I'm Back with a VOLT!

[ebacherville]

Yep, I'm back.. with a 2012 Volt.. Hate the color, the wife likes it, but its low miles and a Volt. Here is a photo. Now what to do with it??
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130510...posted-public/

[redpoint5]

I'd say find an outlet to plug it in, then drive it.

[Stubby79]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'd say find an outlet to plug it in, then drive it.

That sounds a little complicated for my tastes!

[ebacherville]

Yeah thats kind my plan for now.. but I do want to mod it, I can see many mods even on its already maximized design. Full wheels covers, and more mods like a "cookie duster lower air dam" cold be easy gains.. Sadly the dealership replaced the tires with what I would not ever consider for a ECO car, so ill run them out but will go max pressure. However mostly its the "nut behind the wheel".. The volt has many interesting features I have been messing with so far, like "Mountain mode", It recharges the battery while driving to 1/3 percent. Even with a depleted battery I was able to switch modes on the 70 mile drive home and beat the EPA ICE estimate of 36mpg using "mountain mode" and turning it on and off and not to mention using the low mode of the drive train, I can tell already Hyper mileing this vehicle is going to be interesting. She is fully charged now in the drive way, my first all electric drive will come tomorrow running errands in town. One of my other motivations for the Volt is a backup power generator when the grid goes down to power the furnace, and refrigerator. Many others have done this on the Volt and Prius but it will be one of the mods I make to the vehicle. Not to mention the other reason I got a Volt is my state offers 0.02 cent electric vehicle charging arrangements. That is about .32 cents per day to fully top off the battery or about 38-43 miles of driving and my commute is within that range. Ideally I can convince my employer to charge my vehicle and they would pay tat tab but it really doesn't really matter at that cost.

[fusion210]

Does it have the wind buffeting kit for the side mirrors? Hard to tell from the picture.

[cowmeat]

I haven't bothered making any mods on my Volt yet other than adding some rain guards to the windows. I didn't see anything that I could really improve on easily.
The air dam is already so low I cringe every time I drive over something laying in the road, I'm not sure you'll see any gains lowering it without replacing it a lot, and the first time you jack the car up you'll find that the underside is really clean , no belly pan required.
I just air the tires up to max pressure and drive mine, and the real the gains I see are from learning to drive it more and more efficiently

My commute to and from work is a little over 38 miles and I make it daily on EV power, with between 8 and 12 miles of range to spare. Depending on your commute and driving habits you'll be able to get about 45-50 miles of EV range in your 2012 Volt

I charge mine at work every day, dropping my energy costs to zero. You should definitely see if your company will let you charge yours there

[ksa8907]

I just bought my 2012 in late December, sort of got forced into buying another car but that's another story.

I do like the car a lot, only mods so far for me have been grille block, 1200 lumen LED backup light, and antenna whip delete.

What is your commute like? Will you be driving on gas much?

[California98Civic]

Congrats man. I love that first gen Volt. My daughter wants one, but I don't have the cash so she'll get her own car when she gets a job some day! Hahaha.

There is a thread on here titled something like learning to drive the Volt. Look for it with the EM search function top let corner of this page. Lots of tips IIRC.

james

[ebacherville]

My commute is 60+ all the way but currently with the cold temps in MN my EV range on electric covers my commute exactly, 32 miles.. Once it gets warmer I wont need the heater running, and should easily have excess EV power.. but after asking my employer today, my employer allows me to charge at work via 110v.... so I at least get a free ride home Heck if I work 9 hours I may just charge at work.. totally free to me commute.

My air damn has been thrashed by the previouse owner and removed.. Ill replace it.. Also running max PSI in the tires.

But yes its the nut behind the wheel mostly. I already drive in L mode just to save the break pads... its a wierd adjustment to drive, let of the gas and its slowing at a pretty fast rate.. but I can see how much wear and tear this saves on the breaks.

The worst part is its actually a fairly fast car when you get on it.. and silent.. so weird of a sensation being tossed in to the seat with just a slight whirring sound.. 148HP with nearly 300lbs of toque... its no Tesla, but I can totaly see the attraction to electric for a performance car.

[hayden55]

Question: What does a Volt actually get at 70 mph on the highway in standard hybrid mode? (similar to a Prius).
Seems like everyone interested in what they get on the highway.
For the most part, don't forget that the regen brakes still aren't very efficient, and don't forget to neutral coast to get some big numbers. DWB driving style will really boost your numbers up in hybrids and EVs. (Driving Without Brakes). Most people forget how they hypermiled non Hybrids and tend to use the regen brakes as a crutch which results in lower numbers. For the most part only use regen when you HAVE to stop (stop and go traffic, coming to stop sign too hot, etc...).
Yeah for the most part work with what you've got. Air the tires up to 51 psi, make some wheel covers, remove the upper antenna stick (I still get signal without), remove the passenger mirror (if you've driven a 90s car equipped w/o), remove passenger wiper, take some weight out here and there etc... Anything that is free and fun to tinker with would be cool.
But number one is learning how to drive them correctly is what I keep figuring out. It always takes me a while to catch on to the quirks.