Lon's Chevy Volt

The 3 Month Report

Mon, 23 May 2011 14:15:00 -0700

The Chevy Volt definitely lives up to its hype.

I took a leap of faith last August when I put a deposit down on a 2011 Chevy Volt, sight unseen. Connecticut had just been named as one of only a handful of launch markets to receive a limited allocation of production units. The car arrived at my local Chevy dealer six months later.

Three months in, my satisfaction with the vehicle continues to grow - and it’s not just the fuel economy. The build quality easily matches that of luxury imports. The handling is tight and sporty, and, dare I say, the torque in “sport mode” will shock you.

Read the rest of my article at CTTechJunkie.com

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My Chevy Volt and the Electric Bill - Pleasantly Surprised

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:33:46 -0700

I don't think I've ever been this excited to get an electric bill. The answer to the question so many of you have asked can now be answered.

The metering period started about a week before taking delivery of my Volt and concluded last Friday. Accounting for a few days away for my NASA adventure, the bill covers two weeks of daily Volt charging in the evenings and occasionally during the day.

The total difference? Only an $11.23 increase over last month's bill. I traveled about 500 miles using just electricity during that period of time. Projecting this usage out over the course of a month, the impact should be between $25-30 per month to power the car.

By comparison, my other car which gets an average of about 23mpg would have consumed about 21 gallons of gas to go the same distance. Melissa's diesel VW about 12 and a half.

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An Interior Tour of the Chevy Volt

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:10:21 -0700

I shot a video tour over the weekend on my iPhone (using the awesome new iMovie app). Have questions about a specific component? Ask away in the comments and I'll shoot a video for you and share it on the blog.

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A special fuel tank for a new kind of car

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 07:47:00 -0800

Today marks three weeks since I took delivery of my Chevy Volt and I still have about half of the original tank of gas that came with the car. Some have asked me what happens to the quality of fuel after sitting in the car for that long. I didn't know the answer until I saw a press release from GM today.

The 9.3 gallon tank in the Chevy Volt is constructed from steel, not plastic. It's also pressure sealed to keep the gas from evaporating. Here's more on the fuel system from the GM press release:

For the last several decades, new vehicles have been equipped with charcoal canisters to trap evaporating gasoline and then feed it back to the engine. Since the Volt's engine may not fire up for extended periods, hydrocarbons potentially could build up in the canister, so the sealed tank contains the vapor. The extra pressure meant that a lightweight steel tank had to replace the lightweight plastic tanks used in most modern vehicles.

Volt engineers and supplier Spectra Premium Inc. developed the tank from 1.4 millimeter thick hot-dip tin-zinc coated steel to resist corrosion from both inside and outside. Despite the strength of the tank, it has a mechanical pressure relief valve that begins opening at 3.5 psi and a vacuum relief that opens at -2.3 psi, levels that are rarely exceeded.

At some point the engine will need to run, so a maintenance mode was added. If a driver goes six weeks without using the gas engine, the Volt's computer will turn it on for a short while to keep the engine in a healthy condition. If the car goes without a gas stop for an entire year, it'll run the engine until the old fuel is consumed or additional fresh fuel is added to the tank.

Yet another example of the kind of engineering that had to go into the design of this vehicle.

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A 91mpg kind of day

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:42:00 -0800

Today was a great test to see just how far the car can go on a full charge. Following my three mile drive to the office I had a lunchtime meeting up in Wethersfield this afternoon. So with about 95% charge left in the battery I headed through the hills of Connecticut's Route 9 towards my destination on the Silas Deane Highway.

I'm excited to say that the car performed well, reaching Wethersfield with another 4 miles remaining in the battery. I used .73 gallons of gas on the 30 mile trip home, which comes out to about 91 miles per gallon for the round trip.

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Long Range Report

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:44:00 -0800

Yesterday I had the longest driving day yet for the new car, traveling a total of about 170 miles. I accumulated about 25 miles of local driving before heading out to Greenwich for the evening. I was able to get a two hour 120v charge in before the long range trip began, which added only about 5 or 10 miles of battery range. The gas engine kicked on as expected early in the journey out to Greenwich, and would occasionally switch off when enough power was accumulated from the regenerative braking system. Had I been at a full charge I could easily get to New Haven on only electric from my home in Essex.

All told, the gas mileage from 175 miles of traveling yesterday was just about 50mpg round trip. Mileage when I arrived in Greenwich was about 70mpg, so clearly the Volt will benefit drivers who who travel about 100 miles or less per day or have a place to plug in during the workday. Longer range journeys in the car are comparable to that of a Prius or diesel Volkswagen. But neither of those cars can compete with the overall 126mpg I've achieved after traveling 576 miles.

I still have about half a tank of the gas that came with the car upon delivery on February 19th. Looking at my calendar I probably won't need to stop at the gas station for my first fill up for at least another two or three weeks.

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It's all about the torque

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:56:00 -0800

This fun story about the "White Zombie" electric car is a good primer for what it feels like to drive an electric car. The Volt's spirited acceleration is surprising everyone I took out for a spin this weekend. The reason? Electric motors are all torque. In fact the 149 horsepower electric motor in the Volt has nearly the same torque right off the line that a 315 horsepower V6 Camaro engine has at 5100 RPM.

And while the Volt is quick, it's certainly not the fastest production electric car out there. That honor goes to the Tesla Roadster. Here's a review the Top Gear guys did of that car awhile back:

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Thoughts on Volt Sales

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:50:03 -0800

Autoblog Green has what appears to be sobering numbers on early Volt sales, citing GM figures that say only 281 cars were sold in February, down from 321 in January. Critics eager for GM to fail are trying to make hay from this announcement, but there's much more to the story.

I ordered my Volt in August and took delivery the last week of February - waiting nearly six months to purchase the car site unseen without even a test drive. My Volt's VIN number, which is assigned sequentially, reveals that it was the 1,185th production vehicle manufactured. GM reports that it has sold 928 Volts since production units started rolling in November. Do the Math - they're selling just about every car that comes off the line.

Talking with my local dealer, they have every one of their allocated Volts already sold. They're just waiting for them to show up. It's also important to note that the car is still only available in five markets: California, the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, Michigan, Texas, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Only 10,000 2011 model year vehicles are even being produced, so supplies are limited to start.

New technology always lands first with the crazy early adopters who are willing to buy a vehicle powered by unproven technology without even a test drive. As production rates increase, dealers will actually have inventory and buyers will have the opportunity to take it out for a spin. Give it a year, I think this car is going to be a hit.

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Another Day Free of Foreign Oil

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:17:58 -0800

Just wrapped up another gas free day In the Volt, making it an entire work week with under a gallon of gas consumed.

So far the car has delivered an effective lifetime mpg of 194. That will change a bit next week with a 150 mile round trip journey planned. Stay tuned!

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Switching to Gas

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 04:55:00 -0800

So after nearly two weeks of driving around town (200 miles and barely a drop of gasoline), I finally hit the limit on the battery range and had the car switch over to the internal combustion engine. Unlike other hybrids, the Chevy Volt's engine powers the electric motor and doesn't drive the wheels - giving it some flexibility as to when and how to use gas. It also never lets the battery drain completely, so even when the car reports its out of juice it still has about a 30% charge remaining.

And that's when things got interesting. I expected the engine to run continously, but the car was much more judicious in its engine use. While coasting down a long hill on my way home, the engine shut down and the regenerative braking system poured some additional electricity in the battery. When I reached the bottom of the hill and turned onto the next street, the internal combustion engine was still silent - apparently enough energy was captured on the way down the hill to go another quarter of a mile without having to use gasoline. It wasn't until I went up the next hill that the engine turned itself back on.

It's impressive how much thought and engineering went in to making that scenario possible.

I have some requests for a video tour of the car that I'll post up this weekend.

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Weekend Chevy Volt Fuel Usage

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:25:01 -0800

The above video details how easy it is to plug in at home.

My final weekend mileage count for Saturday and Sunday was 62 miles, total gas used: 0.07 gallons. The gas was used when the car turned on the internal combustion engine to heat up the battery pack. The engine ran for approximately five minutes this morning and did not turn on again. My other car would use close to three gallons of gasoline to go the same distance.

We're due for some snow tomorrow so the Volt will stay safely in the garage until it passes. Other drivers report good snow results but I'm going to play it safe.

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The First Day of the Future

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 07:03:00 -0800

Something happens after you're about ten miles into driving your Chevy Volt when it hits you: This is the future.

This isn't some gimmick or an attempt to bring down a manufacturer's average MPG rating. It's a superbly engineered American-made vehicle that will get me to where I have to go powered not by middle eastern oil, but by 100% American made electrons. And when I want to go further, a gas powered backup will take me there. I can't stress this enough: this car is the real deal.

Here's my first impressions:

Quality

The first thing that stands out is the build quality. The car is rock solid - even a bit heavier than expected for its size, but very well balanced. It handles like a sports car with tight steering controls and stiff suspension. It reminds me a lot of my old 2002 Mercedes C230 coupe in both handling and power.

Power

Acceleration is there when you need it, but it's also easy to drive efficiently to save battery power. Acceleration is slightly timid in the "normal" drive mode, but switching into "sport" gives all of that advertised electric torque. Highway merging in both modes is zippy and on par with other cars in its size and price range.

Charging

Charging takes awhile at 110 (a full charge takes about 8 hours), but taking "opportunity charges" for an hour or two can keep things topped off. A 240 volt charger will be installed in my garage soon that will cut the charge time in half.

Climate Control

The climate system is going to take a bit of getting used to. Electric vehicles are much more efficient than gas powered vehicles, and as such heat is not a byproduct of operation. In electric mode the car needs to use heating elements (powered by the battery) to provide conventional cabin heat at the cost of electric range. The default mode puts an emphasis on heating the seats to keep the passenger comfortable which is more efficient. That mode works fine for me, but my hands were a little chilly at the conclusion of the drive. I need to play a bit more with the settings to find the best balance of comfort and efficiency. The car can also heat itself up on house power when plugged in, which can be activated from the free companion iPhone app. That's today's project.

More to Come

I'll use it for some errand running today, but next week will be the first real test of every day use. I'll post my impressions throughout the week.

If you have any questions you'd like answered, please comment. I'll be happy to answer them with words and videos.

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