space

While a flat trunk space would make things much easier, I suspect that would not make for good design or vehicle dynamics as the lack of a load bearing frame in the back would likely reduce the stiffness of the chassis significantly. To that end, I’d prefer to deal with loading and unloading and keeping the ride of the car as it is today.

Thinking about moving a table or furniture? Rent or borrow a truck or van. It’s not really worth trying to cram it in the back of the Volt or messing up the roof strapping it to the top (the roof isn’t really that flat anyways).

Bottom line, The Volt is a great everyday car especially for a young couple (or empty nester), but for the every-other day task make sure you have alternatives for moving and carrying your “stuff”.

[Terandyne]

From what I understand, there is a 1,500 dollar tax credit in Oregon for this car in addition to the fed tax credit of 7500

Seems like most of the volt owners are reporting around a dollar or 1.10 per nightly charge

in California, it's a 5,000 tax credit in addition to the fed of 7,500.

[Obin Robinson]

Roughly $24,000 but he received a $16,000 credit back from NJ (which is in line with their current rebates). The house is about 3400 square feet, the a/c is cranked all summer and it is about a block from the ocean with no shade whatsoever.

He has had the system close to 5 years now. Watching the meter spin clockwise - sending power into the grid - then, at night, a slow spin counterclockwise is pretty neat.

Thanks for that info. I'm going to see what I can do in Virginia. I'm not as much interested in an electric car as much as I am interested in running electronic equipment 24x7x365. Solar might just work and not break the bank.

obin

[DJMRDARK]

No pics, but I have driven the Volt.

And thought it was fantastic.

[hardcore4life]

Damn volt has a high belt line



Would make me feel claustrophobic

[mitcompressor]

Damn volt has a high belt line



Would make me feel claustrophobic

well... compared to what?

don't most new cars these days have high belt lines? (and I agree with you that I'm not a real fan of the high beltline movement in design)

But which cars DON'T have high belt lines these days?

I mean it's not like you are down in a bucket in a Volt

Jeffrey Kaffee became the first customer in the country to take delivery of the Chevrolet Volt on December 15.

“This is such a significant step forward,” Kaffee said. “This is the first practical electric driving car.”

The 69-year-old retired airline pilot was so dedicated to owning an electric car, he actually ordered both the Volt and the Nissan LEAF; it was just a matter of which car came to New Jersey first.

“The first thing you notice is that there’s no noise,” Kaffee said. “When you press the button, it’s like turning on a light.” Kaffee said General Motors actually added sound effects for safety.

The next things he noticed were that there’s no lag time in acceleration and there’s very good torque. “It’s a very comfortable, smooth ride,” he said.



Kaffee has liked the idea of using less gas for years; he traded in his 2005 Toyota Prius for the Volt

[BumpSteer]

another road test to add perspective

[Barefoot_]

Definitely quiet

[Madeline87st]

Great forum

[Powderkeg]

Car is low to the ground.

[Balderdash]

James Brazell, Asheville, North Carolina

[Massive Attack]

Steve Wojtanek, one of the Volt owners from the first batch, has managed to reach an average of 122 mpg

Wojtanek, a Volt buyer in Boca Raton, FL, has made it his personal goal to drive as efficiently as possible and is "surprised" by how infrequently his Volt needs to be gassed up. Wojtanek's Volt has more than 3,417 miles on its odometer, with 2,225 of those miles driven under battery power.

Actor and retired airline pilot... owns several cars, including a Rolls Royce