MM Condensed Review: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
05-19-11, 07:55 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
MM Condensed Review: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
A Condensed-Review of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.
http://www.chevrolet.com/volt/
IN A NUTSHELL: Save your money, folks......this car, IMO, is not worth what it costs.
I got a chance to look at a couple of unlocked, floor-display Chevy Volts last January at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show, but because of the large crowds flocking in and around the Volt (the Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Hyundai Equus were three of the most popular displays there, despite the low Equus sales), I didn't get as much chance as I wanted to look it over carefully. But, even with just a brief cursory look at it on the floor, I wasn't very impressed with what you got for its price tag. And GM, from what I did not include the Volt on its test-drive circuit there at the show around the local city streets (You'll recall that I test-drove the new Kia Optima, Buick Regal, and Chevy Cruze there at the show, and later did full-reviews of them).
There is no denying the hype, though, that the Volt, as the American market's first production plug-in/extended-range-hybrid, is getting in the media and automotive press.....you would think that this car alone is enough to make us point our third-fingers skyward at the OPEC oil-ministers. The upcoming Volt was, with little doubt (though it can't be proved 100%) instrumental in getting President Obama and Congress to go along with the big government GM bailout a couple of years ago (together with UAW union-money). I, of course, was quite curious about this much-hyped car myself, as I usually am with all-new models, and I had on my review list. But, after what saw today at one of the local Chevy shops (there are many Chevy dealerships, of course, in my area), I was so unimpressed with the car's dollar-value that I decided not to spend a lot of time writing it up in detail, but just do a mini-review of it, a brief write-up of each section, and an explanation of why I did not recommend its purchase or lease.
The Volt is built on the same platform as its sister Chevy Cruze (see my recent Cruze review), which itself comes from a GM compact-car world-platform. Unlike the Cruze, it comes only in a five-door hatch rather than a four-door sedan. But, from there, the Volt is as different from the Cruze as Lindsay Lohan is from a nun. The styling, both outside and inside, is radically different. The Volt utilizes a 1.4L in-line 80 HP 4-cylinder for recharging the battery (the gas engine, apparantly, does not drive the front wheels directly) and an electric-drive motor with 150 HP and 253 ft-lbs. of torque...a fair amount of torque in a car this size. The electric motor drives the wheels through what GM calls a "1 Automatic", which does not require either conventional gear-ranges or a CVT drive-belt. The Volt, unlike typical gas-electric hybrids, has a plug-in power-cord which can plug into household 110V outlets, recharging the battery-pack overnight. (220V systems are available for quicker recharges, and 400V systems are coming in the future that may cut it down to 20-30 minutes). But be careful.....some house/garage fires have been reported from the Volt's charging system overloading household circuits). The Volt, on a full battery-charge, can run up to 40 miles on the electrics alone, without using any gas at all. (the one I drove today showed 15 miles left on the charge-meter). After that, the gas engine's generator cuts in and starts using some gas to recharge the battery. Or, you can simply stop and recharge the battery in any local plug-in outlet. Chevy and EPA calculate the gas engine's fuel-use at roughly 37 MPG, depending how much it cuts in and out, and up to 93 MPG if only the electrics are used. Complex math/chemistry/physics formulas are used to calculate the fossil-fuel-equivalent, in electrical-demand, that the Volt's plug-in recharging places on electric-power stations, and, of course, electricity is not free, either....one has to pay for it, and electricity at the stations is usually generated by either coal, oil, or nuclear power. Volt prices start at just over 40K (Ouch), and the car seemingly comes in only one trim level, with option packages. To get an idea of just how much money that really is for a car that size, one can buy TWO of its sister Cruzes for that price, and probably even more than that when you look at the base Cruze's 16-17K price and the tendency of Chevy dealers to charge an average of $3500-4500 mark-up for the Volt. Yes, there is $7500 Federal tax credit on the Volt, and, yes, the Volt qualifies for single-occupancy HOV lanes in some cities, but even with a big chunk of money like that back from Uncle Sam, with dealer mark-ups, you are still talking anywhere from 30-40K for a new Volt......an unreasonable sum, IMO, for a car like this, even considering the expensive components, state-of-the-art electronics, and the overall cost of production. I suspect that GM deliberately priced the car high knowing that the government would be subsidizing $7500 on each one. That $7500 tax-credit is often used as a selling point, but I simply don't see it as a bargain. Soon Toyota will unleash an extended-range, plug-in Hybrid that will compete with the Volt (right now, the Volt has no competition as an extended-range hybrid), and then let's see what happens to Volt (and extended-range Prius) pricing. Even conventional Hybrids like the Prius and Honda Civic hybrid cost enough more than their non-hybrid counterparts that, for that price, one could get a non-hybrid Corolla/Civic/Fit/Yaris and buy a LOT of gasoline for it. In addition, the Volt's gas engine, according to the Chevy specs, requires expensive premium gas....most small cars don't. Chevy is also about to introduce a new sub-compact Spark model, a conventional gas-engine car, that will have very high mileage and undercut even the Cruze's low price....it will compete with new subcompact and mini-car models from Suzuki, Scion, and Toyota.
The local Chevy shop I was at today had two Volts in stock....a silver demo and a new Crystal-Red one (an extra-cost color) and two-tone interior that had just come in yesterday (despite the price, it probably won't last long before it's sold)....it listed for $43,600. I looked both over carefully in a static-review, and took the silver one on a short test-drive...not long enough for a full-length review, but long enough to gauge the car's basic driving habits (it really doesn't drive much different from other small hybrids, so there isn't that much to say).
MODEL REVIEWED: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
BASE PRICE: $40,280
OPTIONS:
Premium Trim Package: $1395
Rear Camera Parking-Assist: $695
Crystal-Red Metallic Tintcoat Paint: $495
Front License-Plate Bracket (Required, of course, in many states): $15
DESTINATION/FREIGHT: $720
LIST PRICE AS REVIEWED: $43,600 (and, in most cases, there will be an additonal dealer markup)
DRIVETRAIN: FWD, Transverse-mounted 1.4L in-line-4 gas engine/generator, 80 HP (torque and RPMs not published), Electric-drive motor, 150 HP, Torque, 273
Ft-lbs., 16 KWH Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery pack, Standard 110V charging-cord, 1-Automatic (Yes, that's how Chevy labels the transmission)
EPA MILEAGE RATING: All-Electric: 93 MPG-Equivalant / Gas: 37 MPG.
EXTERIOR COLOR: Crystal Red Tintcoat Metallic
INTERIOR: Jet Black/Ceramic White Leather
EXTERIOR:
There is no comparing the Volt's exterior styling with that of any other Chevrolet product, although, like all Chevys, it has the signature front cross-bar and gold bow-tie (one of my favorite auto/logo emblems, BTW). The sheet metal seems solid, and the doors and hatch-lid close with a fairly solid thunk. The superb paint job on my test car was an extra-cost ($495) Crystal-Red-Metallic Tintcoat, done with gloss so smooth and slick it rivaled some Lexus paint jobs I've seen. There are no body-side mouldings to help ward off parking-lot nicks. A very low-hanging grayish-black air dam sticks down under the front bumper, and rides only a couple of inches off the ground.....just waiting to be damaged or torn off. The rear-end of the car was a rather awkward (IMO) step-up to the taillights, and impedes rear-vision slightly. There are turn-signals integrated into the side mirror housings, and, typical of GM products, the housings don't swivel or lock very smoothly. To Chevy's credit, both the right-rear gas-filler-door and the left-front flap-door for the recharging power-cord outlet lock for security......something you don't see on many domestically-designed vehicles.
UNDERHOOD:
Raise the fairly solid-feeling hood, and a manual prop-rod greets you instead of nice gas-struts or springs. I don't remember if there was an underhood insulation-pad, but, of course, the electric motor runs silently, and the gas engine isn't as noisy as GM in-line fours used to be. Under the hood, of course, things are rather crowded and tight.....a gas engine, electric motor, transmission, and all of the associated hardware are stuffed in. What's more, much of it is under those idiotic plastic covers, though it should be pointed out that in vehicles of this kind of mechanical and electrical complexity, few owners do their own work under the hood. Still, there are those owners who, even in complex hybrids, can (and should be able to do) relatively easy maintenence like oil-changes and filter-replacements. And, for that, the oil-dipstick, filler-cap, and fluid-reservoirs are generally easy
to reach.
INTERIOR:
I found the Volt's interior as Geeky as that of the Toyota Prius, except in a different sort of way, but, to its credit, Chevy uses far more-solid, better-quality interior materials for the Volt than is the case with the Prius. But, nevertheless, the Volt's interior is far from what I would call well-done or user-friendly. First, it is not all that space-efficient. For tall persons, there just adequate head/legroom in the front seat, and the rear seat, with the droop-roofline, very limited headroom, and extra-tight legroom, is best left for children or VERY small adults. In fact, the way the rear hatch-lid is mounted and hinged, a tall person in back (I'm 6' 2") has his head sticking up into the hatch-glass instead of the roofline. The seat leather seems fairly nice-grade, and the front seats fairly comfortable. But the seat-adjusters are manual-levers instead of power-motors in this $40,000-plus car....perhaps to keep the power-drain down on the battery-pack. The steering wheel is pretty much the same one used in the Cruze.....no complaints about it. The rear-door panels are cheaply-trimmed in monotone hard-plastic; the front ones had multi-tone gray-plastic inserts with embedded geometric images. The center-dash layout was absolutely horrendous...one of the worst I've seen. The big white dash-panel looked and felt like it was durable sheet-metal instead of plastic (which would be unusual), but the button/control layout was a nightmare. Several rows of white buttons and *****, with gray lettering, are printed against a white plastic/metal(?) background, making the set-up almost illegible without taking your eyes way off the road for a time. In the center of the panel, you stick your right hand forward into a tunnel to reach and operate the shift lever (what on Earth were the designers thinking?) The video-screen center-dash layout and gauge-panel in front of the steering wheel, with stereo/climate/primary-gauges/hybrid-instrumentation are overly-complex, full of colors, and looked like a mini-circus. The one good thing inside that I really liked was the superb stereo-sound quality. Too bad I didn't have any nice 80s Heavy-Metal or AC/DC hard-rock CDs with me, and ended up listening, on the regular stereo, to Boy George, of all people, singing "Karma Chameleon". But, nonetheless, the
stereo-sound was a real killer.
CARGO AREA/TRUNK:
Lift up the hatch-lid using the touch-sensor hatch-release (the hatch-lid hinges, as described, are way back, partly over the back-seat), and the cargo-area itself is fairly roomy too bad for a small hybrid. The hybrid battery-pack and tire-inflator-kit with built-in tire-gauge (there is no spare tire at all). Of course, the lithium-ion battery pack is one of the most advanced and state-of-the-art units in the world for automotive use, so one would expect it to be relatively space-efficient. The cargo area is fairly well-trimmed on the floor with a thin but soft-feeling grayish-black carpet, and the walls have a blackish hard-surface material. The rear seats, of course, fold down for added cargo space.
ON THE ROAD:
With your foot on the brake, hit the POWER button on the dash. After a couple of seconds while the computer checks everything out with a video-color show on the dash while setting up the electronics, either the full electric-mode will pop up if the battery-pack has sufficient charge, or the small gas engine will start if no reserve battery-power is detected. Reach your hand into the dash-tunnel and pull the automatic's lever back to either DRIVE or REVERSE, and you're on your way. On my Volt, the gauge showed 15 miles left on the full-electrics, so the gas-engine didn't run much. As such, the powertrain drove and acted much like that of the Toyota Prius in the full-electric mode, except for a longer period on the full-electric, and with substantially more torque. The transmission, as stated earlier, serves only the electric motor, has no conventional gears or driving-ranges and, for the most part, is simply forward, neutral, or reverse (though there does seem to be an artificial "Low" range from computer-programming somehow built in). I liked the fore-aft motion of the lever, though, even if you have to stick your hand into a tunnel to reach it....no annoying zig-zags.
Due to dealer-limitations, I didn't drive it as long as I would have liked to, over as many different road surfaces, as I would have liked for a full-review, but I got enough of a feel for it to tell that it drove more or less like other small, parallel-action hybrids. It had the usual hybrid-style reverse-thrust regenerative-brakes, and I would briefly describe the handling as more characteristic of Honda hybrids than Toyotas (meaning a lower-stance and less body-roll). The brake-pedal location/mount, fortunately, did not interfere much with my big Clod-Hopper size-15 shoe going from gas to brake pedal.
THE VERDICT:
Yes, this car gets en enormous amount of media-hype, and, together with the Prius, is one of the status-symbols of the Green environmentalist movement. But, for a number of reasons, my advice is to save your money, pass up the deal, and wait for either the factory-price to come down with more competition (such as from the upcoming extended-range Prius), or for dealer price-gouging to stop from the supply and demand. Don't try to keep up with the Jones's on this one, even if the Jones's have a Volt parked in their driveway or garage. It will cost you good money for a car that, IMO, simply is not worth that high price-tag....and the premium-fuel needed to run the gas engine. If you want a small hybrid, get a Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid for maybe 25-30K (I'd avoid the less-expensive but unimpressive Honda Insight). If you want to spend the kind of money for an economical hybrid that a Volt will cost (even after the Federal tax-credit), then go down the street to the Lexus dealer and consider a new CT200h. There are things about the CT I don't like (I covered them in my CT review), but at least you are getting a car that is closer to what it is actually worth than the Volt is......and, of course, with the CT, you are a Lexus customer, with all the perks of being one.
Now, that's not to ignore or dismiss the remarkable fuel-mileage that the Volt is capable of...far from it. No other currently-produced car in the American market built in significant numbers, outside of the pure-electric Nissan Leaf which doesn't use any gasoline at all, has the capability to stretch one's gas dollars like the Leaf. But then, even with the Volt, the gas engine has to be run a certain amount just to keep itself lubed and the fluids warm and circulating. A gas engine can't just sit idle all the time, even running on the pure-electrics, or it will deteriorate.
So, in a nutshell (as I stated at the top, when I opened this review), I simply don't think that this car, as presently marketed and priced, both at the factory and dealership-level, is worth the ultimate price it will likely take to get into one. I know that most of you work hard for your money, so my advice is to take those hard-earned automotive dollars and go spend them somewhere else.
And, as always.....Happy Car Shopping.
MM
http://www.chevrolet.com/volt/
IN A NUTSHELL: Save your money, folks......this car, IMO, is not worth what it costs.
I got a chance to look at a couple of unlocked, floor-display Chevy Volts last January at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show, but because of the large crowds flocking in and around the Volt (the Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Hyundai Equus were three of the most popular displays there, despite the low Equus sales), I didn't get as much chance as I wanted to look it over carefully. But, even with just a brief cursory look at it on the floor, I wasn't very impressed with what you got for its price tag. And GM, from what I did not include the Volt on its test-drive circuit there at the show around the local city streets (You'll recall that I test-drove the new Kia Optima, Buick Regal, and Chevy Cruze there at the show, and later did full-reviews of them).
There is no denying the hype, though, that the Volt, as the American market's first production plug-in/extended-range-hybrid, is getting in the media and automotive press.....you would think that this car alone is enough to make us point our third-fingers skyward at the OPEC oil-ministers. The upcoming Volt was, with little doubt (though it can't be proved 100%) instrumental in getting President Obama and Congress to go along with the big government GM bailout a couple of years ago (together with UAW union-money). I, of course, was quite curious about this much-hyped car myself, as I usually am with all-new models, and I had on my review list. But, after what saw today at one of the local Chevy shops (there are many Chevy dealerships, of course, in my area), I was so unimpressed with the car's dollar-value that I decided not to spend a lot of time writing it up in detail, but just do a mini-review of it, a brief write-up of each section, and an explanation of why I did not recommend its purchase or lease.
The Volt is built on the same platform as its sister Chevy Cruze (see my recent Cruze review), which itself comes from a GM compact-car world-platform. Unlike the Cruze, it comes only in a five-door hatch rather than a four-door sedan. But, from there, the Volt is as different from the Cruze as Lindsay Lohan is from a nun. The styling, both outside and inside, is radically different. The Volt utilizes a 1.4L in-line 80 HP 4-cylinder for recharging the battery (the gas engine, apparantly, does not drive the front wheels directly) and an electric-drive motor with 150 HP and 253 ft-lbs. of torque...a fair amount of torque in a car this size. The electric motor drives the wheels through what GM calls a "1 Automatic", which does not require either conventional gear-ranges or a CVT drive-belt. The Volt, unlike typical gas-electric hybrids, has a plug-in power-cord which can plug into household 110V outlets, recharging the battery-pack overnight. (220V systems are available for quicker recharges, and 400V systems are coming in the future that may cut it down to 20-30 minutes). But be careful.....some house/garage fires have been reported from the Volt's charging system overloading household circuits). The Volt, on a full battery-charge, can run up to 40 miles on the electrics alone, without using any gas at all. (the one I drove today showed 15 miles left on the charge-meter). After that, the gas engine's generator cuts in and starts using some gas to recharge the battery. Or, you can simply stop and recharge the battery in any local plug-in outlet. Chevy and EPA calculate the gas engine's fuel-use at roughly 37 MPG, depending how much it cuts in and out, and up to 93 MPG if only the electrics are used. Complex math/chemistry/physics formulas are used to calculate the fossil-fuel-equivalent, in electrical-demand, that the Volt's plug-in recharging places on electric-power stations, and, of course, electricity is not free, either....one has to pay for it, and electricity at the stations is usually generated by either coal, oil, or nuclear power. Volt prices start at just over 40K (Ouch), and the car seemingly comes in only one trim level, with option packages. To get an idea of just how much money that really is for a car that size, one can buy TWO of its sister Cruzes for that price, and probably even more than that when you look at the base Cruze's 16-17K price and the tendency of Chevy dealers to charge an average of $3500-4500 mark-up for the Volt. Yes, there is $7500 Federal tax credit on the Volt, and, yes, the Volt qualifies for single-occupancy HOV lanes in some cities, but even with a big chunk of money like that back from Uncle Sam, with dealer mark-ups, you are still talking anywhere from 30-40K for a new Volt......an unreasonable sum, IMO, for a car like this, even considering the expensive components, state-of-the-art electronics, and the overall cost of production. I suspect that GM deliberately priced the car high knowing that the government would be subsidizing $7500 on each one. That $7500 tax-credit is often used as a selling point, but I simply don't see it as a bargain. Soon Toyota will unleash an extended-range, plug-in Hybrid that will compete with the Volt (right now, the Volt has no competition as an extended-range hybrid), and then let's see what happens to Volt (and extended-range Prius) pricing. Even conventional Hybrids like the Prius and Honda Civic hybrid cost enough more than their non-hybrid counterparts that, for that price, one could get a non-hybrid Corolla/Civic/Fit/Yaris and buy a LOT of gasoline for it. In addition, the Volt's gas engine, according to the Chevy specs, requires expensive premium gas....most small cars don't. Chevy is also about to introduce a new sub-compact Spark model, a conventional gas-engine car, that will have very high mileage and undercut even the Cruze's low price....it will compete with new subcompact and mini-car models from Suzuki, Scion, and Toyota.
The local Chevy shop I was at today had two Volts in stock....a silver demo and a new Crystal-Red one (an extra-cost color) and two-tone interior that had just come in yesterday (despite the price, it probably won't last long before it's sold)....it listed for $43,600. I looked both over carefully in a static-review, and took the silver one on a short test-drive...not long enough for a full-length review, but long enough to gauge the car's basic driving habits (it really doesn't drive much different from other small hybrids, so there isn't that much to say).
MODEL REVIEWED: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
BASE PRICE: $40,280
OPTIONS:
Premium Trim Package: $1395
Rear Camera Parking-Assist: $695
Crystal-Red Metallic Tintcoat Paint: $495
Front License-Plate Bracket (Required, of course, in many states): $15
DESTINATION/FREIGHT: $720
LIST PRICE AS REVIEWED: $43,600 (and, in most cases, there will be an additonal dealer markup)
DRIVETRAIN: FWD, Transverse-mounted 1.4L in-line-4 gas engine/generator, 80 HP (torque and RPMs not published), Electric-drive motor, 150 HP, Torque, 273
Ft-lbs., 16 KWH Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery pack, Standard 110V charging-cord, 1-Automatic (Yes, that's how Chevy labels the transmission)
EPA MILEAGE RATING: All-Electric: 93 MPG-Equivalant / Gas: 37 MPG.
EXTERIOR COLOR: Crystal Red Tintcoat Metallic
INTERIOR: Jet Black/Ceramic White Leather
EXTERIOR:
There is no comparing the Volt's exterior styling with that of any other Chevrolet product, although, like all Chevys, it has the signature front cross-bar and gold bow-tie (one of my favorite auto/logo emblems, BTW). The sheet metal seems solid, and the doors and hatch-lid close with a fairly solid thunk. The superb paint job on my test car was an extra-cost ($495) Crystal-Red-Metallic Tintcoat, done with gloss so smooth and slick it rivaled some Lexus paint jobs I've seen. There are no body-side mouldings to help ward off parking-lot nicks. A very low-hanging grayish-black air dam sticks down under the front bumper, and rides only a couple of inches off the ground.....just waiting to be damaged or torn off. The rear-end of the car was a rather awkward (IMO) step-up to the taillights, and impedes rear-vision slightly. There are turn-signals integrated into the side mirror housings, and, typical of GM products, the housings don't swivel or lock very smoothly. To Chevy's credit, both the right-rear gas-filler-door and the left-front flap-door for the recharging power-cord outlet lock for security......something you don't see on many domestically-designed vehicles.
UNDERHOOD:
Raise the fairly solid-feeling hood, and a manual prop-rod greets you instead of nice gas-struts or springs. I don't remember if there was an underhood insulation-pad, but, of course, the electric motor runs silently, and the gas engine isn't as noisy as GM in-line fours used to be. Under the hood, of course, things are rather crowded and tight.....a gas engine, electric motor, transmission, and all of the associated hardware are stuffed in. What's more, much of it is under those idiotic plastic covers, though it should be pointed out that in vehicles of this kind of mechanical and electrical complexity, few owners do their own work under the hood. Still, there are those owners who, even in complex hybrids, can (and should be able to do) relatively easy maintenence like oil-changes and filter-replacements. And, for that, the oil-dipstick, filler-cap, and fluid-reservoirs are generally easy
to reach.
INTERIOR:
I found the Volt's interior as Geeky as that of the Toyota Prius, except in a different sort of way, but, to its credit, Chevy uses far more-solid, better-quality interior materials for the Volt than is the case with the Prius. But, nevertheless, the Volt's interior is far from what I would call well-done or user-friendly. First, it is not all that space-efficient. For tall persons, there just adequate head/legroom in the front seat, and the rear seat, with the droop-roofline, very limited headroom, and extra-tight legroom, is best left for children or VERY small adults. In fact, the way the rear hatch-lid is mounted and hinged, a tall person in back (I'm 6' 2") has his head sticking up into the hatch-glass instead of the roofline. The seat leather seems fairly nice-grade, and the front seats fairly comfortable. But the seat-adjusters are manual-levers instead of power-motors in this $40,000-plus car....perhaps to keep the power-drain down on the battery-pack. The steering wheel is pretty much the same one used in the Cruze.....no complaints about it. The rear-door panels are cheaply-trimmed in monotone hard-plastic; the front ones had multi-tone gray-plastic inserts with embedded geometric images. The center-dash layout was absolutely horrendous...one of the worst I've seen. The big white dash-panel looked and felt like it was durable sheet-metal instead of plastic (which would be unusual), but the button/control layout was a nightmare. Several rows of white buttons and *****, with gray lettering, are printed against a white plastic/metal(?) background, making the set-up almost illegible without taking your eyes way off the road for a time. In the center of the panel, you stick your right hand forward into a tunnel to reach and operate the shift lever (what on Earth were the designers thinking?) The video-screen center-dash layout and gauge-panel in front of the steering wheel, with stereo/climate/primary-gauges/hybrid-instrumentation are overly-complex, full of colors, and looked like a mini-circus. The one good thing inside that I really liked was the superb stereo-sound quality. Too bad I didn't have any nice 80s Heavy-Metal or AC/DC hard-rock CDs with me, and ended up listening, on the regular stereo, to Boy George, of all people, singing "Karma Chameleon". But, nonetheless, the
stereo-sound was a real killer.
CARGO AREA/TRUNK:
Lift up the hatch-lid using the touch-sensor hatch-release (the hatch-lid hinges, as described, are way back, partly over the back-seat), and the cargo-area itself is fairly roomy too bad for a small hybrid. The hybrid battery-pack and tire-inflator-kit with built-in tire-gauge (there is no spare tire at all). Of course, the lithium-ion battery pack is one of the most advanced and state-of-the-art units in the world for automotive use, so one would expect it to be relatively space-efficient. The cargo area is fairly well-trimmed on the floor with a thin but soft-feeling grayish-black carpet, and the walls have a blackish hard-surface material. The rear seats, of course, fold down for added cargo space.
ON THE ROAD:
With your foot on the brake, hit the POWER button on the dash. After a couple of seconds while the computer checks everything out with a video-color show on the dash while setting up the electronics, either the full electric-mode will pop up if the battery-pack has sufficient charge, or the small gas engine will start if no reserve battery-power is detected. Reach your hand into the dash-tunnel and pull the automatic's lever back to either DRIVE or REVERSE, and you're on your way. On my Volt, the gauge showed 15 miles left on the full-electrics, so the gas-engine didn't run much. As such, the powertrain drove and acted much like that of the Toyota Prius in the full-electric mode, except for a longer period on the full-electric, and with substantially more torque. The transmission, as stated earlier, serves only the electric motor, has no conventional gears or driving-ranges and, for the most part, is simply forward, neutral, or reverse (though there does seem to be an artificial "Low" range from computer-programming somehow built in). I liked the fore-aft motion of the lever, though, even if you have to stick your hand into a tunnel to reach it....no annoying zig-zags.
Due to dealer-limitations, I didn't drive it as long as I would have liked to, over as many different road surfaces, as I would have liked for a full-review, but I got enough of a feel for it to tell that it drove more or less like other small, parallel-action hybrids. It had the usual hybrid-style reverse-thrust regenerative-brakes, and I would briefly describe the handling as more characteristic of Honda hybrids than Toyotas (meaning a lower-stance and less body-roll). The brake-pedal location/mount, fortunately, did not interfere much with my big Clod-Hopper size-15 shoe going from gas to brake pedal.
THE VERDICT:
Yes, this car gets en enormous amount of media-hype, and, together with the Prius, is one of the status-symbols of the Green environmentalist movement. But, for a number of reasons, my advice is to save your money, pass up the deal, and wait for either the factory-price to come down with more competition (such as from the upcoming extended-range Prius), or for dealer price-gouging to stop from the supply and demand. Don't try to keep up with the Jones's on this one, even if the Jones's have a Volt parked in their driveway or garage. It will cost you good money for a car that, IMO, simply is not worth that high price-tag....and the premium-fuel needed to run the gas engine. If you want a small hybrid, get a Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid for maybe 25-30K (I'd avoid the less-expensive but unimpressive Honda Insight). If you want to spend the kind of money for an economical hybrid that a Volt will cost (even after the Federal tax-credit), then go down the street to the Lexus dealer and consider a new CT200h. There are things about the CT I don't like (I covered them in my CT review), but at least you are getting a car that is closer to what it is actually worth than the Volt is......and, of course, with the CT, you are a Lexus customer, with all the perks of being one.
Now, that's not to ignore or dismiss the remarkable fuel-mileage that the Volt is capable of...far from it. No other currently-produced car in the American market built in significant numbers, outside of the pure-electric Nissan Leaf which doesn't use any gasoline at all, has the capability to stretch one's gas dollars like the Leaf. But then, even with the Volt, the gas engine has to be run a certain amount just to keep itself lubed and the fluids warm and circulating. A gas engine can't just sit idle all the time, even running on the pure-electrics, or it will deteriorate.
So, in a nutshell (as I stated at the top, when I opened this review), I simply don't think that this car, as presently marketed and priced, both at the factory and dealership-level, is worth the ultimate price it will likely take to get into one. I know that most of you work hard for your money, so my advice is to take those hard-earned automotive dollars and go spend them somewhere else.
And, as always.....Happy Car Shopping.
MM
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-19-11 at 08:14 PM.
05-19-11, 08:18 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
I might do that, if I get another chance. But getting even short test-drives in a Volt is not easy....and most people are more interested in saving gas and running it like a golf-cart. I agree, though.....even with plug-in use, the gas engine has to run a minimum amount just to keep itself internally-lubed and the fluids warm.
05-19-11, 09:44 PM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
I have been saying this thing is totally over rated and over priced . Its really ugly as well. It looks like a Prius screwed a last generation Acura TL and this is the result. I am still blown away that they think they are going to make a splash in the market with this thing.
05-20-11, 05:04 AM
#7
Nice review,Mike.
I wonder what the MPH is when the Volt is in 'Mountain Mode'.
Yes,there's a Mountain Mode button.74HP is tough going up a mountain.
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/...-hill-climbing
I wonder what the MPH is when the Volt is in 'Mountain Mode'.
Yes,there's a Mountain Mode button.74HP is tough going up a mountain.
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/...-hill-climbing
Last edited by Joeb427; 05-20-11 at 05:08 AM.
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05-20-11, 06:13 AM
#8
Nice review,Mike.
I wonder what the MPH is when the Volt is in 'Mountain Mode'.
Yes,there's a Mountain Mode button.74HP is tough going up a mountain.
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/...-hill-climbing
I wonder what the MPH is when the Volt is in 'Mountain Mode'.
Yes,there's a Mountain Mode button.74HP is tough going up a mountain.
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/...-hill-climbing
problem is if you dont use mountain mode and your electricity level goes down... Volt will try to use batteries even under 25% but it will stop at some point...
It is generally not well conceived vehicle, with poor emissions rating compared to other hybrids and poor gas mpg of 37...
05-20-11, 08:15 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
05-20-11, 08:22 AM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
05-20-11, 08:26 AM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Overpriced? definitely. Overrated? Maybe, maybe not. This car can go a heck of a long way without any gas at all, even without a plug-in recharge. It will definitely stretch your gas dollar. Problem is, it costs so much that, for the price, you can buy a LOT of gas for a cheaper, more conventional compact.
05-20-11, 08:37 AM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Thanks.
I didn't get to take it that far on the test-drive.....the nearest mountain range (Virginia's Blue Ridge) is about 30 miles west of the dealership. Beautiful, but not particularly high.
I wonder what the MPH is when the Volt is in 'Mountain Mode'.
Yes,there's a Mountain Mode button.74HP is tough going up a mountain.
Yes,there's a Mountain Mode button.74HP is tough going up a mountain.
05-20-11, 08:53 AM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
As far as the emissions go, when it is running in full-electric mode, of course, they will be zero, although some electric-utility-plants themselves (not the hydro-electric ones) produce some emissions from coal, oil, or nuclear-waste while generating the 110V or 220V electricity needed to recharge the battery. The Volt's gas engine will, of course, produce some emissions, but it doesn't run that much. So, there are indeed some things one can criticize this car for (price and a poorly-designed interior are two of them), but I don't see how one can pan either the gas mileage or emissions.
05-20-11, 09:06 AM
#14
The 37 MPG (average) refers only to the gas engine running continuously. But, once the battery is charged, the electrics take over and you won't need the gas engine again for awhile. That's why you can get up to 93 MPG equivalent while running on the electrics. That saves a lot of gas......but, on the other hand, of course, you pay for that technology. The 40-50K that the Volt costs (probably 40K, due to dealer mark-ups, even after the $7500 tax-credit), as I said above, will buy a LOT of gasoline for a cheaper or more conventional car. Of course, one of the aims with a car like this is not necessarily the lowest price out the door, but to help the country lessen oil and gas use. Still, it simply costs too much, IMO, for what you get.
As far as the emissions go, when it is running in full-electric mode, of course, they will be zero, although some electric-utility-plants themselves (not the hydro-electric ones) produce some emissions from coal, oil, or nuclear-waste while generating the 110V or 220V electricity needed to recharge the battery. The Volt's gas engine will, of course, produce some emissions, but it doesn't run that much. So, there are indeed some things one can criticize this car for (price and a poorly-designed interior are two of them), but I don't see how one can pan either the gas mileage or emissions.
As far as the emissions go, when it is running in full-electric mode, of course, they will be zero, although some electric-utility-plants themselves (not the hydro-electric ones) produce some emissions from coal, oil, or nuclear-waste while generating the 110V or 220V electricity needed to recharge the battery. The Volt's gas engine will, of course, produce some emissions, but it doesn't run that much. So, there are indeed some things one can criticize this car for (price and a poorly-designed interior are two of them), but I don't see how one can pan either the gas mileage or emissions.
But problem is that other PHEVs like 2012 Prius PHEV will be able to get 50 MPG in gas mode.
Which means that overall it will be cheaper to run in >95% of situations.
As to the emissions, Volts petrol engine is not AT-PZEV rated as Prius... it actually has more emissions than some non hybrids too.
Just poorly done car based on poor decisions that were done not on engineering but on marketing.
