Any advise on Volt ownership?

Hi folks – I just signed a deal on a 2018 Volt. This is my first time venturing into the plug-in/hybrid space and I know there are forum members who have Volt experience.  Any lessons learned for this newbie?

 I live in Ottawa, Ontario and this car will be my daily driver. In the winter we often get several feet of snow and many below zero F temperatures here. The car will be outside all the time, either at work in an open parking lot or at home in a car port. So it will be always be exposed to the elements.

I haven’t selected a Level 2 charging unit yet – let me know if you have good or bad experiences.  Any other advise will be appreciated.

Thanks, Paul

Not a Volt owner, but spent a couple years with a Leaf. I never bothered installing the L2 charger we bought. Which I should really sell. I don't think we ever started a day without a full charge after leaving it on the standard 110V charger overnight.

Shouldn't be too hard to find out how long it takes to charge the Volt on each type; I'd assume it's got a smaller battery than the Leaf because of the hybrid arrangement; 110V might be even less of a hindrance to a full charge, and certainly less vital to start each day fully charged.

I have a Gen 1 Volt and love the little beast. You don't need to do anything other than plug it in at night and drive it like a normal car. Mine also charges overnight though the early cars like mine have less range. If I were you I'd give it at try on 110V and see how it goes. My car is sensitive to tire pressure and will gain or lose a couple miles of electric range if the tires aren't kept at proper pressures. Driving in sport mode destroys range but it's fun. 

The seat heaters use less power than the cabin heater so the more you can do to keep yourself warm with them the better. The battery has it's own heaters and circulation pumps that keep it a good temperature, and you can dive into the menus to have the car heat itself up at a certain time of the day using shore power. It still uses electricity, but that way you get into a warm car in the morning that still has full range. 

I also have a Gen 1 Volt and love it.

Given your climate and outside parking, you want the Level 2 charger so you can precondition the car on the charger. The 110v can't supply enough juice to heat the car on a winter morning without also dipping into the battery, which has you driving off in the morning with less than a full charge.

In my experience, when the outside temp gets below ~45F, range really takes a hit from the car having to run the heater. When it's below 35 degrees F, the gas engine will start because it's more efficient to heat the car with the engine than eating up the battery at those temperatures.

On the 220V charger, you can charge from empty in about four hours. 110/12 amp takes about 8, and 110/8 amp takes about 12.

As for L2 setups, go with Clipper Creek. Best in the biz right now, and can be had fairly cheap. Enjoy the Volt!

Oh, and use Hold mode for highway driving so you can save battery power for surface streets and increase the fuel efficiency of the generator.

I really want one of these cars for some reason. Make a three row version and I might consider buying one used.

Its one hybrid/electric that I have not heard anyone say bad things about that owns them. My boss owns a Tesla (2 actually) one model S and one model X. He is not an enthusiast driver but goes through a set of tires a year on it and the size/cost of the OEM tires is ridiculous.

He's essentially paying more in tires than he saves driving an electric car for a year (like 1500-2k)

In reply to Jaynen :

He must drive like a total hoon to go through tires like that. Methinks he'd have the same problem no matter what he was driving.

mazdeuce said:

The seat heaters use less power than the cabin heater so the more you can do to keep yourself warm with them the better. 

Chevy branded snuggie?

ascott said:

In reply to Jaynen :

He must drive like a total hoon to go through tires like that. Methinks he'd have the same problem no matter what he was driving.

 

Yeah it's weird but he's like the least likely to hoon guy ever