The 2016 (gen 2) Volt is coming, whats new? UPDATE: first drive review

[MetroMPG]

Re: the touch screen. I agree. Try telling that to Tesla, too.

The giant ipad dashboard in the sedan got a ridiculous amount of positive attention.

[jcp123]

Nah not just the screen, it's the whole centre stack. IIRC there are two knobs and the rest are "buttons" which appear to be just touch controls?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by HiFlite

In CS (Charge-Sustain) mode, the Volt hypermiles for you! Basically, the engine always runs at full load and full throttle. In situations when that is not possible, it shuts off!

Yes the volt sort of hypermiles itself within the very limited parameters it has, but it is not optimized to get the best fuel economy, to be honest I wish they had an eco setting to force it to "hypermile" itself for real but alas it does not. There really is no reason the volt should not get a minimum of 50mpg at lower speeds, the motor is setup for comfort and noise so this doesn't happen without intense effort by the operator. If I had a choice I would take the noise for the fuel economy, ah well.

Originally Posted by HiFlite

Even under pure battery power, the accel/decal technique doesn't work.This is less efficient than simply maintaining a steady speed.

I disagree, an EV is designed to work best under steady speeds but you can greatly increase the range of the volt by coasting to a stop as much as possible without using regen. Also I question the efficiency of the car at low speeds, 5kw to go 25mph on a 40 degree day is the same power draw my fathers FLA rig used to go 36mph. So coasting may have a use if you are driving extreme turtle. (aka speeds below 30mph)

Originally Posted by HiFlite

Correct, cold complicates things. At a stop, car 'on', but HVAC, radio, etc 'off', the Volt draws about 350 W (though the display says 500 W). Full cabin heat is 6 kW and battery heat, when needed, is about 2 kW. When the parasitic load is high, minimizing trip time becomes more important.

For me a parasytic draw (lights off, heat off, etc,e tc) occurs randomly below 40 degrees but starts right at startup when 25 degrees or lower. The onboard display shows 1-3kw idling when this occurs, it can cycle but the colder it gets the less it will cycle.

Originally Posted by HiFlite

Do you park overnight or in a garage? Being from Michigan, I drive in a lot of cold weather, but don't see the battery heat come on very often. However, I usually park overnight (and charge) in my attached garage which is considerably warmer than outside. The battery pack is well-insulated so even though I park in a ramp for 9 hours at work, the pack temperature will imitate the 15 hours it spends at home.
YMMV!

I have never had a garage to park in, only under the sky. Could never justify increasing my housing cost by 3-5x to have one. (at least one that would be usable, lots of 400sqft houses here with a model T sized garage that would almost fit a riding lawn tractor)

I am told by ari_c that if I start my car about an hour early on 110v and have everything off with it plugged in that the battery will actually warm and only cost me .1KW or so but since the 3kw draw is gone its all good, tested and it appears to be true.

Cheers
Ryan

[HiFlite]

Quote:
Originally Posted by HiFlite
Even under pure battery power, the accel/decal technique doesn't work. This is less efficient than simply maintaining a steady speed.

"I disagree, an EV is designed to work best under steady speeds but you can greatly increase the range of the volt by coasting to a stop as much as possible without using regen. Also I question the efficiency of the car at low speeds, 5kw to go 25mph on a 40 degree day is the same power draw my fathers FLA rig used to go 36mph."

Coasting to a required stop is more efficient than delaying a stop and expecting regen to make it all better. I was indeed saying that Pulse & Glide doesn't work well in full EV mode.

Ari_c might disagree about poor low-speed efficiency having made 81.5 miles @23 mph before running out of battery juice.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by HiFlite

[I]Quote:
Originally Posted by HiFlite

Ari_c might disagree about poor low-speed efficiency having made 81.5 miles @23 mph before running out of battery juice.

Try Ari_Cs feat at temperatures other than 80 degrees outside and see what result you get.

I have no doubt I can beat Ari_C in identical conditions on my regular weekly long drive, trouble will be when its cold.

[MetroMPG]

So, the Volt's unveiling will be in just over 2 weeks.

I have to admit that the Volt & next Prius are probably the 2 car intros I'm looking forward to most for 2015.

(Well that plus the Mirage sedan coming to North America, but that probably only interests me and about 2 other people. )

[dirtydave]

Im one!

[MetroMPG]

Volt almost fully uncovered, ahead of the Detroit Auto Show:

The New Chevy Volt First Look: Less Concept, More Sedan

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Volt almost fully uncovered...

Maybe they should cover it back up, 'cause from the front, that is one ugly-looking car. The automotive version of a s**t-eating grin :-)

[Daox]

I think it looks decent. Somewhat Civic-esk.