Gen 2 Chevrolet Volt PHEV (2016+) MSRP $33,995

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Here are the ordering guides (base and premier) for the 2017 Volt. 2017s are scheduled to start production Jan 11th - Jan 17th and are expected to start arriving around February.

http://i65.tinypic.com/28buxz6.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/qnr5mu.jpg
 
TomT said:
Here are the ordering guides (base and premier) for the 2017 Volt. 2017s are scheduled to start production Jan 11th - Jan 17th and are expected to start arriving around February.

http://i65.tinypic.com/28buxz6.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/qnr5mu.jpg
Looks like all the high-tech (ACC/FAB/LK etc.) is in the Premier trim.
 
I believe I posted this in the past for my 2011. Updated with 2016 Volt info:
Image: http://i.imgur.com/trXmuFI.png
trXmuFI.png
 
Yep, kind of like the Leaf... Here is a better guide: http://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2017-Chevrolet-Volt-Order-Guide.pdf

GRA said:
Looks like all the high-tech (ACC/FAB/LK etc.) is in the Premier trim.
 
Shortish video review from Driving.Ca of the 2016 Volt, via ievs:
2016 Chevrolet Volt Video Review
http://insideevs.com/2016-chevrolet-volt-video-review/

Also, for those who care about such feats, Wayne Gerdes hypermiled his:
2016 Chevrolet Volt Driven 111.9 Electric Miles On Single Charge
http://insideevs.com/2016-chevrolet-volt-driven-111-9-electric-miles-single-charge/
 
My wife and I did one of the extended test drives today of a 2016 Volt Premier... Four hours later, I think we have found the replacement for our Leaf and will likely order a 2017 for lease... Both of us liked it much more than we expected to...
 
How well does the electric cabin heater perform in the Volt? I hate the idea of forced engine starts (the Prius PHEV is really bad in this way), but if the start temp can be set to 15F, that isn't quite so bad...
 
All I know is that it was a cool 48 degrees (about as cold as it typically gets here) and windy for our test drive, but the cabin stayed a nice warm 70 and the engine never started...

LeftieBiker said:
How well does the electric cabin heater perform in the Volt? I hate the idea of forced engine starts (the Prius PHEV is really bad in this way), but if the start temp can be set to 15F, that isn't quite so bad...
 
TomT said:
My wife and I did one of the extended test drives today of a 2016 Volt Premier...
How did you get an extended test drive of one? Seriously considering one (a '17, too), to replace the Prius...
 
You book it here and they bring it to you. On the morning we did it they had no one booked for the rest of the day so they said drive as much as you want (within reason, of course)...

https://testdrivemyway.com/book/58/8#/book

drees said:
TomT said:
My wife and I did one of the extended test drives today of a 2016 Volt Premier...
How did you get an extended test drive of one? Seriously considering one (a '17, too), to replace the Prius...
 
TomT said:
You book it here and they bring it to you. On the morning we did it they had no one booked for the rest of the day so they said drive as much as you want (within reason, of course)...

https://testdrivemyway.com/book/58/8#/book

drees said:
TomT said:
My wife and I did one of the extended test drives today of a 2016 Volt Premier...
How did you get an extended test drive of one? Seriously considering one (a '17, too), to replace the Prius...

I took advantage of this program, my test drive wasn't as extensive but 40 minutes was enough to get a feel of the car. The car felt solid and satisfying, I can see myself driving it. The electric/gas mode transitions are super smooth, you almost can't feel it apart from mild engine noise when it kicks in. The cabin is a bit tight but I didn't feel too constrained in it as I was in gen 1, I'm 6'4". I found outward and side visibility to be pretty good. I liked the materials, the dashboard is not hard plastic which is a plus in my book. Trunk space is one con, seems like they could make it better by shaping trunk walls with access to additional room within the rear fender wells as it is usually done on other cars. The 10 year/150,000 mile traction battery warranty in CA is reassuring, although it is not clear what can trigger it besides obvious failures, would be interesting to know what are "the proper limits" per below. Of course with an ICE on board capacity losses are less of a concern.

Propulsion Battery Warranty Policy

Like all batteries, the amount of energy that the high-voltage “propulsion” battery can store will decrease with time and miles driven. Depending on use, the battery may degrade as little as 10 percent to as much as 30 percent of capacity over the warranty period. A dealer service technician will determine if the battery energy capacity (kWh storage) is within the proper limit, given the age and mileage of the vehicle. Your Volt battery warranty replacement may not return your vehicle to “as-new” condition, but it will make your Volt fully operational appropriate to its age and mileage.

Too bad the green stickers are gone...
 
Serious cheap Volt leases are being reported:

According to the LeaseHackr, a 2016 Chevrolet Volt LT could be leased regionally from $168 a month at $0 down (after deducting the $1,500 rebate in California) for 36 months and 1,000 miles cap...
http://insideevs.com/

Poor GM.

They build a much-improved Gen Two, and have to discount it so heavily they are probably losing even more $ on each delivery than they did on the Gen One.

The reality is that the combination low gas prices AND low battery costs has really accelerated the descent through obsolescence for PHEVs.
 
edatoakrun said:
The reality is that the combination low gas prices AND low battery costs has really accelerated the descent through obsolescence for PHEVs.

They have no basis to complain while they are still artificially restricting supply to ZEV states. I'm told I can't even get financing through GM on a 2016 model year if it's being registered outside of their early market states.

Batteries still aren't cheap enough to kill PHEVs. Everyone looks at the Bolt and thinks 60kWh is the new standard, but few people recognize that the Bolt is about $8,500 more expensive than the 24kWh LEAF. It takes a lot of money to go 200-miles.
 
edatoakrun said:
Serious cheap Volt leases are being reported:

According to the LeaseHackr, a 2016 Chevrolet Volt LT could be leased regionally from $168 a month at $0 down (after deducting the $1,500 rebate in California) for 36 months and 1,000 miles cap...
http://insideevs.com/

Poor GM.

They build a much-improved Gen Two, and have to discount it so heavily they are probably losing even more $ on each delivery than they did on the Gen One.

The reality is that the combination low gas prices AND low battery costs has really accelerated the descent through obsolescence for PHEVs.
You forgot running out of green stickers here in California as a major factor in addition to the above. Actually, here I suspect it's THE major factor, followed by gas prices - PiP's sold just fine when they could get the stickers.
 
Well while everyone else on this forum has moved on to the Kia Soul EV, or a Model S I find myself going back to where it began for me. So I added a brand new 2016 Volt LT to be my Leaf's stable mate. Seeing as I am in a non-CARB state my options were pretty limited, and bang for the buck I think the Volt is about as good as it can get. I will say after having a 2012 that the 2016 is improved by a large margin. It isn't even that Gen1 was really wrong. It is just all of the little tiny details that most people wouldn't notice unless they drove the Gen1. They really spent a lot of time redesigning the car, and apparently to what I see listening to what all of us Volt survey takers from Gen1 said we wanted. Plus it has pretty much the same amount of range our Leaf currently does. I wanted a Bolt, but I just could not see doing 2 full EV's. The Volt will be EV the vast majority of the time like our last one was. Heck even more so with the bigger battery and better all electric range.

Just as an FYI anyone looking at a Gen2 if you are in a non-CARB state you have to bring cash or your own financing. As GM Financial isn't doing loans, and you cannot get a lease outside of the CARB areas. I wanted to keep my next Volt anyway so in the end did a bunch of math, and the way GM is writing the current leases it is better to just do the buy outright anyway. They still do not pass on the tax credit to the lessee unfortunately.
 
Roadburner440 said:
<snip>
Seeing as I am in a non-CARB state my options were pretty limited, and bang for the buck I think the Volt is about as good as it can get. I will say after having a 2012 that the 2016 is improved by a large margin. It isn't even that Gen1 was really wrong. It is just all of the little tiny details that most people wouldn't notice unless they drove the Gen1. They really spent a lot of time redesigning the car, and apparently to what I see listening to what all of us Volt survey takers from Gen1 said we wanted. Plus it has pretty much the same amount of range our Leaf currently does. I wanted a Bolt, but I just could not see doing 2 full EV's. The Volt will be EV the vast majority of the time like our last one was. Heck even more so with the bigger battery and better all electric range.
We are quite happy with ours as well. I've probably put about 4500 miles on it on different road trips including picking it up in MD and driving it to IL. Took it to TX a couple weeks back and a few trips to pickup/return our kid to college. [Our Model X is on a delivery truck tomorrow so we will use that for roadtrips now and my wife will just use the 2016 for commuting and some other activities. Our 2011 going to one of our kids.]
 
After driving our 2012 Leaf for the last 4 years, we're seriously considering a 2016/2017 Volt to take its place, but have a few questions about it in comparison to the Leaf. Hoping someone here that's familiar with both the Volt and Leaf might be able to answer them.

- Is there a program similar to Leafspy available for use with the Volt? I've really appreciated the systems insight it gives to the Leaf, and being a bit of a "data" geek, would like to continue the daily driving data collection.

- What happens if you don't put gas in an empty fuel tank? Would the Volt simply be limited to its EV range/modes, or would it eventually disallow all operation?

- When providing heat to the cabin, does the Volt pull energy from the battery first, or does it have a preference to run the ICE instead?

- I've seen how the "Hold" mode can be used to force the use of the ICE, but is there a similar mode that forces the exclusion of the ICE?

- There was a very strong "hot rubber" smell when the heater was used - is this normal? I'm guessing not, but would like to know if it will quickly go away if it is.

- In both the test drives we did, both Volts had no battery charge and we ran on ICE entirely, so I don't have a good feel for how it performs in EV only mode. Any thoughts on how the Leaf compares to the Volt in EV mode?

Thanks!!
 
OakLeaf said:
After driving our 2012 Leaf for the last 4 years, we're seriously considering a 2016/2017 Volt to take its place, but have a few questions about it in comparison to the Leaf. Hoping someone here that's familiar with both the Volt and Leaf might be able to answer them.

- Is there a program similar to Leafspy available for use with the Volt? I've really appreciated the systems insight it gives to the Leaf, and being a bit of a "data" geek, would like to continue the daily driving data collection.

- What happens if you don't put gas in an empty fuel tank? Would the Volt simply be limited to its EV range/modes, or would it eventually disallow all operation?

- When providing heat to the cabin, does the Volt pull energy from the battery first, or does it have a preference to run the ICE instead?

- I've seen how the "Hold" mode can be used to force the use of the ICE, but is there a similar mode that forces the exclusion of the ICE?

- There was a very strong "hot rubber" smell when the heater was used - is this normal? I'm guessing not, but would like to know if it will quickly go away if it is.

- In both the test drives we did, both Volts had no battery charge and we ran on ICE entirely, so I don't have a good feel for how it performs in EV only mode. Any thoughts on how the Leaf compares to the Volt in EV mode?

Thanks!!

Leafspy equivalent program for Volt is called MyGreenVolt for Android. There is also a website that collects and displays OnStar data from about 5 percent of the Volt population called http://voltstats.net . I believe a middling Onstar package comes with new, and you can get a basic Onstar package for free with used GM's for about three years that works for data collection. There really isn't noticeable battery degradation up to high numbers of miles, well over 100K, so there isn't an equivalent need to track battery health per se.

Volt has to have gas in the tank for normal operation. Goes into "reduced power mode" when out of gas, limiting the EV output to half, approximately 55kW.

Heat can be all electric, but there are settings to run the engine for heat assistance under 35 and 15 degrees F selectable. There are workarounds that will fool the outside temperature sensor to keep the engine off at even lower temperatures, although it's not really practical much below 0 degrees F.

No "Exclusion of ICE" mode, although the Volt in Normal/Sport modes will use the battery to depletion before starting the ICE under normal conditions excluding heat assistance noted above. There is a "Mountain Mode" that will run the ICE to charge the battery buffer over about 20 minutes or so. This is helpful for test drives as well, as you can set Mountain Mode to get some juice in the battery and then return to Normal to see how it works in all electric mode. It is much smoother running in Electric than Gas, and most only need to run their engine about 20 percent of the time or less. Volt and Leaf are similar in EV mode, and just by the seat of my pants, I'd say the Volt has a touch more torque at low speeds.

Hot rubber smell - somewhat normal if ICE hasn't run much. It is burning off coatings or any road grime that has collected on exhaust. It will go away fairly quickly with normal use, although if you can live with the limited EV range, you may rarely run the ICE. It has maintenance modes to keep moisture from oil that force ICE on after 42 days of inactivity or wants to burn off all fuel after a year of no new gas being added to eliminate any stale gas.

The folks over at GM Volt forum can probably provide more detail.

I'm equally happy with both cars, and they both have their place in my world. Pros and cons of each are well documented.
 
Back
Top