Some real Volt numbers for the curious...

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by trooper Tdiesel

how far has any one gone on a single full charge?

any one cracked the 50 mile mark?

Yes, in fact under exceptional circumstances one individual cracked 75miles.

How slow are you willing to go?

My 1981 C-car on lead acid has cracked 50 miles several times, so I don't doubt a volt can do it on a much bigger battery.

[SoobieOut]

Just wondering about the folks who use the Volt in the EV mode 98% of the time. Will the engine refuse to start eventually?

Does this car have a mode that starts the engine from time to time just to keep the seals moist, and engine ready?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by MorphDaCivic

Just wondering about the folks who use the Volt in the EV mode 98% of the time. Will the engine refuse to start eventually?

Nope

Originally Posted by MorphDaCivic

Does this car have a mode that starts the engine from time to time just to keep the seals moist, and engine ready?

Yes

[markf]

Originally Posted by trooper Tdiesel

how far has any one gone on a single full charge?

any one cracked the 50 mile mark?

where at a fixed 0.06 power rate 24 hours a day, so that would be a good bit less then the $1.10 a charge im seeing

My max so far is 44 mi range on a single charge for my usual 65 mi work round trip. I've only had the car since last Fall and thru this Winter, so I expect to beat that number once it gets warmer.

My lowest battery range was 19 miles, under exceptional circumstances: air temp 9 F (-13 C), hideous wind chill, front & rear defoggers on plus wipers to cut the snow off the windshield, inside heat set to my usual 80 degrees and seat heaters on 2/3, ABS/TC firing left and right to keep me on the road.

[markf]

What a difference 10 days makes from my previous post.

Since I got the car at the end of last yr I've been getting 60-80 mpg due to the cold weather and me setting the inside car temp at 80 deg and blasting the heater blowers and seat heaters each day. During this time my projected battery range when I start off to work is 31-35 miles.

But this week it's finally warm (60s-70s), and the projected battery range in the morning (now 40-44 miles) and mpg has shot way up;

Tues - 120 mpg

Wed - 158 mpg

Yesterday - 192 mpg - went 50 mi just on stored battery power alone, when the battery pooped out and the gas motor came on I then got 44 mpg for the remaining 14.5 of the trip.

So for my usual 65 mi roundtrip to work at Aberdeen Proving Ground, that's 1/3 a gal of gas + $1 of electricity for the overnight recharge. Pretty acceptable. markf

Oops, left off the proof - see pix of my Volt screen below;

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/6...a01d9e42e6.jpg

[Ladogaboy]

And GM is really cancelling sales?

[NeilBlanchard]

No, they have paused production.

[Marc F.]

I drive 77 miles to work on Sunday night. Then my car sits till Friday afternoon when I drive 80 miles home. (traffic, different route) There is nowhere to charge at work. (I was considering a Leif).

What do you think that would do to the battery, I mean sitting partially charged for 5 days?

I had a CR-Z and it would be almost fully charged when I got to work. It wouldnt lose much while sitting for those 5 days.

Any ideas on the difference in the 2 systems?

edit...

Another question just popped into my mind, can you fire the heaters up in the car and it still be plugged up? That would save some of your range.

[A.J.]

Originally Posted by markf

Yesterday - 192 mpg - went 50 mi just on stored battery power alone, when the battery pooped out and the gas motor came on I then got 44 mpg for the remaining 14.5 of the trip.

Since I love pushing things to the extreme, I've always wondered what is the ABSOLUTE highest range you could get out an electric car...

Congrats on your 50 miles and thanks for sharing

And on the same subject, has anyone with a Nissan LEAF gotten 138 miles (or more...) on a single charge?
["Cruising at 38 miles per hour with ambient temps of 68 degrees, you could squeeze 138 miles out of the Leaf."]

[markf]

Did some unusual driving this weekend, and Volt # 5083 turned in some unexpected numbers.

(A) Getting Prius-ish mileage (nearly 48 mpg) from the gas motor.

Last Saturday my wife and I took a drive from northern MD through the PA hills to Gettysburg and the battlefield memorials. Surprisingly free of tourists. Went into mountain mode on leaving home so I had 13 mi of battery saved up to run around Gettysburg w/o polluting. Getting 45-50 mil of battery range while driving on back roads is not unusual these days now that the weather has warmed up, but driving 80.2 mi on the internal combustion engine and using 1.68 gals of gas (47.7 mpg) was a pleasant surprise)

TRIP DATA SUMMARY
> Drive Distance: 131.6 mi
> Vehicle Weight: heavy (full tank of gas + 2 adults + 3 medium size dogs in the hatch)
> Weather: 70-75 Deg F
> Roads:
- Most of the trip was 35-50 mph two lane roads (driving at the speed limit to +5 over)
- Approx 18-20 mi around Gettysburg, slow/stop & go.
- Final 16 mi on Interstate I-83 @ 65-70 mph (mostly downhill).
> Drive Mode:
- Gettysburg portion - manual driving + Low range
- Rest of the miles - cruise control + normal Drive range

(B) Testing the limits of my patience - driving slow and getting 53.5 mi of battery range and 55.0 mpg on the ICE

Yesterday (Sunday) my wife and I again took a drive, this time in to southern PA to get some homemade ice cream. Went into mountain mode on leaving home and hit the interstate right off, went into normal mode to use the saved 13 mi of battery as soon as I got off the Interstate. While I don't do hypermiling, I did intentionally drive at the speed limit or -5 mph under for the entire trip except for 65 mpg on I-83. Getting 53 mi on battery and 55 mpg on the gas was not at all the limit of what the Volt can do in terms of high mpg, but it sorely tested my patience so I’ll stick with driving faster and settling for 45-50 mi range on the battery and 40-45 mpg on the Ecotec. I have to admit though that taking a 73 mile drive and going 19.8 miles on the ICE while only using 0.36 gal of gas (+ $1 in stored electricity) is quite nice. See end of drives screen shots at the link.

TRIP DATA SUMMARY
> Drive Distance: 73.3 mi
> Vehicle Weight: heavy (full tank of gas + 2 adults + 3 medium size dogs in the hatch)
> Weather: 70-75 Deg F
> Roads:
- Most of the trip was 35-50 mph two lane roads (driving at the speed limit to +5 over)
- Initial 13 mi on Interstate I-83 @ 65 mph (mostly uphill).
> Drive Mode:
- Back roads – mostly cruise control + normal Drive range, perhaps 10% manual driving + Low range
- Interstate: cruise control + normal Drive range

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7117/6...70875e49_b.jpg