Cowmeat learns to drive the Volt

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Well, I finally drove the Volt in "sport" mode this weekend, and I doubt that I'll ever again get the amount of EV range I was seeing prior to that! It's got a lot of kick compared to "normal" mode, pretty addictive.

Nah . . . . . in reality I'll use it sparingly, but if I need to pass a line of cars I know I can do it, unlike when I was driving the Insight or the Festiva, or even my wife's Explorer.

The only thing sport mode does is make the throttle more sensitive to changes. It doesn't change the amount of current the battery draws at the given percent throttle. Just 20% in normal is equal to say, 35% in sport so it 'feels' faster but really isn't, it just doesn't take as much throttle for the same 'oomph'. If you put it in sport and hammer it off the line, 100% throttle, it feels the exact same as normal doing the same.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

The only thing If you put it in sport and hammer it off the line, 100% throttle, it feels the exact same as normal doing the same.

If the op is real hardcore at the light hold the brake then when he expects the light hammer it with the brake held tight.
Then real the brake a tad upstream of green and you can gain over a half second.

Same trick works coasting in neutral, keep it hammered hen when you shift to d instant fun

[cowmeat]

I'm thinking of swapping out my HYPRMYL tag to something a little more Volt/EV-specific

Below are some Florida tags still available, I may go with one of these

[ME_Andy]

I like EV FTW.

[cowmeat]

The only thing sport mode does is make the throttle more sensitive to changes. It doesn't change the amount of current the battery draws at the given percent throttle. Just 20% in normal is equal to say, 35% in sport so it 'feels' faster but really isn't, it just doesn't take as much throttle for the same 'oomph'. If you put it in sport and hammer it off the line, 100% throttle, it feels the exact same as normal doing the same.

That dull, slow response time is same reason I ended up pulling the TPS smoothing circuit out of the Insight and giving it to one of you guys, lol!

In sport mode the Volt reacts instantly, but I'll blow through the battery reserve really quick if I use it much. Actually, this morning I eased my way to work, leaving me 24 miles of battery just so I could play around with sport mode on the way home

Also, is the battery reserve it shows you adaptive to your driving style? I charge it every night, and every morning it's given me a mile or two more reserve showing on the screen. This morning it showed 40 miles for the charge

[Baltothewolf]

It's funny, I have considered getting a volt, and seeing how you are doing Cowmeat is encouraging me. My commute to work is 45 miles, with elevation starting at 3,000, going up to 4,000 then dropping to roughly ~1,000 feet. Not to mention I can charge 110 at work for 8 hours.

I do want a gen2 volt though, not a gen 1, so I got a couple years before they start coming off lease.

[cowmeat]

I've owned it for less than two weeks, but it's been a blast so far!

It's pretty satisfying going from using a little gas in the Festiva to very little gas in the Insights to NO gas in the Volt!

Plus, I've used the AC every time I've driven it, and I got a couple of free months on Sirius, so I've been cranking tunes too!

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Plus, I've used the AC every time I've driven it

Shame!

Wife and I test drove a 2013 Volt yesterday. I'm in love with the powertrain. I don't know why GM hasn't put it in other cars. The short range EV with gas backup is a great way to get people into EVs while waiting for batteries to get better/cheaper. There was plenty of giddy-up and the silence makes it seem even quicker. My biggest complaint is the poor visibility, but that's probably a side effect new crash test standards and not unique to the Volt.

I'll try and get a 2013+ in a year or two. Hopefully they keep depreciating as fast as they have been.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by vskid3

Shame!

Wife and I test drove a 2013 Volt yesterday. I'm in love with the powertrain. I don't know why GM hasn't put it in other cars.

I'll try and get a 2013+ in a year or two. Hopefully they keep depreciating as fast as they have been.

GM has put the powertrain into the 2016 Malibu hybrid and it gets class leading fe

[cowmeat]

The EV range went up another mile this morning.

Last week it was reading 35 miles for a full charge, and now it gives me 41 miles of range on the gauge, which will actually get me more like 46-48 miles.

I should be able to drive it fifty miles on a charge pretty soon

I used a tenth of a gallon the other night just to warm up the ICE, I doubt that going long periods without using it would be good for it