The Volt Is Getting Real

2011 Chevrolet Volt training photo

I found a a web site that has a Initial Ordering Workbook you can download at allnewchevyvolt.com

There is a countdown clock on the site, and at the time of this posting, it shows just over 100 day to go before their expected to get the first of the deliveries. The time is now if you want to be an early adopter to place your order.

And the site has the best chart to understand the potential of the Volt MPG, and this different thinking of MPG’s is not complex. Just drive the Volt the way you need to, not constrained by battery range limitation and trip planing.

Singh Chevrolet , is a dealership in California, that is at the top of there game on promotion of the Volt!

They also has posted on GM-Volt.com the first of the modules for training and are nice enough to share them as they come down the pipeline from GM. So have fun quizzing your salesperson in your test drive. Thanks CorvetteGuy

The Volt is here for the long haul, but this entrance ramp is going to be a fast one, with the increase in car production just recently announced.

New facts I didn’t know about the Volt:

• Under the hood there is a High Voltage Battery and Power Electronics Coolant Reservoirs, which make sense to maintain the core of the components temperature and increase their life.
• Pushing the ‘leaf’ button access the “Vehicle Performance Feedback” on the center display. 2 years ago it was a topic of wonder of what that button would do.
• I thought the government rebate came off the price at the time you buy, but it is just like when I got my Honda Civic Hybrid rebate, you get it when you file your tax return. So it will be your responsibility to send the rebate in and knock your car loan down $7,500 or keep it. The virtual lower price is still true but people who buy in January will have a long wait for the money because it would be on 2011’s tax year. I got $2,000 in 2006 for the Civic’s rebate.
• And it is going to cost more for me to get my red paint color.

The Volt is real and will be setting in show rooms soon, but it just might get crazy to find one before December.

Posted by: Ron G.

What Is It Like Driving A New Technology Car

2004 Honda Civic Hybrid

There are only a few cars that I have owned that would catch other peoples attention, than the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid. At the time, hybrid was a new technology.  Now most auto makers offer a hybrid option in there brands, but in 2004 the Prius was hard to come by and price was not negotiable at the Toyota dealerships. The Civic didn’t get the MPGs as high, but it was more affordable.

I got it in May and remember driving it well. In my first test drive, I got to learn all the details. I did quite a bit of homework and was amazed by the way it worked. It was different, it had a electric motor and batteries connected to the gas engine.

The turning of the key was different, It was started by it’s electric motor, having a starter on it would have been redundant. After it had warmed up to operating temperature, you got the full effects of the design. Come up to a stop, and the hardest thing to get use to would happen, the engine would shut off and it was suppose to. Think of all the pollution and gas that is wasted just setting idling at stoplights. It was brilliant, as soon as you lifted your foot off the brake it would restart the gas engine and I never was left stranded of it not starting.

The dash board had a cool LED readouts, one was a bar across the bottom that would indicate from 0 to 100 your MPGs and one that went up when you were charging and down if you were using amps out of the batteries. The way you drive is how you used energy and as you learned the car you could increase the MPGs. The motor was also the generator to recharge the batteries, and the computer would since the state of charge and use gas or Braking energy to never let them drop below a set charge point. EPA town driving was 49 and Highway was rated at 45 but the best I ever got was 44 making a long trip to Florida. I think the $3,000 batteries were estimated to have to be replaced at 100,000 miles but the car got traded in be I got there. I said at the time that I liked the body styling but looking back it always lacked something, I think I liked the Insight better but two seats would have never worked. I liked the CV transmission a lot, but it was the only problem I ever had with the car and was, thankfully, covered under warranty. Plus I got $2,500 off my 2004 taxes for buying a low emission vehicle, to help off set the cost a little.

I felt good about that car and it was like I was voting for technology by making that purchase. Looking back it was so fun showing the car off to friends and taking them for test drives and talking with more confidence that a seasoned salesman.  I think about that a lot, dreaming of having an Volt and making sure I kept it spotless. Because I will always love to show it off and talk “Voltec’ez” with anyone who would listen.

Posted by: Ron G.