My wife trading her Pontiac Vibe GT last weekend. She is (and I am by default) really big into recycling, energy saving, and all that eco stuff. She bought a 2015 Chevy Volt. Her daily commute is less than 10 miles total per day and the car can supposedly go about 38 miles on only electric power so she basically won't be using gas anymore. She will be going to school full time starting next month but that is only about a 25 round trip too. Seems like a good deal to me.
I have only rode in the car once so far but man it is NICE. I was expecting it to be pretty cheap feeling inside but was very surprised. It feels like a space ship inside with the screens, all the buttons, and a weird humming noise like the Jetson's car. I have to say I like it.
We haven't taken many pics of it yet but I stole one from my wife's Facebook...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Loaded87IROC/10410499_10152552978080985_7218660197555637562_n_zps48982372.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Loaded87IROC/media/10410499_10152552978080985_7218660197555637562_n_zps48982372.jpg.html)
Thanks for sharing Ed.
give us a review in a couple weeks of what u think of it and average mileage. i've been looking into these but my commute is closer to 80 miles so i dont know how well itd do.
The Volt is a nice car! GM spent a lot of time tuning for NVH at the cost of a bit of fuel economy to keep from being thought of as a claptrap (aka Honda Insight). It's ~3800 lbs (435 lbs of batteries). Enjoy it!
I was considering a Volt, but want something with a decent hatch for my doggie. Prius v fits that bill.
I'll give you guys a review once we get some more miles on it. Here are a few more pics.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Loaded87IROC/IMAG1614_zps5zhnl1rz.jpg) (http://s.photobucket.com/user/Loaded87IROC/media/IMAG1614_zps5zhnl1rz.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Loaded87IROC/IMAG1615_zps4xfgs9hb.jpg) (http://s.photobucket.com/user/Loaded87IROC/media/IMAG1615_zps4xfgs9hb.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Loaded87IROC/IMAG1617_zpsc1ppl5ib.jpg) (http://s.photobucket.com/user/Loaded87IROC/media/IMAG1617_zpsc1ppl5ib.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/Loaded87IROC/IMG_460573921176053_zpsrrxpqgte.jpeg) (http://s.photobucket.com/user/Loaded87IROC/media/IMG_460573921176053_zpsrrxpqgte.jpeg.html)
congrats! i have been tempted to go for that as a next car
Id be interested in the charging station and time it takes.
No body builds them better than the GENERAL
We took the car on a 700+ mile trip back home to Wichita last weekend. We enjoyed the trip and had no issues with the car. We used gas for the entire highway portion of the trip (360 miles each way) to conserve the electric power for the in town driving. Using the gas engine, we got about 34 mpg on the highway. It seems a bit low but we were going 75mph with the air conditioning on and loaded people and luggage so we are ok with it. Other than that trip, we haven't put a drop of gas in it. The seats are comfortable and the car is very smooth and quiet. Plenty of room in the back seat for my 6'1" son, although headroom is tight.
Charging typically takes 6-8 hours but we hardly run it past halfway down. The day we got it it didn't have any charge and took about 10 hours. The supplied charger is a portable 120v that fits in a cubby where the spare tire would be if it had one. There is an optional 240v charging station that fully charges it in 4 hours but we live in base housing and don't have a 240v outlet nor can we have one installed.
The transition from electric to gas (well the engine acts a generator to drive the electric motor) is truly seamless and you can't feel or hear the gas engine start. The engine does take premium due to 10.5 to 1 compression.
It is strange to drive. The car is very responsive but doesn't give feedback the way a gas powered car does. The steering is a bit light but it isn't a performance car. Overall, I really like it.