Found my way back after 15 years!

[Matt Herring 2]

Hey folks!

Was an active Ecomodder 'n hypermiler for a long time in this forum. Lost touch in the move from MA to PA about a dozen years ago. Randomly ran into the site again and decided to jump back in. Enjoyed the friendly banter and success stories and glad to be back!

Started hyperming/modding with a 4 runner a long time ago...went through about 5 Prius since then and now driving a Chevy Volt. More of a hypermiler than a modder these days but enjoy seeing everyone's work towards higher mpg!

Bought a 2018 Chevy Volt a month ago and getting used to the car. Installing a charging station at home in a few weeks. Have charging stations at work so the home charger will help with the mpg on commute to work. Currently just using 120v to charge overnight at home which takes about 14 hours and I rarely get a full charge between work days. 56 one way mile commute in the mountains so the huge hills kill mpg. Goal is lifetime 100+ mpg. Will see how high I can go!

Thanks for keeping this going and looking forward to reading up on everyone's posts!

Can somebody remind me how to add my car stats to the bottom of post with the graphic...thanks!

[me and my metro]

Welcome back! I am interested in hearing about your Volt experiences. My Brother in Law had #64 if I remember correctly back in the beginning of Volt history.

[oil pan 4]

Welcome back.
Yeah you need level 2 charging.
Don't let the EV shrills talk you into a high dollar charging station, all you need is a basic level 2 portable charger. Something that does 10 to 16 amps at 240v.

[Cd]

Welcome back, Matt !

[Piwoslaw]

Hi Matt
Great to see you back!

[freebeard]

I figured out how to access your previous persona. It looks like you were gone before I showed up.

So how is it different today?

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by freebeard

So how is it different today?

Well, first of all, there's this user 'freebeard'... :P

[Matt Herring 2]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I figured out how to access your previous persona. It looks like you were gone before I showed up.

So how is it different today?

Well...for one I've been married for 6 years now with 2 kids which accounts for the reason I faded away for a time there...but glad to be back!

On the car side...I've always made a game out of trying to maximize mpg in all the cars I've owned. The difference in terrain from my MA driving days to my current PA driving days is way more hills and mountains to navigate now. Sometimes good for mpg...sometimes poor...depending which direction I'm traveling.

I've found in my Volt I need to baby the go pedal much more in electric mode than with the ICE because hammering the go pedal in electric sucks the life out of my charge range.

In electric mode I've reverted back to my hypermiling days and don't run any heat in the car until I've used up all my electric charge and it switches over to ICE. It makes for some very cold mornings but the heated seats and heated steering wheel use very little of my charge so they keep me fairly comfortable for 40 to 50 miles until it switches to ICE and then...yes...I turn on the heat in the car for long enough to warm up. Yes...we all have the same mpg disease...lol