Gen 1 GM Volt Plug-In Hybrid (2011-2015)

[hodad66]

and that's where it gets even stranger...... GM Corporate... bad

US manufacturing jobs.... good

bailout.... bad (to some)

saved a US manufacturer.... good.

you know what, I'll drive my 5K per year, claim that I "bought American"
and know that I reduced the amount of gasoline that I would have used. :mrgreen:

 

[TRONZ]

IMHO, that is evil!

I think that's where I'm currently at. Still hating on GM. Not so much hating on the Volt. And certainly not hating on Volt owners.

The Volt is sorta like a kid with very bad parents (GM). You can't blame the kid for being made the way they are. But you can take up issues with the parents directly.

 

[mitch672]

IMHO, that is evil!

I think that's where I'm currently at. Still hating on GM. Not so much hating on the Volt. And certainly not hating on Volt owners.

The Volt is sorta like a kid with very bad parents (GM). You can't blame the kid for being made the way they are. But you can take up issues with the parents directly.

that analogy can be taken a step further, both parents where previously married as well, and the kids from each of their previous marriages are left out in the cold, no love from mom & dad (that would be the vehicles from the pre-bankrupt GM)

 

[mwalsh]

that analogy can be taken a step further, both parents where previously married as well, and the kids from each of their previous marriages are left out in the cold, no love from mom & dad (that would be the vehicles from the pre-bankrupt GM)

And taking it a step further....they pretty much murdered the Volt's older brother when he was just a baby. :lol:

 

[mitch672]

that analogy can be taken a step further, both parents where previously married as well, and the kids from each of their previous marriages are left out in the cold, no love from mom & dad (that would be the vehicles from the pre-bankrupt GM)

And taking it a step further....they pretty much murdered the Volt's older brother when he was just a baby. :lol:

Yes, they commited "EVacide" on an entire generation of EVs, perhaps that was even genocide, as the EV1 might have had "little EVs" with more development, and the Toyota Prius may never have come to be, and GM, might be a much healthier GM today, Toyota might not have overtaken them as the world largest car mfr, Doc, get out the Deloreen and lets go back to 1999!

 

[scottf200]

.
How about we talk about the car, the Volt. I thought the performance/quality/safety videos were pretty good.
Did you take a look at the minute marks I mentioned? (3/4:40)

These two videos are fairly impressive on the Volt's testing and performance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPdmTqs_YQs[/youtube]

Go to 3 minutes and 4:30 mintues into this one!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK63kMy4-XU[/youtube]

 

[hodad66]

bring your Volt, bring your Leaf, bring your questions.....

 

[kmp647]

Very cool meet!

I finally got a longer drive in a Volt. incredible job GM did on this car!

I work next door to Pohanka Chevrolet and they have had demos for some time now

they have an L2 charger so it was fully charged and read 38mi of range plus fuel

I did a reverse commute driving 32 miles home on rt 50 and back roads (my normal trip home)
when I got near home I still had 6 miles remaining just as predicted.

I then continued on back to work jumping on rt 66 for the high speed portion and set the cruise to 69 (speed limit 70) about 3 miles out the ICE fired up (you wouldnt know it if you were not watching the screen)
the only thing I noticed is occasionally the ICE would rev up and I could feel and hear it

other than that it cruised nice and quiet

lots of touch buttons and controls , great stereo!

once near work again I notced the ice would shut off at lights much like a hybrid

I got to give GM 9 out of 10 on this car !

 

[scottf200]

Fun to hear these types of folks that now own a Volt...

From a very new thread on the Volt site:

A. state:

First 10 days with my Volt
I am new to this forum since getting my Volt September 24th. A little about my auto experience. I have owned S class Mercedes Lexus 400 BMW, M cars. I currently have a BW M-Coupe. I race Daytona prototypes in the SVRA Vintage Racing series.

The Volt exceeds my expectations in nearly every way. <snip addition details/performance>

N.P. stated:

Congratulations. Enjoy. I race vintage Corvettes and a 1917 Chevy speedster with HMSA and VARA. The Volt sits in my garage at home next to the 1917 Chevy. A bit of a history lesson for me every time I open the garage door, LOL.

I think that the same gearhead mindset that leads us to racing also leads us to the fabulous technology of the Volt.

J.M. state:

It's always entertaining to read about the car guys who picked up a Volt. We got our Volt last Saturday. It would take pages for me to rave about it. I traded in my C6 Corvette. Prior cars for me include Porsche 993 C4S, BMW M5, Chrysler 300C SRT-8 (modified to 750 HP, national record holder in the 1/4 mile at one point). I race a 1,000 HP '68 Camaro in the NHRA.

And I absolutely LOVE having this Volt.

 

[cdub]

I drove the Volt at the Alt Car Expo finally and personally wasn't very impressed. Mainly because the dashboard and computer readout was a nightmare of TMI. It was information overload. I like the simplicity of the LEAF dash.

I'm sure it's a fine car. And if I didn't have kids and wasn't married and only could get one car I'd consider it.

 

[hodad66]

one thing that I like is that the audio system knows how to
appropriately read my USB drive as to folders, artists, etc.

 

[mwalsh]

I drove the Volt at the Alt Car Expo finally and personally wasn't very impressed. Mainly because the dashboard and computer readout was a nightmare of TMI. It was information overload.

I said the same thing after my first drive. But it's sort of getting to be the way with many cars, what with the infotainment systems that manufacturers think we just gotta have. I'm starting to tune out extraneous information, especially on short test drives, preferring instead to focus on performance and handling.

 

[scottf200]

Mainly because the dashboard and computer readout was a nightmare of TMI [Too Much Info]. It was information overload.

The dashboard has a couple configurations. Here is a picture of the simple one. [edit] Found a couple more [/edit] The B Odometer display (etc) can be removed as well. So without that B Odo ... it is pretty simple and what I have used to get demos to folks that just want to feel like they are driving a normal car (ie. my neighbors wife fit that category and bought the Volt). Just put it in (D)rive like any automatic and drive.

(1)BASIC

(2) FEEDBACK display (green ball gives indication of accelerating "too" hard or braking inefficiently (not enough regen time).
NOTE: this also shows the screen in CS (Charge *Sustaining*) mode where it switched to that yucky petro.
The Gas Generator just produced enough electricity to put a buffer in the batter and propel the car.
The Chevrolet stated goal is for you to recharge the battery at home where it is 1/5|1/6 the cost and better for the enviro.

 

[evnow]

http://www.freep.com/article/20111007/BUSINESS01/111007046/GM-postpones-2nd-shift-Hamtramck-Volt-plant?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GM postpones 2nd shift at Hamtramck Volt plant

GM had said in May it would add a total of 2,500 workers on two shifts at Detroit-Hamtramck, with the first of those shifts to start this fall. But during a four-week shutdown this summer, GM made its production line and body shop more efficient, allowing the company to make twice as many Volts in the same amount of time, the company said Friday. That will allow the factory to meet scheduled Volt production by adding only 300 workers by January.
...
General Motors is delaying plans to add a second shift at its Detroit-Hamtramck Chevrolet Volt factory after finding more efficient ways to build the car.
...
Building the same number of Volts in half the time will save GM $10 million. GM has said it will build 16,000 of the extended-range electric cars this year and 60,000 next year. The automaker is seeking ways to make the vehicle profitably.

Ofcourse, the numbers don't add up. If they are hiring 300 instead of 2,500 - that is a "saving" of 2,200 salaries. But if the saving is only $10 Million - that adds to less than $5,000 per worker. So, unless the $10M is per month and not per year, as I think it is, it doesn't make sense.

Also over 60K vehicles, $10M only saves $170 per Volt.

Finally, can we really take what GM puts out at face value ?

 

[Herm]

Finally, can we really take what GM puts out at face value ?

You can, as long as it does not affect business or gives the competition an advantage. Do you think GM is having trouble selling Volts?.. is the BEV re-genesis stalling again?

Look at the last paragraph of the article:

"In addition, a second shift at the Volt battery assembly plant in Brownstown Township starts Monday. GM added 30 new workers, bringing the factory’s total workforce to 100. It plans to add a third shift eventually with an additional 30 or so people, as Volt production demands."

 

[scottf200]

Let's talk about the car, the Volt.

So you guys actually think the displays above are too complicated?

 

[surfingslovak]

Let's talk about the car, the Volt.

So you guys actually think the displays above are too complicated?

I like the Volt and I'm thinking of getting one. The display is a bit cluttered in my opinion, and so is the dash with the myriad of buttons. Once you sit in the cabin however, it's a different story altogether and it's best to ignore these things and just drive. The range indicator in the Volt appears to be much more accurate than Leaf's guess-o-meter, and it worked very well during my test drive, which covered over 10 miles of freeway. I realize that you are one of the moderators on the Volt forum, Scott, and I appreciate what you are trying to do here.

Best,
George

 

[scottf200]

Let's talk about the car, the Volt.
So you guys actually think the displays above are too complicated?

I like the Volt and I'm thinking of getting one. The display is a bit cluttered in my opinion, and is the dash with the myriad of buttons. Once you sit in the cabin however, it's a different story altogether and it's best to ignore these things and just drive. The range indicator in the Volt appears to be much more accurate than Leaf's guess-o-meter, and it worked very well during my test drive, which covered over 10 miles of freeway. I realize that you are one of the moderators on the Volt forum, Scott, and I appreciate what you are trying to do here. Best, George

I have nothing against the LEAF. It has a purpose and fits some owners needs. I don't get the hate when we are on the same "team". Heck any car that plugs in and uses that energy to move he car vs gas seems to be a good thing. We want these EVs to appeal to the masses and not a small specialize segment of the populate.

I'm mainly a moderator their to help with spam. I'm mainly just a post contributor. My main role is a electric car and Volt enthusiast and I like to keep learning/relearning about the car by reading/posting. I like to help those new to EVs. Lot of myths or misunderstandings about EVs and about the Volt so I try to just be honest and clarify with what I've learned and read.

Back to the Volt. Still a little surprised about the display. It does not seem they could make this much simplier. I guess they could remove teh icons at the bottom. I can only imagine the dozens of prototypes they did. I'm sure there are other skins that they threw out into to keep it simple for the masses. The center console is a different story and think it could have been done better.

 

[surfingslovak]

I don't get the hate when we are on the same "team"... Still a little surprised about the display. It does not seem they could make this much simplier. I guess they could remove teh icons at the bottom. I can only imagine the dozens of prototypes they did. I'm sure there are other skins that they threw out into to keep it simple for the masses. The center console is a different story and think it could have been done better.

I'm sure that they did numerous usability studies. Honestly, I don't know what makes it look busy, perhaps it's the use of multiple colors. Also, at least in my experience, it's best to keep icons and graphical symbols very simple, almost plain.

I don't want to go off on a tangent again, but I have the impression that a lot of the negative sentiment is directed at GM, and has a lot to do with a certain movie. Also, I'm under the impression that the majority of early adopters are serious and sometimes even long-time EV enthusiasts and they really don't like the idea of putting a gas tank into an EV. Be it as it may, the Volt is an important product, and I hope that it will do well. I for one, would really like to see it get AT PZEV CARB certification soon. We will have special green HOV stickers next year in California. Aside from the state rebate, which the Volt does not qualify for right now, it will be tough to get these stickers if the certification comes late next year. There are only 40,000 of the green stickers to go around and if the plugin Prius sells reasonably well, this allotment will be exhausted before long.

 

[TRONZ]

I realize that you are one of the moderators on the Volt forum, Scott, and I appreciate what you are trying to do here.

And I'm his favorite to!