Chevy volt gas only mileage

[cowmeat]

I just got the free oil change/tire rotation on mine (one of two that came free since it's certified). In fifteen months the oil life dropped from 57% the day I bought it to 43% when they changed the oil. Now it's at 100% oil life

I also filled up the tank the other day for the first time in a long while, hopefully it'll last to the end of the year.

I'm sold on the Volt and have no real complaints, and in a year or so I plan to trade it in for a newer one.

Enjoy! It's an awesome car, way more fun to hypermile than my Insights were

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

I'm sold on the Volt and have no real complaints, and in a year or so I plan to trade it in for a newer one.

Enjoy! It's an awesome car, way more fun to hypermile than my Insights were

Your trading up to a 2013 so soon?

Bit by the hold mode feature

[ksa8907]

I may need to put this in a new/different thread to get more visibility, however: Since the engine in Volts is a generator only and runs at 80% load any time it is on, would a warm air intake be beneficial?

I know the classic answer of "try it and find out", just looking for any guidance before I go through the trouble.

Thanks

[ksa8907]

So I've put about 6k miles on the car since I bought it. The weather has been so chaotic, I can't really get a feel for how my different driving is affecting mileage. However, I think the vehicle will respond VERY well to aero mods as a slight tailwind is all that is needed to push me into the mid 40's.

I typically drive with the cruise set to 62 to 65 mph, mostly straight highway with very few stops and slowdowns.

I have a hunch that a significant part of the lower cold weather fe is due to colder intake temps, but i have not tried a wai yet.

Have been consistently getting between 37 and 39 mpg when driven properly, obviously less when driving faster or aggressively. Also, have NOT been using heat while in EV mode, ERDTT is forced at 25f ambient so it's not too bad.

Also, most of my miles since early January have been with RUG 87 and not the suggested premium. Tried ethanol and surprisingly, no CEL and not much of a difference in mpg either.

[ProDigit]

There's no way you can accurately measure, as you're driving the car, and at the same time charging the battery.
The best thing you could do, is replace the battery with a large capacitor (provided the volt's electronics aren't going haywire).

But yeah, you won't be able to accurately measure; unless you add the driving distance of the charged state of the battery.
Eg: You start out with a complete empty battery, until the battery is like 50% charged. Then you turn off the engine, and continue to drive on the remaining juice of the battery.
I think that's about as accurate as you can get.

At 60MPH, the Bolt, Cruze, or Volt, uses about 6HP to maintain speed.
The Cruze does about 50MPG average on that.
The Volt, probably loses some efficiency, but it being in the high 40's of MPG would probably be quite spot on.

[ksa8907]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

There's no way you can accurately measure, as you're driving the car, and at the same time charging the battery.
The best thing you could do, is replace the battery with a large capacitor (provided the volt's electronics aren't going haywire).

But yeah, you won't be able to accurately measure; unless you add the driving distance of the charged state of the battery.
Eg: You start out with a complete empty battery, until the battery is like 50% charged. Then you turn off the engine, and continue to drive on the remaining juice of the battery.
I think that's about as accurate as you can get.

At 60MPH, the Bolt, Cruze, or Volt, uses about 6HP to maintain speed.
The Cruze does about 50MPG average on that.
The Volt, probably loses some efficiency, but it being in the high 40's of MPG would probably be quite spot on.

I would say thats a very poor way to use the vehicle. The gas engine should never be used to "charge" the battery. Why have a battery then? The idea is you have a battery that you charge from the grid which is cheaper per unit of energy that gasoline. Then, switch over to gas if you need it.

In charge sustain, CS mode, I consistently get about 37 to 39 mpg with windy, 15f to 50f weather and winter gas.

[ProDigit]

Originally Posted by ksa8907

I would say thats a very poor way to use the vehicle. The gas engine should never be used to "charge" the battery. Why have a battery then? The idea is you have a battery that you charge from the grid which is cheaper per unit of energy that gasoline. Then, switch over to gas if you need it.

In charge sustain, CS mode, I consistently get about 37 to 39 mpg with windy, 15f to 50f weather and winter gas.

That's how the volt operates. It's engine always charges the battery, while the battery powers the electric motors.
On the volt you don't have the choice to drive the gasoline engine directly.

And I think that's the question of this thread,
How much does driving the gasoline engine give on MPG.

[ksa8907]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

That's how the volt operates. It's engine always charges the battery, while the battery powers the electric motors.
On the volt you don't have the choice to drive the gasoline engine directly.

And I think that's the question of this thread,
How much does driving the gasoline engine give on MPG.

The engine will operate to keep the battery at a particular state of charge then adjust output depending on driving conditions. If the load is low enough that the battery level rises, the engine shuts off and runs on battery until it drops below a certain threshold.

So, long drives in CS mode actually show gas only mode mpg very well. The battery isn't supplying power, it is being used as a buffer.

[ksa8907]

So, things are going well. I have an idea, looking for confirmation or counter arguments.

I can calculate the overall efficiency of the volt's series/parallel hybrid setup by using the gas (ER) efficiency divided by the EV efficiency, since i drain the battery every day.

On the last couple days, I calculate, ER is 31% as efficient as EV. Further, does that mean EV is .310/.337 = 92% efficient? Hold that, I'm sure I'm getting too tired for math.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

That's how the volt operates. It's engine always charges the battery, while the battery powers the electric motors.
On the volt you don't have the choice to drive the gasoline engine directly.

And I think that's the question of this thread,
How much does driving the gasoline engine give on MPG.

To my knowledge, this isn't accurate. The Volt has an orbital transmission just like a Prius. The engine is fully capable of driving the wheels directly. The first gen's engine was clutched behind one electric motor but still mechanically drove the wheels. It was clutched so it could be disconnected, but that's not even true of the 2nd gen - it's geared directly.






For comparison, here is the Prius's layout. The only major difference is that the Prius's engine is connected to a planet gear rather than the ring gear, and the wheels are connected to the ring gear rather than to the planet gear.