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

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New blog: Responsibility of Journalism and how the Drudgereport is negatively influencing the Volt

http://voltowner.blogspot.com/2012/03/responsibility-in-journalism.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
In today's Sunday paper (San Diego Union-Trib), a local dealer was advertising the Volt @ $2000 under MSRP, plus 0% financing. I parked next to a red Volt this afternoon in Rancho Bernardo. That surely is a pretty looking vehicle. Too bad it has an internal combustion engine. :(
 
derkraut said:
In today's Sunday paper (San Diego Union-Trib), a local dealer was advertising the Volt @ $2000 under MSRP, plus 0% financing. I parked next to a red Volt this afternoon in Rancho Bernardo. That surely is a pretty looking vehicle. Too bad it has an internal combustion engine. :(

Love my red volt -- its a really nice color red.

Just because you have something does not mean you have to use it. Have you used your spare tire frequently? Your life insurance?. Plent of Volt owners, including me, are EV for just about everything except long trips.. trips too far for a leaf where you'd need to use another ice (which might be less than 40mpg on the highway anyhow.) For me the occasional ICE usage (even for the Stupid ERDTLT) is more than made up for in the combination of EV for commute + decent MPG for trips. Compared to my wife's outback, the volt is way better on road trips. If I bought a Leaf I'd have used almost 10 more gallons of gas in the time I've had the Volt as I would have to used 60 gallons in the outback for my ~1600 miles of road trips. My Volt however has used only 42.
 
DrInnovation said:
Just because you have something does not mean you have to use it. Have you used your spare tire frequently? . . . . . . . . snip
Very true . . . but I couldn't afford a spare tire if it cost $40K (just kiddn' :D ).
Question about your signature:
Loving my 2011 Chevy Volt, mostly on EV averaging @30kw/100m ......
Shouldn't that be 30kWh per 100 miles ?
 
hill said:
DrInnovation said:
Just because you have something does not mean you have to use it. Have you used your spare tire frequently? . . . . . . . . snip
Very true . . . but I couldn't afford a spare tire if it cost $40K (just kiddn' :D ).
Question about your signature:
Loving my 2011 Chevy Volt, mostly on EV averaging @30kw/100m ......
Shouldn't that be 30kWh per 100 miles ?

Its not the cost of the spare, it the saving and convenience it give you. And with rebates, under MSRP and such my 43MSRP car cost me just under 30K, not even counting my trade-in. A leaf would have been just a little less though they were not not available in CO either and were farther away to drive/buy.

Thanks on the sig.. added the h and corrected w-W
 
Looks like someone is going to use the drive system in another car, SUV, CUV

and build what chevy could have built

a 5 passenger CUV Volt


doubt they would try to go smaller and lighter, but maybe :?:
 
So so very sad (wife is worse) :cry: , the Volt she ordered at the beginning of February got pushed back to May production. GM, why oh why produce more than market and yet leave true orders off the way-side. Lets hope my wife car last that long...serious issue it won't. No clue what we will do if it does. Curse you GM. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
 
Pipcecil said:
So so very sad (wife is worse) :cry: , the Volt she ordered at the beginning of February got pushed back to May production. GM, why oh why produce more than market and yet leave true orders off the way-side. Lets hope my wife car last that long...serious issue it won't. No clue what we will do if it does. Curse you GM. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Why don't you just buy one off of the lot?
 
cdub said:
Pipcecil said:
So so very sad (wife is worse) :cry: , the Volt she ordered at the beginning of February got pushed back to May production. GM, why oh why produce more than market and yet leave true orders off the way-side. Lets hope my wife car last that long...serious issue it won't. No clue what we will do if it does. Curse you GM. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Why don't you just buy one off of the lot?

*Sigh* I wish it was that easy. No one carries her colors (red car with black/white interior) most, as she says, carry boring black, white or silver cars. But the one thing she refuses to budge on - a MyLink radio, which only started production after GM retooled the plant in January. You can't find one anywhere. So its waiting longer than we though...bleh :(
 
http://green.autoblog.com/2012/03/0...ate-change-denying-heartland-institute-stirs/

Note the comments from Volt 'wanna-bees'...This is gonna leave a mark...

http://forecastthefacts.org/stories/gm_heartland/
Am seriously interested in purchasing a Chevy Volt, BUT will absolutely NOT buy one if if GM continues to fund climate change deniers.
Tim, San Antonio, TX
I received a quote for the Volt last Friday, and was working with my bank for financing. I now see that you guys have not learned anything and Lutz's "global warming is a crock of shi@" midset is still very alive at GM. I will buy a Leaf. I feel sorry for your sales reps, but I cannot in good conscience purchase from GM.
Kate, Vienna, VA
 
AndyH said:
http://green.autoblog.com/2012/03/0...ate-change-denying-heartland-institute-stirs/

Note the comments from Volt 'wanna-bees'...This is gonna leave a mark...

http://forecastthefacts.org/stories/gm_heartland/
Am seriously interested in purchasing a Chevy Volt, BUT will absolutely NOT buy one if if GM continues to fund climate change deniers.
Tim, San Antonio, TX
Looks like GM is listening.
http://green.autoblog.com/2012/03/09/gm-akerson-review-gm-foundations-funding-heartland-institute/
Daniel Souweine, the director of Forecast the Facts issued a statement that said:
We are encouraged that CEO Dan Akerson has committed to review GM's funding of the Heartland Institute. We hope that review leads to the result that more than 10,000 GM owners have been asking for: a public commitment by GM to stop funding Heartland immediately.
 
Pipcecil said:
cdub said:
Pipcecil said:
So so very sad (wife is worse) :cry: , the Volt she ordered at the beginning of February got pushed back to May production. GM, why oh why produce more than market and yet leave true orders off the way-side. Lets hope my wife car last that long...serious issue it won't. No clue what we will do if it does. Curse you GM. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
Why don't you just buy one off of the lot?
*Sigh* I wish it was that easy. No one carries her colors (red car with black/white interior) most, as she says, carry boring black, white or silver cars. But the one thing she refuses to budge on - a MyLink radio, which only started production after GM retooled the plant in January. You can't find one anywhere. So its waiting longer than we though...bleh :(
BTW, they seem to still be cranking them out.
GM-has-sent-1236-Volts-to-the-paint-shack-this-past-week!
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?12233-GM-has-sent-1236-Volts-to-the-paint-shack-this-past-week" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;!
 
My 2011 Volt with the famous 2011 software update which happened in the Fall when range was dropping anyway and people were concerned about it. Today it was 64F on my way to an event and I got 48.7 electric miles on the battery. No climate controls needed because of temp. 35-45 MPH with a lot of stoplight (which I don't think were good - stop/start acceleration kW usage)

Notice that my ICE/gas_generator mileage was pretty good as well. 39.7miles / 0.79 gal of gas = 50 MPGused. Yes, the ICE stopped/started multiple times.

Lifetime%2BAlqanqin%2BCIMG5527%2B%2528Medium%2529.JPG
 
http://climatecrocks.com/2012/03/12/gun-rack-on-chevy-volt-yes-we-can/

One thing Climate deniers seem to hate even more than a black president is the electric hybrid Chevy Volt. Newt Gingrich put his finger on the anxiety of a particular slice of his demographic when he recently told an audience, “You can’t put a gun rack in a Chevy Volt.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK0ieX9mHr4[/youtube]

edit...sorry for the duplicate video - palmermd posted the youtube clip on 21 Feb.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=175904#p175904
 
LOL Andy! On an unrelated note, here is BMW's official response the thestreet.com article published earlier today:

http://www.bmwblog.com/2012/03/13/the-bmw-volt/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=mynissanleaf.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Hard to believe that this muddled and contradictory post is an official response. If it is, we can only hope that the engineering is a lot better than the spinning.

My jaw went to the floor on this one: "The software was redesigned to not regenerate power by braking, it would only run on the power in the batteries until it was low enough that the generator (ICE) was needed. Many of the engineers on the Voltec project felt betrayed by GMs motive to change what was already a completed and perfected vehicle. It was shortly there after the head of the project (Frank Weber) decided to take his expertise and leave for BMW. This makes a great deal of sense given the Volt was using technology designed and funded by the BMW GM Daimler/Chrysler partnership."

The Volt doesn't have regen? Frank Weber left shortly after the car was designed? (The car was designed in 2006-2007 and he left in 2011). And he left for BMW because he was unhappy that GM was using technology funded in part by BMW? Hard to know when to stop laughing. In truth there was a group of engineers who wanted to do a parallel hybrid not an EREV. They were overruled by Lutz and Lauckner who wanted to do an EREV. Good call! Apparently Frank Weber wasn't a parallel hybrid devotee. He joined the team after that decision had been made.

Nothing against the i8, and it does have a different setup than the Volt, but, after GM has produced an EREV that costs $40K, producing one that costs $140K, even with a much faster 0-60 time, just doesn't seem special. The Fisker Karma is RWD and by the time the i8 shows up Fisker should be able to meet or beat the performance of the i8, assuming it's still around of course.
 
SanDust said:
The Volt doesn't have regen? Frank Weber left shortly after the car was designed? (The car was designed in 2006-2007 and he left in 2011). And he left for BMW because he was unhappy that GM was using technology funded in part by BMW? Hard to know when to stop laughing.
Yeah - those 2 statements pretty much killed most of the credibility of the blog post.
 
SanDust said:
Hard to believe that this muddled and contradictory post is an official response. If it is, we can only hope that the engineering is a lot better than the spinning.

My jaw went to the floor on this one: "The software was redesigned to not regenerate power by braking, it would only run on the power in the batteries until it was low enough that the generator (ICE) was needed. Many of the engineers on the Voltec project felt betrayed by GMs motive to change what was already a completed and perfected vehicle. It was shortly there after the head of the project (Frank Weber) decided to take his expertise and leave for BMW. This makes a great deal of sense given the Volt was using technology designed and funded by the BMW GM Daimler/Chrysler partnership."

The Volt doesn't have regen? Frank Weber left shortly after the car was designed? (The car was designed in 2006-2007 and he left in 2011). And he left for BMW because he was unhappy that GM was using technology funded in part by BMW? Hard to know when to stop laughing. In truth there was a group of engineers who wanted to do a parallel hybrid not an EREV. They were overruled by Lutz and Lauckner who wanted to do an EREV. Good call! Apparently Frank Weber wasn't a parallel hybrid devotee. He joined the team after that decision had been made.

Nothing against the i8, and it does have a different setup than the Volt, but, after GM has produced an EREV that costs $40K, producing one that costs $140K, even with a much faster 0-60 time, just doesn't seem special. The Fisker Karma is RWD and by the time the i8 shows up Fisker should be able to meet or beat the performance of the i8, assuming it's still around of course.

Excellent points to that article.

My post on the Volt's launch date 2010/11/30. Listen to it directly in the MP3 below!!!

From: http://gm-volt.com/2010/11/30/the-volt-has-launched-first-consumer-build-being-auctioned-online/
The Volt Has Launched: First Consumer Build Being Auctioned Online
As a surprise the father of the Volt, former GM vice chairman Bob Lutz, came out and gave closing remarks.
...
Lutz complimented Jon Lauckner, who also attended, the former GM VP who actually advised adding the range extender as opposed to the pure electric model Lutz initial envisioned. Lauckner had to push the GM board to allow the car to be produced, something they were initially against.
Interview Lyle had with Bob Lutz. I listened to it last night... historic to hear the words directly from back then and understanding their meaning today.

MP3 interview: http://gm-volt.com/files/dennislutz.mp3

Related blogs:
http://gm-volt.com/2010/04/26/bob-lutz-on-how-the-chevy-volt-was-born/
http://gm-volt.com/2010/04/27/bob-lutz-on-chevy-volt-production-and-demand/
http://gm-volt.com/2010/05/03/bob-lutz-on-chevy-volt-pricing/
 
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