Just raced with a Chevy Volt

[TomT]

I must be driving in the wrong places. In 2,500 miles I have only had one person pay it any attention...

I do notice people looking at my LEAF almost every time I drive it (staring or pointing). No later than this morning, a woman driving a Versa passed me on 101 and when I looked at her when she was at my side she gave me a big smile and a thumbs up

 

[daniel]

I wouldn't get any of those giant EV emblems on my car. Not that I don't want to advocate EV but I don't want to get attention from a redneck EV hater who'd be more than happy to scratch the side a "tree huger" car's when it's parked on the street. I only want attention from those who know how to recognize a LEAF.

What really surprises me about driving the Xebra (which says "ELECTRIC" on both sides, and "ALL ELECTRIC ALL THE TIME" on the back) is the almost complete lack of any negative attention. I've gotten the thumbs-up from rednecks in pickup trucks and smiles from people in SUVs, not to mention all the kids who shout "Cool car!" though the kids might be reacting to the missing front wheel. In 4 years I think 3 people have said something disparaging. Of course, they all (except the kids) claim that the car would not work for them because of its speed or its range or its size. But they love the idea that I'm not burning gas. The people who hate tree-huggers hate Arabs even more. :? And at worst, they figure if I'm not burning gas then there's more for them. :roll:

 

[TRONZ]

I have identified three Volts in my area (light blue, silver, grey) Just got done being followed around half of Aliso Viejo by the light blue one. She even followed me into our parking lot but then just drove off. She knows where I live I guess. Interesting.

 

[gascant]

I've seen 3 Volts now while traveling around on the highways of the SF Bay Area. In all three cases, the drivers seemed to oblivious to my attempts to get their attention and give them a thumbs up.

 

[bowthom]

Hello,
I had my first "what kinda car is that" question when I was running errands yesterday. Later at Mt Tabor a bicyclist asked "how do you like your Leaf" as I was parking. I said "you wanna peddle ahead of it and take a pic, better than Lance" :lol:

 

[TRONZ]

Yaaaaayyyyy! Not only spotted my first LEAF in the wild but two of them in one day! We went up to Santa Monica yesterday and my wife spotted it first (ratz, she wins), a red (SL?) on Main St near Hollister. Then later a Silver SL parked near 3rd and Wilshire. Glad that's over!

 

[GeekEV]

I must be driving in the wrong places. In 2,500 miles I have only had one person pay it any attention...

Yeah, I've only had two people recognize it in 3,000 miles...

Yaaaaayyyyy! Not only spotted my first LEAF in the wild but two of them in one day! We went up to Santa Monica yesterday and my wife spotted it first (ratz, she wins), a red (SL?) on Main St near Hollister. Then later a Silver SL parked near 3rd and Wilshire. Glad that's over!

I just saw my first "wild" LEAF the other day. I know there are several in town, but I *know* who they are through our local meets. This was one I didn't recognize...

 

[SuperGrover]

That huge lead-acid battery under the hood surely could be replaced with a lighter AGM battery as well.

Sacrilege! Sacrilege I say! Lithium or nothing! :lol:

I thought you might find this forum posting interesting, a DIY A123 based pack to replace the lead acid battery:

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-f/453774-what-you-guys-think-of-my-3-5-pound-battery.html

Someone should really commercialize a Li-Ion based 12 volt battery replacement.

 

[Ready2plugin]

I've been having people ask me about my LEAF on almost a daily basis. I've had kids even yell from the sidewalks..."hey...look there's a LEAF!". I had another person flip a U-Turn at the parking lot at my gym, got out and spent about 5 minutes walking around my car. Being noticed so far has not been a problem.

 

[aqn]

Volt Vs the Leaf! Whose gonna win once these two get the most on a quarter mile? I love to see this cars match against each other but I prefer having the Volt

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Road_tests#Road_tests

 

[LEAFfan]

Volt Vs the Leaf! Whose gonna win once these two get the most on a quarter mile? I love to see this cars match against each other but I prefer having the Volt

Your sig says "Bring in the Electrics" but yet you say you prefer having the Volt? The Volt is a PHEV, not an EV. If it were classified as an electric, you could get a BIG reduction on your registration fees here and be able to use the HOV with a blue plate. Since it's a PHEV, it doesn't qualify for either one.

 

[scottf200]

Your sig says "Bring in the Electrics" but yet you say you prefer having the Volt? The Volt is a PHEV, not an EV. If it were classified as an electric, you could get a BIG reduction on your registration fees here and be able to use the HOV with a blue plate. Since it's a PHEV, it doesn't qualify for either one.

On top of this they get the same rebates and incentives that only the true EV believers should be getting... I do not think it's fair. To me as long as it has a gas tank it's not an electric car.

"The Volt is a <blank> not an EV" / "true EV believers" - amazes me to read such high and mightiness <grin/frown>.

The rebates/etc seems perfectly fair to many of us Volt owners. Many of us mainly drive electric.
My last month has been 97.9% electric.
My last 2 weeks has been 99.8% electric.

The cars stated goal is to drive electric and even when running using the gas generator it does NOT recharge the battery ... it only keeps a buffer to propel the car. To that point they designed it to charge at home off the grid where it is cheaper and more enviro friendly.

The LEAF and the Volt have essentially put the world on notice that the it can be done ... love to see all the interest in electric vehicles now from all manufacturer big and small. A rising tide raises all boats folks.

 

[LEAFfan]

The cars stated goal is to drive electric and even when running using the gas generator it does NOT recharge the battery ... it only keeps a buffer to propel the car. A rising tide raises all boats folks.

That's great for you, but how many actually do that? It reminds me of when many people bought huge SUVs and added very small propane tanks so they could get their SUV for half price or so and drive in the HOV lanes. How many of those drivers do you think actually used propane when it would only take them a few miles? And why do people keep calling it a 'gas generator' when it is a premium gasoline engine that drives the wheels under some conditions, not including when out of juice?
A rising tide may raise all boats, but some of those may not rise because of leaks.

 

[planet4ever]

The cars stated goal is to drive electric and even when running using the gas generator it does NOT recharge the battery

That's great for you, but how many actually do that?

Most, I suspect. If I needed to have one car that could reliably travel more than 80 miles without charging, I would pick a Volt, because I want to drive electric as much as possible. If I just wanted a hybrid I would pick a Prius, not a Volt. If I just wanted a GM car about the size of a Volt (yes, there are many people who will only drive GM vehicles), I would pick a Cruze, not a Volt. Really, the only logical reason to pick a Volt is if your goal is to drive electric as much as possible, while not being range-limited.

I welcome Volt drivers as part of the movement to reduce our dependence on gasoline.

Ray

 

[hodad66]

@Ray, thanks for the level headed answer. In today's world one needs to
have an all-inclusive viewpoint. I stay away from zealots whether they be
political, religious or EV.

@Leaffan, There is a site that tracks the onstar data of those who sign up.
Check out the real life stats of those driving a Volt.

https://www.voltstats.net/

Happy electric motoring to all. BTW How many grandparents got tortured
or killed by Japanese soldiers? My GF's mom won't buy a Japanese vehicle
.... her husband saw way too much horror in WWII to forgive and forget.

Me? my cars have been international in nature; German, Italian, British,
Korean, Japanese. Currently American and my electric percentage is 87.2%

 

[scottf200]

Re: https://www.voltstats.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Warning this contains various drivers like myself that bought the vehicle out of state so looking at the "last month" states would be more accurate. I drove it from NY to IL as an example. Of course, I regularly hear about folks taking their Volt on vacations charging at hotels, etc when it works out otherwise getting 40+MPG when running on the gas generator.

And why do people keep calling it a 'gas generator' when it is a premium gasoline engine that drives the wheels under some conditions, not including when out of juice?

I see my previous post about high 90's running on electricity pains you "some". I consider myself an EV driver.

It generates electricity. Runs on premium because the gas generator was tuned for it, it is more efficient, and stays more stable. The gas tank is steel and pressurized because many folks hardly even use gas and they need to keep it stable longer. They car tracks the gas stability/time. Think about it. It was a unique new set of problems they had to overcome.

Various explanations how the car uses electricity to move here (3rd video is very cool IMHO):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an-VyIau-FM[/youtube]
.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=343-NQKOvLg[/youtube]
.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWSK8BR6LT8[/youtube]

 

[Herm]

The Volt can also use regular.. dont forget GM murdered the EV1, they will probably issue a Volt suicide command over OnStar soon, you will see how well it will run with all the software erased..

 

[gbarry42]

I watched those videos some time ago, and was impressed at how much analysis GM put into the efficiency of the thing. I was convinced that nothing could touch HSD (Hybrid Synergy Drive) without violating patents, but they appear to have come up with a similar scheme (still a bit more complicated, though).

My take on the Volt, which I'll repeat from time to time, is that if people think it's an electric vehicle, then fine. Actually electrifying transportation is a good thing, but it is the mindset of the people that we are trying to change.