Posted on Wednesday, 18th March 2015 by Michael

Chevy Volt A year + later

Well it has been over a year now owning my Volt and I got to say I am very impressed. First I will start with some of the cons / annoyances.

  1. Engine light: This seems to come on for the oddest reasons and despite popular belief does not always turns it off after it checks to see if what tripped it is still happening. For example over this past winter I did not drive the volt much do to the subzero temps and snow. Each week I would let it run for a bit and then turn it off. One week it was 2 degrees and when I started it all drive modes were greyed out except normal however the battery did not show the gas tank did and the engine light turned on. Since then I have driven it a bunch and I am still getting between 55 to 62 miles without an issue. The code it is sending according to Onstar is issues with charging and that it should go away after the next charge, well each time I have had this issue I had to have the dealer reset it.
  2. It’s a video game: This issue is more with me do to ocd and trying to constantly push the 35 mile rated mile to over 50 + miles. I find myself constantly distracted and driving extremely conservative cause 50 is not enough for me I want the 60 +.
  3. No 5th seat: When I first bought this car I did not really think what if I was to have another kid, however with only a few days left before the new addition to our family is due to arrive I am starting to worry about this. We have two other vehicles that have 5 seats but neither is as fuel efficient as the volt.

Now for the pro’s

  1. The Battery: It is amazing how far you can push a battery that is rated for only 35 miles and only allows a fraction of the full battery to be used. I am constantly pushing over 50 miles with many trips hitting closer to the 60 mark and some over it. My max miles so fa has been 65 miles of all electric driving.
  2. Cost savings: My office is 156 miles away round trip for a total of approx. 780 miles a week. My FJ cruiser gets between 250 and 265 miles per fill up at a cost of between 55 to 65 dollars per fill. This means I was filling my tank a little over 3 times a week for a cost of 171 dollars per week and 686.40 a month.  My volt is averaging 600 to 700 miles per fill up (when I commute to work) and costs 1.30 per full recharge and 30 dollars per tank fill. My cost per week in electric is about 6.50 cents and at 600 miles per refill I am averaging 1 fill up a week. Total cost each week will be 39.50 and per month would be 158 dollars.
  3. The community: The volt community is huge and if you have any issue or need info they are more than welcoming.
  4. Design: The car looks and feels like a luxury car if you got the top end package fully loaded like I do. You get all the luxury and features at a fraction of the price of a gas luxury car.

Is the volt for me long term? Well unless I hit the lotto and I can buy a Tesla I would say yes! Though now with the volt 2.0 on the horizon and Bolt I may be looking to trade it in for one of its new family members.

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