Gen 1 GM Volt Plug-In Hybrid (2011-2015)

[pkulak]

My guess is to take the regen up and down through discrete, sticky, steps. Like the Outlander PHEV. I'd prefer a kind of paddle brake, but I'll take this too: I'll just have to hammer a paddle 6 times every time I start the car. :mrgreen:

 

[LeftieBiker]

Paddles mentioned in the previous video (why the split?)

I'm guessing that they dial, er, paddle, the Regen up or down, rather than acting as the Regen actuators. They want you to be able to tell the buttons apart by feel, obviously. Not a great location from looking at that picture, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[scottf200]

Paddles mentioned in the previous video (why the split?)

I'm guessing that they dial, er, paddle, the Regen up or down, rather than acting as the Regen actuators. They want you to be able to tell the buttons apart by feel, obviously. Not a great location from looking at that picture, but maybe I'm wrong.

On the other side of the steering wheel there is just one paddle (ie. it is just was wide but not split).

Previous picture:

 

[adric22]

As Joseph had a coat of many colors, the Volt has a console of many buttons. OK, not buttons, touch sensitive areas, some of which I'm still not sure of after 15 months of ownership (mostly because I'm not the primary driver and it's not a real priority for me). I just this last week figured out the TP button was for setting the clock! I was genuinely ready for it spooling toilet paper from a concealed holder somewhere in the dash. :lol:

I don' think the Volt's console is ugly. But I do think it is very poorly organized. I also don't like the touch surface concept. It is too difficult to find the "button" you need when driving. It requires taking my eyes completely off the road while I find exactly the location and then visually guide my finger to the button since there is no tactile feedback on the console. I'd much prefer to have REAL buttons and also much fewer of them. I agree with what you said in that I still don't know what half of them even do.

 

[palmermd]

On the other side of the steering wheel there is just one paddle (ie. it is just was wide but not split).

Previous picture:

That top picture seems to show a paddle on the image bottom right side. The second image with the two buttons looks like a volume up/down set, or perhaps cruise control up/down. I've seen other cars with buttons there, just not GM for the most part. I guess it depends on where they source the steering wheel, and perhaps they changed vendors.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'm still thinking they are to adjust Regen, with the large single paddle to activate it as needed.

 

[palmermd]

I'm still thinking they are to adjust Regen, with the large single paddle to activate it as needed.

I agree, this is a more likely setup

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I just hope they didn't spend too much time fooling around with gadgets to address first world problems like brake buttons on the steering wheel at the expense of pushing the envelope on the real limitations of the car.

 

[DanCar]

I would prefer they spend their time on an SUV version.

 

[cwerdna]

I just hope they didn't spend too much time fooling around with gadgets to address first world problems like brake buttons on the steering wheel at the expense of pushing the envelope on the real limitations of the car.

Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like they bothered putting on a 6+ kW OBC on the next Volt. I remember seeing http://insideevs.com/2016-chevrolet-volt-gets-3-6-kw-charger/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; about the modest upgrade to 3.6 kW... :roll:

IMHO, a higher wattage OBC, even if optional, preferably standard would be a lot more helpful than the above "gadgets" since it'd enable much faster opportunity charging and allowing for faster EV space turnaround. I often shake my head when I start charging sessions for Volts at work and see how long (via Chargepoint's graphs) it takes for them to pick up ~10 kWh vs. my Leaf and any other 6+ kW OBC cars.

 

[JeremyW]

IMHO, a higher wattage OBC, even if optional, preferably standard would be a lot more helpful than the above "gadgets" since it'd enable much faster opportunity charging and allowing for faster EV space turnaround.

The lack of 6.6 kW charging is a deal breaker for me. Won't consider the '16 Volt at all.

 

[TomT]

It would certainly be nice but it is hardly a deal breaker for me... I can count on one hand all the times that 6Kw charging would have made any real difference in my use of the Leaf...
And to think it would speed up the turn around - and this applies to any EV or PHEV - is highly optimistic I believe. Most owners cars will still be sitting there long after the charging is done regardless...

The lack of 6.6 kW charging is a deal breaker for me. Won't consider the '16 Volt at all.

 

[cwerdna]

It would certainly be nice but it is hardly a deal breaker for me... I can count on one hand all the times that 6Kw charging would have made any real difference in my use of the Leaf...
And to think it would speed up the turn around - and this applies to any EV or PHEV - is highly optimistic I believe. Most owners cars will still be sitting there long after the charging is done regardless...

The lack of 6.6 kW charging is a deal breaker for me. Won't consider the '16 Volt at all.

At my work, sure people sit in the spots well after they're done for various reasons (e.g. nobody else pinging them for a charge, plenty of open EV spaces later in the day, parking garage too full so there's no places to move to w/o giving it to our parking valets, no reason to unnecessarily free up too many spaces, etc.) However, if they were actually done in about 1/2 the time, there would be more people we could ping to free up their spot, if needed to charge. And, the EVSEs would be far better utilized.

Also, it would help w/our current EV valets, which will probably go away when our new buildings are done. They can only so quickly turnaround cars w/the 6 J1772 handles they have. It sounds they sometimes have 16+ cars to charge. Cars w/3.x kW OBCs and somewhat large battery capacity (say 10+ kWh) are bottlenecks.

I use free public charging near my house sometimes and have used some free public charging at malls some of the time. I even did the former last night on the way home, while checking email and to ensure I'd make it home w/o a scare (was down to 13% SoC). It's sure nice to pick up juice almost twice as fast...

It's made a HUGE difference for me at work. I can start charging pretty late (say 4 or 5 pm) and pick up a ton of juice, often reaching 100% by the time I go home. By that point in the day, there's little demand for our self-serve EVSEs and our EV valets are often done before that time too. Doing this, I'm staying out of the way of people w/slower OBCs and/or who go home earlier.

In a few other cases, I've arrived @ work low and needed to charge to go somewhere in the middle of the day. An hour @ 6 kW is often enough to run that errand...

(I've also started sessions for '11 and '12 Leafs and observe they pull ~3.8 kW from the wall at 208 volts... vs. lame ~3.1 kW for Volts and Spark EVs.)

 

[JeremyW]

I currently only charge in public (usually across the street from my apartment) ever since management took my 120v outlet away. The charging stations are in a lot that charges by the hour. Obviously by the time I will replace my leaf I will have moved on to somewhere else with charging, but I still plan on using public L2 enough to justify it. Once you've had faster L2 charging, you don't want to go back!

 

[Deleted member 14724]

I currently only charge in public (usually across the street from my apartment) ever since management took my 120v outlet away. The charging stations are in a lot that charges by the hour. Obviously by the time I will replace my leaf I will have moved on to somewhere else with charging, but I still plan on using public L2 enough to justify it. Once you've had faster L2 charging, you don't want to go back!

I wonder if this will be so important with much higher capacity batteries, though. If you only need to charge overnight, it seems that almost any L2 will do.

 

[mkjayakumar]

I hate the volts with a puny 3.3kW chargers that take forever to charge their puny 16kWh batteries hogging the charging spots in our office the whole day.

 

[JeremyW]

I wonder if this will be so important with much higher capacity batteries, though. If you only need to charge overnight, it seems that almost any L2 will do.

Tesla thinks some will still want 4 hour charging with a big battery so they offer 20kW L2 as an option.

 

[smkettner]

It would certainly be nice but it is hardly a deal breaker for me... I can count on one hand all the times that 6Kw charging would have made any real difference in my use of the Leaf...
And to think it would speed up the turn around - and this applies to any EV or PHEV - is highly optimistic I believe. Most owners cars will still be sitting there long after the charging is done regardless...

The lack of 6.6 kW charging is a deal breaker for me. Won't consider the '16 Volt at all.

Call it charge anxiety.

 

[Deleted member 14724]

Tesla thinks some will still want 4 hour charging with a big battery so they offer 20kW L2 as an option.

I'm sure there will be some takers. I just wonder how many. Will it be a premium feature, like having 400hp, or will it be something normal?

 

[cwerdna]

Tesla thinks some will still want 4 hour charging with a big battery so they offer 20kW L2 as an option.

I'm sure there will be some takers. I just wonder how many. Will it be a premium feature, like having 400hp, or will it be something normal?

I don't know the percentages, but judging by "TMC", the number is definitely not 0.

Some Tesla owners seem to feel an irrational need to do upgrades to their home electrical system to accommodate a 100 amp breaker (80 amp load) because they think they'll need to actually charge that quickly at home.

That said, the Model S and other current Tesla-based vehicles have standard a 10 kW OBC. Unfortunately, most public L2 EVSEs are 30 amp max, so that means they pull ~6.2 kW to 7.2 kW from the wall, at max, most likely just the former since 208 volts is apparently common commercial power in the US. That's still a lot better than a wimpy 3.x kW OBC.