Thanks for the great tip. I usually just leave it in low gear unless I drive on the freeway. I got up to 54 miles on a charge doing this in warm weather.

3 1/2 years old and only 30k views and

I have to say despite some peoples views on the Volt I personally really like the car. Its taken a few years to come over to the UK. Ive not seen any advertising for it. I am currently saving up for one myself. I seriously can't wait. Thanks for the clip.

Great video!! I’ve had my 2018 volt for almost 2 weeks now I’m loving it! still fine tuning my use of D and L but so far I’m getting about 2L per 100 k.it’s been really cold here so that’s been messing with my fuel efficiency and the range slightly and the engine coming on . but I’ve been charging overnight and preheating before I leave in the am getting between 89-95 km a charge every day temp depending my previous car I was putting 70-80 bucks a week into it gas wise to fill it. still have 300Km worth of gas in the tank after about 800km of driving the volt is a fantastic car !

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

chad s It sure is. Best car I have owned. I have owned mine since July 2011. All I have done maintenence wise in that time is change the oil 3 times. It goes in next summer for oil change 4. I have gone through a set of tires and the only problem I have has is the buttons on the door handles to unlock the door have worn out. First the driver door wore out, then I started using the rear driver side button and it went bad so now I use the fob to unlock. I have 140000 on mine now. Still getting full range on battery. In the winter the range drops to about half due to electric heat use but it will come back in the summer like it has every year. Still on original brakes. Had the rotors and pads checked when tires were replaced last spring. Still had over 90% remaining 11mm on front 10 on back. This is due to me using regen to slow me right down to a crawl. Your car has the regen paddle on the wheel, but mine doesn't so I use the shifter in L to slow me down.

@12voltvids

4 жыл бұрын

I now have 2. The original 2012 and a 2019.

Good for you. Great choice. I just saw the 2016 Volt coming out and now I'm really considering it. To me the new one looks amazing from both the exterior and interior. And it now has 50 miles of electric range and the gas engine is more efficient. So I love that car and I can't wait for it to come out. Hopefully the price won't be raised too much. Thank you for the review. I finally understand how this car works.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

You and me both. Yes I saw the pictures and it is beautiful. Can't wait to see one in person, and there is a pretty darn good chance I will get one, perhaps not this year, but in the next couple of years I have another kid that will be driving so just might get a new one, and pass this one on, or trade it in on the new one. The 50 mile range doesn't really matter for me though, as my commute is only 10 miles, so I naver use any gas in it anyway. Haven't put any in it since August of LAST year! I doubt that they will raise the price, but I wouldn't expect a huge drop either. If I was going to guess I would say between 30 and 35 grand. I just wish people in the media would quit bashing it and putting Tesla on a pedastil. I know 3 people that dropped close to 100K on their Teslas and they haven't been trouble free. 2 of them had the main battery pack replaced in less than a year, and 1 had the main drive replaced too. For what that car cost I would expect much better quality. Oh well, my neighbour 2 doors down has a Fisker Karma, that 120,000 hunk of junk has had numerous problems, and now that Fisker is out of business, they might was well have a de-leorian.

@azera55555

9 жыл бұрын

Haha Fisker was a joke. My parents just bought a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid and I love it. I get 43 mpg in it with my driving so I'm pretty pleased. I used to drive a Jeep Commander which got 13 mpg so it's a huge difference. But I'm really considering the Volt in the future though. I just love the looks of the new one. Thanks!

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

azera55555 Nothing on the road is as technically advanced as the volt. It is a great car and I will be buying another one. Once you drive electric, it is tough to go back to a gasoline of diesel car, but I didn't want the limits of an all electric as I wanted to be able to go anywhere anytime, and not have to plan my route around charging stations.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

Bob Lochen They are changing the design slightly, to make it less expensive to manufacture, and adding a 3rd seat in the rear. The 3rd seat will appeal to many that probably would have bought the current volt if it seated 5. What we do know is it will have a larger gas engine, that will use regular gas as opposed to premium, and the battery is physically smaller, but has higher capacity, and thus the electric range is 50 miles up from the rated 38, which is a big improvement. That is 80Km, up from 55, and the fuel economy on the new direct injection engine is 42MPG up from the rated 38. Well I get closer to 40 on my car using premium. But now with the Canadian dollar going south, that means that any savings on the car through manufacturing improvements will be eaten up by the US dollar exchange rate. But saying that, my volt has given me no trouble in 4 years, and I am not ready to trade up any time soon.

@teknicalmusic116

9 жыл бұрын

azera55555 My 2015 Volt averages 48 miles on battery (the 2015 has a 17.1kWh battery). While the 2016 looks may be better (in your opinion) the coefficient of drag is not as good, so I think if there is a lot of driving at highway speeds on battery the 2015 could potentially match the range of the 2016. I was initially going to wait for the 2016, but after much consideration, I decided that I'd rather have the 5th year of production of a 1st gen design vs the 1st year of production of a 2nd gen design. When I found out the 2015 had a bigger battery, it basically sealed the deal for me.

Really enjoyed this video, it was helpful to know what to expect if planning to buy one. BTW, good commentary. Thanks much for posting !!

Love your videos! I just bought a 2018 2 days ago.

This is the BEST REVIEW i have ever watch until now about the volt, it answered evrey question i have had about this car. Thank you soooo much👍🏻👍🏻

@12voltvids

Жыл бұрын

That car now has 190,000 miles on it and is still going strong.

In the 2nd gen i don’t need to switch to N, going down hill with L I can maintain the speed limit and go into -KW. The 2nd gen has a meter showing exactly how many Kw are being used or regenerated. So... when maintaining a speed on different grades you’ll see it drop or raise. I can capture valuable KW just maintaining my speed with slight downhill grades. That’s why I keep it in low. Also I have seen the range jump from 85km to 100+ doing this.

Great video, really enjoyed it. Planning on getting a 2016 soon.

Thanks for the video. You did such a good job that I am going to buy a new Volt.

@ConstanceCox

4 жыл бұрын

How is your 5 year old Volt?

There is a lot of good info here, and a lot of gassing that should be cut. Too bad the interior shot is overexposed most of the time. Set exposure manually and use a lav mic if you can. You might mention early on how quiet, safe, economical, and reliable the Volt is to keep viewer interest. Consider putting this video in the automobile category for more views. GM does a piss poor job at marketing their greatest automotive achievement! The owners are fanatical about them and love to talk them up at every chance they get. Currently I'm averaging over 150 MPG with zero issues in my '13 silver spaceship (Sport and L modes most of the time). "Liked."

Just bought a volt, subscribed to your channel. Thank you for the real world tutorial. Do you have other tutorials on the dash clusters and controls?

With my 2018 volt I get 1800 kms per tank driving 134 kms daily. I leave it in low all the time. My car also has the paddle which regens harder. There is no harm leaving the car in low and you’ll always be ready to slow down with regen.

I find it interesting that Chevy programmed the Gen.1 Volt (not sure about the Gen.2 car) to be a 'heavy-regen' mode vs. the B-mode on the Toyota Hybrids which I first believed to be a heavy-regen mode but in fact Toyota said the Prius will actually spin-up the gas motor to provide engine braking when in B-mode, wasting both fuel & energy for regen. I'm curious with the introduction of the Gen.2 Volt which now has the ELR's "Regen paddle" on the steering wheel at how Chevy programmed the L-mode on the gearbox. Will it still do the same thing as it did on the Gen.1 or be more like the Prius?

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+Trades46 The prius has a relatively small battery, and once it is reaching capacity, the engine starts. The Escape Hybrid also does this (I also have one of those) The volt does not because it has a much bigger battery. From what I understand the 2nd gen volt works exactly like the first gen. It dumps all the reg power back into the battery. The main difference is once running in gas mode, the second gen volt sends power from the engine into the planetary gear set, and out to the wheels, whereas the first gen the mrime mover is always the electric motor, with the engine only generating electrical energy for the traction motor to use, except under specific conditions where some power from the engine is sent into the planetary gear set,

Aside from the payments due to bad credit, I'm extremely happy with my 2016 I bought 2 days ago. Granted, that's only 2 days. The fact you can switch out electric/gas, different modes, different drives, brake with your hands using regenerative breaking, etc. You can pretty much tune this car to last as much as possible. I had a 30 mile charge, and 42 miles was my commute, Due to a long downhill stretch in L mode I never had to use gas for that commute. It's a bit of a rougher ride in terms of motion sickness if someone in your car isn't prepared for that. L mode slows down things to the point of breaking, and your lights don't go on I don't think. So that is something to think about. No idea if the hand breaking on the steering wheel lights the brake lights.

Do you have to move the lever to L to regen? Doesn't a light touch on the brake pedal while in D accomplish the same level of regeneration without engaging the brake pads to the rotors? That way the drivers around you still have the benefit of seeing your brake lights.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

No you don't have to put it in L to regenerate. Applying the brakes will put the car in regeneration mode, but it also starts applying the hydraulic brakes as well. So shifting to L puts the car in full regen mode without activating the hydraulic brakes. This is no different than gearing down in a conventional car and letting the engine slow you down. True the brake lights do not light, but then they don't if you gear down either. I check my mirror before dropping it in L. If there is someone behind me I will use the brake to get the lights going, if there is nobody close behind then I drop to L and get as much energy go into the battery before using the brake peddle to complete the stop. This extends the life of the brakes like you wouldn't believe. 70,000 Km and the brake pads show no wear. At this rate I will probably get 200K on the brake pads.

Nice video. Interesting reactions also. Since about two weeks I am the proud owner of a 2013 black Volt. Amazing car. Love it. My wife likes it also. In almost all the video's I have seen the quality and lack of issues is mentioned. So I think I was rather unlucky to have a problem a few days ago. After pressing the start button a steering wheel lock problem warning appeared and it was impossible to put the lever in Drive. After some pushing of brake pedal I managed to switch the car off. My son adviised me to exit the car and lock it. After that I opened the car again and could start is quite normally. My son told me he had this experience with his Honda Accord also. I think this has nothing to do with the Volt in particular but it is a problem of computers in general. Sometimes you have to switch them off and on again. I live in the Netherlands and Volts are very uncommon here. But the few people that have one are extremely enthousiatic.

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

I have had t glitches. One involved the infotainment center. There was a 10 second delay for everything. Turn up the volume, nothing happened, then 10 seconds later it gets louder. Change the radio station 10 second delay. Turned the car off, then back on, worked fine. The other one was when major power surge hit the car while it was charging. It triggered a warning to have the HV charging circuit serviced. Car still ran, but once battery went down and transitioned to GAS it would not allow me to charge. Dealer said the fault code was isolation connectivity issue. Computer detected that resistance was 297 meg ohms, and the threshold is 300 meg ohms. Computer locked out the AC charge plug. Dealer took apart every connector looking for any sign of corrosion or leakage. None found. Concluded that an event occurred from the power grid right at the end of the charge cycle, or after the car had completed it's charge but was still drawing grid power to cool the battery. Because the code that was thrown may have indicated an electrical grounding issue (ground fault) for safety the car disconnected the charge port. They reprogrammed the computer and sent me on my way.

Deze meneer heeft precies door wat het voor een mooie constructie is deze Volt...Superr auto!!!😎🔝 Het rijdt fantastisch, soepel en snel. Je hebt alle voordelen van een electrische auto maar je kunt op elk moment op petrol (door)rijden wat je eigenlijk niet meer wilt. FAntastisch systeem ❗️

@Henry0870

7 жыл бұрын

I know. ;-)

Great video!Thanks so much for the info.

Thank you for a great tip. I have a question about switching gear from D to L to gain the maximum efficiency.Does it has any issue to the transmission in the long run?

@12voltvids

5 жыл бұрын

There is no physical change. The "transmission" is a planetary gear set with 3 clutches (on gen 1 models, 5 on gen 2) all controlled by the computer. The only mechanical connection in the "gear box" is the park pawl when you put it in park. The other positions is an electric switch to change modes on the computer. On second gen volt the use of L isn't needed as the new one has a paddle on the steering wheel which puts into full regen mode. You can leave it in L all the time for single peddle driving, but I like the coast mode of D when the foot comes off the accelerator. In L mores the car slows down quickly when you take your foot off the gas. On first gen it does not turn o brake lights so you have to watch that the idiot behind you is awake. This is no different than a standard transmission car though. If you gear down and take your foot off the gas you slow down with no brake lights.

@rothros

5 жыл бұрын

12voltvids Thank you so much for clarification and excellent explanation. I like how you drove in the video. You took a full advantage and tried to save everything.😍

@12voltvids

5 жыл бұрын

Hipermiling is the term. Once you have an electric or a plug in, you find yourself trying to get the absolute most range out of every drive. I know many people with EVs and plug in, and we all do this. Looking for that picture showing the range we get. Bragging rights.

Thanks so much. This is a great video. I just bought a 2013 volt.

I just bought a 2018. I, too, was worried about being rear ended. However, I have found that as soon as the regent comes on, which is as soon as I take my foot off the throttle, because I always drive in `L' the brake lights come on. In `L' it is like using the jake brakes in a big truck, on low. The paddle under the steering wheel increase the braking to stage 3, in a truck. Thusly I can slow to 3 or even 0 K/hr before I step on the brake.

@12voltvids

Жыл бұрын

I use the paddle and only put in low if i want to stop fast. The wife drives the 12 in low quite often and it doesn't turn the brake lights on.

I am so puzzled about how stupid GM has been to market the Volt the proper way. All you ever hear is that is has a 40 mile range on battery power , but you never hear about the incredible GAS milage this car gets . Gas milage sells cars , Wake up GM and market this great car the way it should be . So what has been the actual MPG over the life of your volt to date . This is what people relate to . Great vid

@Michael_in_Vt

8 жыл бұрын

+davie biggions This is why I believe US car manufacturers are in bed with the oil and gas companies.

@Sully365

7 жыл бұрын

This is EXACTLY how i feel...I was shopping for a prius and possibly a prius prime, but then i saw that the volt is a 35-40 mpg car AFTER going 30+ miles.... that's monumental since my commute is 'long' but under 30 miles round trip....even on my most driving day, i'll be going 50 miles... at worst, that's 1 full charge and half a gallon of gas... total about $2.00 unless i get a free charge somewhere... that's better than the prius and far better than most cars. I'm just mindboggled that the car has been out for 5 yrs and i'm JUST NOW learning that it can average WAY higher MPG than a prius....

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

This is because journalists don't actually test things. They research bad information from other misguided journalists, and interpret numbers that they don't understand.The new volt goes 50+ miles on the battery before the engine even considers starting. I know someone that has one, and he regularly gets 60 miles on a single charge.A 9 gallon tank of gas lasts me about 10 months.

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

Not all of them are, but you are right. Just look at who they elected.

@user-zb1pc7ec9b

6 жыл бұрын

Doesn't matter to me. I just keep using the electric and go right past the gas station

It regenerates even in D mode when you lift off the accelerator. Just not as aggressively.

I must have misunderstood something I read about the operation of the brakes. I thought the hydraulic brakes did not engage until you are deeper into the pedal. I think I can feel the transition on mine.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

They actually do become primed and ready for action, and they are on slightly and as you get deeper into the peddle they come on stronger. If you lightly put on the brake and get into regen, and then switch to "L" you will feel a much stronger braking that lightly pressing the peddle. When I am in stop and go driving, I just leave it in L and take advantage of regen braking to the max. I do the same on my other vehicle which is a standard hybrid.

I drive only in Low range, for the last 4 years now... Works great, no need to keep messing with the shifter.

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+William Dean Messing with the shifter is half the fun.I used to drive a stick, and gearing down to slow down was just what you do.Besides, there are times I want to just cast. Leaving the shifter in low range means a fast slow down every time you lift your right foot.

@WilliamDeanPlumbing

8 жыл бұрын

+12voltvids which is why I ease it off instead of simply lifting. Sort of like easing the brake pedal but easing the throttle off instead. Enjoy your shifter.

@teknicalmusic116

8 жыл бұрын

+William Dean Yes, I have begun doing the same thing. It is a little non-intuitive, but actually gives better control.

@daveriley6310

8 жыл бұрын

I do the same as Wm Dean. Smoothly controlling the accelerator pedal in L when slowing for conditions ahead helps me get 45 to 50 miles electric in 2012 model. Very ocassionally I will do as 12V Vids does when someone is following closely, i.e. very lightly use the brake pedal to get brake lights on. @ 9:57 you say 11.8 kWh used... Sounds like an interim charge of 2 or 3 kWh was done since last full charge.

@ChristCenteredMinist

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, I keep my 2017 volt in L gear and sport mode. Even at 80 MPH works fine. Sport mode seems to have the most regen. Force.

when the battery is completely depleted and you are running on gas mode, what happens if you then put it into 'hold' mode? Does the volt have hold mode like the UK Ampera from gm

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

The 2012 does not have the hold mode, 2013 and beyond does. Hold only works when there is charge in the battery. Once it is at the low state of charge the engine will cycle on and off. Mountain mode will put a 40% charge back in the battery and hold it there. Hold allows you to start with a full battery, and keep it full for use later, and is only for jurisdictions where access to special electric car lanes require the car to be in full electric mode. So you can drive in from the suburbs on gas, and then switch back to electric mode in the city to use the electric car lanes. On the 2012 if I needed to do that I would drive in mountain mode. Sure I would use some of my battery, but it would keep 16KM in the battery. Fortunately where I live I do get to use the special HOV lanes with a single occupant in electric or GAS mode.

Hi, I just recently got a Volt a few weeks ago, so forgive me for my ignorance. But when I try to drive freeway speeds (70+) the little green ball floats a bit above the middle and I run out of electric gas really quickly. When I try to drive home, which is a 39 mile commute on the freeway, I was hoping a full charge would get me there. But my electric gas runs out halfway then switches to drive mode. Is there something I'm doing wrong? I don't use AC or heaters, or windshield wipers because it rarely rains in California lol

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+DominiqueCalique The faster you go the faster you will burn through the battery.At speeds over 60 it takes more energy to overcome the wind resistance and this is true on any car. A gas or diesel powered vehicle uses much more fuel to maintain high speeds. The little green ball shows you where you get the best economy, and that is speeds up to 60MPH. Now the outside temperature also plays a big role in how far you can go on electricity. At temperatures below 60' the range starts to fall off. When the temperature In in the 40's F and below I find I loose about half my electric range.This is because batteries do not perform as well in low temperatures. They like to be in the 68 - 72 range. This is where they perform at their best.When the temperature is lower, the car will actually turn on heaters in the battery back to bring the cells up to the range they perform best. This of course wastes some of the stored energy to heat the battery. You would wonder why they do this (all electric cars do this by the way) is to protect the battery from drawing too hard on it when it is cold. If your car is plugged it will keep the pack nice and warm ready for use, but if it has been sitting in a parking lot, then some of the charge will be used to warm the pack.When it is really cold, 25' the engine will start for a couple of minutes, and 2 things happen. First the electric heaters are turned on to start warming the battery, and then as the engine coolant warms up, that is used to heat the battery coolant. Once the battery is warm, the car switches back to battery, and the range is actually more on the battery once "engine running due to temperature" cycle ends as it hasn't sacrificed some of the charge to warm the pack. Once the temperature warms up again, the range returns. Every winter since I got my volt, this Is the 5th winter with mine, my range drops to about 25 miles over the cold months, and in the spring it returns to the average 38-40 miles I easily get. The new one gets 52 miles, which is quite an improvement. For me this is not an issue though, as my daily commute is well within the change range even on the coldest days. We have great public charging infrastructure here in Vancouver BC area, so I have plenty of opportunity to charge when I am out and about. Those charge stalls are usually located right next to the handicap stalls next to the doors at the malls, or right near the entrance of parkade. Pretty much all our charging here is free to use. Have to pay to park, but so does everyone else. It is a definite perk.

@frankspark

8 жыл бұрын

+DominiqueCalique May be able to use a few minutes of mountain mode on the highway to charge that battery up to half several times.

I have a 2017 Chevrolet Volt do these batteries develop a memory. Do you usually let the battery go down to 0 until charging or do you usually charge anytime you are by a charger.

@12voltvids

3 жыл бұрын

I have had my original volt since June 2011, so it is coming up on its 10th birthday. It has just over 175,000 km on the clock. (110,000 miles) still the original brakes. Only thing that has been changed are the tires and 1 of the TPMS sensors in the front left tire. The right front sensor has now gone dead (batteries in the tire pressure sensor are only rates 5 years, one went after 7 and now a second one is bad. The car gets plugged in every night to a level 2 charger cord. I also have a 2019 volt. It has 30,000 km so far. Only had 2 problems with that one and that was recently. The HV battery disconnect relay failed and was replaced under warranty. The FM radio has lost sensitivity and will be going in to get the tuner module replaced next week. On my 2012 I still get around 32 miles (50km) on the battery and the 2019 53 miles per charge. The dealer did the battery protection software update to switch to gas mode after 9.1kw of battery consumption. When new it was set to 9.8. this dropped the battery range about 4 miles and start the engine sooner. This was to prevent any cell going into overdischarge as the battery ages. So far no trouble. It is still on the original 12v AGM battery as well. Best car i have ever owned. No lithium cells do not devoloped memory but they do like to be kept charged. The charger onboard will never charge them beyond 80% and starts the engine when they drain to 30%.

@mike_t_007

3 жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids Thanks for coming back and updating us on your Volts! Have you had any problems with your Battery Energy Control Module on your 2019?

@12voltvids

3 жыл бұрын

@@mike_t_007 No. Only problem was the HV disconnect relay failed and the car would not turn on.

@mike_t_007

3 жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! Have a great weekend and be safe

Hi I've just put a deposit down on a Holden Volt (Australian/NZ) badged Chevy volt. I had an extended test drive and got to try out a lot stuff. The the charger seems a bit dodgy red lights until it was wiggled a bit!. I got it to charge and unplugged it at 11pm fully charged. The following morning it showed just 60km of range. Is this because there was a frost overnight and the battery was cold in the morning. Would I be better to leave the charging cable in overnight? Or do you think I might have a dodgy battery? Cars done 48,000km and averaged 1.7km per hundred over its lifetime and only 0.6 in the last 30k. Only 6 Volts in NZ total all right hand drive. Thanks for the Video Cheers Steve

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

On the first gen volt (2011 to 2016) the full charge range is 60Km. The new second gen model, it goes 85. It is always best to leave it connected over night especially if it is cold, as the heaters will keep the battery at optimum operating temperature for when you head out. I haven't heard of any battery failures. Mine is now 6 years old, and has 120,000 KM on it. Never had any issues at all. The charger lights normally do blink red/green a few times as it does a self test. What it is doing is checking ground connectivity. There are ground fault circuits built in and if the charger detects that something is not right it will not allow charging. This is a safety monitor. If the ground were to fail, the car body could become electrified, therefore the charger monitors input voltage as well as the earth ground for any loss of bonding to earth. Also, it is perfectly normal in low temperatures for the battery range to drop. When it is below 0 here and I am running the lights and heater, I will see my range drop almost in half. As soon as the warmer weather returns so does the range.

@SuperMadpom

7 жыл бұрын

Many thanks I had a great drive, put my 75yr old folks in the back and my sisters kids. Everyone liked the car. It rides much better than BMWi3 and it's costing me almost half as much to buy as a BMW REX would. It'll do my 38km commute on the battery in hilly Wellington NZ and much longer trips. NZ charging network is in it's infancy. Depreciation for the Volts previous owners has been villainous but it leaves me with a bargain. Wish they'd built a RHD Cadillac ELR those look cool.

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

Yes the ELR did look cool. Very expensive here, about 80 grand. They have a new Cadillac hybrid coming out that uses the 2nd gen volt technology.

What mode best to drive on highway? Going 80-120km/h? 1-2hrs day.. What if your stuck traffic for 30 minutes...

@heetsees

5 жыл бұрын

Are u asking what if you drive 150 to 200km In 2 hours? You will use your battery up in the first 75-85km and use gas for the rest. As for idling in traffic it barely uses anything unless you are running heat or AC which isnt half as bad as keeping heat blasting

How big is the fuel tank? How far can you go on extended range when electric runs out? How fast can volt go?

@heetsees

5 жыл бұрын

I think my 2018 is a 40L tank or so. When it runs on gas you can go about 500+km on fuel alone. No range limit just fuel it up. The volt is as fast as normal car with high levels of acceleration. Better than most standard cars or trucks.

@mike_t_007

3 жыл бұрын

9 gallons... First gen Volts go about 330 miles on the 9 gallon Second gen Volts go 420 miles on the 9 gallon tank. That's pretty damn good!

12voltvideo, how tall are you, as I plan to purchase the 2016 volt and I'm concerned about the leg room. I'm 6'5"!

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

MrGe44 I am 6'2" and I don't have the seat all the way back, nor do I lower it all the way down. Plenty of leg room for me.

Drive it like you stole it! on SPORT mode of course ;-)

@patrickflohe1193

5 жыл бұрын

Carlos Rosado, That kinda defeats the purpose of the whole efficiency thing.

@dansmith6990

3 жыл бұрын

@@patrickflohe1193 shut up

+12voltvids I thought *braking charges* the battery?!?! But you always hear them trying to *avoid braking???" Please explain this!

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

Braking does charge the battery with regeneration. As you start to push the brake peddle it goes into regenerative mode. As you push harder the conventional brakes also engage. If you stomp on the brakes, the ABS kicks in ,and you stop on a dime. Shifting to "L" and taking your foot off the accelerator applies full regenerative braking effect, and will slow the car relatively quickly, however it does not turn of the brake lights. It is like gearing down on a standard transmission, and using the engine to slow you down going down a hill. So the guy tailgating you better be on his toes of he could be in for an expensive hit to his insurance. I always slow down to traffic lights this way when there isn't a car right on my ass to generate as much power as I can. I once had a guy pull up beside me and start honking. I willed down my window and he said my brake lights weren't working. I shouted back "That's because I wasn't using my brakes" and then put them of so he could see the lights. I did another video a couple of years ago to show how much power can be generated. Drove up to a mountain top, and came all the way down in regenerative mode. Started with 2KM range in the battery, had 35 by the time I got to the bottom of the hill, all recovered from regenerative braking.

good info to know !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disagree on your comment about the brake pedal having anything to do with regen braking. That is a Toyota Synergy 2 characteristic. The accelerator pedal lift starts the regen. In drive it coasts, with same rate regen. In low is a progressive deceleration depending on the total movement distance from the cruise pedal deflection.

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

Rob B Well you are wrong. Just like the Toyota and Ford hybrid system, the volt when you depress the brake enters regenerative braking first as you press the brake further the friction brakes will engage. If you stand on the brake for an emergency stop the ABS system activates. If you just remove your foot from the accelerator in the D position the car basically coasts with very little energy going back into the battery. If you shift to L and take your foot off the accelerator the car is close to full regenerative mode. Perhaps 85%. If you start to depress the brake peddle in this mode the regenerative braking goes to 100% first and then the conventional brakes come on as you depress further. I have owned the car for 7 years and racked up about 130000 miles now. Still original brake pads. Still more than 90 of the brake pad life left. Can't say the same for my escape hybrid. Needed a full brake job at 60000 miles and now with 110000 on that vehicle it is almost ready for brake job 2. The regenerative braking in the volt brings me down to about 5 mph at every stop and the brakes stop the last 20 feet. Do you own a volt? No you don't because if you did then you wouldn't have posted such a stupid comment that every volt owner now is laughing at.

I think it doesn't help to put the gear in low, it doesn't create more regeneration. .. push the break will also lead to regeneration , The car doesn't break , only when pushing the break pedal very hard

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+Sander Wolf Have you ever driven one? From your comment I think not. Switching to low range puts the car in full regeneration mode without applying the brakes. When you press the brake peddle regeneration is engaged, as well as the brake pads are primed and making contact with the rotors. This creates drag from the brakes that is not there when switching to low range. Why do you think they put a regen on demand flappy paddle on the steering wheel on the Cadillac ELR, and the new Volt? So the driver can enter full regen without switching the shift lever.Many drivers drive with it low and then modulate the drive with the accelerator peddle. When going though the mountains I select low range and put on the cruise control and the car will stay at exactly the speed I set it tom going up or down hills.

Wipers use a measurable amount of battery? I've not seen that.

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

Every electric device uses energy, and the wipers being an electric motor do use some. How much depends if they are on intermittent, low or high. Now they don't use as much as the electric heaters, but proably more than the headlights or the radio. In electric cars this all will affect the range. Perhaps as much as 1 or 2 KM if the wipers are running on high. All the accessories in the car run off the 12 volt battery, but the 12 volt battery is kept charged by an inverter that takes it's power from the 360V main battery. The AC on the other hand is operated from the HV battery. To figure out how much the wipers draw just look at the fuse. Most use a 20 or 25 amp fuse, so you know the draw is going to be relatively close to the fuse rating, or they would have put in a smaller fuse.

I would love to have one!!!!!

Just bought a 2018. Put on 3200km so far and the plan is to commute to work and i plug it in at work cause I work long days it's usually charged fully. Then I drive home then back again and I dont pay for power or fuel. So far my best reading efficiency is .2L/1000km yes that's per 1000 km and yes its .2L of fuel Better than my 16L/100 km dodge ram by oh I dunno 3000% efficiency. I am worried about cold edmonton winters but I still plug in at work!! So either way I'll get one way free!

@12voltvids

5 жыл бұрын

You will loose some range in the cold but if plugged I. It will keep the battery warm. In brutal cold the engine starts for a couple of minutes to get heat from the engine to warm the battery something that full El3ctric drivers can not do. I have both this 2012 and a 2019 volt. Best cars I have owned.

@michaelp9707

2 ай бұрын

​@@12voltvidsHow did/are they holding up?

On a brighter note... I can get over 70 miles of range on a daily basis driving on Los Angeles freeways. This car LOVES slow driving freeway speeds and it allows you to coast, regen brake etc... to extend the range. Going up hills and 75 mph and over will have a negative impact on your range... HEAVY footed driving will reduce your range dramatically.

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

I average over 40 miles on my first gen consistently. I have a friend that has the new one, and he gets 60 miles on the battery every day to and from work, Hasn't burned a drop of gas since getting his in April of last year. Love the car, want the new one, but mine is just too good to trade in.

@remyreyes7680

5 жыл бұрын

What speed do you go at? And what are you in low drive?

Thank you for the video. Although, I have a few questions. You state that there's no other car that operates like the Volt besides the ELR, but doesn't the Prius Plug-in and Honda Accord Plug-in operate in the same manner? Through out the video I was hoping you'd mention why you picked the Volt over the Prius Plug-in or Accord Plug-in but they weren't mention. If you could choose again, which would you pick out of the 3? Also, I keep running into various specs on the mpg (I'm from the states) for the Volt. I was on the Toyota website, and there was a comparison chart that showed the Prius Plug-in getting 51/48 city/hwy, but for the Volt, it was 101/93 city/hwy. Which I guess they incorrectly put the combined gas and electric mileage for the Volt, rather than the gas alone. The Chevrolet website states that it's 40/35 city/hwy. If that's the case, would one not save more with the Prius Plug-in? Or would that depend on the distance of the destination, considering that the battery range for the Prius Plug-in is estimated at 11 miles and the Volt is at 38 miles. Reason I'm asking is because I'm starting a new job that's exactly 21 miles away, so 42 miles round trip. I think the Volt would save me more gas if I drove just to work and home each day, and only those places, but, what about after work? I like to go out and about and I don't want to have to wait around for my car to charge before I go out again. So in that case, I think I'd want to have a car with better gas mileage rather than battery life but I'm not sure. I'm probably rambling now, but, what's your take on this? Do you believe I'll save more gas with a Prius Plug-in or a Volt?

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

There are huge differences between a volt and a plug in prius or a plug in ford fusion. The prius and fusion plug in operate exactly the same way incidentally. On a Prius plug in, the range on the battery is only about 10 miles, the ford is around 20. Both of these cars will operate in battery mode at lower speeds for up to this range. They do rely on the gas engine for moderate, and heavy acceleration. So you have to basically drive with a feather on the accelerator to keep the car in electric mode, the engine will come on on even the slightest grades. It operates up to about 45MPH ini electric mode, and once you exceed that speed, regardless if there is power in the battery or not the as engine starts. Same if you step on it from a light. The engine fires up for acceleration. The volt, by contrast never starts the engine under any driving conditions until the battery is used up. The range I get regularly is 39 - 42 miles (58 to 65 KM) in warmer weather, and it drops to about half that in cold weather as I like comfort, I turn the heat on, and that uses battery power as the car has electric heaters, which are really nice as I get nice and toasty immediately. Once the battery is done, the as engine fires to generate power to operate the electric motor and everything else. As to gas usage, well there is none until you use up the battery. My daily commutes are well within the 40 mile range, and I have access to charging stations when I am out and about. So, unless I am on my summer road trip, I use NO GAS AT ALL. I haven't put any gas in the tank since I was away in August, and I won't probably put any in it until next year. A 9 gallon tank usually lasts me 6 or more months in my day to day driving. It does use a little in winter as once the temperature drops to below 25'F and the car is not plugged in, sitting in a cold parking lot for example, the engine will fire as soon as the car is turned on. This is done to fire up the electric heaters in the battery to bring it up to operating temperature, as all batteries suffer capacity loss in the cold weather, so by warming up the pack, the range is maximized. If the car is plugged in, then grid power is used to keep the pack warm. Once the battery is warm, which takes no more than 3 or 4 minutes, the engine shuts down again until the pack is used up. When I have had my volt out on road trips, and I have driven it half way across Canada, and down to Arizona and back, I am naturally using the gas engine. On those trips I have been consistently getting fuel economy in the 42-45MPG range, which exceeds what the EPA estimated it at. Check out my video on the regenerative braking , and you will see the actual results I achieved on my last road trip of the year driving throughout the mountains on British Columbia. And to answer that question would I buy another volt. Yes, I would, and yes I will be buying another one. I plan to bet one of the 2nd generation volts, and pass the current one on to my wife, she currently drives a conventional hybrid, and I am always filling up the tank on her car. Yes it gets respectable fuel economy as all hybrids do, but like me, she could do it 100% electric. And no I wouldn't consider an electric only, as I know people that have them, and they are limited in their travel plans. Even the mighty Tesla has to be recharged, which limits the route that is taken to one that has charging stations. I just get in my car, find an interesting road, and go for a nice relaxing scenic drive, and never have to worry. As long as there is a gas station every 300 miles I am good to go.

@InocenteSandoval

9 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the quick reply. I've watched both videos at full length, with the intent to learn as much as you've tried to present. I too at one point came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to get an all electric car for the same reasons you stated in this video. At the moment I have a Toyota Echo which has served me well (As well as a 350Z that is parked and being built to autocross but that's besides the point). Before that, I had a Acura Integra, and both of these cars were/are my daily drivers and very easy to work on. I haven't pulled the trigger on an electric/hybrid car due to believing that I wouldn't be able to work on them the same if something were to go wrong. Would you recommend getting an extended warranty on a used Volt? I mean, they haven't been out that long to test it's longevity, but I also haven't read of any recalls. Again, thank you for the replies and videos. Very informative and helpful.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

Inocente Sandoval There have been no recalls on the volt. As a matter of fact it is the only car that GM has ever produced that has not had any recalls, and for that matter that would extend to most manufactures as I have had recalls for various things on every car I have ever owned. There were a few things that were done voluntary by GM. My car was in the first batch, and got the re-enforced battery cage after a single car caught fire weeks after it was crash tested. And they replaced the 120 volt charge cord because a few of them the plug that plugged into the wall socket had prongs that overheated, so they replaced the plug side cord on the charger. Other than that, there have been no issues in 68,000 KM of driving. The oil was changed at the 2 year anniversary. It doesn't get changed again untill it is 4 years old, which is next September, and when they changed it they inspected the brake lining, and the brake linings hadn't started showing any wear at all. They were measured had worn only about 5%, which is understandable as I use my regenerative braking most of the time. My wifes vehicle is also a hybrid, and thus has regenerative braking, as that is how the battery gets charged on a conventional hybrid. The brakes were done for the first time at the 100,000 mile mark. So either way you go, hybrid, plug in hybrid, Extended range electric (that would be the Volt and the BMW i3) or full electric, the maintenance is much less than a conventional car. That maintenence generally has to be done at the dealer mind you, because specialized tools are required, BUT, in my personal experience the dealer option is usually not that much different in price than "joe" at the corner service station, because their technicians are up to speed on the proper service procedure, and are not guessing like joe is in many cases. The last time I dealt with "joe" he took me to the cleaners, and 30 minutes later when I returned with the same problem, he wanted more money to investigate again. The new car dealers are going to fix it right, because they have, especially with a high tech car like the volt, eyes on them from the car makers. Customer satisfaction is the rave these days in business (you should see the company I work for) and with the focus on customer satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend there is no room for a dis-satisfied customer. Heck GM even replaced my weather stripping free of charge because by butt rubbed it when getting in and out of the car and wore a 1/2" hole in it. Replaced, free of charge during routine service, and I didn't even ask for that. And they washed and fully detailed it to look like new, when I was in to have the tire valve stems replaced because the silly metal fill caps froze on, and I couldn't remove one.

@TheTechiewiz

9 жыл бұрын

Inocente Sandoval test drive a fully charged Volt in SPORT mode. You will be sold. No longer need for any maintenance except tire rotation/balancing and oil changes every 2 years (yes). Very reliable and fun car to drive. Trust me I traded a 2000 Acura TL and never coming back to ICE cars.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

Carlos Rosado I went from driving expensive German cars to the volt, and I won't go back either .I considered a Tesla, but even with the 250 mile range that was a deal breaker, as to go on long trips means planning the journey around the charging infrastructure, and I didn't want that. With the volt I can go anywhere, anytime. On long journeys I put gas in it, and for my daily driving to and from work, and driving the kids around, I use no gas whatsoever.

ive read that some drivers leave it in L for most city driving. is there any bad reason to do this vs swapping between d and l?

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

In "L" when you take your foot off the accelerator you slow down, quickly. In "D" you coast. So that is why I switch it back and forth. That and the fact I used to drive a standard, and like switching gears.

@RandomVideosOfNoConsequence

8 жыл бұрын

+12voltvids thanks. well ive been following what you suggested and so far my guess o meters gone from 34 to 39 miles. but now the shift release button is making a loud squeaky sound whenever i go from d to l or back. Not sure if its safe to hit the release button with silicone spray or not.

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

110,000 miles no problems.

@ronmalinowskisr.5185

7 жыл бұрын

One thing you don't mention is the hold mode. Many people say if you're on an open road to go to hold mode. And save your battery for city driving. Also question, if you were to take a 400 mile trip. Can the vault possibly using the engine recharge most of your battery so that once you get to your destination you have almost full battery if your gonna be on interstate for several hours. To me depleting the battery and having the engine add a small charge like 1 or 2% then use it seems like it would not be best for battery. . Any comment.

I have owned a Volt for 4 1/2 years now, and I find it is much better to just drive in LOW and do 1 peddle driving, so you just use the accelerator peddle for braking also. That is how you will get the best range out of your battery.

@12voltvids

Жыл бұрын

My wife does that quite often on the now 11-year-old first generation that she drives. When she's driving around town she leaves it in low range and just does the one pedal drive but on the freeway puts it into drive. I prefer more to coast and only shift it down to low when I'm decelerating I like that I can take my foot off the gas and coast and not have the car slow down and not have to hold my foot a certain amount of pressure on the accelerator to not decelerate. Keep in mind that first generation does not activate the brake lights at least by 2012 doesn't, activate the brake lights when you take your foot off the gas in low range it just slows down. It is resulted in a couple of near misses where the jackass behind me hasn't been paying attention and because the brake lights didn't come on damn near plowed into me so I use it and keep my foot I tap the brake usually to get their attention that I'm slowing down because some people just aren't paying attention they're too busy looking at their phones are playing with the screen on their Tesla. Actually that's fun when you see somebody driving a Tesla and you know they're not paying attention because they're in autopilot you pull in front of them and then shift it into low and take your foot off the gas so the car starts slowing down and then all of a sudden you see their head pop up in the mirror like deer in the headlights as the car goes into emergency braking because it doesn't detect the brake lights and then the radar on the car to text that they're getting close and it hammers on the brakes and wakes the driver up that's always fun to watch the reaction when their car slams on the brakes because you slow down in front of them without your brake lights coming on.

One thing you fail to note is that "Mountain" mode may generate some battery but you pay a Premium cuz it uses MORE gas to generate ANY battery then it would just using the gas option in the car. I HIGHLY do NOT recommend using Mountain mode to "generate" battery.

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

SteVolt I didn't touch mountain mode in this video because I wasn't driving in the mountains. there is a separate video where I was driving through the mountains and used it. also mountain mode will only reserve 40% battery charge. once you are at that level the car uses no more gas to maintain that charge but it does if you turn on mountain mode when dead until it gets to the 40% reserve. I do know how the car works, I have owned it for 6 years and I have had it on many long road trips. I constantly get well above the fuel economy that some get. you can see this documented on those road trip videos.

Thank you for a great video. It helped me a lot. I just bought a used 2013 Volt and I am so glad that I did it.

@12voltvids

5 жыл бұрын

I have 2 volts now. This 2012 and a 2019 and can confirm that the techniques used in this one also apply to the 2019. I average 38 to 39 miles range on the old volt and 55 miles battery range on the new one.

So if my battery is drained and i have the car in mountain mode it will charge up the battery until its at 40%?

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

Correct. If you battery is dead and you put it in Mountain mode th engine will run an charge the battery to 40% if the car is not moving this takes just under 15 minutes.

@joegrid7696

7 жыл бұрын

i do alot of highway driving, is it best for me to keep my car in MM until i reach the city?

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

It won't hurt the car and will preserve 10 miles of battery range. 2013 and later have a hold mode to preserve all the battery while driving into the city from the burbs to use it in the city. I never do this. I use up my battery and let the gas engine kick in if needed which is relatively for my driving habits

@joegrid7696

7 жыл бұрын

I have a 2012 Chevy Volt. I watched another video about opening the hood and the engine starts up. My battery is full and im questioning how long the car will run and if it would charge the battery with the hood open??? Also with the hood open and car at idle will it charge the battery to full?

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

No it won't charge the battery at all with the hood open. The only reason the engine starts when you open the hood is as a safety reminder that the car is powered on.That is to warn anyone servicing the car to turn it off before sticking their fingers in because not only is the high voltage energized, but if the battery is low the engine could start, and that would not be good if you had your fingers say on the drive belt for the water pump. If you listen to the operation, if the car is on and you pop the hood, you can hear the engine start, and then the clutch that drives the motor/generator disengages and the engine goes into idle mode, so it is not even spinning the generator anymore.Incidentally I did verify this in another video. In mountain mode the battery will charge to 10 miles (16KM) and then the engine stopped. Opening the hood started the engine again, but no more charge went into the battery, it just consumed gas and did nothing.

going down pikes peak in mt mode picked up 44 miles of battery from zero

Do you have solar panels on your dash?

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+Aaron L What good would that do?The Fisker Karma had a roof made of solar panels. Sitting in the sun all day for a week generated about 1 mile of electricity.On the Karma, all they used the panels for was to run a fan inside the car to keep the cabin cool. To generate enough power to recharge a car would require about 40,000 worth of panels covering your house.

@aaron___6014

8 жыл бұрын

+12voltvids I was thinking that the design of the dash was some sort of solar panel. I see now that it isn't.

I just drive in "L" almost all the time (there's no actual gearing, and using the lever all the time will just wear it out :-D) … keeping in mind it does not trigger the brake light when regenerating in "L" (Only when you push the brake pedal), so I'm looking for a license plate frame with a built in brake light that's triggered by an accelerometer (like for a trailer). I think after 70mph in Hold or Mountain mode, the gas engine will run constantly - unless you are decelerating.

@12voltvids

5 жыл бұрын

First gen in mountain mode the engine does not start until there is 10 miles of range left then it starts. My 2012 does not have hold mode. Correct decelerating in l does not turn. On brake lights however gearing down on a standard transmission to slow down doesn't either. Keeps the drivers behind you on their toes that's for sure.

@ivantuma7969

5 жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids I do love the effect of pre-braking ... Like accelerating to make a red light and being able to lift later before entering a turn and actually applying the brakes (it behaves like a late model Mercedes I've driven where that extra few milliseconds count). I also left foot brake mine in tight turns or pulling on to a freeway from a side street really making it feel like a small sports sedan - for few seconds. I've been pleasantly surprised Chevy let's us do it 😎. I'm kind of looking forward to turning off ESP in a snowy parking lot to see how it behaves with locking up the ebrake. With the 60/40 weight distribution, it'll be interesting to see how hard it is to bring the rear end around.

Im considering buying a used 2013 with 40k on it. have you had any maintenace issues at all with yours, I have been trying to find issues I cannot!

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+Thomas DiCostanzo The reason you can't find issues with the volt is there hasn't been any major issues. It is exceptionally reliable. In the 5 years I have had mine I have had no troubles at all. At last inspection, with 80,000KM the mechanic measured the brake pads. Still had 11mm of wear remaining. They are only 15mm new, so by 80,000KM (50,000 mi) I used up only 4mm of the brake pads! This is because the majority of the stopping is regenerative, and the brakes are used very little. I am definitely going to be going for the new one, and hand my old one down to my wife, and her car down to one of the kids.

@thomasdicostanzo417

8 жыл бұрын

+12voltvids thanks for the reply Im leaning towards the used one as it has EVERY option for 16k and it seems that the fact that it has 47k miles on it doesnt really matter? I only go 9-10k a year and its 90% city.

@3466mark

8 жыл бұрын

22k in a bit over 2 years. I've had no issues at all. Of the 22k only 2500 of it was on the engine. 290 mph so far. Amazing car.

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+3466mark 2 of my co workers have now bought a volt, and they both love the car as much as I do. Now in the province of BC electric car drivers get to use the car pool lanes, which cuts down tremendously on commute times during rush hour, and that is just an added bonus.Saving an hour every day of travel time, besides saving money on transportation costs, you can't put a price on your time, and saving 5 hours a week traveling is a huge bonus for many.

@daveriley6310

8 жыл бұрын

3466mark... That must have been a very steep hill to get up to 290 mph on 84 hp. Way over the speed those LRR tires are rated for. ;-) Yeah, I know... The g is right next to the h on my keyboard, too. Or that pesky autocorrect function changed the mpg that you typed to the mph it thought you meant.

Hi, good video...gives the audience the basics of hypermiling. That said, for the utmost in efficiency you'd be better off coasting in neutral rather than using regenerative braking all the time. Though regenerative braking does does return energy to the battery, it isn't 100% efficient (more like 70%) in doing so. For that reason, while using L or on regenerative braking, you never get back the energy you "paid for" to get that momentum. In most situations, I'd recommend using "L" only when you really do need to slow down or come to a stop - otherwise, it's better to preserve that valuable momentum using N whenever possible.

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+oilerlord If you watch the video the only time I use L is when I need to slow down or stop. I don't use it while driving at a constant speed. Only when going down Hills an when rolling up to a red or stop sign. Shifting to Neutral is both dangerous an in most jurisdictions illegal as is driving with the clutch pressed on manual transmission cars. Without drag, or power to the wheels the steering is affected big time.

@oilerlord6513

8 жыл бұрын

+12voltvids Illegal...I'd have to check local laws, but dangerous...how so? I drive a VW TDI and coast in N to take advantage of hills and to preserve momentum all the time. For me, it's second nature coasting in N, and I've been doing it for decades (and I've never had to replace a clutch or transmission). The power steering isn't affected at all because the car is still running. If you coast in N with a Volt, does that somehow turn the car off and/or affect the Volt's steering? Please elaborate on that. In terms of distracted driving, I suppose the repeated action of shifting to L could be considered as "dangerous" as shifting to N. I'll stipulate that repeated shifting could cause wear with some transmissions, but unless the car is turned off, I don't see how steering would be affected or a loss of control would happen regardless of "L" or "N".

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+oilerlord No the power steering is not affected if put in N or for that matter the power is turned off. Go watch my video regenerative brake experiment. You will see just how much energy is recaptured. It is illegal though, go check your regulations. Everywhere in Canada it is illegal to coast. The reason is it affects your vehicle stability. I switched to N in the other video so I could power the car off then on to reset the computer to get back to electric mode to see how many miles I could gain going down Hills and I have lots of flames by viewers tearing me a new one for showing this.

@oilerlord6513

8 жыл бұрын

+12voltvids No flames here...just a difference of opinion. How coasting in neutral would have an affect on vehicle stability is beyond me, but it's ok to agree to disagree on that one. As advanced as regenerative braking systems are, none have the ability to recover anywhere close to the energy that was used to get the car moving forward - otherwise you'd be driving a perpetual motion machine. That said, I'd be shifting to L in instances that more stopping force is required instead of (gasp) wasting energy into heating up brake pads. I installed a large PV installation this fall, and I'm looking at either a Volt or other BEV to store / use that excess power instead of merely exporting it to the grid. I'll either be picking up a used Volt or Spark EV this spring. I "want" a Spark EV but logically, I already know that the Volt is the better choice for me. I watched that experiment, where the guess-o-meter reported 208 km remaining. Interesting, but just a fun number that a confused GOM interpreted. Since there is only about 11kW of usable capacity in your 16.5kW battery, the Volt's battery can't realistically store enough energy to go anywhere near that distance however fun video nonetheless.

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+oilerlord First of all that is not a "guess o-meter. That is the actual distance traveled on electric power. The battery only has 10Kw of usable "stored" energy on the 2012 model, however, remember regenerative braking places a huge amount of power into the battery. Watch my newer video where I started a descent with with 6KM remaining in the battery, and by the time I got down there was 21KM remaining. For about 19KM of downhill "regen braking, I recovered 15 KM of usable energy. That's how it works. Not 100% energy recapture, but much higher than 70% Probably closer to 90%.You can look at the distance covered and the fuel used in that video and figure out how little fuel I used due to the energy reclaimed by regen braking. Also since you have never driven a volt you don't know how it runs. In D, when you take your foot off the accelerator, you are almost totally freewheeling. There is a slight drag, but it doesn't slow the car down. Going down hill the car will continue to accelerate. Shifting to L dumps more energy back into the battery and slows the car no different than applyin the brakes, without wasting that energy as heat.As to coasting in neutral, I invite you to google it and see why it is a bad idea. Besides being illegal.Here is what I found after a quick search."There are many reasons you should not do this. The law is just one of the reasons. First, you may think you're saving fuel by coasting in neutral. This is not true. Modern Cars will use less gas when coasting in gear than they will be switching to neutral. In gear, the transmission keeps the engine turning and so no/very little gas is required. Plus, if you get into a situation where you need power NOW, having to fiddle with the transmission isn't something you need added to the situation. When the car is in neutral, it is forced to provide enough fuel to keep the engine idling. This actually takes more fuel than it does to just coast. It's also harder on your transmission, especially an automatic. This is because all the pressure of timing the drive-shaft to the engine's crank-shaft is left to the clutch assembly within the transmission. This is wear and tear on the transmission. Unlike a manual, it costs a lot more to fix the automatic. It's possible that the car will not go into gear. And, if this happens while driving, you may find yourself in quite a pickle. California Motor Vehicle Code 21710 makes it illegal to travel downhill with your car or truck in neutral. The same law applies in most states of the United States. California lists the following as reasons: Your car is not designed to travel in neutral. It is hard on your brakes, your power steering, and your gas usage 1) No opportunity for engine braking. If you drive a standard transmission, your car is designed for engine braking when traveling downhill. Get into the habit of downshifting on hills. This will be better for your transmission and save your brake pads. 2) Power Steering loses its effectiveness. If your car was built after 1980, it most likely has power steering. When driving in neutral, the power steering will not work as well as it does when the car engine is engaged. This will make turning around curves and avoiding road hazards more difficult. You could also over-correct and crash the vehicle. 3) Brakes may fail. If you ride downhill with your foot on the brake the whole way, the added stress on your brakes could cause them to stop working. Cars in neutral will pick up speed, making the brake pads heat up to unsafe levels. Many trucks have lost their brakes because they were coasting downhill instead of downshifting. 40 Getting in gear takes time. Accidents can occur in the blink of an eye. If you have to take the extra second to get your car into gear, you may not be able to avoid obstacles. Animals and potholes spring up out of nowhere and you should always be prepared to drive around them if necessary. If you are coasting, your only option for avoiding hazards is to swerve or slam on your brakes. Both of these are bad options. " Source(s): www.trafficaccidentnewsandadviceb

The brake pads are not being used, even when your foot is on the brake, down to 3 to 7 mph. As long as the braking demand is normal. Software makes the car feel like the brake pads are being used. Shut off any fans, etc and listen. When the car slows down to about 3 mph, you can sometimes hear the pads take over. You can also feel it in the pedal at times. Andrew Farah explains this in the KZread video "Plug-In Day Webcast Chevy Vol" at 16 minutes. I never shift. I always keep it in L, even on the freeway. The only difference between D and L is software. Programming tells the electric motor to put in extra "drag" for more regenerative actions. In fact, all of the positions on the shifter are nothing more than software. R is software that makes the E motor spin backwards. Also, you can achieve the same range when you use sport mode, as long as you don't race the car. I like keeping it in L and sport mode because I have that extra boost should I need to get out of someone's way. But I always achieve the same range as I would in normal mode. Chris Thomason, Chief Engineer for the ELR program explains this in the YT video "2014 Cadillac ELR - Jay Leno's Garage" at 11:05. Keep it in L and Sport. You will like it. Same range .... unless you like to launch quickly.

@12voltvids

10 жыл бұрын

Yes I know how it works. Yes I know you can drive in L all the time, I just don't do that on the freeway. There are times when I want to coast without slowing down rapidly, so I use the shifter as one would in a standard, to down shift and let the engine slow the car. In the case of the volt, it is the regeneration that slows it. I also do normally drive in sport mode, but again I do use the shifter to control when the regeneration is full on vs just coasting with slight drag. The only 2 positions on the shifter that make any changes are N and P. N disconnects the drive train completely by releasing all 3 clutches on the planetary gear set, and P engages the park pawl cog. If you run down the battery, and put it in mountain mode, the engine will start, and you will hear it under load as the generator puts in 16 KM of range into the battery before shutting off. This works in P, R, D and L only. Put in in N, and the engine will idle but not put any charge into the battery, because in the N position, all the clutches are unlocked. The ring gear is unlocked, as is the small motor and the engine. You can see my demo on how the generator will charge the battery, and now much you can make it charge to the 40% start of charge from the engine, and how much fuel it uses to do that.

@ra5928

10 жыл бұрын

12voltvids Cool. I use mountain mode as a form of hold. I've had my Volt for 3 years, so it doesn't have Hold. Mountain allows me to get to my destination with about 10 to 15 miles of e, depending on the conditions. I then put it in Mountain on the way home. Once I get about 12 miles from my house, I put it back in normal mode. I arrive at my house with about 1 or 2 miles left on my battery range. This is the most efficient way to use the older Volts. My son's Volt has the hold but he rarely uses it, being that he is on one of PG&E's special night time rates. He pays less than 5 cents per kwh. With my charging costs and the current cost of gas in CA, I am able to drive about 155 miles for the cost of one gallon of gas.

@12voltvids

10 жыл бұрын

ra5928 Mountain mode maintains the battery with 10 miles of range. It will run the engine harder to recover the charge, where as normal mode will only generate power on demand as needed to keep the battery at it's low state. The only reason for using mountain mode is to maintain enough of a charge to get through large hills on mountain highways. Hold is only useful if you need to drive in on the highway, and need to be in full electric mode to use special commuter lanes where an electric car is required to access them in some city limits. (I am thinking places like London) I don't have hold mode, as I have a 2012, but even if I did I would never use it. If I have to drive past my available range on the battery, I want to arrive home on 0 miles remaining. The reason is the cost of gas. It cost about 4X as much to generate power with the gas engine compared to charging from the grid. So if say I had to go 80 KM, I would use up the full battery, which could give me anything from 50 - 73 or so KM depending on the temperature. Then I would finish the journey on gas. I would not engage hold even if I had it for any portion of the trip, as I may end up generating more power than needed, and arriving at my destination with some battery left is not very efficient, because it cost 4X as much to generate the power from gas. It is much more efficient to drain the battery and plug in. Don't believe me, see my video titled "self charging chevy volt" and I will demonstrate how much fuel it takes to generate power, and go through all the numbers

@manoman0

10 жыл бұрын

I never remain in L-mode, just too much "braking" force. I do also switch between D and L.

@ra5928

10 жыл бұрын

manoman0 I used to do that. Now I feather the gas pedal down until I need to brake. It is all regenerative. I used to have to hypermile to get near a 50 mile range (2012 Volt). Now, I drive in L and Sport Mode and hot foot it and I still get 46. A lot more fun.

Does the car slow down if you turn on all the wipers and lights at once?

@12voltvids

10 жыл бұрын

YES! It is like hitting a brick wall. The car won't move if the wipers and light are on all at once! Ask a stupid question. get a stupid response. DUH!

@geraquiroz6288

9 жыл бұрын

Was this an actual question or are you trying to be a smartass?

@Bayan1905

9 жыл бұрын

I'll let you figure that out.

@geraquiroz6288

9 жыл бұрын

Bayan1905 I was giving you the benefit of the doubt and hoping you weren't stupid enough to make such a question, but I guess I was wrong.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

gera quiroz Hey you can't fix stupid, because as they say, dumb people are not smart enough to realize they are dumb!

Now idea why you would shift from Normal to Low all the time. Why not driving it in Low all the time?

@12voltvids

Жыл бұрын

Because i don't want the car slowing down quickly Everytime I take my foot off the accelerator. Leaving it in low on slippery surfaces can cause a skid if you take your foot off the accelerator.

Do u plug in every night to charge ur battery? Also I just wondering why ur using the metric system of weights&measures like kilometers and liters of gasoline... Please use miles and gallons its easier for everybody . I know how to understand the metric system but we "prefer" miles& gallons.. Thx !

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

Bekha aranda Well in Canada we use the metric system like most of the world. The problem with the old system is there is 2 different gallons. There is the imperial gallon and the smaller us gallon. This is the sneaky way that dodge markets their trucks in Canada. They base the calculation on imperial gallons. They show the correct l/100 km but convert to gallons and use the larger number. For example the volt averages 40 miles to us gallon when burning gas. That is 48 in imperial gallons. So to keep things simple I used the standard metric system where everything is equal. Yes I understand both systems too and still refer to temperature in F. I would prefer if we measured how many km per liter a car got instead of them rating system of how many liters per 💯 km driven. That part is stupid . It would make much more sense to list the car at 40 miles / us gallon, 17 km / liter as opposed to 5.8 l / 100 km

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

Bekha aranda No I don't plug in every night. I can drive to work and back all week so I generally don't plug in every night and take advantage of the free charging stations at the mall when I go out for dinner or shopping. I typically change up Friday night, sat and Sunday at home as I am driving a round more on the weekends. During the week I am going to and from work which is 9 miles round trip so I can go all week without changing.

@Greybone62

6 жыл бұрын

At the pub You are still requesting a Pint, right?

why don't you leave the shifter in L ?

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

Because I don't want the car slowing down quickly every time I lift my foot off the accelerator. I prefer to coast and use the shiftier as a way to slow the car without putting my foot on the brake.

Only thing I'm concerned about is the replacement of the battery, as I've heard from some sources that it doesn't last long.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

From everything I have read there hasn't been any battery failures in the field. It is warrantied for 8 to 10 years depending on where you live. GM claims it will last 13 years, and even when the battery has lost capacity the worst thing that will happen is the electric range drops and the gas engine starts sooner. In 4 years I have not experienced any issues with the battery or anything, and my other vehicle is a Ford Escape Hybrid. It is 10 years old now, and it has close to 100,000 miles on that vehicle, and again no issues with the battery. The 12 volt battery went bad once, and it is starting to go again, but the traction battery is just fine, and have had no issues. Now Tesla on the other hand have had many problems. I know 3 people with Teslas, and 2 of them have had their battery replaced in the first 2 years, and one of them also had his main drive unit replaced. I am not worried at all about the battery as they manage it very well, thermally and load wise.

@ra5928

9 жыл бұрын

Battery expert Jack Rickard explains that .... "The pack as configured is rated at 5000 cycles. That is fully charge to fully discharged and back to fully charged. Shallower charges don't really count as full cycles" gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?62577 That's 5,000 full cycles. More than 200,000 miles. I have owned by 2012 for 3 1/2 year and I am still achieving more than 45 mile ranges. Here is a 47 mile range day I recently had .... explained. postimg.org/image/cpy1xrc2z/

@ra5928

9 жыл бұрын

ps .... my son owns a 2013 with 45,000 miles driven. He always gets over 50 because his Volt is slightly more efficient.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

ra5928 I am at 70,000 miles on mine now, and I still get 55-60 KM per charge. I do take advantage of charging whenever I get the opportunity. I know the newer models get a little more range. Mine is first generation, and I get 10.0KwH on a full charge.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

70,000 miles on mine in 4 years and no issues. The battery is designed to last the life of the car. They say 13 years is the designed lifespan when the battery will only hold 50% capacity. So, after 13 years the car will still get the same range as a brand new Ford energi plug in when new, and double what the plug in prius gets when new. When the pack looses capacity the range of electric drops before the generator starts, but the car is still fully drivable. There is one fella in the states that now has over 200,000 miles on his volt, it is the same age as mine. My other car is a escape hybrid, it is 10 years old and there have been no issues with that battery either. All electric cars such as the Tesla and Leaf will likely have much shorter battery life because they are being totally recharged, sometimes extremely quickly (supercharging) and they charge up to a closer to full state and discharge to a lower state than the volt. The volt never charges more than 90% capacity, and never discharges below 30%. Only 60% of the battery capacity is used, once it is drained to the 30% level, the engine starts up and maintains that state of charge at the 30% level. So with this battery management it is easy to get maximum charge discharge cycles out of the battery. On another battery related topic. Battery engineers know much about designing battery management systems as it is all borrowed, like pretty much everything else technology related from the space program. They learned a heck of a lot from the space program, not just the manned portion, but I am referring to the entire space program, and most of that is communication satellites. There is no way to service the batteries on satellites or probes sent to deep space. In a com sat the batteries are in the harshest of environments, and they charge discharge every day as the soler panels fall in and out of the sun. This technology filters its way down to the technology we use every day. So no, I am not concerned about battery life.

Did you get message on your dashboard with message, “shift to park”? You can’t seem to power off the car?

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

Only problem I have had was the car one time failed to charge after a major accident dropped 60KV primary lines onto 25KV distribution lines and blew up a transformer. The resulting surge blew the fuses in my level 2 charger, and once they were replaced I got the HV charging system needs service. A code was thrown for "isolation connectivity" and t he charge circuit locked out, so I had to run gas. The dealer took the car, gave me a brand new car (A 2017 Chevy spark that still had the plastic seat covers on it) while they took apart every connector looking for any corrosion. Brought out an engineer from Detroit to go over it, found nothing wrong, reprogrammed the computers and modules and gave me the car back. No charge, and they even paid for all the gas in the loaner that I had for a full week. Now how is that for service. The car was 6 years old at the time with over 100,000 KM on it. I would say that is pretty dam good service. With that experience they are setting me up to buy another one, as in all the cars I have owned the volt has been the most trouble free car I have owned and to date I have only spent money buying a new set of tires, as I drive it pretty hard and tend to shew up the tires pretty good. Replaced all 4 tires. Not bad though, as it has 148,000 KM on it now, and only on the second set of tires. Breaks still have almost the full load left on them.

How's the Fuel Mileage in the winter time?

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+Trucking Vapes In the cold weather the electric range drops to about half, this is due to heating the cabin for starters. Also batteries do not perform as well in the cold. In extreme cold the engine will start for a few minutes. The warm coolant is used to heat the pack an cabin. Then the engine shuts down. In terms of fuel usage, I average 1.6 litres per 100 km. Over the life of the car. That is including road trips across the country. On average a tank of gas lasts me 10,000 km. That's right! I go 10 months between fill up of the gas tank!

@cdnbrit

8 жыл бұрын

+12voltvids I've been looking at a Used 2013. Any common problems? Battery & Powertrain have a decent warranty?

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+Trucking Vapes No problems whatsoever in 4 years.80,000 KM and been all over western Canada and the USA with it.The warranty on the battery, and all electrical parts is 8 years 160,000 KM (100,000 miles).The only issue I had was a caution caused by a low battery coolant level.Took it back to the dealer, they added about 1 cup of coolant to the reservoir and sealed it again. The problem was documented. When the car was assembled, small air bubbles in the coolant line eventually worked their way out and were replenished by fresh coolant resulting in the coolant dropping over time (4 years) to the low level and tripping a sensor to warn. Dealer topped it up, not only was this free, but I received a letter giving me a complementary oil change, lube, multi point inspection, and tire rotation next year, all for my inconvenience of bringing the car back.People brag about Tesla giving them great service. Well GM has given me exceptional service on my Volt. I will definitely be buying another one, no question about that.FYI when my car was in for it's annual service the brakes pand were measures. Still over 10mm brake life left. They are only 12 when new and my car has 80,000km, (50,000 miles)

@cdnbrit

8 жыл бұрын

+12voltvids Thanks for the info, i live in Ontario myself, I have a 100km round trip per day, won't be able to Charge at home all the time, but will be able to at work 100%. I'm going to go take this used one for a Test drive and Talk about the price. It's at a GM dealer down here. Not some fly by night used dealer.

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+Trucking Vapes So you should be able to get 50-60 km on battery power and the remainder on gas, perhaps 2 litres. In the dead of winter you will burn a little more. My battery range drops almost in half in freezing weather due to the electric cabin and seat heaters. I it get below -6 then the engine starts for about 5 minutes to warm the battery And cabin. This actually improves the battery range as the battery is warmed by the gas engine through the coolant, and the big heaters in the battery. I find that cold cycle warming uses about 1/4 litre of fuel. Nothing.

What is the fuel economy on gas alone

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

Depending on driving style, speeds driven and type of gas in the tank. I average 40 MPG, but it has been as high as 45MPG, to the US gallon running Octane 91 premium, which is the recommended fuel. When I have been on road trips, some little towns do not have premium, and I have been forced to run regular or mid grade. On Mid grade octane 89, I averaged 38 MPG. On regular it dropped to 35. Last summer, when I drove to Arizona, I got stopped at a gas station that only had absolute shit gas. Octane 85 or lower E85 ethanol crap. That stuff is absolute shit. My check engine light came on almost immediately, and the fuel economy dropped to the mid 20's and was dropping quick, as was my estimated range left. I stopped at the nearest real gas station, and put in premium, and my mileage returned to 41 or so. Now you might wonder why this happened, but it is really simple to explain. On a regular car, your 100HP engine is not usually putting out 100HP (or whatever it is rated, I used 100 for simplicity) For cruising, it may only take 15 or 20 HP to keep the car moving. The volt engine does not drive the wheels directly. It generates electricity to maintain the low state (or in mountain mode 10 - 12 miles of reserve) in the battery. The battery feeds the electric motor. Generating electricity of like pumping water. It is a 100% load on the engine, so the engine is almost constantly running at it's rated power, or close to it. Low octane fuel, especially ethanol blends have a much lower energy content than pure gasoline, and because the engine needs to produce full power to run the generator, more fuel is burned as a result. Higher octane allows the spark to be advanced to well before TDC, and thus gives more time for a complete burn, and thus extracts more power from each power stroke. If you watch my Chevy volt regen braking video, when I took it on a trip through the mountains in BC, I show the display, and the MPG display for the trip. Now this does factor in the regenerative braking mileage. Most people do not understand how the volt operates. Technically it is the most advanced car you can buy. The closest cars from a technical standpoint available today is the BMW i3 when equip with the range extended. The Fiskar Karma also falls into that category, but they are out of production. Both those cars generate power when the battery is done, but the volt has 1 additional mode that the BMW and Karma does not have. When cruising on flat ground, and the battery is floating at it's optimum low level charge, a clutch can connect the engine into the drive line for cruising. This provides approximately a 10-15% gain in fuel economy over just generating power and then using that power. The volt can not disconnect the electric motors from the drive line, so the gas engine can not power the wheels directly, but in extended cruising, between speeds of 55 and 75mph the as engine/generator can be added into the planetary gear set, and result in better fuel economy. Step on the gas and the engine disconnects, and it goes back into full power electric, fed from the battery and generator again. When the car enters this mode, and you hammer the gas, there is a slight delay, just like with an automatic transmission car as it is up shifting, and then the power comes up to full. It is a wonderful car, and I am looking at buying a second one for a family member, as I have been going 6 months on a 9 gallon tank of gas! I do drive it a lot too, 67K in 3 years!

@geraquiroz6288

9 жыл бұрын

Average 41-43 but as low as 30 when using shitty ethanol blended fuel. (I had the misfortune of finding this out a few days ago, I didn't realize it at the moment, I've been mixing it with "top tier" 93octane and it's ethanol has been diluted and the mpg has come up gradually

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

gera quiroz I had the same problem when I had to stop at a remote gas station in Arizona because the kid needed to use the restroom, and the gas ststion attendent wouldn't allow access without buying gas. They put in E85 crap, and my fuel economy went in the toilet, (and the check engine light came on) but once I refueled with premium the fuel economy returned and the check engine light went out. No problems since.

@geraquiroz6288

9 жыл бұрын

My check engine didn't light up, but my dash (I reset the trip meter) reported as low as 26 after I filled up. Nothing I could do but dilute the crappy fuel blend with better gasoline

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

gera quiroz My check engine light came on because the gas jockey that filled the tank didn't tighten the fuel cap and it wasn't sealed correctly. That also caused a problem getting the fuel door to unlock at the next station.

I like my Volt. Yes, it is an electric car. There is a condition where the ICE can mechanically connect and assist, but that never happens under 70 MPH.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

rationalguy We know that, but to the un-educated, well there is no convincing them. As they say, you can't fix stupid.

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

+abc68099 I have a 2012 so I don't have the hold mode, so I can't comment on how that operates going down hill. It probably does put more charge in the battery because the engine is running, and thus consuming fuel. In normal or L mode, the engine shuts off completely when going down a hill, thus recovering all that energy normally dissipated as heat in a normal car, and does not burn a drop of gas because the engine has turned off completely.

The problem by not using the brakes often, your calipers will seize much quicker. Unless they've designed calipers against that problem.

@12voltvids

4 жыл бұрын

Well the calipers do bring the car to a stop, every time. The regen will only bring it down to 3kmh (2mph) and then the brakes stop it, so they are being used, for every stop.

For your future reference. A true parallel is always gas and electric. Never one or the other. A series parallel (Prius) is either gas or electric. It can only stay electric at lower speeds. A series is always electric. Only the electric motor has a direct connection to the wheels. As Andrew Farah stated, once again, there is no direct connection from the gas engine to the wheels. Andrew Farah is the Volt chief engineer. I defer to him. The electric motor is a hard connection. www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/smart-transportation-solutions/advanced-vehicle-technologies/electric-cars/electric-car-definition-mpge-bev-phev-series-parallel-hybrid.html#.VKd859LF-RM

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

Lets just say we agree to disagree because you can't argue with an idiot, which clearly you are, and it shows your ignorance. A prius is a parallel. All parallel hybrids can run in electric only mode at slow speeds, just turn off the gas engine and freewheel the generator. When the gas engine is running, it is running in parallel with the electric motor. A series hybrid has no direct connection between the gas engine and the wheels. The only series hybrids are the Fisker Karma and the BMW i3. There is no physical connection. The Volt and ELR there is not normally a physical connection either, and the initial design was for the car to be a series only hybrid, but by the time the car went into production it was decided that it would be more efficient to use the gas engine to contribute power into the power split with the 2 electric motors, which by definition IS a parallel hybrid. Everyone is laughing at your ignorance. Go check your notes it is all out there on the GM volt sites. Don't believe me, well watch this and it is all perfectly clear, exactly as I have explained it. kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZWhnj7CKe7LcfMo.html

Actually, the 12-volt and High-Voltage systems are separate, I believe. Anything using 12 volts like wipers, lights, radio, etc. will not affect your range. Unless the engineers have done something VERY strange with the Volt...

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

Well yes and no.True that there are 2 separate systems, a low voltage 12 volt system for things like wipers, lights, the radio and the computers that run the system, and there is a high voltage system for the drive unit, the heat and AC.The 12 system is however charged up by the 360V high voltage battery, just like every other hybrid. So when the car is on, there is an inverter that runs that generates the high voltage 3 phase AC for the electric motors and air conditioner, and it generates 13.8 volts to keep the AGM battery for the 12 volt system charged. When you plug the car in, the external AC recharges only the HV system as the HV system is responsible to chare the 12 volt system when the car is on.. The gas engine also can place charge in the HV system when you are driving it and the HV battery goes dead.If you turn the radio on without turning the car on it will turn off after 20 minutes. You can only do this a few times and then the car will refuse to allow you to turn the radio on as you could run the 12V battery flat. A flat 12V battery means that the car will not turn on because, the 12V system is needed to energize the HV contactor relay to turn on the 360V supply. If you manage to run down the 12V battery, then you need a jump start like any other car. It is impossible to run down the HV battery, because the engine will start when the battery gets down to the low charge limit.Of course if you run out of gas then it is possible to run the battery down, but it will go into a safe mode, so it will shut off until there is gas in the car then it would start the engine. (or you could plug it in and recharge the HV battery) There is a test mode, where you can turn on the HV system without the FOB present, and this is for maintenance workers only, where the HV system will turn on, but not the traction unit. If the car was left on in this state it is possible to run down the HV battery, but once it hits the low limit the car will turn off. It won't allow it to over discharge the HV battery.Also if you leave the car on, and walk away, eventually the HV battery would discharge, and then the engine would start, so GM did a software update to set a timer, so that if you walk away and leave the car turned on (and lock the doors) it will turn off after a couple of hours before the gas engine starts. The old software would actually allow you to turn the car on, and lock the doors and use the car as an emergency power source, but because some moron forgot the car was on, and closed his garage, the car started by itself, and filled the garage with exhaust, so for safety to keep the idiots out there from carbon monoxide poisoning themselves by leaving the car on (it is a hard one to miss because if you close the door with the car turned on the horn toots 3 times to remind you) M undated the software to limit how long it can be on without being driven, and then it turns off.

@drmcallis

8 жыл бұрын

I should have said the impact will be minimal, perhaps? Good explanation, by the way.Many electric cars (most?) will give a "watts/mile" or such readout (I know Tesla likes to display the graph of energy use.) How does that 13.8 volts compare to typical driving energy use? Naturally, we'd need to know the amperage to convert watts to volts...My wife and I drive a Ford Fusion Energi and unfortunately, we do not have a lot of the displays "pure electrics" have...But we love our plug-in. In no way cutting the Volt, by the way. It's brilliant. The Fusion fits our driving needs well. Had it since November and so far we are averaging a bit over 74mpg overall. That's a lot of commutes to and from work on electric only, along with a good number of trips across state and such (Georgia isn't a small state) in hybrid mode."Cheers" from one electric owner to another.

@12voltvids

8 жыл бұрын

The energy plug in is a good car for short commutes for sure. Tell me, if you punch it when in EV does the engine come on, or will it stay 100% electric like the volt. My wife drives a Escape Hybrid, and the engine comes on on every drive no matter what.The volt, of course does not start the engine under any circumstances until the battery is depleted, which is 60KM (40Mi) on the first generation, and 85KM (53 mi) on the new one.I have an app called mygreenvolt that plugs intro the OBD2 portm and displays all the info about the car, such as KW being used, regeneratord. and how fast the engine is running when in gas mode,All kinds of graphs.The new volt displays all that info on the console.I may be getting a new volt sooner than I originally planned. My daughter just wrecked her car, and depending on if it gets written off or not, I may have to buy myself a new car, and sell my volt to her. She has made it very clear that the next car she wants is a volt.

@drmcallis

8 жыл бұрын

Yes, if you demand more than the 44hp the motor can provide a

@drmcallis

8 жыл бұрын

Oops... the 144hp engine will cut in. That said, it will do more than 80mph in electric only. Sorry to hear about your car emergency, but hey, excuse to get the new model, I guess.

Leaving this car or ANY Volt in "L" mode is not recommended as it burns a dramatic amount of battery (exponential) similar to the regen braking except in the opposite manner. Shift to "Drive" mode and down shift and use the paddle shifter to maximize your battery range.

@12voltvids

7 жыл бұрын

I don't leave in it L. I drive in the D mode, and only shift it to L when I need to slow down, or stop. This is exactly how I demonstrated it being driven in this video.

@sassasins031

6 жыл бұрын

Re-read the owners handbook. L is for stop and go traffic and for steep downhill travel. It isn't for slowing down.

THE VOLT DOES NOT HAVE A SUNROOF AND I JUST DO NOT LIKE THE PLUG IN FEATURE SO I CHOOSE THE PRIUS, THAT PRIUS IS THE BEST, SAVES GAS HAS SUNROOF, AND LOOKS GOOD.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

Tracci Quartermaine To each their own. I have owned 3 cars with sun roofs. They all leak after awhile, and make too much noise to open at freeway speeds. The last car with a I had with a sunroof the glass exploded showering me with glass on the freeway when hit by a flying rock thrown from a truck tire. Will never own a car with a sunroof again for that. The Prius is a good car, my wife has one, however it is bloody gutless, and not very much fun to drive, and like a regular car, uses gas. I am taking it to the gas station every couple of weeks to fill it up. The volt on the other hand I go 9 to 10 months between fill ups. 99% of my driving is on 100% electricity, and if I had the new model, which gets 80KM per charge I would go a year on a tank, and be forced to burn it by the engine management system to prevent the gas from going stale. The plug in is the best part of the car, as electricity costs about 1/4 that gas costs for the same distance traveled, plus it looks great, and the new model looks even better. Now that GM has announced a big price drop for the volt, I am confident that there are going to be many more of them on the road in the next couple of years.Another thing about the prius, they really only save gas in stop and go rush hour traffic. When I drove the one I own, I used it to commute to work, in stop and go traffic.Now my wife drives the car, and she doesn't get anything close to the rated EPA mileage. Why?, because she is not in stop and go traffic. She is running from client to client, and back and forth on the freeway, in the suburbs, never in the city, in bumper to bumper traffic, so the car rarely runs in full electric mode except when she in crawling around parking lots looking for a space to park or on the 3 blocks of low speed roads in our neighbourhood. The rest of the time the gas engine is running. My volt on the other hand the engine never starts. I can go weeks on end without the engine starting even once. I run as a 100% pure electric most of the time, but it is nice to have the engine on board for the time I do have to drive across town and back to pick up or drop something off, or when I go on my holidays when I drive across the country through the mountains, and enjoy the scenic route, and never have any lack of power doing so. When I did it in the prius, it was the most boring trip I ever had, because going up the grade the car barely made it to 50MPH, and that was putting the peddle through the metal!

@manoman0

9 жыл бұрын

Tracci Quartermaine I hate sunroofs!

@bjdr2001

8 жыл бұрын

I have a 2013 volt with a moon roof. Not a cheesy piece of glass but an actual functioning moon roof

@manoman0

8 жыл бұрын

MrRichards I hate moonroofs....I am happy that is not an available option on the car I chose.

@voltecrules624

8 жыл бұрын

My 2014 Volt has a lifetime mpg average of 97.1 mpg agree driving 43,000 miles. What is your Prius getting??? Maybe 50 mpg??? My Volt will blow your Prius off the line and all the way to its top speed. My Volt will take a corner at high speed like a sports car. How do you like the swaying and tilting in your Prius when you enter a turn at low speed. Your use of CAPITALS only shows your desperation to compare your old tech Prius to the completely dominant Volt. As far as looks, come on! The Prius SCREAMS, "Dork! Driving slow car!!!" The Volt is such an awesome car.

A full tank last u 6 months wow!

I hope a lot used volt every year better volt

ur extending your repair bill.. don`t do downshifts on automatic transmission manually, especially on such a peculiar and complex transmission like volt`s

@stevebalun9554

5 жыл бұрын

The volt doesn't have a automatic transmission. It's basically a gear reduction single speed. L range is not a gearing, it's a more aggressive regenerative breaking. It's meant to make for a one pedal driving experience. As soon as you let off the throttle it immediately starts regenerative braking and gradually increases to slow you down. This prevents you having to use the brake pedal except once you get down to 2-3 miles an hour. It has nothing to do with the transmission as there is no selectable gears in a volt.

Just leave it in "L" mode, no need to keep switching from D to L.

@12voltvids

10 жыл бұрын

There are many times when I take my foot off the gas to coast, and don't want the car to slow down quickly. That is why I switch it, so I can control the amount of regenerative braking. I learned on a standard, so it is fun dropping it down to slow down. One of the things I didn't like when I test drove a Tesla was the fact that there is no stick, and switching to regen mode required navigating through a menu. Then again to turn it off.

@samtreworgy

9 жыл бұрын

12voltvids

@ChristCenteredMinist

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, I keep my 2017 volt in L gear and sport mode. Sport mode seems to have the most regen. Force.

So first of all, the Chevy Volt is definitely a hybrid. A plug in hybrid to be precise. Instead of actually physically running from the gasoline engine when the battery is flat, it uses the gasoline engine as a generator for the electric engine. Most hybrids work this way, because it is more efficient to run the engine at a higher power for a shorter time, than to run it all the time and basically just waste gas on red lights and stop and go traffic. I know some hybrids use the gasoline engine when driving more than a specific speed etc. And some can also regularly use the gasoline engine to physically power the wheels of the car. The Volt only does this in very rare occasions. In any case, the Volt is clearly a hybrid. And about your driving tip... While your way of doing it will certainly do the trick, it's kinda overly complicated. There is no reason to shift to D. You might as well always stay in L. I know calling it L is kinda misleading. Since it implies a lower gear. I guess they did this, since normal cars would engine break harder in a lower gear. But technically the gear is the same. All L does is change the behavior of the gas pedal. While in D you can coast freely when you release the gas pedal and you only start regen when braking. In L you start regen as soon as you let of the gas. Basically it's pretty similar to the way Teslas work.

@12voltvids

2 жыл бұрын

Chevy used the term EREV, extended range electric vehicle to differentiate it from the other plug in hybrids There were two generations for the Chevy Volt and both operate completely differently. You should do a little bit of research before you open your mouth because it's obvious that you have no clue on how the first or second generation work. First generation has four modes of operation, single motor electric vehicle, dual motor electric vehicle, series hybrid were one motor is connected to the gas engine to generate power that is used by the traction motor, and parallel hybrid mode where both the gas motor and both electric motors are connected to the drivetrain. Unlike all other plug-in hybrids which will always use the gasoline engine for acceleration under power at all times regardless of the state of charge, the volt and only the volt is 100% electric until the battery is completely depleted. Once the battery is depleted the engine will start and it will start as a series hybrid at speeds up to 90 kmh. At speeds over 90 km per hour when you are cruising the system will switch to a parallel hybrid where power from the engine is transferred to the wheels as well as power from the electric motors. It does this by coupling engine power into motor number 2 which enters the planetary gear set along with motor number one. The car cannot drive on engine power alone power must also come from the traction motors because you cannot remove traction motor number one. as to switching between drive and low range yes you can leave it in low range I find it annoying though if you take your foot off the gas the car is going to slow quickly which you don't necessarily want. I like to coast and then switch to low as I'm approaching a light to slow me down. Also keep in mind on first gen the brake lights are not turned on when you do this so you have to watch for the asshole behind you to make sure he's not going to rear end you. The four modes of operation single motor electric for maximum power, when cruising both electric motors are connected to the planetary gear set and can operate as a variable ratio drive through the planetary gear set. this allows both motors to run at a slower speed which are more electrically efficient than one motor running at high speed. If you step on it to pass it will switch back to single motor mode. In extended range mode when the gas engine is running the gas engine will cycle on and off at speeds below 60 km per hour it will run put some charge in the battery and then shut off and then start again put some charge in the battery and shut off, at speeds over 60 the engine runs constantly and runs as a series hybrid, once you hit 90 km or faster providing you're not doing heavy acceleration it will operate in parallel as it is more efficient. The second generation volt is it completely different car and operates more like a conventional hybrid there is no series hybrid mode on the second generation. it can operate as a single motor electric and it can operate as a dual motor electric it can operate with the gas engine running driving the wheels completely by itself without any input from either electric motor it can operate with the gas engine running and one electric motor generating power and the second electric motor doing nothing and it can operate with the gas engine running with both electric motors contributing power five modes but on the second generation which is 2016 to 2019 when the gas engine is running it is always driving the wheels. That's the big difference between first and second generation and yes I have both and I know exactly how they operate. Second generation in addition to being able to switch to low range to regenerate power when you take your foot off the accelerator there's also an on-demand paddle on the steering wheel to turn on regeneration. If you switch to low range and pull the paddle it doubles the breaking effect to 55 KW which will slow the car from freeway speed down to a crawl very quickly in fact I never use the brake pedal on my second gen other than to hold the car once I've gotten down to 2kmh. If you don't own a volt you are in no position to comment on how the car operates unless you're a volt engineer. Those of us that own the car have done a lot of research and we know everything there is to know about how the vault operates through both generations. I've owned one for 10 years and I've owned two for three.

@phinok.m.628

2 жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids Thanks for the detailed explanation. Perhaps I should have specified more clearly that I'm talking about the Chevy Bolt gen 1. I thought it's kinda obvious, since that's the car you're driving in your video. And yes, the Chevy Volt is rather unique compared to other plug in hybrids and it also has a rather unique transaxle with switch between many driving modes in attempt to maximize the efficiency. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely enjoy looking at the technical differences between different hybrids or different cars in general. This guy explains the transaxle of the gen 1 pretty well and he also explains the transaxle of many other hybrids, EVs etc. kzread.info/dash/bejne/lqWBlbuRdcmXmtY.html I am completely aware of the differences between the Volt gen 1, gen 2 and other hybrids/plug in hybrids. But I still think the Chevy Volt is very much a plug-in hybrid. It can be used as a pure EV, but it clearly it isn't a pure EV, since it can also be run on gasoline. And it definitely isn't a regular gasoline car either. I know Chevy prefers to call it an extended range EV. Most companies like to make up their own names for things to make them sound new and different. And to be completely fair to GM, the Chevy Volt is different. And I also think the Volts way of doing it, is superior to most other hybrids. So I can understand them not wanting it to seem like any other old hybrid. But hybrid is a rather broad term that essentially covers pretty much all cars that can run on multiple different energy sources. I prefer calling the Chevy Volt a plug-in hybrid, since that’s what it is. Obviously, it’s not the same as all other plug in hybrids, but nobody said all plug in hybrids are identical. There are many many different gas powered cars and nobody argues about them being gas powered either right? Of course, you can also call it an extended range EV if you prefer. But saying the Chevy Volt is NOT a plug-in hybrid, is just factually wrong, in my opinion. It uses two different power sources, therefore it’s hybrid. You can recharge it from the grid, therefore it’s also a plug-in hybrid. In my opinion, it’s actually kinda dumb to call a hybrid that are not plug-in hybrid, a hybrid. Cause non plug-in hybrids can only really run on gasoline. Sure, they can store electricity and use it to even out stop and go traffic in order to be more efficient. But the electricity is still gained from gasoline (or diesel, or whatever else it uses). So really there is only one power source. Anyway, I guess it’s not quite the same as a purely gasoline powered car, so I get the point of differentiating them. When it comes to driving on L. Fair enough, I guess. I can understand it not being particularly pleasant to have to hold the gas at a certain position in order to coast. You could of course just stay in D then. But I can also understand it being a little annoying that the brake controls regen and the actual hydraulic brakes, making it kinda difficult to use regen without accidentally engaging the hydraulic brakes too and wasting energy. So if you're not comfortable with the whole one pedal driving concept, perhaps switching between D and L is the most efficient way for you.

@12voltvids

2 жыл бұрын

@@phinok.m.628 the term extended range electric vehicle was chosen on the first generation just like it was on the Fisker Karma to differentiate the car from the other plug-in hybrids that were on the market at the time. Every other plug-in hybrid including the ones that are made today will use the gas engine even when the battery is fully charged once you exceed a certain speed or under heavy acceleration. Chevy wanted to emphasize that the volt was it electric car first. Of course it's a hybrid hybrid just means two fuel sources. But again marketing wanted to emphasize that it is in fact an EV and it can be driven exclusively as an EV. I have two a first and a second gen. First gen still gets over 50 km on the battery and the second gen gets 90. I went an entire year on a tank of gas in my second gen and had the computer not forced me to use it before it went stale I would still have that same gas in the car now. In fact I only carry 1/8 of a tank of gas in the car just enough to get me home if I run short on electrons. My wife drives the old car and she quite often goes beyond the 50 km range so she Burns a tiny bit of gas in her car. 30 l of fuel last 3 months and she averages over 3,000 km between fill ups. I managed 11,000 km on one tank of fuel over the course of 12 months. As to the single pedal driving versus using drive I guess it's what you're used to I like the vehicle to be able to coast without slowing down such as it does in l. In stop and go traffic I use l that's just my wife in the first gen but when cruising down the freeway it's a pain in the ass for every time you lift your foot off the gas pedal slightly the car starts slowing down so we use drive. We need to press the brake pedal it goes through a few different intensities of regen breaking and as you push the pedal further the hydraulic brakes come on. In low range mode if the battery is fully charged it will not regenerate because the computer knows that you could easily overcharge the battery if the battery is full so using l does not slow the car much if the battery is charged. The same occurs on the second gen if the battery is full pulling the on demand paddle does not give much breaking and in second gen it has the indicator on the dash as to how much power is being put back into the battery. Under normal driving switching to l or pulling the regen paddle will put approximately 30 KW back into the battery switching to L and pulling the on demand paddle will stuff about 55 kilowatts of power back into the battery. I can charge it 7 KW Max. The first gen charges at 3 kilowatts. So regenerative power is much stronger than plug-in charging and if the battery is close to full charge this could damage the battery. So when the battery is nearly fully charged for example if I switch too low or if I put the regen paddle on the braking effect is typically only five kilowatts and the hydraulic brakes must be used. Of course once you drive a few miles and the battery starts to discharge then the regen will start to work but it takes a while the first couple of intersections I hit when I leave my house there's virtually no regen available because the battery itself is almost completely full. GM has done a wonderful job with the battery management system on the volt. My first car is over 10 years old it has not lost any noticeable range on the battery. When the car was new I got approximately 55 to 57 km on a full charge. There was a recall issued to change the programming of the battery control module that was designed to extend the life of the battery by not permitting it to discharge to as low estate that it was originally programmed for. This reduced the usable capacity from 10 kilowatt hour to 9.1. reduce the range to 50 km but in doing so will prevent the battery from discharging too low and extend the life. This is something that full on EV can't do. As their batteries age the range drops. When GM dropped the volt I think a lot of us were a little bit pissed off because we had the perfect vehicle. When the time comes that I have to replace one of them I'll have to look elsewhere but one thing for sure it will be a plug-in hybrid type. I enjoy all the benefits of a full electric vehicle with none of the drawbacks. What drawbacks you ask? Well I have a picture on my phone when I was traveling in the summer at a DC charging station with eight people waiting for two charge cards. That's the drawback sitting around for 2 to 3 hours waiting to get on the charger so that you can continue your travel. And yes a number of those cars were teslas sitting there waiting in the blazing heat and they didn't have enough battery left to run the Ac. Sucks to be them.

@phinok.m.628

2 жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids @12voltvids Yes, I was not trying to say the Chevy Volt is the same as all other plug-in hybrids, just that it is also a plug-in hybrid... I definitely think the way the Volt does it is pretty much the best way right now. You basically have a normal EV in everyday city traffic, while not having the limited range and long charging time when you have to go longer distances. Since people usually drive around mostly in their own town. You run purely electric most of the time. It's pretty genius. And honestly, I'm not sure why so many plug-in hybrids do it so differently. I mean, not only is it less efficient, it also is quite annoying when the gas engine starts all the time because you happen to accelerate a little too hard or drive slightly too fast. And yes, of course you can only regen if you have a place to store the regen energy. And yes, I agree the battery management is very good. It's unfortunate that most laptops and smartphones push their batteries so hard. They could also improve the battery life A LOT by only running the battery between 20 and 80 %. Sure, you get a little less capacity, but at least the battery last forever. I guess the problem is that manufacturers usually don’t want your battery to last that long… That said, pure EVs also often don’t give you access to the full battery capacity in order to preserve battery life. And on Teslas for example you can set it to only charge to 80 % or so in order to preserve battery life. I think in the case of pure EVs, it makes sense to run in the 20-80 % mode most of the time. But to let the driver use more of the capacity on long drives. Most people don’t have long drives that often. But when they do, that little extra capacity can be really helpful. And using most of the capacity won’t damage the battery immediately. It's just, the more you do it, the quicker your battery will degrade. In fact, for Li-Ion batteries, it’s preferable to keep them as close to 50 % as possible. So even things like first charging the battery to 50 % and then only charging the rest a few hours before the person has to drive somewhere could help extend the battery life. Anyway, of course there are many ways to improve efficiency, battery life etc. But for the most part, I think the Volt does a pretty impressive job. Especially the earlier gen 1 versions, given how old they are. Pretty cool how innovative GM was even back then. But you know, the main thing I wanted to point out was that, while it may be quite different to most plug-in hybrids out there. The Volt is still a plug-in hybrid. Just a better one…

@12voltvids

2 жыл бұрын

@@phinok.m.628 the first gen only was marketed as an extended range electric as with the exception for extended range freeway speed the engine does not supply any power to the wheels and even when it does on mode 4 it is less than 50%. It is a completely different power train. 3 clutches allow single motor (1 clutch locks ring gear to case) 2 motor (case clutch unlocked motor clutch locked and 3rd clutch to ice unlocked) series hybrid clutch 1 locked to case, clutch to ring gear to motor 2 open a d clutch 3 mitor 2 to ice locked. Parallel hybrid. Clutch 1 ring gear to case unlocked and both ring gear to motor 2 and motor 2 to ice locked. In this mode ice spins motor 2 to generate power and also spins ring gear. The main motor spins the sun gear and the planet carrier spins the wheels. Gen 2 uses 2 planetary gear sets 2 electric motors and the ice. The same type of setup that the other hybrid power trains such as the escape and Prius use. The thing is the 2nd gen when the engine starts it always drives the wheels. The way it is set up when the engine is running, using a 1 way clutch power is always sent to the power split planetary gear set. Other companies did not use the same system that the first gen did because gm owned the patent on the design. The second gen is closer to, not exactly the same as other makes but similar to other designs. Simpler and cheaper to build. The first gen however has fewer moving parts and fewer parts generally means higher reliability

I'm totally lost... Only had my 2012 Volt for a couple of weeks and it's been a challenge.

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

How is that. You plug it in when at home and charge it, and drive it like a normal car. When the battery runs down the engine will start. Everything is automatic. You do learn how to get the very best range out of it by using the L setting when rolling up to a red light or stop sign, as that way the kinetic energy goes back into the battery. If you use the brake peddle it will go into regen first, and then bring on the brakes as you press the peddle down. When I am rolling to a light I select L and it slows me down to about 5 MPH as I roll up, then use the brakes to make the stop. Not rocket science. For me a tank of gas easily lasts me 6 months, and I do a lot of driving, but they are all relatively short trips and most can be done on electric power alone. Once a week I have to drive a little farther than the electric range can take me, and the engine comes on for the last 5 miles on my return trip.

@thepinkbutterfly10

6 жыл бұрын

I have had it say "Propulsion Power is Reduced" a couple of times. It shakes and revs really high. Have taken it to the dealer and they say everything is fine. Pretty sure it's not. I'm not worried about range at this point--but I have been worried about making it home a couple of times. Will be taking it to a different dealer tomorrow. Do I think I'm wasting my time-yep. According to the Volt owners on FB it's: the electric battery or the 12v battery or the catalitic converter or the traction battery or hasn't been plugged in much or the coolant needs to changed or it has bad motor mounts.... Right now I feel like when I traded my Leaf in I went from the frying pan into the fire.

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

thepinkbutterfly10 Propulsion power is reduced will come up if the battery is depleted and you are pushing it hard to get up a big hill. This is what mountain mode is for. This should never come up unless you are driving through the mountains and have not entered mountain mode. The engine will Rev up to try to produce more power. When i drive through the mountains I put it in mountain mode about 10 minutes before hitting the hill this way the system will Rev up and produce more power to build up a 10 mile range in the main battery. Never had it come up except when I have forgotten to put it in mountain mode. I have 148000 km on my car now not a single problem.

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

I will say that on 2 ocassions while traveling in the USA. In 2014 while traveling through Nevada, and again last year while crossing California, i stopped at a gas station to fuel up, and thought my car was going to blow up. The gas station put E85 shit in the tanks and sold it as premium. The first gen volt will not run on E85 shit. The engine revved up to almost red line, and the fuel economy indicator showed about 19MPG, and I could literally see the fuel gauge dropping. The check engine light also came on. I filled up again at a different gas station, and the problem went away, and the check engine light went out a few hours later. The first time it scared the crap out of me as I thought I would be stranded, but the second time I know what was up. First time I stopped at a gas station called Uranus Gas up in the mountains. Only stopped there because my kid needed to use the crapper, and they wouldn't let him in unless I filled up. The second time it was at a Shell station out in the middle of nowhere. So beware on the grade of gas, as low quality E85, which is 85% ethanol will make it run like it is going to blow up.

I really wish you would cut out the extraneous chatter and compress your presentation into bullet points that convey your knowledge.

@12voltvids

6 жыл бұрын

Dan Richman I get paid by the minute. The longer you watch the more I make.

Wrong. It is a plug-in hybrid.

@12voltvids

5 жыл бұрын

How misinformed you are. The Prius is a plug in hybrid as is the mitsubishi and Ford offerings. The volt has 2 other cars that share the design. One is the karma, (formerly the fisker karma) and the other is the BMW i3. On a conventional plug in hybrid if you floor the accelerator or drive over a certain speed the engine will kick in to assist. The volt which is an ev with extended range generator, the engine never comes on at any speed, regardless on how hard you step on the accelerator until the battery is depleted. Newer models have a "hold" mode where you can save your charge for the city and drive on gas, but that is a mode that nobody uses. Mine doesn't have that feature. That is for jurisdictions where they have special lanes for ev vehicles in the city, but they have to be running in electric mode to use them. So you commute into city limits on gas and then switch over and run ev mode in the city. The volt is driven 100% by battery power when there is charge and then once burning gas there are multiple modes the car will select depending on driving conditions from a series hybrid where tyres engine generated power to be used by the electric motor or for sustained high speed driving can couple up to 50% of the engine power into the drive line. It cant put 100% power to the wheels as the electric motors are always part of the drive system. So some power can be coupled in, with the remainder going to the generator to be stored in the battery and drive the permanent electric drive motor. Do your research before shooting off your mouth because those of us that drive the volt are as passionate about it as any Tesla fan boy and we know exactly how the car works. The best sales people for the volt are the owners of the car.

I do not understand why you are giving false information kzread.info/dash/bejne/lm1hm8OtfdqcitY.html in the link i just provided at 34:30 they indicate when and how the volt goes into combined mode. please stop saying the wrong thing. it has been clear since before the car came out that this is how the car operated. thank you in advance.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

I never said it doesn't go into mode 4. There are 4 modes of operation, mode 1 single motor battery operation for slower speeds, and for accelerating, mode 2 dual motor battery, which is used for freeway cruising ay high speeds. Mode 3, Series mode, where the engine is only generating power and the main electric motor is driving the car. There is a 4th mode, and that is when they engage the engine into the planetary gear set, and take some of the power from the engine to drive the wheels. It only operates under a very specific condition, and that is driving 70+MPH on level ground. That is 112KMh, and there are not many freeways in Canada where the speed is higher than that. Most of our roads are in the 80 - 100 KM speed limit. Yes when I am on road trips and cruising at the magic 70-90MPH in the states on level ground the car will go into this mode, but it doesn't happen that often for me, because if you are in the mountains it is not operating in that mode. The only time I recall it going into mode 4 last year was when I was driving across the flats of Nevada. But put your foot into it,and it reverts back, and yes you do notice the switch over, as it feels more like a conventional car, when the automatic transmission switches gears. In normal driving the car rarely, if ever goes into that mode. It was a last minute decision to include it in the programing because they found a 15% fuel efficiency increase by going to mode 4, also known as a parallel hybrid system. Fact remains, it is the only car in the world that can operate in 4 distinct modes, depending on driving conditions to get the best fuel economy / battery life possible. In the video, my car never entered mode 4, it was in mode 1 and 2 until the battery was flat then went into series mode, and cycled between mode 3 (generator mode) and mode 1 battery mode as the battery picked up charge, which is by far the most common mode of operation once in range extended mode. Trust me, I know just about everything there is to know about the volt. I even have a diagnostic monitor for it, that tells me how much voltage is in the battery, the rate of discharge, or charge from regenerative braking, how fast the gas engine is running, if it just generating power or providing power to the wheels. I have a app that allows me to monitor everything about the car, right down to the cell temperature, battery health. Everything that gets logged, I can monitor, and they log everything from tire pressure to how much pressure in in the fuel tank, oil temperature, transmission temperature.

@TheTuareg

9 жыл бұрын

12voltvids Здравствуйте! (Hello in Russian) ))) Thank you for the interesting video! I like the idea (philosophy) of the volt very much considering the constantly increasing fuel price (around 0,6 USD per liter) but I don`t like the very very low front overhang and the ground clearance because, for example in Russia, you could not drive it normally on our shitty roads. I mean randomly distributed deep holes in the middle of the road or "icebergs" in winter (up to 5-10 cm high). And my questions are, what do you think will happen with the volt (battery) at our freezing temperatures (minus 30)? Will the motor/generator run constantly if I, for example, pre-heated it up in the cold garage and then unplug and drive to work? Will the volt still be economical?

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

Ai Gi First the air dam in the front is just a rubber skirt, so snow and ice just pushes it up out of the way. I drag it on speed bumps all the time. There is actually a replacement skirt that is higher than on my car that the dealer can put on for anyone concerned about the clearence. Under the car the clearence is about the same as any other car, the bottom is flat. Cold temperatures are not an issue. When the temperature drops below -5C, which it often does here in canada, and the car is not plugged in (when it is plugged in the battery is heated from the grid) the first thing that happens when you push the power button is the engine starts. It generates power to drive the car, and starts the electric heaters in the battery. As the engine warms up the coolant is used to heat the battery. The gas engine runs for about 5 minutes and then shuts off and the car switches back to battery operation once the frozen pack is nice and toasty warm. So cold temperatures are not an issue. When GM designed the car they took it up to the arctic to test it in -40 to -50 conditions. There are videos done by GM during the development cycle showing the test phase. I watched them all, as I followed the development of the volt from the time it was the EV1. When the EV1 program ended, and GM decided that a battery only car was not the correct direction, and that a battery car with a backup generator was what was going to be the future I got all excited, and followed the development, and am proud to say I have one of the first shipments of Volts that came to Canada. It has been the best car I have driven, and I have owned over 20 different cars over the years.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

Ai Gi Again, if the car is plugged in, in the garage, you will get your full winter range out of the batteries, which is about 30 miles. In the warmer months the battery range is 40. The reason it is less in the winter is you are generally running the heaters, lights and wipers, and this all draws power, especially the cabin heater. If it has been sitting in a parking lot all day, the engine fires for a few minutes to warm the car, then shuts off and it goes back to battery mode. I will make a video of this process over this winter if it gets cold enough to require the engine to warm the battery, Last winter it didn't get cold enough here to trigger the engine to warm up the pack, but they are calling for some serious cold here next week, so I might get the opportunity to film the operation of the cold temperature mode.

@TheTuareg

9 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your answer! Very interesting! So you are saying, that if the volt stands for about 8 hours in a parking lot at let's say minus 20, the petrol engine will automatically start from time to time to heat the battery pack? And when it is warm enough to keep saving the charge the engine will also automatically shut down, and this cycle will happen repeatedly all 8 hours while I'm at work? I'm afraid then it is not so economical, or what?

kilometers? are you british?

@12voltvids

Жыл бұрын

No Canadian. Remember the entire world except the us is metric.

@michaelcarman4875

Жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids oh ok

@michaelcarman4875

Жыл бұрын

oh also. my 2012 volt will not charge w/ the cord b/c chvcs warning. i've done everything i can to fix it and it worked for about a year. now it's back. too expensive to get dealer to do it. what's best way to drive volt engine only to get best mpg or mpk. ??? i will rewatch your video for any hints. thanks

@12voltvids

Жыл бұрын

@@michaelcarman4875 just keep it in mountain mode to get a 10 mile reserve on the battery at all times to avoid over discharge. Mine is 12 years old now. Haven't spent a dime on it yet other than new tires.

@michaelcarman4875

Жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids thank you very much for your expert advice !!! i will do!!

I guess when you're driving it you can't see how ugly the outside is.

@12voltvids

10 жыл бұрын

Actually I think it looks great, and I have had many people complement me on it. Now personally I think Hummers, Cubes, fiat500, beetles and those god affal mitsubishi 4x4s that I see so many people driving are but uglybb. To each his own, but I like the look of the volt.

@12voltvids

10 жыл бұрын

Not to mention ugly old pickup's. In response to your comments about payments. I don't have no stinking payments. I walked into the dealer, and plunked down 50 large, in cash. Pain in full, no finiancing. When you have a good job, and no debt you can do that. In 2005 I bought my wife a nice hybrid SUV, paid cash. In 2007 I bought myself a brand new Harley Davidson, again paid cash, and in 2012 I bought a new Chevy Volt. It's great to have a high paying UNION job. Oh yes, I will get to retire in a few more years, and my pension will look after me, and if I die first, will look after my wife of 30 years now and counting. You know what they say, you can't take it with you, so I am spending like a drunken sailor. My friends drive beat up clunkers, but go on nice vacations, and cruises, and are in debt up to their eyeballs. I buy myself nice toys, that I can enjoy long after their tans have faded and all they have is a few photos to remind them of how they blew their cash.

@Bayan1905

10 жыл бұрын

Actually, I have a good union job, and I am not in debt and I COULD own a new car like that, but I put my money in other things. My toys ARE my old clunkers, but I fix them up. I like redoing old cars. I just can't see spending money on a new car when the depreciation is what it is.

@12voltvids

10 жыл бұрын

Bayan1905 Depreciation is only a problem if you sell it within a few years. I drive my cars till they drop. I have a friend that used to think that way, buying older cars and trucks. Then I saw him a new months ago with a brand new GMC heavy duty. I asked what's with that, Mr. I will never buy a new car. He admit that when he sat down with a calculator, and added up his invoices for all the stuff he had to do to his previous cars, that in the end he was better off buying a new one, with a full warranty, as repairs were costing a fortune, even when he did much of the work himself, it was sourcing parts, shipping charges ect. Then there is the horrible fuel economy of old cars. By my calculation, what I am saving in gas alone on my volt, it will be totally paid for, in fuel savings in 8 years. Yes I have been keeping track of it.

@Bayan1905

10 жыл бұрын

I think it depends on the car. I know for my 40 year old truck, parts are dirt cheap and since its a Ford, parts are everywhere. I new fuel filter costs $4 and I replace it once a year, air filter element, $8. A tune up is $40. I found a new set of Goodyear Wrangler A/T tires for $125 for all four because they had just come off a new vehicle in the local scrapyard since now all new trucks have 17-18 inch or even bigger tires 15" are nothing. I have a brand new Goodyear spare, full size and never saw the ground (tag is still on it), I got it for $15. My 2002 Mercury with its 4.6 V8 gets 25 mpg and has 182,000 on it. Before that I had a 2001 Jeep Cherokee, owned it for seven years and put 140,000 or more and it get about 21-22 mpg when I sold it with 197,000 miles. My 40 year old Ford has a rebuilt engine with 10,000 miles, new brakes, brake lines, shocks, exhaust and all the mechanicals. I have maybe $6,000 in it total and that included the $2,000 it cost me to buy it. Recently I found an 84 F-150 that's on the road, runs drives and is inspected for $900. You can buy used, you have to know what you're looking for an at. I've had new cars, the depreciation is too much and most people don't pay their cars in only five years, now they have payments of seven years. Not enough incentive for me to get anything new, no matter who makes it.

Get a %100 Electric car from Tesla Motors.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

I came very close to buying one, but then I realized that I would have to adjust my driving to accommodate the limitations of a Tesla. Some day when there are super chargers located in every small town in the country that may be an option, but today that is not an option for me or many others. When I am commuting around town and to and from work, I am well withing the range of the Volts battery 99% of the time. When I go on my holidays, and go on road trips I need the gas engine. I do not want to be a slave, and have to plan my trip according to available super chargers. I like to just pick up a map, and look at some interesting routes, and say, "lets go this way" and explore interesting roads and little towns that a Tesla can never go to because there is no place to charge it. I don't need 300 miles of range, 40 is plenty, because when I drive beyond that range, I need thousands of miles of range. Last year I drove back and forth across BC, Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Idaho. Could never be done in a Tesla. Now, I do have friends with Teslas. They have had many more problems with their expensive toys than I have. One has had his main battery replaced, another has had both is main battery and the main drive unit replaced, and a 3rd person I know, not a friend but a business contact has had problems with both the infotainment screen and his door handles, not to mention that the rear hatch leaks. For that kind of money, not exactly a reliable car in my books. The only issues I have had was the valve stem caps rusted to the valve stems, and GM replaced all the stems and put on plastic caps for free, and my Voltec charge unit in my garage blew a fuse, which was easy enough to fix. Other than that I have had no problems in over 75,000 KM of driving. So take that are stick it up your tesla.

@babybirdhome

9 жыл бұрын

12voltvids Well, to be fair, those issues your friends have had with their Teslas most likely weren't serious issues, it's just that Tesla has been proactive with their warranty coverage. I know a few people who've had their drive units replaced (the issue was caused by a bad bushing, and the drive units themselves are just fine), and have had their battery packs replaced (the issue there was a bad contactor, the battery pack itself was perfectly fine). So when Tesla isn't 100% sure what the problem is, or they haven't traced it to its original cause, they've gone the extra mile and simply replaced whatever _might_ be the problem so that the owner is less likely to have to bring it back in again. Now that they've traced the problem with the drive unit down, they just repair the drive unit rather than replace the whole thing, but initially when the issue first appeared, they were sending the drive units back to Tesla HQ so the engineers could look them over to figure out what was going wrong. The battery contactor issue I believe is one that they still have to fix at the factory, although it needn't be the case forever-- it's just that it's not that common a problem after a certain battery pack revision, and it's easier than having someone at every service center who's able to replace the part on location for a problem that isn't cropping up that often. Once the Model 3 comes out and there are a lot more cars on the road, that will probably change and they'll do contactor replacements on site rather than shipping whole battery packs back to Tesla to have it done, because then that'll be the more economical option. The door handle issue has been fixed with an over-the-air firmware update, so owners no longer have to have their cars brought to a service center to deal with that issue (I find the door handles gimmicky to begin with personally-- it's an unnecessary complication). Infotainment screen issues are something that every car with a screen will encounter now and then, it's not unique to the Tesla, but obviously it's likely to cost more to replace the screen if it needs to be done outside of warranty when it's 17" vs. 5", but then Tesla likely won't jack the price of a replacement to 1000% over cost like most automakers will either. A leaky rear hatch is definitely a quality control issue, and it's not one you'll find often from major manufacturers, but it's one you probably won't find on Teslas within the next few years either. It's an easy fix, and these are the kinds of bugs they're using the Roadster and Model S to figure out before rolling out the high production, affordable range of cars. They've made impressive headway for a brand new automaker, but obviously being an early adopter is going to come with all the early adopter growing pains as with any new technology. Is the Model S worth the price? Probably for some people, not for others. It's a $100,000 car, and for the $100,000 you're paying for it, you're not getting a lot of the things you'd get from a competing $100,000 car like a Mercedes S Class or BMW 7 Series-- that level of refinement simply isn't there for a comparable price point. But I think it's important to be fair and objective-- Elon Musk has said since before the Roadster was ever delivered that the plan was to use that car and the Model S to subsidize the cost of developing an affordable model that everyone can buy in order to speed the development and adoption of electric cars, not necessarily to be the best automaker or beat the competition. That's been since day one, but a lot of people forget it or choose to ignore it. I give him credit for being up front and honest about it-- you'll *NEVER* get that kind of candor from any other automaker, guaranteed.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

babybirdhome The problems with the drive unit and contactor in the battery may have been what you call al minor issue, except when it is your car, and you are driving along, and the car shuts down and leaves you stranded waiting for a tow. The battery contactor issue appears to be on going, as my acquaintance that had both the battery and drive unit replaced on his car last year has had the battery pack replaced again. So that issue remains, as does the leaky hatch issue. The way I see it, for what the Tesla cost you would expect the quality control to be a lot better. On my volt, I have had no quality or fit and finish issues. When my weather stripping wore prematurely due to my big but rubbing it when getting in and out of the car, GM promptly replaced it at no charge, no questions asked. I'm not saying that Tesla is a bad car, not at all, and the people I know that own them love the car, but the same can be said for 99.9% of the volt owners out there, We just think that we have a more practical car, as we get all the benefits of being electric, and no range anxiety with the ability to go anywhere, anytime, and no route planning required..

Save 30 minutes and just put your Volt in L except when you are on the highway. Want to driver safer? NEVER MAKE A VIDEO WHILE YOU'RE TRYING TO DRIVE!!!!

@12voltvids

4 жыл бұрын

I guess you didn't see that the cameras were mounted and thus not a distraction to my driving. As to leaving in "l" then the car slows down every time you lift your foot off the paddle which is also annoying. I prefer to coast and only slow down when want to, so I switched to L on this car. On the new one i have a paddle on the wheel that does the same thing but i also use L for stronger regen.

@johnnyViDeO

4 жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids When you are talking, thinking, and composing a video while driving, you are driving distracted, no matter where cameras are placed. Not a good idea! I don't keep shifting out of L because of increased wear and tear on the shifter mechanism. So I drive around town in L, and in D on the freeway. Either way, it's a terrific car!

@12voltvids

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnnyViDeO So what you are saying then is the driver should never have a conversation with anyone else in the car or listen to the radio because that is also a distraction. Just because you can't walk and chew gum at the same time doesn't mean I can't. As to wearing out the shifter, well 170000 miles and 9 years later and it isn't any worse for wear.

@johnnyViDeO

4 жыл бұрын

@@12voltvids Eating, drinking, texting, talking...yes, all are distractions. Some require more brain power than others, like making videos while driving. I got a 4-year athletic scholarship to college, so I guess I qualify as coordinated.

@12voltvids

4 жыл бұрын

@@johnnyViDeO Again, I was not operating the cameras, I knew what I was going to demo, and most of the narration was done in post production.

0:42 . It's not an electric car with a range extender/generator. It's a hybrid. end of story. And at an expensive one at that. May as well buy an CPO Model S from Tesla if you want an electric car. Otherwise a diesel is a far better and cheaper option.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

KingProne You need to go back to school as my idiot kid knows more about cars that you do.The volt is a 100% electric driven car, end of story. I could disconnect the spark plugs on the engine, and drive it every day for all my normal driving needs. Unless I am travelling on road trips I keep only 1 gallon of fuel in the tank. No point in hauling around that extra weight. That is just to get me home if I need to drive further, and I have been seen at gas stations putting in 1.00 - 2.00 worth of gas, just to get a reaction. I walk into the station, and prepay for 1.00 of gas, as that is generally all I need to turn the low fuel chime off whenever it comes on, which is not very often. I would NEVER own an Tesla. The price of the car has nothing to do with it either, despite what the tesla fan boys out there would like to believe. I can afford a Tesla, and could write a cheque for one today if I wanted one, but if I was spending that much money on a luxury car, it would be a Mercedes or an Audi, not a car that can only go 250 miles and then be forced to sit around for an hour while it recharges, and be forced to drive a specific route where there are chargers.I have a friend that owned a Tesla, he doesn't own it anymore, as he had many problems in the 3 years he owned the car including 2 battery failures, and a main drive unit, and various software glitches. Some that were fixed remotely, but when you are locked out of your car in a parking lot in the pissing rain while you are talking to someone that is trying to get the door handles to deploy that doesn't help. What car is he getting next? He is waiting for the new Volt!Like me, his drive is well within the range of the car, so he will benefit from being electric, but with no range limitations.The new volt is a hybrid, as when the engine does start it supplies power to the wheels. The first generation, which I have is a series hybrid, in which the engine does not contribute power into the planetary gear set under normal driving conditions. It can divert some power, under specific conditions, but the engine can never drive the car. The new volt the car can be driven on electricity, a combination of power from the engine and electric motors, and it can also be fully driven from the engine with no input from the electric motors. It is a parallel hybrid, using a system very similar to the other hybrid vehicles. The first generation is totally different, and it is an extended range electric. Learn the difference and stop sounding like an idiot. A diesel still needs to use fuel, which last time I checked cost more than gas.My brother in-law bought a diesel, and has regretted it since the day he bought it. My late father had 2, the second one ran away after a seal broke in the turbo, and the engine exploded to the tune of 12,000 to fix. (It was a Ford Power Joke)So don't get me started on diesels. Unless you have something big to pull. Your just upset because I have saved over 15,000 in fuel and maintenance that I would have pumped into my old car over the time I have owned my volt. And yes I fully intend to buy another one, and it is not just because I save a ton of money on gas. It is also for the reduction of CO2 that I am not pumping into the environment. All the electricity in my province comes from Hydro electric and wind generation, which is as clean as it gets.

@kingprone7846

9 жыл бұрын

;) your anger amuses me. did i hit a sore spot?

@kingprone7846

9 жыл бұрын

i know what you mean about that its not a classic hybrid which has the battery only for acceleration and regeneration but that it can be driven in electric only mode. But it has a petrol engine. It's a hybrid. Electric/Gasoline hybrid.

@12voltvids

9 жыл бұрын

KingProne Your ignorance amazes me. It is an extended range electric. Allow me to explain the difference so you can understand. If you want to split hairs, hybrid stands for multiple fuel, however in a normal hybrid, a Toyota Prius, or Ford fusion for example, the gasoline engine is ALWAYS PART OF THE DRIVE LINE. If you stomp on the gas on any of those cars the gas engine will start, and it will propel the car. In the volt the gas engine is only used to generate electricity once the battery has been exhausted. If your drive is within the range of the battery, 60KM, (80KM for the 2016 model) then the engine will never start no matter how hard you drive it.It is classified as an EVER, electric vehicle, extended range. No different than the BMW i3 and the former Fisker Karma. You misinformed idiots do more harm than good. And to prove I am correct my insurance papers show it as an EV, not a gasoline electric hybrid. My wife's car is a conventional hybrid, and her paperwork shows the car as a gasoline/electric hybrid.It is all in the way the system is set up. They only way you can remotely use the term hybrid when describing the volt is because it has duel fuel but this is incorrect, and confuses the market, because people think prius, a car that is under powered, and not very fun to drive, and still burns gas, even on short trips. I went over 10,000 KM on a tank of gas last year. Try that in your prius, or diesel, or any other car that is not limited to being in range of a plug. You don't see me taking shots at Tesla, as it is a great car for those that never want to venture onto the twisty fun mountain roads that I enjoy so much. That car just wouldn't cut it for where I go all summer when I am on my month long cross country trip.

@kingprone7846

9 жыл бұрын

are you saying the volt only has a petrol generator range extender built in? So the petrol engine is not connected to the drive shaft?

With my 2018 volt I get 1800 kms per tank driving 134 kms daily. I leave it in low all the time. My car also has the paddle which regens harder. There is no harm leaving the car in low and you’ll always be ready to slow down with regen.