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

[Bazooka]

Guess it puts a whole new perspective on "stealth mode"

If they can run on electric power most of the day it makes so much more sense than perpetual idling of regular patrol cars.

And certainly a big step up from a lot of the electric golf carts that they currently use.

[mitcompressor]

Lessee... this is New York City, right?

I hope they installed some wheel locks for those bling wheels!

[TopDown_]

Seems like a lot of use for this car in applications that require idling or just sitting for long periods of time or low speed driving around as in this setting

[lil' thumper]

One of the weirdest parts of seeing this car up close and personal was the following experience:

During the charging session I decided I wanted to look at the engine compartment. I popped the hood and...................the engine started.

I couldn't believe it so I tried that again and it also started the IC engine.

What the heck?

and why?

any one have a clue?

This has actually been talked about in other blogs.

I don't get it.

[Sporin]

One of the weirdest parts of seeing this car up close and personal was the following experience:

During the charging session I decided I wanted to look at the engine compartment. I popped the hood and...................the engine started.

I couldn't believe it so I tried that again and it also started the IC engine.

What the heck?

and why?

any one have a clue?

This has actually been talked about in other blogs.

I don't get it.

It's for safety...

Originally Posted by San_Carlos_Jeff
The risk is that a mechanic, or owner, won't realize that the ignition is on and when they are poking around trying to fix something the engine will come on and cause injury. Such as fingers caught in belts or worse... When working on cars you frequently want the engine on while the hood is up so you can hear the bad noise, see the wobbly pulley, etc. GM's solution makes sense to me. If you want the engine off with the hood open you need to turn the ignition off, if you want it on you turn the ignition on. It's very binary, there's no gray area.

For some reason I think the Prius does this as well but I'm not sure.

[lil' thumper]

It's for safety...

thank you!



(and that was stunningly quick to quote that statement!)

[palakaman]

Its actually an anti theft device. If it feels threatened it'll start up and drive away.

On another note, if I could afford it I would get one of these in a heartbeat.

[Sporin]

thank you!



(and that was stunningly quick to quote that statement!)

I googled and came up with that quote.

[mitcompressor]

I can just see these things sneaking up the alley right up to some perps loading stolen goods into a truck and they don't even have a clue the cops are already there

[2.0_Mazda]

I can just see these things sneaking up the alley right up to some perps loading stolen goods into a truck and they don't even have a clue the cops are already there

And then the perps get into their car and easily escape the cops

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that they are being more fuel efficient, but they're used to supercharged Crown Vics, V6 Impala's, and Chargers. I think thieves won't mind trying to run away from the cops when they know that they’re being chased by an electric car.

[mitcompressor]

Timbernuts (above) reported as quadruple spam.

well, it is NYC with heavy traffic

they probably won't be able to do this maneuver so easily in Manhatten

0-60 in 6 seconds or so

(volt does it in 9)

LeLU

[Balderdash]

well it's intended for traffic duty. Not really designed for hopping curbs, Pit maneuvers and what have you that so many of the brute cars get used for.

It'll do fine for NYPD traffic chores.

[Jesarray]

another interior shot

[2.0T_Convert]

And then the perps get into their car and easily escape the cops

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that they are being more fuel efficient, but they're used to supercharged Crown Vics, V6 Impala's, and Chargers. I think thieves won't mind trying to run away from the cops when they know that they’re being chased by an electric car.

In the role of parking enforcer the typical cars in NYC are little golf cart things or the Prius. The Volt is the hot new bad boy on the scene.

[Buckaroo banzai]

Man... that thing is hot!

[Barefoot_]

Back in May at Invesco Field, Denver

First off, the car starts with wonderfully futuristic sounds and vibrations that make it uniquely electric. After power-up the Volt it is peacefully silent, but the color displays and monitors let you know the Volt is active (or booted or something).

I shifted into drive and took off like I would in a regular car. I didn't ask any questions about all the features, I just wanted to see how difficult it would be to just drive it like I would any car I've purchased before. I have already read all about it's nifty center console, and energy conservation tools...so all I wanted to do was drive.

We were told we could get 40 mpg on a drained battery, but far better mileage when fully charged. At 16% charge we were getting a max 68 mpg...that's exceptional.
The Volt handled better than any sedan I've driven because of it's weight. It has both engine weight in the front and battery weight in the rear, so it had minimal sway in turns. Our Main Street ride-along guide explained that the weight makes it a viable car for Colorado winters. The vehicle also features ABS. The Volt also gives you the option of activating regenerative breaking. Regenerative breaking slows the car drastically when you release the accelerator. Our ride-a-long guide mentioned that it is a great feature when driving down steep grades in the mountains and works better for slowing than shifting into a lower gear. Beacuse regenerative slowing utilizes magnetic engine slowing it is stiff and dependable. I hope to one day test the Volt's regenerative breaking downhill on Pikes Peak or Floyd Hill.

The car accelerated swiftly with no hesitation and no vibration. The torque provided by an electric motor is unmatched and makes driving the Volt a joy. I wanted to push the car more, but I also didn't want GM to revoke my driving privileges...but fortunately the guide encouraged me to further push the acceleration and I did. The Volt gained speed like a sports car for a moment. The Volt has surprising power and no steering wheel jitter or movement at high speeds. You won't find other cars with equal stability without performance suspension or a spoiler. The Volt is an agile guided missile on wheels because of it's weight and powerful electric drive train, and that makes it a fun drive.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed...volt-in-august

[Dawg Dee-Lux]

I've got a blue Boblbee - clearly this is the car for people like me, I will fit right in

Not sure if serious

[Lightnin']

Pike's Peak Altitude testing early on

[Gavin Calistros]

bump it up

[jeff james]

What's coming

"The mission was to engineer and get the Volt ready for production as fast as we could," Bereisa says, "which meant employing as many off-the-shelf parts as possible. When you use available components, you're probably carrying a little more cost and mass than you need, since every component had to do something else, probably in a larger vehicle. So I think literally thousands of dollars can come out of that car. And by the time they get to Gen II, it'll be a very cost-effective proposition."

That includes the battery, Bereisa says. "I think we'll see that down to maybe $200 per kilowatt-hour in two to three years, even without major innovations. And I foresee at least twice the energy density in five to seven years." If he's right, that would mean half the weight and maybe half the cost to carry the same amount of onboard energy.

The next Volt will probably have aero drag, rolling resistance and accessory load improvements, too. While overall vehicle efficiency is much less critical to an EREV like the Volt than to a battery-only car like the Nissan Leaf, it significantly affects both electric range and gasoline fuel economy.

The Volt's fuel economy has room to improve, Bereisa says. "When we modeled the Volt's engine, theoretically we could have gotten to the high 40s or even low 50s in mpg in gasoline mode. But we would have had to run the engine continuously at 3500 to 3800 rpm and just switch it on and off." But that didn't work, he says—it was too noisy. "We had to drop the engine rpm down, and that got us to 37 to 38 mpg. But I think a lot of gasoline fuel economy still can be gained without major expenditures in tooling or engineering."

GM could also choose to redo the four-cylinder gas engine for the next Volt. For the international market, the automaker could take that same basic engine to Brazil and run it on pure alcohol while the rest of the vehicle stays the same, or it could swap in a small, direct-injected diesel and run it on biodiesel for Europe. Here in the U.S., one near-term improvement Bereisa says GM should be working on is certifying the Volt for E85 fuel. "Volt drivers are averaging over 1000 miles before refueling; then they're adding back about eight gallons of gasoline. That works out to 125 mpg. But if you really want to reduce petroleum consumption, E85 in the Voltec architecture would do a phenomenal job," he says. GM, though, says there are no current plans to make the Volt engine E85-capable, since that would add some cost and the availability of E85 fuel is still slim in most areas.

The electric side of the Voltec system is due for an upgrade as well, Bereisa says. The Volt has two electric motors onboard: A 149-hp motor powers the car, but when the battery is depleted, the engine spins a 74-hp generator to supply additional electrical energy. To power a larger, heavier car, Bereisa suggests spinning both. "Because you can run the generator as a second motor, and pick the time and conditions under which it becomes a motor, you can cover a lot of vehicle sizes and masses," he says.

So how do I see Volt and Voltec evolving in the next several years? Voltec technology will proliferate to a variety of GM vehicles, including larger cars and crossovers, but those new vehicles are several years down the road.

As for the Volt itself, it will likely get a face-lift with aerodynamic improvements and a technology upgrade in three years (for 2014) and a complete makeover by 2017 or so. It also will benefit from incremental improvements year to year, focused mostly on reducing the cost and weight to improve efficiency. That will cause small annual improvements in EV range and gasoline fuel economy and meaningful reductions in the sticker price. I'm not as bullish as Bereisa on the speed of improvements in battery cost and energy density, but I can foresee a significant battery cost reduction by that 2014 face-lift and another price dip by that 2017 redo.

Now that the Volt is a proven concept, GM will fine-tune it into a great car. Expect a slightly smaller but much lighter, more fuel-efficient and more affordable Volt that runs 35 to 60 miles on battery power, achieves mid-40s mpg on gas and sells in the low- to mid-$30,000 range.


Read more: What to Expect From the Next Chevy Volt - Popular Mechanics

[Jesarray]

side note about california tax credit and the Volt

Chevy Volt to Get California Tax Credit in 2012
A crazy wrinkle in a California law makes it a bit difficult for the Volt to qualify for the $5,000 rebate, but the company believes it will make it. Also, updates on Volt shipments.


San Diego -- Californians will likely be able to get a $5,000 discount on their Chevy Volts after all.

General Motors will come out with a version of the plug-in hybrid that will qualify for the state's generous tax rebates in 2012, Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for the Volt, told us during a meeting at DistribuTECH taking place this week in San Diego. Most of the work is done on the California version of the car, but some software coding and other technical assignments remain.

Still, General Motors won't exactly be placed on an equal footing with electric car vendors like Nissan and Mitsubishi because of a wrinkle in state law. To qualify for the state rebate, GM has to meet the standards of the Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (ATPZEV to his friends) specifications. Those specifications state that cars in this category have to warrant that the battery will last for ten years and/or 150,000 miles. The idea behind the law is to prevent companies from trying to game the regulations by putting out a car with a small battery or a battery that may not last.

Do manufacturers of purely electric vehicles have to meet this standard? No. In fact, they don't have to place warranties on the life of their batteries at all.

The Leaf retails for nearly $33,000 and the Mitsubishi i will sell for $30,000 when it comes out later this year. The Volt sells for an MSRP of $41,000. All of these cars qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit, but right now the all-electrics get the additional $5,000 California credit. Thus, the Volt, which is larger than the other two cars, will cost more, but not as much as it does now.

Posawatz also gave us other comments and updates on the Volt:

--GM has shipped around 1,200 Volts so far. Approximately 600 Chevy dealers have Volts. Traffic at those dealerships, he added, has increased since the Volt has come to town.

--By the end of 2011, GM will begin to take the Volt nationally. It will also start to ship Volts to China and Europe. Both right- and left-hand drive versions of the car will get shipped to Europe, so expect to see sales in Britain. (In Asia, cars in Singapore and Japan drive on the 'wrong' side of the road.)

--Some of the early Volts have gone to potentially influential customers such as Felix Kramer, the head of CalCars, and Silicon Valley execs.

--GM hasn't made commitments to all-electric cars or different versions of the Volt. Nonetheless, rest assured that other models of the Volt family and electric cars are under consideration.

--The company hasn't ruled out parallel plug-in hybrids either. The Volt is a series hybrid: the gas generator exists to charge the car's batteries and does not directly propel the car forward in the vast majority of situations. A parallel hybrid is like a regular hybrid with more batteries: both the electric and gas motors drive the car.

"We are working on generation two technologies, and we are looking at all kinds of variations," he said. Still, Posawatz noted that series hybrids can provide a better driving experience. (Ford will concentrate on parallel hybrids, in part because they can cost less to develop. It should be interesting to see how the philosophical difference plays out in the market.)

--The Volt actually uses around 10 kilowatt-hours of its 16-kilowatt-hour battery pack when driving, more than the 8 kilowatt-hours earlier stated. Why not use the whole thing? Restricting battery capacity in this manner gives the battery a longer life. Three or four years out, Volt drivers will experience less degradation in driving range than drivers of cars with other types of battery packs, he said. "We can guarantee a more constant EV range," he said.

--And what sold GM management on the Volt in the first place? "It's all modular," he said. The basic series hybrid architecture can accommodate a flex fuel engine, or an engine that runs on biofuels. Bigger battery packs? Sure, it's possible. The fact that the car could be tailored for different markets meant that the investment in development could be amortized fairly broadly.

and... it was approved

http://www.care2.com/causes/chevy-vo...ax-rebate.html

[uncleho]

What's coming

Good to know.

[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.

[Buckaroo banzai]

yep... I like that little design trick

[Balderdash]

Chevy Volt Engineering Development Drive

[Wheelstand]

Cold Weather testing



Volt charging in the Kapuskasing, Ontario snow.

[mitcompressor]

a little bit on cold weather usage

The Volt is still expending considerable battery energy to heat the cabin, shrinking electric range to well below 30 miles on most days. We had a hunch that even with lengthy “remote start” preheating, the cabin wasn’t achieving the set temperature, so we purchased an indoor/outdoor digital thermometer from Radio Shack to quantify this hunch. We placed the “outdoor” sensor down in the footwell, and let the unit’s “indoor” sensor measure ambient cabin temperature. So far the cabin has never come within 10 degrees of our 75-degree setting during drives of an hour or slightly more.
This will probably be a sweater and gloves commuter car for northern-tier Volt owners. My GM friend with the fast-feedback Volt says he sets the climate controls to 80F and comfort mode to feel cozy, but it seems to me that the buyer shelling out for a Volt probably sets the home thermostat below 70 in the winter, and Chevy engineers have no doubt conducted studies to suggest that a warm footwell + automatic seat heating make the occupant feel like it’s 75 when the cabin hits 65.
On two different sunny mornings with ambient air temperatures in the 19-22 degree range, we measured the rate at which the footwell and cabin air warmed up during the 10-mile commute, with no preheating. Both days the temperature was set to 75 degrees, and strong auto fan speed, but on the first day we used the Comfort setting, and on the second we programmed for Eco. Selecting Eco mode improves the Climate Efficiency rating, but results in a noticeably slower warm-up. During a 56-mile run to and from the airport that took almost two hours due to icy roads and falling temperatures (28 to 23 degrees), the 75/Eco setting resulted in a footwell temperature of 102F, and a cabin temp of 64 degrees at the end of the trip. But, dressed for Michigan weather, I felt perfectly comfortable. (Note that the brief periods when the engine fires due to temperature didn’t seem to result in any uptick in the rate of cabin warming.)
Using the remote start feature one day after the car had spent the day unplugged outside in our parking lot at temperatures below 27 degrees caused the engine to start. On our typical 10-mile drive, the engine has started as many as four times, but this ends up extending the electric range slightly, because when it runs due to low temperature, it typically runs at a speed greater than that required to maintain congested freeway speeds, with the surplus energy charging the battery.
So far I’ve been underwhelmed by the preheat feature. Given 15 minutes in the garage while plugged in and set to 75 degrees the digital thermometer readings weren’t far above ambient. Ditto this morning, with 35 minutes of pre-heat at 75/Eco setting resulting in a 47.9-degree footwell temp, and 39.1 in the cabin despite consumption of 1.23 kW-hrs of grid electricity. We’ll try a few more settings, and then possibly ask our dealer if something’s amiss.
This morning I was reminded of another EREV feature. I had just refueled and keyed on to go, but remembered I hadn’t checked the oil. Without switching off the ignition, I opened the hood and the engine fired (as it always will, so as to prevent injury from a sudden startup while someone is servicing it). Once on, it warms up, meaning the first 2 miles of my commute were gas assisted for no other reason than my own stupidity.


Read more: http://blogs.motortrend.com/volt-eco...#ixzz1czJAX5TI

[kasbah]

Another view

I’m pleased to report that it’s quite smooth and, well, effortless. The electric motor confidently and silently gets the car up to speed. It’s nothing like the Prius; think golf cart smooth. Simply put, the engine is so good that it’s a non-factor.

The Chevy Volt’s software and connectivity feels like any next-gen car should. I’m saying next-gen because it looks and works like nothing on the market currently. The closest thing available now is the system used in the Prius, but where everything about the Prius feels like the current generation of vehicles at the end of their evolutionary path, the Volt’s is an entirely new beast. The future of the automobile is upon us.

There’s a screen on the Volt’s center stack LCD allowing owners to see what time the Volt will be completely charged and allows for scheduling to reduce strain on the local power grid. This same menu is also available on the smartphone apps. But you would expect that, right? Well, those options would have been good enough for the old GM. The new GM took it a couple steps farther.

When you power down the Volt a quick facts info screen pops up displaying MPG and drive info; there’s a shortcut to the charging options on that screen. It also pops up under certain conditions when you open the door covering the charging port. And you can manually override the scheduled times by plugging in the charging cable, removing it and then inserting it again. This will be confirmed by a certain series of blinks on a dash-mounted LED. Oh and the charging cable also features bright LEDs surrounding the charging port to not only assist in locating the charging port on the Volt, which apparently serves as a great impromptu flashlight in case you, say, drop your keys.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/09/the...volt-saved-gm/

[Lightnin']

Cold weather testing

Volt cold start at -30 degrees Celsius in the cold cell, or cold box as the engineers call it. The cold cell is basically a climate controlled test chamber, or a giant refrigerator. Even in the Great White North of Kapuskasing, Ontario, it doesn't always get as cold as the engineers need it to be, so assistance is sometimes needed to chill the vehicles, a la the cold cell.

[curvedinfinity]

What's coming

Great info. The Volt is such a cool car, so it will be great to see it evolve.

[kowabonga]

Nice cutaway... low center of gravity

[uncleho]

This is what amazes me.

1) The ICE car/truck is complicated enough to develop/validate, but there is understanding of what to expect, and thus, what to do.

2) The EV is another level altogether with its relatively new (because mainstream MFRs making EVs are not like Jimmy Joe Bob modifying his Ranger in the garage to be EV... no offense) hardware/software differences. It saves on the ICE, but has its own complexity and issues to consider... find solutions, etc.

3) Then there is the EREV... the combo of both 1) & 2). Now you have to meld the two and figure out the EV considerations... and then the EREV ones.

I'm by no means an expert in vehicle development, but I see enough on the powertrain side of the Volt (or any "normal" powertrain) to know that the effort to do 3) is pure AMAZING! The amount of NEW that had to be considered, defined, understood, sorted out, answered, tested, and passed is an incredible amount of work.

I don't think most of Joe Public can appreciate this. The devil is in the details and there is A LOT of it! Some people just think about the general story of how Lutz was asking about what GM needed to do to fight the nongreen image of GM and after talking to a VP who suggested the EREV concept... that's it... bing, bam, spit out a Volt. Heck, that is just the start! Concept is just concept and all the work to figure out the details from a napkin discussion (albeit... IIRC a fairly detailed napkin) to the production vehicle is an amazing effort.

When Lutz mentioned that it was a moonshot... he wasn't kidding. And all this during the time when GM was sinking towards bankruptcy. The time when damn near everything was turned off to save cash... about the only thing going forward was the Volt. The Volt isn't perfect, but the more details I read about its operating functions... the more impressed I am of the team of folks that figured it all out.

[audifans]

It is amazing and really a testimony to solid follow through that they got the thing into production and it seems to work as planned, as advertised with few glitches.

Olympic medal for the Volt if they had one.

Here it is at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver

[DISI 2.3T]

More information as it comes but I can only assume from the article that it could be a Volt charger.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- The safety of an electric car charger is at the center of a fire investigation at a Mooresville home on Monday.

Fire investigators in Iredell County are meeting with officials from Duke Energy and General Motors.

They’re looking into the possibility that the fire started with a charging unit for electric vehicles.

Insurance agents and lawyers were also at the home trying to help piece together how the fire started.

“There are different agencies [here],” Iredell County Deputy Fire Marshall Garland Cloer said. “Anybody who was part of the construction of the house, to anything that was inside of the garage at the time of the fire [was at the house].”

The fire happened last month and caused $800,000 amount of damage to the home.

Two people suffered minor injuries after they helped one of the residents in the home to safety.

Source: http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Inves...133368533.html

[curvedinfinity]

This is what amazes me.

1) The ICE car/truck is complicated enough to develop/validate, but there is understanding of what to expect, and thus, what to do.

2) The EV is another level altogether with its relatively new (because mainstream MFRs making EVs are not like Jimmy Joe Bob modifying his Ranger in the garage to be EV... no offense) hardware/software differences. It saves on the ICE, but has its own complexity and issues to consider... find solutions, etc.

3) Then there is the EREV... the combo of both 1) & 2). Now you have to meld the two and figure out the EV considerations... and then the EREV ones.

I'm by no means an expert in vehicle development, but I see enough on the powertrain side of the Volt (or any "normal" powertrain) to know that the effort to do 3) is pure AMAZING! The amount of NEW that had to be considered, defined, understood, sorted out, answered, tested, and passed is an incredible amount of work.

I don't think most of Joe Public can appreciate this. The devil is in the details and there is A LOT of it! Some people just think about the general story of how Lutz was asking about what GM needed to do to fight the nongreen image of GM and after talking to a VP who suggested the EREV concept... that's it... bing, bam, spit out a Volt. Heck, that is just the start! Concept is just concept and all the work to figure out the details from a napkin discussion (albeit... IIRC a fairly detailed napkin) to the production vehicle is an amazing effort.

When Lutz mentioned that it was a moonshot... he wasn't kidding. And all this during the time when GM was sinking towards bankruptcy. The time when damn near everything was turned off to save cash... about the only thing going forward was the Volt. The Volt isn't perfect, but the more details I read about its operating functions... the more impressed I am of the team of folks that figured it all out.

Completely agree with you. Tesla and Fisker are doing a great job with their budgetary constraints, but the Volt is on another level when it comes to product validation and refinement -- and those things are hard to see right away. GM managed to make brand new technology seem invisible, relatively reliable, and produce the back end to scale it up to be relatively affordable. I'd say the Prius is the closest in vertical sophistication (Tesla doesn't even come close), but the Volt is the current cutting edge by a large measure. It goes without saying that the Prius was the last stepping stone to where we are now and deserves huge respect.