Chevy Volt

My daughter and I picked up our Volt on Friday, February 11th from New York and drove it back 750 miles to Lansing, MI. We drove 60 to 80 mph and even in a snow storm. You would never know that it was an electric car if the engine would not have turn on and back off.

We picked up the car at 2:30 p.m. from Atlantic Chevrolet in Bay Shore on Long Island New York. Our salesman was Neal Diamond who has sold over 18 Volts. They had the car all cleaned and charged up when we arrived and we got the paperwork done in about an hour.

We had a problem with the navigation system trying to get a download from OnStar. We had to call three times and had OnStar send the directions to the car. We found that you have to make sure you canceled the current route before having a new one sent to the car.

After picking up the car, we went to Times Square and parked at Fast Park on 44th Street. We went 26 miles on the dealer charge and the rest on gas. It took some time for them to find the key to the 220V charger. After 20 min of talking with them about how the car worked we headed to our hotel.

On Saturday we got up at 6 a.m. to start the 12 hour trip back. I got out my Droid and sent the command to start the car so it would be nice and warm when we got to the parking ramp. We drove 26 miles on the battery and the ICE turned on. We averaged 60 to 65 mph until we reached Michigan. Once in Michigan we stepped it up to 75 to 85. The car handles very nice at high speeds. We averaged 35 mpg on the 730 mile trip. We paced thru a snow storm and I felt safe in the car. I tapped the breaks hard to see if the car would slide. It kept going straight - which gave me the feeling of a bigger car.

I have been driving the car to work that is a 26 mile round trip. Until they get chargers installed, I have been using a 120V outlet behind one of the buildings on the campus of Michigan State University. I plug it in after the 13 mile drive in and it’s charged by noon. The charge will allow me to run the kids to dance at night and not use a drop of gas all week. Due to other errands and showing the car off, I have used 0.4 gallons of gas this week.

The Good
Driving the Volt brought back memories of driving my Camaro. The Volt’s tight steering is like driving a sports car and has a punch to it when you put it into sports mode.

The Bad
One of the problems I had, on the longer trip home, was the driver’s door. I like to rest my arm on the window ledge or the armrest below the window. The window ledge was too narrow and made my arm go to sleep. The rest on the door was to low and not comfortable. I also found the electronic console to be very uncomfortable for a 12 hour drive. I would rest my knee on it; after a while it would begin to hurt, but there was no other room or place to rest my knee. I plan on putting some black padding on it. I find with my larger fingers, that as I press one button on the electronic console, I end up bumping another. Lastly, I wish the seat-belt release didn’t sit so far below the center console – it makes it hard to reach the button.

The Conclusion
I have owned 11 GM cars and 1 Ford truck. The Volt comes in at a very close 2nd to my T-top Michigan State green Camaro, but you can’t beat the car I drove my beautiful bride in after our wedding!

Follow my car at http://voltfansite.com

Here is an excerpt of the full review with photos, video, and a test drive experience available at the link below.

Chevrolet Volt Review and Test Drive - Milford Proving Grounds

Check it out!  I think you'll find some really good insights.

For the first several laps, I sat in the backseat of the Volt, behind the driver.  As I mentioned before, rear seat comfort is primarily a function of the combined height of driver and passenger riding behind.  As the drivers sitting in front of me were generally under 5 ‘9” I did fine in the back.  Headroom was fine and I had a place for my legs that was not in the back of the driver’s seat.  As the other drivers took their first laps around I made note of the things I would do when I got behind the wheel.  About 40 minutes later, we switched and I got behind the driver’s seat of the Volt.

Stepping in was a more familiar feeling this time – as you might already know, I got a chance to drive it in San Francisco, so this time it was not altogether new.  First I adjusted the seat to my comfort position, one notch from the farthest travel back.  Next, I adjusted the review view center mirror, and found to my pleasant surprise that rear visibility was very good because of the extra glass in the hatchback assembly.  Side window visibility was also good and front visibility unimpeded.

Read the Full Chevrolet Volt Review and Test Drive Article Here