I think I asked about the Volt before but it was years ago. It's come up on my radar again. If you have one or have had one, please school me on operating costs.
My usage would be as follows: Average 3x/week commuting 50 miles each way. I have access to free charging at work. Commute is 50% rural 4 lane road with scattered traffic lights (with sometimes heavy traffic) and 50% highway. Afternoon ride home is Atlanta rush hour. Also 2-3 runs per month too/from the airport with the exact same distance and roads. Then add in misc errands, etc...
Tell me about fuel usage, consumables, maintenance, known weak spots, etc.... I'd like to spend less than $8k, so I'm looking at an early one. I'm aware of premium fuel requirements and lack of "hold" feature.
Plug me in to Volt life.
I have always been interested in the Chevy Volt. What made it not right for my usage profile was the lack of rear legroom and the obtrusive rear center console that makes it a 4 seater. My belief is that center tunnel is the battery pack. But, as a one or two person commuter, especially with free office charging, they seem like a wise choice.
My dream candidate would be a high mile example with some proof of a warranty battery replacement. The high miles really doesn't factor on the gas engine because so many users drive the cars in electric only. Hearing stories of buying gas just a few times a year is not uncommon. If a tank of gas goes 400 miles and only two fill ups that could mean that the gas engine only ran 800 miles for the year while the odometer racked up 12,000 miles in the same year.
The fresher battery then ensures that the 12,000 miles per year on electric has been replenished.
I don't think they do, but it sure would be nice if the Volt had an dual hour meter, one for gas and one for electric. The odometer doesn't tell the whole story of how much the gas engine has been run or how much the electric has been used.
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
To know how much you'd be paying to operate it versus gas, we need to know how much you pay for power and when you intend to charge it. Your utility might have different rates at night, like mine.
GIRTHQUAKE said:
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
To know how much you'd be paying to operate it versus gas, we need to know how much you pay for power and when you intend to charge it. Your utility might have different rates at night, like mine.
Good point. I'm not totally sure, I really am just looking for average numbers anyway. As long as it's in the ballpark that's all I need.
NickD
MegaDork
5/13/23 11:03 a.m.
GM tech here, the Volt seems to pretty solidly engineered, we rarely see them in for any more than basic maintenance. I really liked the Volt setup, I believe it's called an Extended-Range EV, but sadly it seems like EREVs are considered an evolutionary dead end by and large.
Isn't the Cadillac ELR a 2 door Volt? IIRC, the prices on those are super low and could be a great way for you to get the drivetrain with low miles.
NickD
MegaDork
5/13/23 11:14 a.m.
Javelin said:
Isn't the Cadillac ELR a 2 door Volt? IIRC, the prices on those are super low and could be a great way for you to get the drivetrain with low miles.
Yes, the ELR is the Volt with really cool 2-door fastback bodywork and a swankier interior. I think they're super cool, and they're really rare actually. I think they could be a future cult collectible.
Opti
SuperDork
5/13/23 11:50 a.m.
We had a second gen.
I think we put 120k miles on it. Got it new, just recently replaced it with standard mid size SUV mom mobile.
Wife liked it initially, as it went on she was less enthused by it. She would rarely put gas in it, when we moved farther away from her work, she could get to work and almost back on electric. We have cheap energy and didn't really notice a difference on our energy bill. It's gone up since then might notice now.
Things we didn't like. Interior room seemed bad for the size of the car, especially the rear seats and door opening. Does not baby well because of the rear room. It chewed through 12 volt batteries. We only get actual cold weather a couple times a year, and she didn't have charging at work. It seemed like everytime she left it outside and it was under freezing it would kill the battery. Gas tank is too small when charging is unavailable, we took it on a bunch of trips and the shorter range on gas was aggravating. On gas fuel economy wasn't that impressive, we generally got mid 30s, others have reported much better, so not sure why ours was bad, we kept LRR tires on it and it was aligned regularly. We were also turned off by an aging higher mileage electric platform that GM had abandoned
Maintenance was cheap, the first handful of times it went in for service there was some updates or recall they had to do. When it did need work it was a huge pain in the ass to get it done. Only one guy worked on the volts at our local dealer, so long waits and turn around times was common. IIRC it has some evap and egr problems and the washer pump died. Outside of that it was just maintenance.
It also depreciated like a rock. We paid 38k (IIRC, but did get the nice tax credit) When we paid it off (early with about 70k miles) they were going for 6-10k we waited about a year and they had jumped to 20 or 30k during the COVID craziness. Wife saw the viral story about the girl that bought a 1st gen, it needed a battery shortly after and was quoted 32k, and she said let's get out while they are up.
I have mixed feelings about them. I think they work for a bunch of people, but not for us. It did make a bunch of passes at the drag strip and I do remember that fondly.
BAMF
HalfDork
5/14/23 8:36 a.m.
I have owned my 2013 for 8 years. I bought it as a 2 year old car with 29k miles. I'm now at 142k miles.
When I bought it my morning commute was either:
- 14 miles to daycare then 20 miles to work
- 14 miles to daycare then 55 miles to work at our rural location
Evening was the reverse of morning. After getting home I had a 15 mile drive to the university where I was doing a master's program a couple nights a week.
I had access to charging at all stopping points, with work being free to me. Most days my drive was 100% electric, but a couple days a week I used gas for about ⅓ off the round trip. For my ownership gas for the 35-40 mile range has cost 3-4x the electricity to charge the battery.
There were a couple recalls and TSBs that were handled by GM in the first couple years.
My maintenance has consisted primarily of:
- Tires
- oil changes about every 40k miles
My repairs have been:
- Charge port
- Engine radiator (did the battery one too because it had to come out)
- CV axles
- Front wheel bearings/hubs
I am now chasing down a shake that occurs in weird conditions, and that I believe to be motor/trans mount.
A coworker has a 2014 model with ~200k miles that is also going strong.
2013 is when hold mode first came out, and it seems a lot of the initial issues Volts had were resolved by then.
We have had two Volts, a 2012 and the current 2018. We got the newer one when the 2012 was written off in an accident. Both were trouble free and easily the cheapest cars to run that I've ever encountered. We bought both used as 3 year old lease returns, both with low mileage, both for about half of new price. Neither has experienced any battery degradation. As cars, they are unremarkable, but as transportation appliances they are really, really good. They are quiet and comfortable on long trips, and I heartily recommend them.
BAMF
HalfDork
5/14/23 5:56 p.m.
NickD said:
Javelin said:
Isn't the Cadillac ELR a 2 door Volt? IIRC, the prices on those are super low and could be a great way for you to get the drivetrain with low miles.
Yes, the ELR is the Volt with really cool 2-door fastback bodywork and a swankier interior. I think they're super cool, and they're really rare actually. I think they could be a future cult collectible.
With only 2 model years and low volumes made, you could be right.
The 2016 models had Apple CarPlay (I think Android Auto too), and their prices seem to have already stabilized. The 2014 models seem to be stabilizing as well.
In addition to the body and interior differences they also have a different suspension, and a slightly faster 0-60 time than the Volt.
kb58
UltraDork
5/15/23 9:55 a.m.
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:
GIRTHQUAKE said:
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
To know how much you'd be paying to operate it versus gas, we need to know how much you pay for power and when you intend to charge it. Your utility might have different rates at night, like mine.
Good point. I'm not totally sure, I really am just looking for average numbers anyway. As long as it's in the ballpark that's all I need.
He's mentioning this because it can matter a great deal. Granted, in most areas, power is cheap and an EV will be cheaper to operator. But, if you live in certain areas (casting an eye toward the San Diego region...), power can be so expensive that it can end up costing the same to run an EV as a gas vehicle. Obviously other factors come in, like maintenance, new or used, reliability, etc, but it is a factor to check for.
