Day-by-Day Review: 2012 Chevrolet Volt

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2012 Chevrolet Volt

Day 1

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I am excited this week — I have been presented with a challenge, and I have accepted it. Of course, it is a challenge I placed on myself, so I’d better accept it. This week I drive the Chevrolet Volt: not a hybrid, but an electric vehicle with extended range. We can argue the semantics all day, so whatever GM wants to call it, let’s go with it. The electric range of the Volt is between 40 and 80 kilometres, according to GM. My commute, as measured by the Volt today, is 24 km each way, for a total of 48 km. I’m sure you figured out the challenge: can I get to work and back on a single charge without using fuel?

It will be interesting, as Paul Williams, who handed me the car today, said he was getting 46km on a charge, so it will be tight. But before we go any further, let’s explain exactly how this car is laid out and how it works.

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The Volt is a four-passenger, four-door hatchback, and offers a considerable amount of cargo space due to its efficient placement of the batteries. Three hundred litres of cargo capacity is the official rating. The drivetrain uses two electric motors, one that produces 110 kW (the primary motor) and one that produces 55kW. Very difficult to explain in words, but the entire system uses a set of gears and clutches to transfer the power from the motors to the wheels.

Also present is a 1.4-litre gasoline engine, rated at 85hp, which is connected via a clutch to the secondary motor to transfer power to the battery or the drive wheels. The battery is a lithium-ion pack with a 16kWh capacity, and based on my electricity bill, this means it will cost me roughly $1.40 to charge the battery. If this nets me the 50 km needed to get to work and back, then I’m saving about $3 a day in fuel, or approximately $800 a year over a vehicle that averages 8.0L/100km.

But I do have to plug it in when I get home or the whole shooting match goes out the window, and we have been advised that if you do not have a covered garage that you should not really charge the Volt outside to protect it from the elements, so this could be an issue for some.

So I am excited to see if I can save myself $10 this week — let the challenge begin!

2012 Chevrolet Volt
MSRP as tested (excluding destination): $48,150

For more information on Chevrolet and the Volt visit GM Canada

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Day 2

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When I unplugged the Volt in the morning, the on-screen display said I had a full charge and I could get 45 km out of that electricity. That was a little disappointing considering the advertised 40-to-80 km range. Off I went this morning driving in a fuel-efficient manner (if that makes any sense when not using fuel). The Volt displays a ball on a bar to show you if you are accelerating or braking hard too hard for efficiency, and I ensured that ball barely moved from the ideal centre location throughout my trip.

When I arrived at work I had travelled 24 km and had an estimated 27 km left on the battery — great! I “gained” six kilometres! Since my return trip home is the same, I should easily make it, I assumed, and perhaps with another five or six kilometres in the “bank.” I was sorely mistaken, unfortunately.

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On my return trip, not two kilometres in, I noticed the battery had dropped significantly. I drove even more carefully as I made my way home, only to run out of battery juice at 45.9 km, 2.1 km shy of my destination. Good thing there is a gas engine to continue my journey or I would have had a long walk in the rain. I used 0.2 litres of fuel today to get home, for an average of 0.5 L/100 km according to the trip computer.

As most will figure out, you are most likely not going to “save” much buying a Volt, but the Volt has some nice features and style on its own, and because it does not have a non-electric twin, it is difficult to make that apple-to-apples comparison you could with a Camry, Sonata, Optima, Fusion Hybrid.

Inside, the Volt offers heated leather seats, climate control and navigation. For the most part, the Volt is fitted as you would expect most loaded family sedans, although it does have manually adjustable seats, presumably to save weight. It is a four-seat design with equal comfort both front and rear, with plenty of headroom. The centre console takes a little bit of getting used to and I still find myself hunting for things, as all the controls look the same.

I’ll try again tomorrow but I’m not expecting a significantly better result, unfortunately.

Day 3

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Only made it 42km today on electric charge, but it was a lot colder this evening and I think that is really the issue here, which is unfortunate. With the vehicle in ECO mode I get to freeze in the cabin to save energy but it didn’t help me; another month into winter and GM’s claim of 40 km is really in jeopardy, I think.

Another interesting tidbit: when I got home, I could not open the door to the charging socket as it had iced over. I tried pushing the button, banging on the door and prying it, eventually the ice came free and it popped open — I can’t imagine what will happen in the dead of winter! If this was a normal manually operator door it wouldn’t be a problem but it is electrically-actuated, so even if you push the button it re-locks if it doesn’t open.

Out on the road the Volt is interesting to drive. Absent is any type of conventional transmission since the vehicle is driven by variable electric motors with a planetary gear set. What does that mean? It means there is no shifting what-so-ever so acceleration and deceleration is absolutely perfectly smooth.

Acceleration is so smooth and torquey feeling that you can mash the throttle and no sound is emitted, but your head is snapped back slightly then in this almost ominous way you just accelerate with no drama. But the Volt isn’t really that fast, so the fun to be had is in annoying those behind you as you leave traffic lights at a sedate pace.

When the gas engine kicks in, you can only tell by the slight humming sound. At lower, city speeds the gas engine makes an odd rumbly sound, but it is not really noticeable at all from about 60km/h to 80km/h, and after that any acceleration is greeted with a louder, whirring rumble from the engine trying to keep up with power drain.

The vehicle itself drives like any other mid-sized sedan, although it feels a little on the heavy side, which I’m sure is not helped by the 400 pounds of batteries onboard. The hatch is quite heavy as well, and all this translates to a somewhat lethargic feel while driving. Out on the highway, though, the Volt really is smooth and quiet, soaking up imperfections beautifully.

Day 4

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A few notes after my final day behind the wheel of the Volt. In stop-and-go type situations, be it parking lots, traffic or car washes, the brakes are very grabby and difficult to modulate as they switch between regenerative and friction braking. This makes it really tough to creep that extra couple of feet into a parking spot without slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting the curb.

I also noticed today how quiet the Volt is as I thought back to my short drive in the Nissan Leaf back in October. The Leaf was quiet as well but had a constant high pitched whine that I suspect would get old really fast. The Volt basically emits no sound at all into the cabin if the engine is not running.

But what everyone wants to know is the Volt’s fuel consumption figures. I ended the week with an amazing 0.7L/100km average! I used a total of one entire litre of fuel, which is pretty amazing. I’d like to get behind the wheel for an extended period during warmer weather to see if more than 40 km could be extracted from the battery.

I have been asked before what it takes to get a perfect score of five on my rating chart, and there you have it folks, the Volt receives a five for fuel consumption — I’d be a fool otherwise!

*Rating out of 5: