Support this channel on Patreon: / 8bitguy1 Visit Robert Llewellyn's Fully Charged Show (And drop him a line and let him know I sent you his way!) / fullychargedshow
the best part was that he let off on the accelerator temporarily so you could say he was going easy on the Honda or giving him a head start and still won
The difference between Volt fans and Tesla fans is that most Volt fans actually own one of the cars. Tesla fans is 90% still driving Mom's old Civic and dreamin' of the car they'll have, someday while playing EV-expert on the Internet. That works out fine for Tesla though I think Elon understands that Americans tend to like products better that they mostly can't really afford to buy and it sure beats having to hire paid PR people. Dreams are free so it's just good business sense to pay your employees with them if you can.
@@vap0rtranz for the money I paid for mine new nearly 4 years ago, which including Federal tax credit. was around 26k for an LT trim, it was a total bargain for what it offers. I thought sure that 4 years down the road there'd be something that offers the same combination of performance and energy efficiency for about the same price. There still isn't. the "affordable" model 3 was a feint it was never something Tesla really wanted to do, average sale price on 3s once you add heated seats, longer range battery, delivery charge etc. pushes well above 40 grand. Volt is dirt cheap to full charge and the 2nd gen you can pull 70 miles range in, around town, no prob during the summer. I've banked and invested like 4000 gallons worth of gas money I never had to pay at this point tho maybe I'll use that as a big down payment on a off-lease 3 in a year or two
@@bitrexgm Even re-sale is a bargain IMO (b/c I've been looking to buy used). @8 Bit mentions heated seats saves turning on the cabin heater, but that's only on Premium model, right? Premium seems overpriced but I'm in cold country and need good heat in winter.
@@vap0rtranz I have the "Comfort" package on my 2017 LT it gives you at a minimum heated front seats and heated steering wheel, plus some other stuff like leather trim, heated mirrors etc. depending on the year. I think it was a $750 option. Didn't need to get the Premium package to get that and I expect some used LTs will have it. unfortunately in very cold weather like New England gets they won't keep you comfortably warm by themselves in sub-freezing temps. I still definitely need the blower heat then. but other times it does help to keep the heater use to a minimum. a minor frustration is that even on electric power the blower heat is not instant-on it takes a little bit to come up same as a gas car. Remember to set the engine-assist heat to "defer" in the settings so it only does its "engine running due to temperature" -thing occasionally while driving to when it drops below about 26F and not at 34F as I think it does stock. Volt performs very well in the cold ice and snow other than the seasonal range reduction you get in every EV. the computer bitched at me one morning when it was about -18F that it was reducing power due to low temperature, acceleration was sluggish for a few minutes then everything worked fine once the coolant temp rose. The traction control works great and the big torque easily busts it out of drifts if it's been sitting out in the snow. The stock low-rolling resistance tires will spin out from under you on even slightly damp pavement if you gun it at a stop, though, I accept a small range reduction to run a little beefier tread than that (Continental PureContact) since we get so much lousy weather
not backing a company for *historical* ideological reasons is a really poor decision, there's no logical reason why you should remain myopically in love with Tesla
Second highest reliability behind Lexus, consistently lower prices with better features and equal materials, top tier engine manufacturing (LITERALLY the best engines in the world by numerous metrics including mpg/hp, mpg/lb, mpg/volume, hp/volume, AND mtf), suspension so good that the Germans license it because they can't actually compete with it... ...yeah, sounds like GM's trash. Truck of the year, car of the year, driver's car of the year. Man, total trash.
great review on a great car. I love mine! Most economical car I've owned. In 60k miles, fuel costs have been cut in half, I have done 2 oil changes, and original brakes are still like new. only visits to a service center were those 2 oil changes. Total maintenance costs in 60k miles and 5 years = $80. Try to beat that with any other car.
Technically it's not a long range electric car. It has a long range when using gas but only a quarter of the of the Tesla M3 range when using electricity. It also needs to use its gas engine every now and then.
until claims are proven their still clams just cause they say it's so doesn't make it so and their was report of people in the first volt going one year on the first tank of gas which is never good for a gas engine
The Volt only uses gas engine a little below 15F to help make heat or for engine maintenance mode every 42 days only if you don't use the gas engine. Engine maintenance uses approximately 6 teaspoons of gasoline (yes I said teaspoons)
Ogreng Buddha I'm not saying don't run the gas engine. I understand why it has to but that means it also has to burn fossil fuels. Something a pure electric doesn't have to do.My main point though was pointing out how in pure electric mode the Volt isn't capable of long ranges. The model 3 will be. Yes I know we haven't seen it yet but Tesla has already delivered 3 times so the chances of them messing this up seem pretty slim.
Erik Stephens Even if the engine is only used a bit it's still being used. Plus the point of my original comment was pointing out how in pure electric mode the Volt isn't long range. The Model 3 will be.
I for the most part disagree. While for a smaller percentage of people you are correct overall I don't agree. The Model 3 is expected to have an ~55KWh battery. With this battery size it will not be able to handle the full 135KW charge rate at Tesla's superchargers (and we still don't know how Tesla is going to deal with the Model 3 with regards to it's supercharger network). The Model 3 will still likely take 30 to 40 minutes for an 80% charge. So that means for every 2 to 2.5 hrs of driving you will need to stop for 30 to 40 minutes. It's doable but not the greatest either. And while the supercharger network is getting fairly good it still won't get you everywhere. I still take at least one road trip a year in my Volt that a Model S 90 wouldn't be able to do. So in that situation if I owned a Model 3 I would need to rent a gas powered vehicle that has more than double the fuel consumption of my Volt (and I would still likely be able to get >30% electric in my Volt through some opportunity and destination charging on this road trip). That rental car will likely use more gas in that one trip than my Volt uses in a year. So for many people a Volt will still likely use less gasoline overall than someone with a Model 3. www.greencarreports.com/news/1097918_chevy-volt-vs-mitsubishi-i-miev-this-volt-uses-less-gas-than-electric-car-data-shows
FYI, I have got 74.5 miles on electric, and the engine still has not come on. This was in the Chicago area (all flat), temps in the upper 60's (close to perfect) and I did not exceed 55 mph because I don't like blue-red lights behind me. In the last 3 miles the car said I have 0 miles left but I made it home without the engine. After 3 months with the car I still have all the gas I got from the dealer.
I have also gotten over 75 miles on a charge one time. I wasn't even trying. The conditions were just perfect, though. I have only put gas in this car one time since buying it 10 months ago.
I actually was trying to get the max, but it does not mean much. I wasn't driving any slower than the traffic, but I was using low gear to slow down (instead of braking) and the regenerative brake pedal any time I could. That means that I almost never use the brakes. The brakes are also working "regenerative" but I don't know how much regenerative and how much friction they use. So that way I know I regenerate as much as possible.
No, I have an Onan 5KW gasoline powered generator, and the gasoline in its 9-gallon tank is over three years old. It still runs well! Maybe your gasoline station sells bad gasoline?
I bought a 2017 Volt over the weekend and I am waiting to take delivery so I had to rewatch this video, especially since it was part of the reason I chose a Volt. It seems like an amazing value to buy one used. I paid around $13500. I'm happy to see you reviewed the LT version because most reviewers have cars provided by Chevy which are almost always the premier. Something that people do not mention in reviews which was integral in my decision to buy one used is that the designers left some headroom in the battery so that it can increase the amount available as the car ages and the range will remain more or less the same for an extended time. Not only did I like the assurance that I'll hopefully get a few years with the range that is like new, it also told me that they were really thinking about the longevity of the car. I wish phone makers would start doing that.
compare a hybrid with a electric only tesla... without the gas motor this volt would not go that far. a tesla gets the long range ONLY electrical. so you cant say that you already have all that the model 3 will have. this is ridiculous
Part of what is appealing about an all electric car is eliminating the combustion engine with all it's maintenance (oil changes and other things). Much simpler and should be much more reliable. Maybe some day I will get one.
But a model 3 driver will have to find a charger somewhere to charge up. That may be fine for a commuter car, but for someone that wants to explore the 2 lane roads into small towns and see the country that will be a problem, because there are no chargers out there. Besides, when on a road trip nobody wants to have to stop every few hours for a forced charge. A 5 minute fill up when needed, and a stop at points of interest along the way. Volt has the freedom of a regular car. I have all the benefits of an electric and no shortcommings. I would never consider an electric only. The only cars I would consider is the volt and the bmw i3, and considering that the range on the BMW is only 80 miles between fill ups on gas, that is a no brainier.
And how often would I do that? Not very often. I think I could go rent a car for doing that trip if I actually decided to do one. What balance works for you depends on your intended use. For my use a pure electric would work fine. It would even handle the few long trips I do a few times a year since there are multiple superchargers along the way and one stop for half an hour or so would take care of it.
I don't do it often either, a few times a year, but I am not about to have a dedicated car for road trips, nor am I about to rent one. I want a car that I can go anywhere, any time and never have to worry about finding a place to charge, and I want an electric car. So for me the volt or BMW is the only choice, and because the BMW i3 makes me want to puke, that one is off the table. After driving a volt for 5 years, my choice is clear, it will be another volt for me.Does everything I want. Gives me the low cost of operation of an EV, I get access to the special lanes reserved for EV drivers, and I am not limited where I can go, and I don't have to plan my drive as other EV drivers do, Best of both worlds. End of discussion.
It's not a hybrid. URG. It's also not a comparison, because the Tesla Model 3 doesn't exist, buddy. The first Volt was a game changer (much like the Roadster), because it is a car you can drive anywhere without being scared of running out of charge. The Tesla is not currently practical, and will take decades to be... battery simply isn't good enough, and having to charge it is too difficult for people to drive out of their way to go to a Supercharger. Myself, I'd love a Tesla. I just so happen to live next to a Supercharger. However, I would rather have the Volt for the reasons I just mentioned.
Well this was unexpected, but in a good way! Interesting information here. This is a car I've been looking into myself over the years, so it's good to get some solid info. Didn't realize quite a few things about it!
Quick correction. Electric vehicles don't do better in city driving than on the highway, they do better than gasoline cars in city driving. They still waste more energy from stop and go. I always notice the energy usage on my Tesla. It's always higher in city driving.
The 8-Bit Guy That's not typical. Sure if you're driving at a constant rate and not stopping for traffic lights, stop signs etc. But then again that's not city driving, that's suburban driving. I live in Toronto, it's a big city. You'll never get better mileage in a city like Toronto, New York, Chicago, etc.
The Chevy Volt is still a hybrid, it's classed as a series-parallel hybrid, the same type as the Prius. The reason for this is simple: the gasoline engine is still coupled to the wheels and is still used to directly move the car. The Volt simply shifts the power allocation more on the electric motor (with a correspondingly larger battery). That's not a bad thing: the Volt really does provide the best of both worlds, in most respects.
Actually, what makes the Volt different is that while there is energy left in the battery, it can run entirely on electric, no matter how fast you go. In other plug-in cars such as say the Plug-in Prius or the Ford energi cars, the gas engine kicks in if you go too fast, due to their smaller electric motors and smaller batteries not being able to deliver the power you're demanding on their own.
+Ashelm56 yeah and when they are in hybrid mode the prius gets 50mpg.. a much better road trip vehicle when the ev is gone.. if you take road trips = prius plug-in if you city drive and don't go far = Volt because if you stay within the range it will perform more like an ev and not tap into the engine much.
Your response reminds me of someone looking at an automobile in the year 1900. This new-fangled horseless carriage is too modern for my tastes. It doesn't have anywhere to store the hay for my horse and I can't get used to it not producing poop. Fossil fuel exhaust is today's horse poop. It is foul and mucks up our environment, yet people feel that it isn't a "real car" if it doesn't produce tons of pollution to warm the climate.
The Carpenters were in the Charts when mine was produced! 1972 Hillman Avenger, Plymouth Cricket in USA. It's got some real high tech silicon though, in that new fangled alternator gadget.
So in electric Mode, the Chevy Volt would actually not even get me to and from work on electric mode on a full charge. My commute is 44.6 KM to and from, much of it on the highway. 53 miles is 85.6Km according to Google. So, 44.6 times 2 is... 89.2. I'd be forced to use the gas engine about 8 minutes north of my house. That's surprisingly good. I have a Chevy Cruze LT Turbo right now, and on a full tank, I get roughly 740Km before I get the low gas warning. According to estimates, I'd get roughly 800Km from full to completely empty. So, let's do the math there. 800/89.2=8.9. So I get about 8.5 trips before I need to fill up on gas. With the Volt, if we were to assume the gas engine gave the same amount of range and assuming I charge the car every night for 12 hours, I would get approximately 222 trips on one tank of gas in the best circumstances. To be fair, we could say probably 180 trips on one tank of gas. This is assuming I only use the car for work purposes of course. That means I'd roughly only need to spend about $100 Canadian each year on gas. I currently spend that much on gas each month. I think I know what my next car will be. If I can't afford a Tesla Model 3 when my current financing is up, I'm totally getting one of these.
Keep in mind that the electric range varies depending on temps, terrain such as hills, and your driving habits. In the dead of winter and if you floor the car to 75 mph/ 120 km/h, you won't get that advertised range. In warmer weather your range goes up unless you drive really fast all the time and blast the air conditioner. But if you take it easy on the accelerator, you can get more than the advertised 53 miles / 85 km of range. And if your workplace has charging stations, then you can easily stay in EV mode on your round trip commute.
I have a Focus Electric and get 100 to 163 km range depending how I drive. The price is competitive and I think the interior is better than the Volt. You may want to consider that if you don't want to wait for the Bolt or Tesla M3.
See if you could get your workplace to install a charger or allow you to use an outside 120V outlet somewhere. Then you could make the trip in 100% EV mode.
One of the best reviews of the Volt. Your video helped me decide to buy my 2018 Volt. Thanks! I get 1800 kms on a tank of fuel traveling 134kms daily. Most of my commute is Highway, and I burn a little gas daily. I charge daily.
New math. At 11:18, your price comparison with the Prius makes sense only if you or a relative can get you a GM family discount ($2,739), you're coming off a compteting lease ($500), and you ignore the federal tax credit for the Prius ($7,500). Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that the Volt costs $10,739 more.
+Frank Howard the Prius doesn't qualify for the Fed tax credit. Only plug-ins qualify, which would be the just released Prius Prime. However, the credit is indexed to the battery size and because the Prius Prime has a much smaller battery, it only receives a $2500 tax credit. Also, the Volt can be had for a larger discount off of the sticker price than any Prius, so it is still very compelling even if you don't get the GM family discount etc. Finally, because the Volt can run so much further on electricity, your "fueling costs" will be lower with the Volt than with a Prius or Prius Prime. That being said, this all depends on where you live (there may be state incentives), the distances you travel and if you can plug-in. :)
The Prius Prime tax credit is actually $4500 + $500 from Toyota. In fact, I am not sure the tax credit is what you will get back. That must be deducted from your taxable income which means you will save on tax the corresponding percentage of tax you are paying. If you are paying 25% on tax that means you save $250 per $1000 and not the whole amount. correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.
A Prius doesn't qualify for the Federal tax credit. A Prius Prime gets a partial tax credit, $4500, the Volt get's the full Federal Tax credit of $7500. State rebates vary by state. MA gives a $2500 rebate for the Volt and $1500 for a Prius Prime and none for a Prius. So total credits+rebate, Volt $10,000, Prius Prime $6000. The Volt is also a much better car than the Prius Prime, 0-60 in 7.8 sec vs 10.4. 53 miles of battery range vs 25. Every review that I've read says the Volt handles better. The Volt also supports Android Auto and Apple Car Play, Toyota's don't, that's huge I would never buy a car without Android Auto. The only place were the Prius Prime is better is in MPG when the battery is empty, but the Volt's much greater range means that it will almost also burn less gas. In the winter, when I don't do any road trips, I hardly use any gas in my Volt, that wouldn't be true in the Prius Prime. Road trips have to be very long before the Prius Prime does better on gas than the Volt. I did a 250 mile round trip to Vermont last Saturday, I got 60 miles on the battery and the the car claims that I got 52MPG on gas which is a little pessimistic compared to the actual gas I used which was 3.5 gallons measured at the pump which comes out to 54 MPG (190/3.5). .
Joshua Rosen who told you that? As far as I know, all plug in just get the 4,500 tax credit. Bolt is one of those pilgrims in hybrid. Both good car and have their advance and disadvantage. The Volt can run 20 miles more per charge but 15-20 miles less per gallon gas
The Volt is rated at 53 miles on battery, the Prius Prime is 25, that's 28 miles more, more than 2X. The Volt is rated 42 MPG on gas, the Prius Prime is rated 54 MPG. Don't know how well the Prius Prime does in real world driving but the Volt's ratings are conservative. I did a 250 mile round trip to Vermont on Saturday, I got 60 miles on the battery and 53 MPG on the gas (as calculated by the car, if you calculate it by the gas pumps measure it was 54 MPG).
.. the Volt really is not an EV , it has a gas motor cause most people refuse to trust ability to charge and do quarterly road trips.to loved parent yuppie Ev lovers guess hate their parents , , , half of people park in apartment parking lots and are poor buy $3000 beater not $30,000 EV, , , , it's like hot tubs and pools they are awesome but 90% skip them they spend that $5000-30,000 on food and helping family not helping climate of some hot Indonesian guy so I suspect poor half of American will stick with gasoline in their apartments , , and laugh at risking being out of charge and getting fired at the KFC, , plus coming blackouts will mean those EV drivers will get fired too unless their boss is foregiving do you think people should risk their career on this , ,,,. Just saying the counter argument to the EV sales pitch, , , I have a big sailboat 2 5hp you landlubbers are dumb ha, , ,
Danny Rumbles Totally agree. Can’t believe GM axed it. Dumb decision. Despite that I bought a 2019 Volt Premier w/ $3750 Fed Tax Credit and $2500 state rebate. Installed a 240v charger. Absolutely love the car. Quick, nimble, stylish, quiet, great apple car-play entertainment system. At 420 mile total range there is no anxiety. If you can find a used Gen 2 Volt, it would be a great buy.
I own a 2018 Volt. Soon after the purchase I was getting a EV range of over 80 mi. In the winter time the range has dropped to 58. I wish Chevrolet would continue manufacturing the car.
I own a 2018 Volt, its the best decision I've ever made. In 3 years I will trade it in and get something just like it, most likely. I cant see myself driving around town without it anymore.
I'm considering getting a used Volt, but they are hard to come by. Have you had any problems in the time you've owned it? Also, did charging it at home increase your utilities bill?
I love my 2017 Volt. I had a 2014 before, and traded up. I plan to trade this one before 100k, and get another. Although the range is best around town, my business mostly keeps me on the highway. Nevertheless, it still saves me a ton of money, and the environment. Last month. I drove my Volt 3200 miles. My Onstar report tells me that I saved 82 gallons of gas. Plus, it's so much fun to drive. And also, no range anxiety.
I hate to burst your bubble but: Electrics and Hybrids are not green or sustainable,or better for the enviroment contrary to what main steam media pushes. Here is why: A hybrid or electric takes the same car plant to build it,same refineries making aluminum or steel for it,copper,plastics etc. so nothing saved there,not to mention a load of electronics. Most charge electrics off the grid,which just transfers pollution to the coal,nuclear plants,nope nothing saved there either. So you might use solar for charging? Do you know how much it takes to refine silicon for solar cells? the glass,aluminum frames,plastic sheets etc take more energy to make the solar panels than the module will likely generate in its lifetime. Your hybrid still uses gas,tires and oil just like a regular fossil fuel car,all unsustainable and uses energy to recycle just like a regular car. The Lithium battery is not recycleable. Its a waste product when it goes bad. Also lithium is mined in many 3rd world countries by slave labor making almost nothing for wages. At the end of the day you saved nothing and added one more waste product to the stream(lithium) in addition to gas,tires oil,plastics,etc. Its simple math. There are many gas/diesel cars that get 45mph+ . Don't buy into the nonsense that gas/diesel is bad,its not,its a necessary thing of today. More food for thought,if EVERYONE went to electrics tomorrow,imagine them all trying to charge their car at 6pm when they all get home,sucking 5KW,10KW+ per house,it would literally pull the electric grid to its knees and cause massive blackouts. If you want a ev or hybrid,great,just say you do,just dont kid yourself on saving the enviroment.
@@newton296 I own none of those stocks,but that is my point, the plant building these cars uses coal and nuclear power to make the car,and then people take them home and charge them with coal/nuke power(some hydro too) or charge at work,again from the grid supplied by coal/nuke etc,and then pretend they are helping the enviroment. realize i am not against electrics,but hybrids solve no environmental problems and add one more finite resource,lithium battery to their use. all i am saying is just call it what it is,it is NOT green or renewable.
This Volt is way more practical than a Tesla. Range wise it is in a sweet spot - cover the commute distance for most people, especially in Europe where most have a bit shorter commutes, while allowing arbitrary distances for trips using the gasoline engine. Seems like a total winner. Now they should work a bit on the styling, IMO it looks way too similar to a Prius, which isn't doing it any favours.
This was seriously in depth, fantastic content David, perhaps your very best. It's been absolutely great watching you evolve from The iBook Guy into what you have become today, and I'm very excited to see you continue to do so. As usual, thank you for all your hard work, and I look forward to your next video as always. If I had the money to buy new there is no question this is the vehicle I would buy, but as for now I'll have to stick with my (ironically) '07 Prius. They aren't bad little cars though, and the best option I went with at the time was the amazing premium sound system. 120,000 miles, a recent complete service with new brakes all around and it's still going strong with no major problems for its entire life so far. I hope your Volt is as kind to you, and I must say it's quite nice to see the American car companies really competing nowadays, and in alot of respects be much better value for the money.
One thing to consider when buying an electric vehicle is the company you are supporting. Chevy has had over 100 years to bring us more efficient vehicles and this is the best they can do? A hybrid with 53 mile range? Tesla has single handedly flipping the automotive industry on its head and buying a Tesla lets the other manufacturers know you aint playin'.
I will have to defer to the other comments posted on this video about how the comparison is between and electric car and a hybrid car. Not trying to knock your video. It is a good review of the Volt but The Tesla is just not in the same class as the Volt. Its like a Ferrari vs a Miata.
My family has a leaf, and a prius. The most range we've ever gotten out of the prius was 417 miles on ful gas and charge at 55-65 mpg. The leaf achieves about 175 miles on full charge. :P
No, this is not the best Chevy can do. The Bolt is the closest comparison to a Model 3 (which is still not actually available...). It will do almost 400km on a single charge and retails around $30k in the US. Comparing a hybrid with a small battery pack and ICE and a pure electric car is apples/oranges.
Thank you for making this. I owned a 2015 Volt and now a 2018 Volt, and 2017 Tesla Model S. I always tell everyone to get the Volt. Mostly because we live in a dual-fuel country, so why not have a dual-fuel vehicle. Also, the Tesla is a little too wide for most parking spots. Love my Volt!
Sorry I wouldn't buy one. I have a 2016 Focus ST. It gets 40mpg@55 and 32mpg@80. It's quicker, more fun to drive and costs about the same. Not including the tax credit. For me the only reason to get an electric/hybrid is the tax credit. And another thing nobody wants to say is how much it costs to replace the battery when it goes bad. This is just another car like the Prius/Tesla and all the others, battery goes bad, time to sell it.
Ooh I love this style of review! I would love to see more like this. Unfortunately, I don't think the Volt is something I appreciate. Being able to only drive 85 km on electric is just barely enough to just drive to the border of Ontario, even though it's like 45 minutes away. And yes, the addition of a gasoline motor is absolutely fantastic for most people, but for me, I've been on a "electric-only or nothing" mentality for a while so it won't do. I've been appreciating the Leaf for a while now, but since the announcement of the Tesla 3, I've been focused on it lately and I can't wait to find out more. I doubt I'll still have any kind of money to afford one when it releases, but oh boy would I love to test-drive it eventually.
53 miles is plenty for an EV car their not designed to go cross country due to limitations in the battery technology. Those cars are made to put around the city in.
Ogreng Buddha the point is that it pales in comparison to the Model 3 (215/53 = 4 times further) and he ticks the box for long range... it's not long range, it's city range, everything else I have no problem with, but his bias is showing - particularly when he's already bought a volt and his dad is a former GM man.
+schr4nz Yeah, but you have the engine for anything longer than that - you'll still save most of the money you would spend on fuel but you have the flexibility of a 300 mile range.
Thanks - great review. Despite all your efforts to educate on the Volt, the comments section proves that a significant percentage of people are simply stuck in a world of assumptions, pre-conceptions, and plain stupidity. Don't let it stop you!! Your work is much appreciated.
Exactly, And the Prius & Tesla owners will claim their cars are better and say "American Cars are Vegas"... and other BS. Two interesting facts, American Cars have always out lasted the Japanese competition, and Toyota makes the worst car on the market for the environment, ie. the Toyota Century, with a V16 engine and single digit fuel economy, but fortunately most nations, including the US, have fuel economy standards that the Toyota Century can't pass...
The only reason any manufacturer actually cares about the environment or fuel economy is half because these days it sells and half because they're required to.
And the rest of us can benefit. When I first looked at Volts, they were relatively new and $45k. Within a few years, those same models were $15-$20k. Huge "depreciation" b/c of crappy car? Or lack of demand because of bad assumptions by consumers. Looks to me like the latter.
My electric bill went up about $35-40 a month when I bought a 2014 Volt, and I have a 38 mile round trip work commute. So use that as a reference when you calculate how much you spend in gas a month to see if it would save you more money.
So back of the napkin calculations here . . . Of course Mr. T456 would have to run his own calculations. According to Google there are about 21.6 workdays in a month. 21.6 * 38 miles = 820.8 miles a month. Let's say a decent 30 mpg for a gas car. 820.8 miles / 30 mpg = 27.36 gallons a month. 27.36 gallons a month * $2/gallon = $54.72 of gas a month. In most cases, the electric bill ought to be lower than the cost of refueling.
Frank Cantrelle Well, that's up from about $33 in January, although down from $64 from July of last year. This isn't the first time in one year in either direction, much less several. www.nasdaq.com/markets/crude-oil.aspx?timeframe=1y In any case, $2/gallon was an estimate, as gas prices fluctuate all the time. Last fill I had this month was $2.359/gal, although I filled for $1.959 once in April.
Wow. One forgets how cheap petrol(gas) is in the US! In Europe EVs are a factor of 5 or more cheaper to run than petrol/diesel cars. I guess most of the difference is that fuel is much more expensive. I'd still expect a bit more difference in the US, just because an EV uses about 25% as much energy per mile as an ICE car.
You could just add imperial units or metric units in brackets and everybody would be happy now ;) Btw. Is it possible to change units in user interface?
GM's customer service has been fantastic for me. I had an early 2013 Volt with a minor software issue. An engineer from GM reached out to me personally and developed a software patch that fixed my car.
Wow, they helped 1 customer. I refuse to purchase another GM product b/c of their poor customer service. I've had a product demo of the new Volt and really like the Bolt but for the reason stated, would never buy either.
If you look at the gm-volt forum they have helped many customers in similar ways. GM's engineers follow the forums very closely and seems to work fairly well at resolving most issues quickly. Now I would say that some of the dealers have been very poor towards GM's electrified offerings. But some of them have been very good. And GM corporate has been excellent at trying to make things right when there is a problem.
so you're telling me that the EV1 wasn't made to comply with california laws, and you're telling me that GM didn't lobby california govt to drop that law, and you're telling me that they didn't stop selling _and recall_ them as soon as california dropped the law?
I loved my 2016 Volt I had. (Leased it for 3 years for $250 a month, nothing down). In three years I counted filling the gas tank about 10 times, and those only for longer trips from Los Angeles to Palm Springs. Otherwise, just driving around LA I rarely touched a gas pump. In fact, I could charge it and drive from Monday to Wednesday to and from work without even charging it again, and the gas engine never turning on! A few times in ideal conditions, I'd start my commute to work, and arrive there... with 57 miles of charge still, having coasted and re-gened all my energy use back. Of course I'd generally pay that back driving home from work more uphill and using the headlights. I work with a ton of Prius drivers and I cant for the life of me see why anyone would want a Prius over the Volt. The Volt is an amazing car.
The PHEV market has changed a bit. The Volt was discontinued by GM. Honda has brought out the PHEV Clarity with about 47 miles of EV range. I just picked up an '18 Clarity base model for a little over $33K. It also qualifies for the $7500 federal tax credit. It's about the size of a Honda Accord, so a bit more interior room compared to the Volt.
Not true. You can also buy a Tesla. Edit: you can also buy a BMW i3 both as a pure battery electric vehicle and as a gasoline range extended electric vehicle AND you can buy a Mitsubishi Outlander plug in hybrid electric vehicle (still not available in the US).
Do you think there's a such thing as an objective car review? Sure there are objective facts such as MPG and 0-100, which he included that objective data by the way, but after all that there's always the personal experience of the reviewer, different people like different cars, yes it's a review.
Only thing that matters is that you trust the reviewer to be honest when giving their opinion. Even if you disagree with their opinion, if you believe them to be honest then you can calibrate your own expectations around them.
I do love the Volt. I went to go buy one in 2013, but the dealer would not come off the sticker price... not even a DIME. So to really stick it to him, I went to Ford and bought an Explorer. I showed him! (True story, sarcasm aside.). I still want a Volt. The Explorer is getting up in years, and I’d love a Volt to do all my daily driving. My commute to work is only 5 miles each way, and pretty much anything I would need on a daily basis is within 10 miles of my house.
innocentrage1 I’ve known a couple people go that route. They’ve given mostly positive feedback from it. I hope you like your Volt!!!!! The newer models are leaps and bounds better, but something about the OG design draws me to them.
And is also a lot more likely to kill you in an accident. And isn't electric. And is much more likely to fail. And comes with much more required maintenance. And doesn't have modern amenities like CarPlay support... Honestly they're not comparable at all.
This is the only electric car that makes sense in the modern world, with a lack of speedy charging and available charging stations. In the future, the all electrics may become more reasonable.
@@YevezNutZ Yeah, like I do. And like this guy: czcams.com/video/QQqhoM3fDrQ/video.html To summarize: You can just convince your landlord to install a charging station. Eventually, not having one will be the exception, not the rule.
@@theblackwidower Maybe JDR is referring to road trips in areas without a charging network? There are plenty of large areas in the Midwest and Southwestern parts of the USA without charging stations once you get off the interstate highways.
@@mowcowbell Now that is a major problem that does need to be fixed. But in that case my first thought is: rental. Yes, that costs extra money, but consider it part of your vacation budget.
Great video and all, especially for a channel that isn't car review based! But I have to point out that you are still comparing an EV with a hybrid. The model 3 is revolutionary as it can achieve the 250m range without burning any hydrocarbons. And to someone like me I'm happy to wait as its not about the MPG it's about having a fully electric car! :D
It may be a hybrid, but it appeals to the same group of buyers. When the Model-3 comes to market, there will be people cross shopping it with the Volt, Bolt, and basically any car with a plug on it.
The 8-Bit Guy It may appeal to a large group of buyers who would consider the Model 3, but of the pre-order holders (such as myself, so I am biased) I would assume many are not interested in a car that has any ICE components. (Elon has said quite a number of times how foolish it is to lug around the weight and power train of an ICE in an EV as it reduces the range and performance of the EV) Model 3 will be fantastic and will help fund Model Y and continue spreading 100% electric to the mass market. Which is something this planet is in dire need of. Anyway, I guess my point is, this was a really good video! (Especially considering your channel type) Im glad someone has made this for the buyers you're addressing. But I also hope people see that hybrids are not the end goal and that cars do need to become fully electric. (Preferably with solar and a power wall ... but thats all far too expensive for most people)
That's illogical, though. In order to give an EV a good enough range to be useful (200+ miles) the battery has to be much larger and heavier. So instead of hauling around 500 pounds of engine and related components, now you are hauling around an extra 800 pounds of battery that you don't need every day. Thus, I actually prefer the case of the Volt because it is more versatile and not dependent on charging infrastructure. Right now the infrastructure in most of the country is a joke. I know, because we just got rid of a Nissan Leaf and know first hand how hard it is to live with a pure EV.
The 8-Bit Guy I see where you're coming from, but that is adding to the electric range to achieve that 200+Mi range, so it could be seen as not a waste of weight. Whereas the ICE is still magnitudes less efficient with its fuel and adds weight. Also the cost is not simply that of weight and convenience (which will improve by the time Model 3 launches) but also of emissions. Not to mention that Model S has proven on many occasions that the structural rigidity of the battery pack (and other safety features in its design) has created one of (if not the) the safest cars on the market. I agree that the volt is probably the best option for a plug in that isnt from Tesla and for people who want a car right now ... maybe it will do, personally Ill be keeping my 2013 Lancer till my Model 3 arrives (probably in like 4 years since Im in Australia) (sorry my grammar and punctuation is all over the place today, getting killed by Uni assignments so lacking sleep)
sorry you need to burn those hydrocarbons to MAKE that electricity that the EV runs on... While there is nuclear power, people are pushing away from it due to things like Fukushima.... so that leaves coal, oil, and natural gas...
Take a bow, 8-bit guy! This video sold 3 EVs in my family in the last four months. I bought a silver Volt, my brother bought a black one and my dad bought a Bolt.
It's not an either/or proposition. The Chevy Volt is a car of the present, and the Tesla Model 3 is a car of the future. Buy the Volt now, enjoy it for a few years, and when the Model 3 becomes available in volume, all the kinks are worked out, and the charging network is completely built out, then trade in your Volt for a Model 3.
You should still go at it. I got a 2019 LT version back in May and loving it. The only regret is not searching more for a premier version or an LT version with sensors. The blind spots are huge and the reverse camera isn't fish-eye to provide more view of cars coming towards you.
I bought a volt 3 years for work and the car pool access .. turns out it's the best car I've owned .. I just hot two hundred thousand miles on it with little to no maintenance .. LOVE IT ..
I'd personally prefer to have the best of both worlds with a Chevy Volt, rather than be endlessly tied to needing an electrical outlet with a Tesla. Just my opinion though.
+The Olive Besides The Volt is a fair comparison to the Model 3, because at any time it most definitely can be used as a dedicated electric vehicle. As the only time you NEED to use the gasoline engine is the cycle through the gasoline in the car so it doesn't go bad, and that isn't as often as you might imagine. You wouldn't rather have the option there to use gasoline if you could? I personally think it's a pretty great feature.
A fully electric car is a bit more intimidating to the average EV skeptic. At least with a hybrid, you will never be stranded and needing a re-charge. That being said, the Tesla won't have to support the weight of a heavy engine, meaning you will get better acceleration and performance from it.
+Austin Vickers The Model 3 will weigh more than the Volt. The 2016 Volt only weighs 3,543 lbs. The Tesla Model S, because of its battery, starts at 4,608 lbs.
I bought a 2014 Volt in Feb. It's in pristine condition with 43k miles. Cost me $12k USD. My job is working on computer networks in NJ. Last year, I drove 35k miles for work, just in NJ. We bought (not leased) a solar system for our house last year. Now I charge the Volt for free. Even though I don't use it to its full potential (30 miles a day on just electric), I am getting 60-70 mpg over a 100 mile trip. That's driving 75-80mph on the highway. Love the Volt. First GM car I have owned in 20 years. I have nothing but praise for this car. It's super fast off the line compared with a gas car. I don't feel like I have to charge it anywhere but home, no matter how far I roam.
Think of the Volt as a gateway electric car to those who can't wait for, or can't yet afford a new Tesla. One, and probably the only one , advantage that the Volt has over the Tesla, is there is no range anxiety.
I have a Volt, Awesome cars. A tip I found out , that you may know or not. Charge it at home.... go find a hill and use Gas to get there. Go to the top of the longest hill you can find (use gas to the top) and drive with regenerative braking all the way down. on BATTERY MODE. You will find that the car will charge to 60,70 or 80 miles depending on your Volt. And year. Now when you plug in at night , the charge will fully charge to 60 ,70 or 80... it stays like this for weeks and then you will notice when you plug it will slowly charge less and less.... Go find another hill and do it again..... Been doing this for two years with my volt, with no battery loss at all. Hope this is useful.
I live in Manhattan. The Volt is the only electric that makes sense for me. Good luck finding a charging station in the city...many available outside Manhattan. Great review!
Great review. I've been looking at an EV car and partial to the Fusion Energi, I prefer the style. However the Volt certainly looks like the best value. bigger battery and more storage.
I have seen several reviews. I really appreciate the time you put into this and the many edits you had to make for this video. Funny about the lack of touch downs. :) Kidding aside. I am going to get a 2017. My daily commute is 42. I spend about $325 a month on fuel. This literally will go away over night.
after 2 years of driving 2017 volt - i can clearly declare it is the only car that can make you cry when you part with it - why? it has everything what prius and tesla combined into one car - and that is a golden combo you can only wish to ever come across in your lifetime - moreover new 2023 prius has caught up with all volts by finally introducing a recharging cable that allows use prius just like volt or tesla - before that prius would only regen the batteries from using gas - but volt did not have to use gas in order to get any juice - in other words volt can be used without any gas but prius would need gas at all times - however new 2023 prius has finally copycatted volt to run without gas (took like forever to do what volt does for a decade now) - in other words gas for volt was optional for over a decade - and for new prius the gas optional as well - so the point is if volt is no longer in production but new prius can do same as volt recharging wise - then i am into new prius - which i hated before but now will consider - unless gm gets back with new volt and beats prius power range which is still below even 5 year old volt - but frankly i dont like to change horses in the middle of the run and prefer volt over any gas assisted ev or ev only - just 2 cents on the subject -
Sure after 30 years maybe. There are Volts with more than 300K miles with no battery degradation. insideevs.com/worlds-first-300000-mile-chevrolet-volt/
The key is the liquid-cooled battery. Like Tesla, the Volt has a liquid-cooled battery, which drastically improves the life of the battery. Additionally, GM was conservative in their design, and put aside some battery capacity to accommodate failing cells in the future. There isn't a single Volt that has seen any battery degradation (GM even had a facility built that was designed to run on used Volt batteries, it only has batteries from test cars installed right now), Tesla degradation hasn't been seen beyond 10% range loss. Range loss is an issue with batteries that aren't properly maintained. The Nissan Leaf uses an air-cooled battery, and range degradation is fairly severe after 100,000 miles on those. But that's a design flaw with that particular vehicle, not an incurable issue with EVs in general.
Right I know that. The design with the volt though, the way the cells are built allows for complete cooling of the cells as the coolant flows around the complete cell. Tesla uses cylinder cells and even with the liquid cooling, only the cell casings, or anode can be cooled. The rod in the center of the cell runs considerably hotter.I have a friend with a Tesla, and he had to have his battery replaced with less than 80,000 miles, because the range was falling off very quickly. Fortunately it was covered, and he spent the 10 grand on the free battery after warranty, so he will get another one out of them when this one gives up the ghost.He no longer supercharges though, as he figures that supercharging frequently was a factor in the early demise of his original battery. I has actually been replaced twice. The first one failed after only 6 months with the "car needs servicing message" That and the little things like fit and finish, leaking hatch, and tail lights, and all those other silly little problems that should not occur on a 100,000 car.
Very interesting. Always wondered what a REAL owner experience was like with some of these cars. I'm intrigued, but not enough to give up my internal combustion engine yet. Thanks for the post!
You really have to understand 8-Bit Guy's true Geekness in order to appreciate this review. He is not a car review guy at all. Normally he talks about obsolete electronics and other cool stuff. I'm sure the Volt is a great car for him and some others. Now he just needs to review the Chevy Bolt/all electric. As far as the Tesla is concerned, good luck getting one when they come out, I think there is a long waiting list. Cheers
Sport mode does not add any speed to the car. However, I've had so many people mention it, I think I'm going to go back to the track again and PROVE it.
Tucker Kennedy "Best Doctors",... You must excuse my slight incredulity, I'm English, but why on earth is there a system where the quality of care varies so much that you can/should choose a "better doctor"?
16:48 How is coolant temperature bizarre? Every other car with a gas or diesel engine has a coolant temp gauge. If they took the same technology that is in the Volt, and put it in a small pickup truck (Chevy S10, or Ford Ranger sized) I would buy one instantly. I do 58 miles of driving every day. I'd really like to know why electric "hybrid" vehicles have been limited to compact sedans. There is no reason why they couldn't scale up the same technology for a larger vehicle, and be able to have the same range. I do have one question though, does the Volt charge the battery and do regenerative braking while in gasoline only mode???
I keep asking the same question. And the only reason I can come up with is that they do not want to cannibalize the sales of their very profitable pickups and SUVs.
+The 8-Bit Guy But how would they be cannibalizing sales if they can sell more of a different kind of vehicle, that is also more profitable. The profit margins on a truck or SUV are higher than compact cars. I don't think they would be competing with themselves if they fall into 2 different areas of the market. Its not like they would be making 2 sedans. They could make a sedan, truck, and an suv based on this technology, and they wouldn't be competing against each other.
Because a pickup would need enormous batteries to go 58 miles., which would make it ridiculously heavy. Possibly even heavy enough to put it in another category of vehicle.
+fiveohpatrick if they can make a tesla that can go 0-60 in 2 seconds, they can make a small pickup that has a 1000lb payload. Think about it, a tesla can easily have 1000lbs of passengers in it. Im not talking about towing a trailer with it.
How far is hugely subjective as this video suggests. This test was on flat terrain, but in hot weather. Terrain, wind speed, outside temp, and driving habits all can dramatically affect mileage. Winter driving (with heat) in hilly terrain can bring the mileage down to 30 miles or less with a lead foot.
@@ryanfahey416 Yep, I found out you're right. It's just not shown on the website. You have to somehow know that its possible and talk to a salesman directly to get one ordered. Range is reduced and it can't be upgraded to autopilot. There are other compromises as well. No doubt this is because Tesla loses money on the very base model.
Kent Purdy yeah, it’s pretty hard to get it. Although i have seen in the tesla app you can upgrade to base level autopilot and then the more advanced one but then there are a bunch of features like the subwoofer and speakers in the car that can’t really be easily upgraded
I'm glad that in China we have BYD motors, the "dual mode" vehicles can either go EV or HEV and the new Tang SUV takes only 4.5s from 0 to 100kph and EV can hold up to 100km.And you can choose the model with only EV and it can go 500km!
I died when David smoked the riced Honda 😂👌
Do you even know what riced out means?
Petar Totev calm down, nobody even uses the term “ricer” correctly anymore
the best part was that he let off on the accelerator temporarily so you could say he was going easy on the Honda or giving him a head start and still won
Adriel R it is. It looks sporty but it was beat by a damn Chevy
It was technically not riced
I need a volt. I might drive 30 miles in 3 days. It would be perfect for me.
is that all?
@@raven4k998 some of us work from home :)
@@raven4k998 I'm 73 and just not running around much.
@@60viking well that's good stay inside and isolate yourself from people till covid 19 is gone
Get a Tesla model 3 then you don’t need to charge as much
that mila kunis joke was savage
LOL right!
It really was. Unexpected from this channel! And so true!
+mipmipmipmipmip I wouldn't mind her banana wrestling. Mila can film it.
The difference between Volt fans and Tesla fans is that most Volt fans actually own one of the cars. Tesla fans is 90% still driving Mom's old Civic and dreamin' of the car they'll have, someday while playing EV-expert on the Internet.
That works out fine for Tesla though I think Elon understands that Americans tend to like products better that they mostly can't really afford to buy and it sure beats having to hire paid PR people. Dreams are free so it's just good business sense to pay your employees with them if you can.
LOL! Right. Some of my coworkers are still waiting!!
@@vap0rtranz for the money I paid for mine new nearly 4 years ago, which including Federal tax credit. was around 26k for an LT trim, it was a total bargain for what it offers. I thought sure that 4 years down the road there'd be something that offers the same combination of performance and energy efficiency for about the same price. There still isn't. the "affordable" model 3 was a feint it was never something Tesla really wanted to do, average sale price on 3s once you add heated seats, longer range battery, delivery charge etc. pushes well above 40 grand.
Volt is dirt cheap to full charge and the 2nd gen you can pull 70 miles range in, around town, no prob during the summer. I've banked and invested like 4000 gallons worth of gas money I never had to pay at this point tho maybe I'll use that as a big down payment on a off-lease 3 in a year or two
@@bitrexgm Even re-sale is a bargain IMO (b/c I've been looking to buy used).
@8 Bit mentions heated seats saves turning on the cabin heater, but that's only on Premium model, right? Premium seems overpriced but I'm in cold country and need good heat in winter.
@@vap0rtranz I have the "Comfort" package on my 2017 LT it gives you at a minimum heated front seats and heated steering wheel, plus some other stuff like leather trim, heated mirrors etc. depending on the year. I think it was a $750 option. Didn't need to get the Premium package to get that and I expect some used LTs will have it.
unfortunately in very cold weather like New England gets they won't keep you comfortably warm by themselves in sub-freezing temps. I still definitely need the blower heat then. but other times it does help to keep the heater use to a minimum. a minor frustration is that even on electric power the blower heat is not instant-on it takes a little bit to come up same as a gas car. Remember to set the engine-assist heat to "defer" in the settings so it only does its "engine running due to temperature" -thing occasionally while driving to when it drops below about 26F and not at 34F as I think it does stock.
Volt performs very well in the cold ice and snow other than the seasonal range reduction you get in every EV. the computer bitched at me one morning when it was about -18F that it was reducing power due to low temperature, acceleration was sluggish for a few minutes then everything worked fine once the coolant temp rose.
The traction control works great and the big torque easily busts it out of drifts if it's been sitting out in the snow. The stock low-rolling resistance tires will spin out from under you on even slightly damp pavement if you gun it at a stop, though, I accept a small range reduction to run a little beefier tread than that (Continental PureContact) since we get so much lousy weather
@@bitrexgm awesome detail. great to hear your experience as an owner instead of these "professional" reviewers. ty!
Good reason to wait for the Tesla: GM fucked the electric car industry in the 90s, setting the technology back by decades.
Also GM is just in general trash
Yep they had the only one and dropped the ball.
not backing a company for *historical* ideological reasons is a really poor decision, there's no logical reason why you should remain myopically in love with Tesla
lexus good?
Second highest reliability behind Lexus, consistently lower prices with better features and equal materials, top tier engine manufacturing (LITERALLY the best engines in the world by numerous metrics including mpg/hp, mpg/lb, mpg/volume, hp/volume, AND mtf), suspension so good that the Germans license it because they can't actually compete with it...
...yeah, sounds like GM's trash.
Truck of the year, car of the year, driver's car of the year.
Man, total trash.
great review on a great car. I love mine! Most economical car I've owned. In 60k miles, fuel costs have been cut in half, I have done 2 oil changes, and original brakes are still like new. only visits to a service center were those 2 oil changes. Total maintenance costs in 60k miles and 5 years = $80. Try to beat that with any other car.
Technically it's not a long range electric car. It has a long range when using gas but only a quarter of the of the Tesla M3 range when using electricity. It also needs to use its gas engine every now and then.
until claims are proven their still clams just cause they say it's so doesn't make it so and their was report of people in the first volt going one year on the first tank of gas which is never good for a gas engine
The Volt only uses gas engine a little below 15F to help make heat or for engine maintenance mode every 42 days only if you don't use the gas engine. Engine maintenance uses approximately 6 teaspoons of gasoline (yes I said teaspoons)
Ogreng Buddha I'm not saying don't run the gas engine. I understand why it has to but that means it also has to burn fossil fuels. Something a pure electric doesn't have to do.My main point though was pointing out how in pure electric mode the Volt isn't capable of long ranges. The model 3 will be. Yes I know we haven't seen it yet but Tesla has already delivered 3 times so the chances of them messing this up seem pretty slim.
Erik Stephens Even if the engine is only used a bit it's still being used. Plus the point of my original comment was pointing out how in pure electric mode the Volt isn't long range. The Model 3 will be.
I for the most part disagree. While for a smaller percentage of people you are correct overall I don't agree. The Model 3 is expected to have an ~55KWh battery. With this battery size it will not be able to handle the full 135KW charge rate at Tesla's superchargers (and we still don't know how Tesla is going to deal with the Model 3 with regards to it's supercharger network). The Model 3 will still likely take 30 to 40 minutes for an 80% charge. So that means for every 2 to 2.5 hrs of driving you will need to stop for 30 to 40 minutes. It's doable but not the greatest either. And while the supercharger network is getting fairly good it still won't get you everywhere. I still take at least one road trip a year in my Volt that a Model S 90 wouldn't be able to do. So in that situation if I owned a Model 3 I would need to rent a gas powered vehicle that has more than double the fuel consumption of my Volt (and I would still likely be able to get >30% electric in my Volt through some opportunity and destination charging on this road trip). That rental car will likely use more gas in that one trip than my Volt uses in a year. So for many people a Volt will still likely use less gasoline overall than someone with a Model 3. www.greencarreports.com/news/1097918_chevy-volt-vs-mitsubishi-i-miev-this-volt-uses-less-gas-than-electric-car-data-shows
I like how your accent became more Texan once you got to the drag strip :P
God yes lol
@@xander1052 that what happens when he's having fun lol
@@raven4k998 indeed
You noticed that too.
FYI, I have got 74.5 miles on electric, and the engine still has not come on. This was in the Chicago area (all flat), temps in the upper 60's (close to perfect) and I did not exceed 55 mph because I don't like blue-red lights behind me. In the last 3 miles the car said I have 0 miles left but I made it home without the engine. After 3 months with the car I still have all the gas I got from the dealer.
I have also gotten over 75 miles on a charge one time. I wasn't even trying. The conditions were just perfect, though. I have only put gas in this car one time since buying it 10 months ago.
I actually was trying to get the max, but it does not mean much. I wasn't driving any slower than the traffic, but I was using low gear to slow down (instead of braking) and the regenerative brake pedal any time I could. That means that I almost never use the brakes. The brakes are also working "regenerative" but I don't know how much regenerative and how much friction they use. So that way I know I regenerate as much as possible.
"brakes"
3 months is about as long as you can keep regular gas in a tank without it turning into useless mush.
No, I have an Onan 5KW gasoline powered generator, and the gasoline in its 9-gallon tank is over three years old. It still runs well! Maybe your gasoline station sells bad gasoline?
I bought a 2017 Volt over the weekend and I am waiting to take delivery so I had to rewatch this video, especially since it was part of the reason I chose a Volt. It seems like an amazing value to buy one used. I paid around $13500. I'm happy to see you reviewed the LT version because most reviewers have cars provided by Chevy which are almost always the premier.
Something that people do not mention in reviews which was integral in my decision to buy one used is that the designers left some headroom in the battery so that it can increase the amount available as the car ages and the range will remain more or less the same for an extended time. Not only did I like the assurance that I'll hopefully get a few years with the range that is like new, it also told me that they were really thinking about the longevity of the car. I wish phone makers would start doing that.
compare a hybrid with a electric only tesla...
without the gas motor this volt would not go that far.
a tesla gets the long range ONLY electrical. so you cant say that you already have all that the model 3 will have.
this is ridiculous
Part of what is appealing about an all electric car is eliminating the combustion engine with all it's maintenance (oil changes and other things). Much simpler and should be much more reliable. Maybe some day I will get one.
But a model 3 driver will have to find a charger somewhere to charge up. That may be fine for a commuter car, but for someone that wants to explore the 2 lane roads into small towns and see the country that will be a problem, because there are no chargers out there. Besides, when on a road trip nobody wants to have to stop every few hours for a forced charge. A 5 minute fill up when needed, and a stop at points of interest along the way. Volt has the freedom of a regular car. I have all the benefits of an electric and no shortcommings. I would never consider an electric only. The only cars I would consider is the volt and the bmw i3, and considering that the range on the BMW is only 80 miles between fill ups on gas, that is a no brainier.
And how often would I do that? Not very often. I think I could go rent a car for doing that trip if I actually decided to do one. What balance works for you depends on your intended use. For my use a pure electric would work fine. It would even handle the few long trips I do a few times a year since there are multiple superchargers along the way and one stop for half an hour or so would take care of it.
I don't do it often either, a few times a year, but I am not about to have a dedicated car for road trips, nor am I about to rent one. I want a car that I can go anywhere, any time and never have to worry about finding a place to charge, and I want an electric car. So for me the volt or BMW is the only choice, and because the BMW i3 makes me want to puke, that one is off the table. After driving a volt for 5 years, my choice is clear, it will be another volt for me.Does everything I want. Gives me the low cost of operation of an EV, I get access to the special lanes reserved for EV drivers, and I am not limited where I can go, and I don't have to plan my drive as other EV drivers do, Best of both worlds. End of discussion.
It's not a hybrid. URG. It's also not a comparison, because the Tesla Model 3 doesn't exist, buddy. The first Volt was a game changer (much like the Roadster), because it is a car you can drive anywhere without being scared of running out of charge. The Tesla is not currently practical, and will take decades to be... battery simply isn't good enough, and having to charge it is too difficult for people to drive out of their way to go to a Supercharger. Myself, I'd love a Tesla. I just so happen to live next to a Supercharger. However, I would rather have the Volt for the reasons I just mentioned.
8-Bit Guy just smoked the modded civic hatchback!
Fart can mod
Super1di0t is a riced
No smoke just air resistance and wind
Haha I know it made so much noise and it didn't go anywhere
That my friends is what we call a ricer.
Well this was unexpected, but in a good way! Interesting information here. This is a car I've been looking into myself over the years, so it's good to get some solid info. Didn't realize quite a few things about it!
Greetings!
Greetings let's go thrifting!
but does it have autopilot?
Sort off. You can get automatic cruise control with lane keep assist which is not far from Tesla's autopilot.
Erik Stephens... youre joking right? right? can this car be fully automatic, not just lane shit and speed assist... FULL autopilot?
Quick correction. Electric vehicles don't do better in city driving than on the highway, they do better than gasoline cars in city driving. They still waste more energy from stop and go. I always notice the energy usage on my Tesla. It's always higher in city driving.
Actually, they really do better. I did a similar trip (not shown in this video) and achieved 71 miles on a charge driving in city traffic.
The 8-Bit Guy That's not typical. Sure if you're driving at a constant rate and not stopping for traffic lights, stop signs etc. But then again that's not city driving, that's suburban driving. I live in Toronto, it's a big city. You'll never get better mileage in a city like Toronto, New York, Chicago, etc.
Regenerative breaking helps a lot.
Not anywhere near as much as it uses to pick up speed again. All of this is straight from the energy graphs on my Tesla.
The Chevy Volt has a completely different power-train than the Tesla.
The Chevy Volt is still a hybrid, it's classed as a series-parallel hybrid, the same type as the Prius. The reason for this is simple: the gasoline engine is still coupled to the wheels and is still used to directly move the car. The Volt simply shifts the power allocation more on the electric motor (with a correspondingly larger battery).
That's not a bad thing: the Volt really does provide the best of both worlds, in most respects.
Actually, what makes the Volt different is that while there is energy left in the battery, it can run entirely on electric, no matter how fast you go.
In other plug-in cars such as say the Plug-in Prius or the Ford energi cars, the gas engine kicks in if you go too fast, due to their smaller electric motors and smaller batteries not being able to deliver the power you're demanding on their own.
+Ashelm56 yeah and when they are in hybrid mode the prius gets 50mpg.. a much better road trip vehicle when the ev is gone.. if you take road trips = prius plug-in if you city drive and don't go far = Volt because if you stay within the range it will perform more like an ev and not tap into the engine much.
Holy shit. This guy thinks almost 8 seconds zero to sixty is "plenty fast." Lol. No credibility after hearing that. Hope the kool aid tastes good!
+automaton111. lol word.
I have a '73 Datsun 240Z that is about that fast and it is not "real fast" but it is "plenty fast" unless you're in a drag race.
Loved the tornado joke. I wasn't expecting that 😂
Nice car, but a tad too modern for my tastes. MC Hammer was topping the charts when my car was produced.
Yeah. As he put it, "it's the closest you'll be to a spaceship"... and also far away from a car.
He's an Amish in disguise.
That's why you channel is named The Obselete Geek
Your response reminds me of someone looking at an automobile in the year 1900. This new-fangled horseless carriage is too modern for my tastes. It doesn't have anywhere to store the hay for my horse and I can't get used to it not producing poop. Fossil fuel exhaust is today's horse poop. It is foul and mucks up our environment, yet people feel that it isn't a "real car" if it doesn't produce tons of pollution to warm the climate.
The Carpenters were in the Charts when mine was produced! 1972 Hillman Avenger, Plymouth Cricket in USA. It's got some real high tech silicon though, in that new fangled alternator gadget.
I'm just leasing a Leaf until the Model 3 comes out. Already have the money saved up for it.
good man
What is really the point with Tesla 3... Sure if you really want it... but why? Its doesn´t do anything new.
+matsv201 fully electric 260miles(?).
+matsv201 "Autopilot" on a car that costs less than $40k isn't new? 215 mile EV range with supercharging isn't new?
About how much is it to lease the leaf?
So in electric Mode, the Chevy Volt would actually not even get me to and from work on electric mode on a full charge. My commute is 44.6 KM to and from, much of it on the highway. 53 miles is 85.6Km according to Google. So, 44.6 times 2 is... 89.2. I'd be forced to use the gas engine about 8 minutes north of my house.
That's surprisingly good. I have a Chevy Cruze LT Turbo right now, and on a full tank, I get roughly 740Km before I get the low gas warning. According to estimates, I'd get roughly 800Km from full to completely empty. So, let's do the math there. 800/89.2=8.9. So I get about 8.5 trips before I need to fill up on gas.
With the Volt, if we were to assume the gas engine gave the same amount of range and assuming I charge the car every night for 12 hours, I would get approximately 222 trips on one tank of gas in the best circumstances. To be fair, we could say probably 180 trips on one tank of gas. This is assuming I only use the car for work purposes of course.
That means I'd roughly only need to spend about $100 Canadian each year on gas. I currently spend that much on gas each month.
I think I know what my next car will be. If I can't afford a Tesla Model 3 when my current financing is up, I'm totally getting one of these.
Keep in mind that the electric range varies depending on temps, terrain such as hills, and your driving habits. In the dead of winter and if you floor the car to 75 mph/ 120 km/h, you won't get that advertised range. In warmer weather your range goes up unless you drive really fast all the time and blast the air conditioner.
But if you take it easy on the accelerator, you can get more than the advertised 53 miles / 85 km of range. And if your workplace has charging stations, then you can easily stay in EV mode on your round trip commute.
You should always put the charging while working
You could charge it while working.
I have a Focus Electric and get 100 to 163 km range depending how I drive. The price is competitive and I think the interior is better than the Volt. You may want to consider that if you don't want to wait for the Bolt or Tesla M3.
See if you could get your workplace to install a charger or allow you to use an outside 120V outlet somewhere. Then you could make the trip in 100% EV mode.
One of the best reviews of the Volt. Your video helped me decide to buy my 2018 Volt. Thanks!
I get 1800 kms on a tank of fuel traveling 134kms daily. Most of my commute is Highway, and I burn a little gas daily. I charge daily.
New math. At 11:18, your price comparison with the Prius makes sense only if you or a relative can get you a GM family discount ($2,739), you're coming off a compteting lease ($500), and you ignore the federal tax credit for the Prius ($7,500). Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that the Volt costs $10,739 more.
+Frank Howard the Prius doesn't qualify for the Fed tax credit. Only plug-ins qualify, which would be the just released Prius Prime. However, the credit is indexed to the battery size and because the Prius Prime has a much smaller battery, it only receives a $2500 tax credit. Also, the Volt can be had for a larger discount off of the sticker price than any Prius, so it is still very compelling even if you don't get the GM family discount etc. Finally, because the Volt can run so much further on electricity, your "fueling costs" will be lower with the Volt than with a Prius or Prius Prime. That being said, this all depends on where you live (there may be state incentives), the distances you travel and if you can plug-in. :)
The Prius Prime tax credit is actually $4500 + $500 from Toyota.
In fact, I am not sure the tax credit is what you will get back. That must be deducted from your taxable income which means you will save on tax the corresponding percentage of tax you are paying. If you are paying 25% on tax that means you save $250 per $1000 and not the whole amount. correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.
A Prius doesn't qualify for the Federal tax credit. A Prius Prime gets a partial tax credit, $4500, the Volt get's the full Federal Tax credit of $7500. State rebates vary by state. MA gives a $2500 rebate for the Volt and $1500 for a Prius Prime and none for a Prius. So total credits+rebate, Volt $10,000, Prius Prime $6000. The Volt is also a much better car than the Prius Prime, 0-60 in 7.8 sec vs 10.4. 53 miles of battery range vs 25. Every review that I've read says the Volt handles better. The Volt also supports Android Auto and Apple Car Play, Toyota's don't, that's huge I would never buy a car without Android Auto. The only place were the Prius Prime is better is in MPG when the battery is empty, but the Volt's much greater range means that it will almost also burn less gas. In the winter, when I don't do any road trips, I hardly use any gas in my Volt, that wouldn't be true in the Prius Prime. Road trips have to be very long before the Prius Prime does better on gas than the Volt. I did a 250 mile round trip to Vermont last Saturday, I got 60 miles on the battery and the the car claims that I got 52MPG on gas which is a little pessimistic compared to the actual gas I used which was 3.5 gallons measured at the pump which comes out to 54 MPG (190/3.5). .
Joshua Rosen who told you that? As far as I know, all plug in just get the 4,500 tax credit. Bolt is one of those pilgrims in hybrid.
Both good car and have their advance and disadvantage. The Volt can run 20 miles more per charge but 15-20 miles less per gallon gas
The Volt is rated at 53 miles on battery, the Prius Prime is 25, that's 28 miles more, more than 2X. The Volt is rated 42 MPG on gas, the Prius Prime is rated 54 MPG. Don't know how well the Prius Prime does in real world driving but the Volt's ratings are conservative. I did a 250 mile round trip to Vermont on Saturday, I got 60 miles on the battery and 53 MPG on the gas (as calculated by the car, if you calculate it by the gas pumps measure it was 54 MPG).
It's really amazing to see how far EVs and the infrastructure for them have come over the past 5 years.
.. the Volt really is not an EV , it has a gas motor cause most people refuse to trust ability to charge and do quarterly road trips.to loved parent yuppie Ev lovers guess hate their parents , , , half of people park in apartment parking lots and are poor buy $3000 beater not $30,000 EV, , , , it's like hot tubs and pools they are awesome but 90% skip them they spend that $5000-30,000 on food and helping family not helping climate of some hot Indonesian guy so I suspect poor half of American will stick with gasoline in their apartments , , and laugh at risking being out of charge and getting fired at the KFC, , plus coming blackouts will mean those EV drivers will get fired too unless their boss is foregiving do you think people should risk their career on this , ,,,. Just saying the counter argument to the EV sales pitch, , , I have a big sailboat 2 5hp you landlubbers are dumb ha, , ,
@@mostlyguesses8385this must be the dumbest comment here.
Volt owners...DOZENS THERE ARE DOZENS OF US!!!!!
PS mines Blue :D
Mines the red one.
Im verrrrryy happy with it.
I too have the Red
I still say this car is General Motors’s best vehicle they’ve made in decades. Really nice car and great review!
Danny Rumbles Totally agree. Can’t believe GM axed it. Dumb decision. Despite that I bought a 2019 Volt Premier w/ $3750 Fed Tax Credit and $2500 state rebate. Installed a 240v charger. Absolutely love the car. Quick, nimble, stylish, quiet, great apple car-play entertainment system. At 420 mile total range there is no anxiety. If you can find a used Gen 2 Volt, it would be a great buy.
@@bobclay9058 what do you expect from GM, they have had poor management for years!
@@bobclay9058 found one today, test-drove it (never been in one before) and bought it immediately. Thanks for the advice.
The 8-Bit Guy meets Top Gear. YAAASSSSS
And also DougDemuro
No top gear no hammand who's idea the new version
Please don't say YAAASSS...
+Frihman AAASSS
I miss that show.
I own a 2018 Volt. Soon after the purchase I was getting a EV range of over 80 mi. In the winter time the range has dropped to 58. I wish Chevrolet would continue manufacturing the car.
I own a 2018 Volt, its the best decision I've ever made. In 3 years I will trade it in and get something just like it, most likely. I cant see myself driving around town without it anymore.
I'm considering getting a used Volt, but they are hard to come by. Have you had any problems in the time you've owned it? Also, did charging it at home increase your utilities bill?
@@stephen9281 I think maybe 15 or 20 dollars per month. Very minimal!
@@josephcreed7 Wow! Seems like a good fit for me.
I love my 2017 Volt. I had a 2014 before, and traded up. I plan to trade this one before 100k, and get another. Although the range is best around town, my business mostly keeps me on the highway. Nevertheless, it still saves me a ton of money, and the environment. Last month. I drove my Volt 3200 miles. My Onstar report tells me that I saved 82 gallons of gas. Plus, it's so much fun to drive. And also, no range anxiety.
I hate to burst your bubble but: Electrics and Hybrids are not green or sustainable,or better for the enviroment contrary to what main steam media pushes. Here is why: A hybrid or electric takes the same car plant to build it,same refineries making aluminum or steel for it,copper,plastics etc. so nothing saved there,not to mention a load of electronics. Most charge electrics off the grid,which just transfers pollution to the coal,nuclear plants,nope nothing saved there either. So you might use solar for charging? Do you know how much it takes to refine silicon for solar cells? the glass,aluminum frames,plastic sheets etc take more energy to make the solar panels than the module will likely generate in its lifetime. Your hybrid still uses gas,tires and oil just like a regular fossil fuel car,all unsustainable and uses energy to recycle just like a regular car. The Lithium battery is not recycleable. Its a waste product when it goes bad. Also lithium is mined in many 3rd world countries by slave labor making almost nothing for wages. At the end of the day you saved nothing and added one more waste product to the stream(lithium) in addition to gas,tires oil,plastics,etc. Its simple math. There are many gas/diesel cars that get 45mph+ . Don't buy into the nonsense that gas/diesel is bad,its not,its a necessary thing of today. More food for thought,if EVERYONE went to electrics tomorrow,imagine them all trying to charge their car at 6pm when they all get home,sucking 5KW,10KW+ per house,it would literally pull the electric grid to its knees and cause massive blackouts. If you want a ev or hybrid,great,just say you do,just dont kid yourself on saving the enviroment.
@@a4000t Do you own alot of coal and gas stock ? lol !!
@@newton296 I own none of those stocks,but that is my point, the plant building these cars uses coal and nuclear power to make the car,and then people take them home and charge them with coal/nuke power(some hydro too) or charge at work,again from the grid supplied by coal/nuke etc,and then pretend they are helping the enviroment. realize i am not against electrics,but hybrids solve no environmental problems and add one more finite resource,lithium battery to their use. all i am saying is just call it what it is,it is NOT green or renewable.
This Volt is way more practical than a Tesla. Range wise it is in a sweet spot - cover the commute distance for most people, especially in Europe where most have a bit shorter commutes, while allowing arbitrary distances for trips using the gasoline engine. Seems like a total winner. Now they should work a bit on the styling, IMO it looks way too similar to a Prius, which isn't doing it any favours.
This was seriously in depth, fantastic content David, perhaps your very best. It's been absolutely great watching you evolve from The iBook Guy into what you have become today, and I'm very excited to see you continue to do so. As usual, thank you for all your hard work, and I look forward to your next video as always. If I had the money to buy new there is no question this is the vehicle I would buy, but as for now I'll have to stick with my (ironically) '07 Prius. They aren't bad little cars though, and the best option I went with at the time was the amazing premium sound system. 120,000 miles, a recent complete service with new brakes all around and it's still going strong with no major problems for its entire life so far. I hope your Volt is as kind to you, and I must say it's quite nice to see the American car companies really competing nowadays, and in alot of respects be much better value for the money.
One thing to consider when buying an electric vehicle is the company you are supporting. Chevy has had over 100 years to bring us more efficient vehicles and this is the best they can do? A hybrid with 53 mile range? Tesla has single handedly flipping the automotive industry on its head and buying a Tesla lets the other manufacturers know you aint playin'.
Please tell me who makes a hybrid with more range? The answer is, only one other vehicle and it costs a LOT more than a Volt.
I will have to defer to the other comments posted on this video about how the comparison is between and electric car and a hybrid car. Not trying to knock your video. It is a good review of the Volt but The Tesla is just not in the same class as the Volt. Its like a Ferrari vs a Miata.
My family has a leaf, and a prius. The most range we've ever gotten out of the prius was 417 miles on ful gas and charge at 55-65 mpg. The leaf achieves about 175 miles on full charge. :P
Tesla fan boy wants to find a super charge station and wait around for 45 minutes, when he gets the money to afford his cult car.
No, this is not the best Chevy can do. The Bolt is the closest comparison to a Model 3 (which is still not actually available...). It will do almost 400km on a single charge and retails around $30k in the US. Comparing a hybrid with a small battery pack and ICE and a pure electric car is apples/oranges.
Thank you for making this. I owned a 2015 Volt and now a 2018 Volt, and 2017 Tesla Model S. I always tell everyone to get the Volt. Mostly because we live in a dual-fuel country, so why not have a dual-fuel vehicle. Also, the Tesla is a little too wide for most parking spots. Love my Volt!
I think I'm starting to catch the electric car bug. I might want one of these.
same
Rerez same
I love ur videos
EVs include BEVs, PHEVs and non plug-in Hybrids. If it has a traction battery it's an electric car.
Sorry I wouldn't buy one. I have a 2016 Focus ST. It gets 40mpg@55 and 32mpg@80. It's quicker, more fun to drive and costs about the same. Not including the tax credit. For me the only reason to get an electric/hybrid is the tax credit. And another thing nobody wants to say is how much it costs to replace the battery when it goes bad. This is just another car like the Prius/Tesla and all the others, battery goes bad, time to sell it.
Ooh I love this style of review! I would love to see more like this. Unfortunately, I don't think the Volt is something I appreciate. Being able to only drive 85 km on electric is just barely enough to just drive to the border of Ontario, even though it's like 45 minutes away. And yes, the addition of a gasoline motor is absolutely fantastic for most people, but for me, I've been on a "electric-only or nothing" mentality for a while so it won't do. I've been appreciating the Leaf for a while now, but since the announcement of the Tesla 3, I've been focused on it lately and I can't wait to find out more. I doubt I'll still have any kind of money to afford one when it releases, but oh boy would I love to test-drive it eventually.
I agree, lol at him ticking the box about long range... 85 km is shit
53 miles is plenty for an EV car their not designed to go cross country due to limitations in the battery technology. Those cars are made to put around the city in.
Ogreng Buddha the point is that it pales in comparison to the Model 3 (215/53 = 4 times further) and he ticks the box for long range... it's not long range, it's city range, everything else I have no problem with, but his bias is showing - particularly when he's already bought a volt and his dad is a former GM man.
+schr4nz Yeah, but you have the engine for anything longer than that - you'll still save most of the money you would spend on fuel but you have the flexibility of a 300 mile range.
schr4nz
claims are claims til proven just cause they say it's so doesn't make it so you cant say what the car will do until it's actually made
1. nice video man. i bought the 2017 Volt partly based upon this video. thank you.
2. Man..you're a dork! Keep being you, man.
Thanks - great review. Despite all your efforts to educate on the Volt, the comments section proves that a significant percentage of people are simply stuck in a world of assumptions, pre-conceptions, and plain stupidity. Don't let it stop you!! Your work is much appreciated.
Exactly, And the Prius & Tesla owners will claim their cars are better and say "American Cars are Vegas"... and other BS. Two interesting facts, American Cars have always out lasted the Japanese competition, and Toyota makes the worst car on the market for the environment, ie. the Toyota Century, with a V16 engine and single digit fuel economy, but fortunately most nations, including the US, have fuel economy standards that the Toyota Century can't pass...
The only reason any manufacturer actually cares about the environment or fuel economy is half because these days it sells and half because they're required to.
And the rest of us can benefit. When I first looked at Volts, they were relatively new and $45k. Within a few years, those same models were $15-$20k. Huge "depreciation" b/c of crappy car? Or lack of demand because of bad assumptions by consumers. Looks to me like the latter.
@Michael Anthony Either you jest or you're a Republican dunce.
I don't know, I think he's selling the Chimpanzee a little short... Probably a better choice in the long run.
(No offense to Miss Mila Kunis!)
For such a significant departure from your usual content this was really exceptionally well done. Thanks!
Great effort, great production, great information and real life experiences with the 2017 Volt. Loved the "touchdown" joke, too. :)
I would get the Tesla simply for the Insane mode launch. Question, does charging the at home have a big effect on the electric bill?
My electric bill went up about $35-40 a month when I bought a 2014 Volt, and I have a 38 mile round trip work commute.
So use that as a reference when you calculate how much you spend in gas a month to see if it would save you more money.
So back of the napkin calculations here . . .
Of course Mr. T456 would have to run his own calculations.
According to Google there are about 21.6 workdays in a month.
21.6 * 38 miles = 820.8 miles a month.
Let's say a decent 30 mpg for a gas car.
820.8 miles / 30 mpg = 27.36 gallons a month.
27.36 gallons a month * $2/gallon = $54.72 of gas a month.
In most cases, the electric bill ought to be lower than the cost of refueling.
+logicalfundy i like your math but no one is accounting for gas bouncing back as it is finally selling at 50$+ a barrel
for the first time in years.
Frank Cantrelle Well, that's up from about $33 in January, although down from $64 from July of last year. This isn't the first time in one year in either direction, much less several.
www.nasdaq.com/markets/crude-oil.aspx?timeframe=1y
In any case, $2/gallon was an estimate, as gas prices fluctuate all the time. Last fill I had this month was $2.359/gal, although I filled for $1.959 once in April.
Wow. One forgets how cheap petrol(gas) is in the US! In Europe EVs are a factor of 5 or more cheaper to run than petrol/diesel cars. I guess most of the difference is that fuel is much more expensive. I'd still expect a bit more difference in the US, just because an EV uses about 25% as much energy per mile as an ICE car.
He’s annoyed because it’s loud at a race track :) gotta love this guy .... 👍
assburgers
It would be better if you could use metric system in your table. Converting from obsolete imperial units to superior metric system is annoying.
I thought about that. But since the Volt is primarily only sold in the USA, I figured I would show imperial units, since that is what we use here.
You could just add imperial units or metric units in brackets and everybody would be happy now ;)
Btw. Is it possible to change units in user interface?
+Atak Snajpera This video is clearly not intended for you.
J Yu Metric system is world wide standard so I do not understand what you are trying to prove here.
+Atak Snajpera He already answered you. What's so hard to understand? Is it the language barrier? Well, English is the de facto world standard... 😇
no chance of a touchdown, hahaha
GM legendary customer service and the fact that they delayed electric car revolution by at least 15 years. I will take model S.
GM's customer service has been fantastic for me. I had an early 2013 Volt with a minor software issue. An engineer from GM reached out to me personally and developed a software patch that fixed my car.
Wow, they helped 1 customer. I refuse to purchase another GM product b/c of their poor customer service. I've had a product demo of the new Volt and really like the Bolt but for the reason stated, would never buy either.
If you look at the gm-volt forum they have helped many customers in similar ways. GM's engineers follow the forums very closely and seems to work fairly well at resolving most issues quickly. Now I would say that some of the dealers have been very poor towards GM's electrified offerings. But some of them have been very good. And GM corporate has been excellent at trying to make things right when there is a problem.
um... I think you are using the term socialist democrat in the wrong way. Btw, its not an insult.
so you're telling me that the EV1 wasn't made to comply with california laws, and you're telling me that GM didn't lobby california govt to drop that law, and you're telling me that they didn't stop selling _and recall_ them as soon as california dropped the law?
I loved my 2016 Volt I had. (Leased it for 3 years for $250 a month, nothing down). In three years I counted filling the gas tank about 10 times, and those only for longer trips from Los Angeles to Palm Springs. Otherwise, just driving around LA I rarely touched a gas pump. In fact, I could charge it and drive from Monday to Wednesday to and from work without even charging it again, and the gas engine never turning on! A few times in ideal conditions, I'd start my commute to work, and arrive there... with 57 miles of charge still, having coasted and re-gened all my energy use back. Of course I'd generally pay that back driving home from work more uphill and using the headlights. I work with a ton of Prius drivers and I cant for the life of me see why anyone would want a Prius over the Volt. The Volt is an amazing car.
Excellent review!
Love You Geek Pub!
Love you
The PHEV market has changed a bit. The Volt was discontinued by GM. Honda has brought out the PHEV Clarity with about 47 miles of EV range. I just picked up an '18 Clarity base model for a little over $33K. It also qualifies for the $7500 federal tax credit. It's about the size of a Honda Accord, so a bit more interior room compared to the Volt.
It's so annoying that Chevrolet stopped shipping Holden the volt. The only electric car you can buy in Australia is a Nissan Leaf.
Not true. You can also buy a Tesla.
Edit: you can also buy a BMW i3 both as a pure battery electric vehicle and as a gasoline range extended electric vehicle AND you can buy a Mitsubishi Outlander plug in hybrid electric vehicle (still not available in the US).
Yuck, leaf..
+Dogphlap oh yeah. I forgot.
Best review ever... Dragstrip with no AC and upsets the Honda!
Would you really call this a review if it's so subjective?
Do you think there's a such thing as an objective car review? Sure there are objective facts such as MPG and 0-100, which he included that objective data by the way, but after all that there's always the personal experience of the reviewer, different people like different cars, yes it's a review.
Oh god really? Link us some objective reviews would you?
Only thing that matters is that you trust the reviewer to be honest when giving their opinion. Even if you disagree with their opinion, if you believe them to be honest then you can calibrate your own expectations around them.
Probably just sponsored content.
The history of old tech is good, the concealed carry autism and car reviews, not so much.
Review IS subjective. That's the definition. If you think reviews can be objective, then fiery water H20 is possible.
The volt used to be sold in the UK as the Vauxhall Ampera Its annoying they don't anymore.
+ProCreeper 2000 congrats, I'm getting a model 3 after watching bjorn nyland
One of the best car reviews out there. Great Work. I hope they bring it to Australia.
they did....
Only the first generation. I have one. It's great. All my local driving is purely plug-in electric on the ACT's soon-to-be 100% renewable electricity.
I do love the Volt. I went to go buy one in 2013, but the dealer would not come off the sticker price... not even a DIME. So to really stick it to him, I went to Ford and bought an Explorer. I showed him! (True story, sarcasm aside.). I still want a Volt. The Explorer is getting up in years, and I’d love a Volt to do all my daily driving. My commute to work is only 5 miles each way, and pretty much anything I would need on a daily basis is within 10 miles of my house.
Yup dealerships suck. I just bought a used 2018 volt from carvana, they were great
innocentrage1 I’ve known a couple people go that route. They’ve given mostly positive feedback from it. I hope you like your Volt!!!!! The newer models are leaps and bounds better, but something about the OG design draws me to them.
A 99 Honda Insight gets better mpg than the volt and pruis
I've been inside one, and it's absolutely tiny. Very impractical for anything but commuting.
And is also a lot more likely to kill you in an accident. And isn't electric. And is much more likely to fail. And comes with much more required maintenance. And doesn't have modern amenities like CarPlay support...
Honestly they're not comparable at all.
yeah and its half the size and looks bad. Sorry, not at all the same.
***** have you even seen the design of the pruis
***** still way better looking than a car that looks like its crying of its own existence
This is the only electric car that makes sense in the modern world, with a lack of speedy charging and available charging stations. In the future, the all electrics may become more reasonable.
You know you can just place a charging station in your house, right? If petrol was piped to your home, you wouldn't even think of going to a station.
@@theblackwidower Maybe some of us live in apartments?
@@YevezNutZ Yeah, like I do. And like this guy: czcams.com/video/QQqhoM3fDrQ/video.html
To summarize: You can just convince your landlord to install a charging station. Eventually, not having one will be the exception, not the rule.
@@theblackwidower Maybe JDR is referring to road trips in areas without a charging network? There are plenty of large areas in the Midwest and Southwestern parts of the USA without charging stations once you get off the interstate highways.
@@mowcowbell Now that is a major problem that does need to be fixed. But in that case my first thought is: rental. Yes, that costs extra money, but consider it part of your vacation budget.
Great video and all, especially for a channel that isn't car review based! But I have to point out that you are still comparing an EV with a hybrid. The model 3 is revolutionary as it can achieve the 250m range without burning any hydrocarbons. And to someone like me I'm happy to wait as its not about the MPG it's about having a fully electric car! :D
It may be a hybrid, but it appeals to the same group of buyers. When the Model-3 comes to market, there will be people cross shopping it with the Volt, Bolt, and basically any car with a plug on it.
The 8-Bit Guy It may appeal to a large group of buyers who would consider the Model 3, but of the pre-order holders (such as myself, so I am biased) I would assume many are not interested in a car that has any ICE components. (Elon has said quite a number of times how foolish it is to lug around the weight and power train of an ICE in an EV as it reduces the range and performance of the EV)
Model 3 will be fantastic and will help fund Model Y and continue spreading 100% electric to the mass market. Which is something this planet is in dire need of.
Anyway, I guess my point is, this was a really good video! (Especially considering your channel type) Im glad someone has made this for the buyers you're addressing. But I also hope people see that hybrids are not the end goal and that cars do need to become fully electric. (Preferably with solar and a power wall ... but thats all far too expensive for most people)
That's illogical, though. In order to give an EV a good enough range to be useful (200+ miles) the battery has to be much larger and heavier. So instead of hauling around 500 pounds of engine and related components, now you are hauling around an extra 800 pounds of battery that you don't need every day. Thus, I actually prefer the case of the Volt because it is more versatile and not dependent on charging infrastructure. Right now the infrastructure in most of the country is a joke. I know, because we just got rid of a Nissan Leaf and know first hand how hard it is to live with a pure EV.
The 8-Bit Guy I see where you're coming from, but that is adding to the electric range to achieve that 200+Mi range, so it could be seen as not a waste of weight. Whereas the ICE is still magnitudes less efficient with its fuel and adds weight.
Also the cost is not simply that of weight and convenience (which will improve by the time Model 3 launches) but also of emissions.
Not to mention that Model S has proven on many occasions that the structural rigidity of the battery pack (and other safety features in its design) has created one of (if not the) the safest cars on the market.
I agree that the volt is probably the best option for a plug in that isnt from Tesla and for people who want a car right now ... maybe it will do, personally Ill be keeping my 2013 Lancer till my Model 3 arrives (probably in like 4 years since Im in Australia)
(sorry my grammar and punctuation is all over the place today, getting killed by Uni assignments so lacking sleep)
sorry you need to burn those hydrocarbons to MAKE that electricity that the EV runs on... While there is nuclear power, people are pushing away from it due to things like Fukushima.... so that leaves coal, oil, and natural gas...
Take a bow, 8-bit guy! This video sold 3 EVs in my family in the last four months. I bought a silver Volt, my brother bought a black one and my dad bought a Bolt.
Were you using Sport mode when testing the speed?
I own a 2014 Volt and love it. It's a shame they stopped making them.
I don’t think he was on sport mode, shame. 😖
It's not an either/or proposition. The Chevy Volt is a car of the present, and the Tesla Model 3 is a car of the future. Buy the Volt now, enjoy it for a few years, and when the Model 3 becomes available in volume, all the kinks are worked out, and the charging network is completely built out, then trade in your Volt for a Model 3.
Now I want one, but they are stopping production.
Thing is you can get them cheap right now, go in & play hardball. Esp if you can get the $7500 rebate, it's almost too cheap.
You should still go at it. I got a 2019 LT version back in May and loving it. The only regret is not searching more for a premier version or an LT version with sensors. The blind spots are huge and the reverse camera isn't fish-eye to provide more view of cars coming towards you.
I bought a volt 3 years for work and the car pool access .. turns out it's the best car I've owned .. I just hot two hundred thousand miles on it with little to no maintenance .. LOVE IT ..
I find it odd that you are comparing an electric car to a hybrid.
As in the Prius to the Volt, or the Volt to the Tesla 3?
I'd personally prefer to have the best of both worlds with a Chevy Volt, rather than be endlessly tied to needing an electrical outlet with a Tesla. Just my opinion though.
+The Olive Besides The Volt is a fair comparison to the Model 3, because at any time it most definitely can be used as a dedicated electric vehicle. As the only time you NEED to use the gasoline engine is the cycle through the gasoline in the car so it doesn't go bad, and that isn't as often as you might imagine. You wouldn't rather have the option there to use gasoline if you could? I personally think it's a pretty great feature.
A fully electric car is a bit more intimidating to the average EV skeptic. At least with a hybrid, you will never be stranded and needing a re-charge. That being said, the Tesla won't have to support the weight of a heavy engine, meaning you will get better acceleration and performance from it.
+Austin Vickers The Model 3 will weigh more than the Volt. The 2016 Volt only weighs 3,543 lbs. The Tesla Model S, because of its battery, starts at 4,608 lbs.
Was the volt in sport mode? I own that exact car and in sport mode it accelerates much faster. Not that I put it in that mode often...
At the drag strip you were testing how "quick" it is, not how "fast" it is. Fast would be the top speed.
I bought a 2014 Volt in Feb. It's in pristine condition with 43k miles. Cost me $12k USD. My job is working on computer networks in NJ. Last year, I drove 35k miles for work, just in NJ. We bought (not leased) a solar system for our house last year. Now I charge the Volt for free. Even though I don't use it to its full potential (30 miles a day on just electric), I am getting 60-70 mpg over a 100 mile trip. That's driving 75-80mph on the highway. Love the Volt. First GM car I have owned in 20 years. I have nothing but praise for this car. It's super fast off the line compared with a gas car. I don't feel like I have to charge it anywhere but home, no matter how far I roam.
He now goes by the name, "The 8-Bit M A N."
I'm not barnacle boy, im barnacle MAN
I dropped a like, but there wouldn't be a Chevy V:B/olt if there weren't Tesla.
Think of the Volt as a gateway electric car to those who can't wait for, or can't yet afford a new Tesla. One, and probably the only one , advantage that the Volt has over the Tesla, is there is no range anxiety.
Maybe...maybe not. A Tesla is build for tomorrow, the Chevy Volt is build for today.
I LOVE THE CHEVY VOLT 🚗🔋🔌
I have a Volt, Awesome cars. A tip I found out , that you may know or not. Charge it at home.... go find a hill and use Gas to get there. Go to the top of the longest hill you can find (use gas to the top) and drive with regenerative braking all the way down. on BATTERY MODE. You will find that the car will charge to 60,70 or 80 miles depending on your Volt. And year. Now when you plug in at night , the charge will fully charge to 60 ,70 or 80... it stays like this for weeks and then you will notice when you plug it will slowly charge less and less.... Go find another hill and do it again..... Been doing this for two years with my volt, with no battery loss at all. Hope this is useful.
One of the best videos I seen for the Volt.
Update : He sold his Volt and now brought a Tesla Model 3, as you can see in his recent videos.
This whole video was just a silly excuse of buying this parody of an electric vehicle.
Update: he actually has both still
When you've historically only been into computers before suddenly getting into cars, and then you find out the 8 bit guy does car reviews.
Same
I live in Manhattan. The Volt is the only electric that makes sense for me. Good luck finding a charging station in the city...many available outside Manhattan. Great review!
Now this a tech review, awesome job with the video!!! You should do a q&a video on the volt
2:25 *cuts to the chevy volt at a drag race* our beloved eco-conscious reviewer: im a lil nervous never did this before. 😂😂😂
Great review. I've been looking at an EV car and partial to the Fusion Energi, I prefer the style. However the Volt certainly looks like the best value. bigger battery and more storage.
I have seen several reviews. I really appreciate the time you put into this and the many edits you had to make for this video. Funny about the lack of touch downs. :) Kidding aside. I am going to get a 2017. My daily commute is 42. I spend about $325 a month on fuel. This literally will go away over night.
Why no sport mode test?
Not enough Mila Kunis/Chimpanzee comparisons, 1/10.
On a serious note, great video!
No BS review, thanks, good job. Volt is better than Tesla 3
after 2 years of driving 2017 volt - i can clearly declare it is the only car that can make you cry when you part with it - why? it has everything what prius and tesla combined into one car - and that is a golden combo you can only wish to ever come across in your lifetime - moreover new 2023 prius has caught up with all volts by finally introducing a recharging cable that allows use prius just like volt or tesla - before that prius would only regen the batteries from using gas - but volt did not have to use gas in order to get any juice - in other words volt can be used without any gas but prius would need gas at all times - however new 2023 prius has finally copycatted volt to run without gas (took like forever to do what volt does for a decade now) - in other words gas for volt was optional for over a decade - and for new prius the gas optional as well - so the point is if volt is no longer in production but new prius can do same as volt recharging wise - then i am into new prius - which i hated before but now will consider - unless gm gets back with new volt and beats prius power range which is still below even 5 year old volt - but frankly i dont like to change horses in the middle of the run and prefer volt over any gas assisted ev or ev only - just 2 cents on the subject -
It says "no money down"
*no, that should be "no, money down!"*
Due to battery degradation its going to go down to about 45miles. And damn that range so low that budget electric bikes get a bigger range.
Sure after 30 years maybe. There are Volts with more than 300K miles with no battery degradation.
insideevs.com/worlds-first-300000-mile-chevrolet-volt/
100,000 miles, and 5 years on my 2012 volt and I still get the same electric range as I did when I drove it off the lot.
The key is the liquid-cooled battery. Like Tesla, the Volt has a liquid-cooled battery, which drastically improves the life of the battery. Additionally, GM was conservative in their design, and put aside some battery capacity to accommodate failing cells in the future. There isn't a single Volt that has seen any battery degradation (GM even had a facility built that was designed to run on used Volt batteries, it only has batteries from test cars installed right now), Tesla degradation hasn't been seen beyond 10% range loss.
Range loss is an issue with batteries that aren't properly maintained. The Nissan Leaf uses an air-cooled battery, and range degradation is fairly severe after 100,000 miles on those. But that's a design flaw with that particular vehicle, not an incurable issue with EVs in general.
Right I know that. The design with the volt though, the way the cells are built allows for complete cooling of the cells as the coolant flows around the complete cell. Tesla uses cylinder cells and even with the liquid cooling, only the cell casings, or anode can be cooled. The rod in the center of the cell runs considerably hotter.I have a friend with a Tesla, and he had to have his battery replaced with less than 80,000 miles, because the range was falling off very quickly. Fortunately it was covered, and he spent the 10 grand on the free battery after warranty, so he will get another one out of them when this one gives up the ghost.He no longer supercharges though, as he figures that supercharging frequently was a factor in the early demise of his original battery. I has actually been replaced twice. The first one failed after only 6 months with the "car needs servicing message" That and the little things like fit and finish, leaking hatch, and tail lights, and all those other silly little problems that should not occur on a 100,000 car.
Very interesting. Always wondered what a REAL owner experience was like with some of these cars. I'm intrigued, but not enough to give up my internal combustion engine yet. Thanks for the post!
thank you so much for your helpful video, I learned a lot before I got my 2017 volt base model, thanks again :)
"3 years in the future? man that's so long from now!" *sees video was uploaded in 2016* "oh lord"
I would've waited for the model 3
But what about your jaguar?
Your map is isnt exactly accurate because there's a part of South America south of Panama that is famously impassable by car
Aw shucks, and just as I was planning to buy a Tesla and try to get down there to search for "super charge" stations.
You really have to understand 8-Bit Guy's true Geekness in order to appreciate this review. He is not a car review guy at all. Normally he talks about obsolete electronics and other cool stuff. I'm sure the Volt is a great car for him and some others.
Now he just needs to review the Chevy Bolt/all electric.
As far as the Tesla is concerned, good luck getting one when they come out, I think there is a long waiting list.
Cheers
The great thing about the Volt is that you have the best of both worlds. An EV without the range anxiety. My wife loves hers.
2:27 Im dying of laughter A EV right next to Cameros
I take it you haven't seen what the Tesla did to the Porsche and the Audi R8?
Did you notice the pickup truck that went off the road when he got on the freeway?
here in new zealand a used tesla model 3 is around 80k nzd hardly affordable.
I just bought one today, its 2014 but i got it for my kids. They did not want to get it but now they love it. I would like to get one for myself.
how the f*ck did you ignore SPORT MODE on drag strip. really this just stopped being "ok" review.
Sport mode does not add any speed to the car. However, I've had so many people mention it, I think I'm going to go back to the track again and PROVE it.
53 miles is a lot shorter than you think I would die on my way to my doctor
If your doctor is more than 53 miles away then I would say you would.
well as long as you aren't dumb enough to buy a electric without a gas mode you live
53 miles to your doctor?! Holy cow, your healthcare system needs work.
+Tim Austin I go to the best doctors in the state and u couldn't go to Home Depot and back without dying
Tucker Kennedy "Best Doctors",... You must excuse my slight incredulity, I'm English, but why on earth is there a system where the quality of care varies so much that you can/should choose a "better doctor"?
16:48 How is coolant temperature bizarre? Every other car with a gas or diesel engine has a coolant temp gauge. If they took the same technology that is in the Volt, and put it in a small pickup truck (Chevy S10, or Ford Ranger sized) I would buy one instantly. I do 58 miles of driving every day. I'd really like to know why electric "hybrid" vehicles have been limited to compact sedans. There is no reason why they couldn't scale up the same technology for a larger vehicle, and be able to have the same range. I do have one question though, does the Volt charge the battery and do regenerative braking while in gasoline only mode???
I keep asking the same question. And the only reason I can come up with is that they do not want to cannibalize the sales of their very profitable pickups and SUVs.
+The 8-Bit Guy But how would they be cannibalizing sales if they can sell more of a different kind of vehicle, that is also more profitable. The profit margins on a truck or SUV are higher than compact cars. I don't think they would be competing with themselves if they fall into 2 different areas of the market. Its not like they would be making 2 sedans. They could make a sedan, truck, and an suv based on this technology, and they wouldn't be competing against each other.
Because a pickup would need enormous batteries to go 58 miles., which would make it ridiculously heavy. Possibly even heavy enough to put it in another category of vehicle.
+fiveohpatrick if they can make a tesla that can go 0-60 in 2 seconds, they can make a small pickup that has a 1000lb payload. Think about it, a tesla can easily have 1000lbs of passengers in it. Im not talking about towing a trailer with it.
+fiveohpatrick Ford already made the Ranger EV, that had a 78 mile range. And that was using old NiMH batteries.
How far is hugely subjective as this video suggests. This test was on flat terrain, but in hot weather. Terrain, wind speed, outside temp, and driving habits all can dramatically affect mileage. Winter driving (with heat) in hilly terrain can bring the mileage down to 30 miles or less with a lead foot.
Good luck driving through the Darien Gap with your ground clearance.
We now know that the notion of a Model 3 being $35k is fiction.
you can get the model 3 for $35k lol
@@ryanfahey416 Yep, I found out you're right. It's just not shown on the website. You have to somehow know that its possible and talk to a salesman directly to get one ordered. Range is reduced and it can't be upgraded to autopilot. There are other compromises as well. No doubt this is because Tesla loses money on the very base model.
Kent Purdy yeah, it’s pretty hard to get it. Although i have seen in the tesla app you can upgrade to base level autopilot and then the more advanced one but then there are a bunch of features like the subwoofer and speakers in the car that can’t really be easily upgraded
Thanks man great video this convinced me to get a Tesla !!
I'm glad that in China we have BYD motors, the "dual mode" vehicles can either go EV or HEV and the new Tang SUV takes only 4.5s from 0 to 100kph and EV can hold up to 100km.And you can choose the model with only EV and it can go 500km!
善膜师 BYD all the way!