Some real Volt numbers for the curious...

[wainair]

Oh and Thanks Ryland for posting the link! Cheers!

[wainair]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Dave

I plug in my vehicle every night and go to the gas station about once a month....that would be plugging in my block & oil pan heaters

Ya gotta keep those diesels warm! My last car was a cdi smart and I plugged it in every night it was under 40F. It made a noticeable difference in mileage.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by wainair

In September I bought a Volt and have been enjoying the car immensely.

It is completely different to drive than a conventional hybrid and will need new techniques to get the best mileage out of the generator.

Check it out! I'm sure you will find it interesting!

Since you own a volt does the volt keep two separate odometers one for gas miles and one for electric? Despite all the press I would own a volt if it weren't $39k Would be a neat piece of machinery to own despite its limitations.

What we really need though is an ecomodder to analyse how to get the CS mode the most efficient, maybe make a joystick like the honda insight to control or FIX the CS mode output to whatever load/RPM is most effiicient.

Or possible modify the ECU for eco driving.

I am told a few frugal drivers have figured out how to make mountain mode work more efficiently than CS by engaging it early on long trips and really watching their throttle.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Ryland

...less then 10% of the population drives over 100 miles per day...

Which is ok for those people who do exactly the same thing, day after day. But though my average is well under 100 miles per day, there are a lot of days when I don't drive at all, some when I drive 10-40 miles or so, and a few when I drive more than 100 miles.

[DonR]

Have you driven the Volt in the Great white winter yet? I know one of the selling points of electric drive is the torque at 0rpm. How is traction on both wet & snow covered roads?

Don

[cfg83]

wainair -

Great thread! I went to the last page to see the worst MPG. 43 MPG at 23.5% EV mode is decent. For my commute I would *hope* that I could get about 50% EV mode, which comes out to about 71 MPG. The reality would probably be closer to the California guy at 40.8% for 55+ MPG. Not too shabby.

CarloSW2

[dcb]

wainair, GM's lawyers will be contacting you about referring to the volt as a hybrid, and for reporting less than 230 mpg

REAL numbers? How do you confirm the electrical input? How do you confirm the fuel input? I wouldn't trust what the vehicle tells you, needs independent verification, no?

[user removed]

Don't you mean OUR lawyers DCB?

regards
Mech

[Ryland]

In mouton mode, does the engine stay at a steady speed or does it change speed with change in vehicle speed? I ask because early on they were talking about having the engine start up and run at a fixed throttle so that the whole gasoline drive train could be optimized to that engine speed but they wanted it to "sound" like a standard gasoline car when the gasoline engine started, reving as you speed up and so on, but in mouton mode the gasoline engine and electric motor are working together so I have to wonder if the engine is then running at it's ideal speed.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Which is ok for those people who do exactly the same thing, day after day. But though my average is well under 100 miles per day, there are a lot of days when I don't drive at all, some when I drive 10-40 miles or so, and a few when I drive more than 100 miles.

There are a lot of us who don't drive over 100 miles per day for months at a time, I do every few months to ironically go to an electric auto club meeting, but that is about it, I've pretty much convinced my parents to buy an EV when they get the chance because they stay within 30 miles of home year round other then Christmas and for that we take my Civic because it's bigger then their car.

I have to wonder how the Volt's use and electric to gasoline ratio will change over time, if people will try to move to a life style and driving habit that lets them only use the electric mode or if they will revert back to gasoline use for one reason or another.
I'm also impressed that there are people who have over 20,000 miles on their Volt in less then a year! I could not imagine driving that much in a year, but I guess that is why some people buy new cars.