Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

[slowbird]

Here was this mornings drive in detail - I achieved our best ever electric range. Had it not been for the rain (lights and wipers on) and once the temperature gets a little warmer I'm now confident I can breach the 70KM mark which would be exceptional for my generation Volt - even with 130,000+KM on the odometer it's routinely exceeding (by a wide margin) the "rated" electric range. Anyone remember all the "It's gonna need a new battery soon!" chatter earlier in this thread? Yeah, not so much.

Looking good PP.

Is that "10.1 kWh Used" normal for your Volt when completely using a full charge? Looks like I did my 74 EV KM's on 10.2 kWh.

Your model year is supposed to use a max of 10.3 kWh on a single charge and mine is supposed to use 10.8 kWh. I don't think I've seen anything more than 10.5kWh on my Volt on a single charge.

I think something changed on the forum setup (not automatically down-sizing anymore) as I linked them the same way I always do from my personal server here at home.

I noticed the same when I made my last post. I had to link the thumbnail versions of my images so they wouldn't be so HUGE.

 

[PrivatePilot]

I noticed the same when I made my last post. I had to link the thumbnail versions of my images so they wouldn't be so HUGE.

Ok, weird...now I can't post a reply here in this thread at all. Testing testing.

Edit: Ok, that worked...but as soon as I try to add images I get a '500 Server error'. I reported the image resizing issue, I wonder if this is related.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Sorry all, can't seem to get any response with images posted now, I'm just getting server errors even though I'm just trying to hotlink to images on my own server. I'll try again tomorrow I guess.

 

[Neil_V]

I got the same error making a post with multiple quotes and links. When I broke it into two separate post it went through no problem

 

[PrivatePilot]

When I broke it into two separate post it went through no problem

Let's try that.

Updated images in this reply, text duplicated from the post with the huge photos that won't display:

So, I reset the trip odometer last Saturday morning, just got back from the stable with my daughter, and low and behold as I pulled into the driveway, I saw this - a nice round 1000K average based on a week of normal driving/trips for us.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Here was Saturday mornings drive in detail - I achieved our best ever electric range. Had it not been for the rain (lights and wipers on) and once the temperature gets a little warmer I'm now confident I can breach the 70KM mark which would be exceptional for my generation Volt - even with 130,000+KM on the odometer it's routinely exceeding (by a wide margin) the "rated" electric range. Anyone remember all the "It's gonna need a new battery soon!" chatter earlier in this thread? Yeah, not so much.

Looking good PP.

Is that "10.1 kWh Used" normal for your Volt when completely using a full charge? Looks like I did my 74 EV KM's on 10.2 kWh.

Your model year is supposed to use a max of 10.3 kWh on a single charge and mine is supposed to use 10.8 kWh. I don't think I've seen anything more than 10.5kWh on my Volt on a single charge.

I've seen numbers as low as 9.5 or so with the battery going fully depleted, to around this - 10.1. I've never achieved the magic 10.3 but having done some reading it seems that the kWh used display can slide a lot depending on a variety of factors so it's not necessarily a perfect indicator to go by, and it doesn't take into consideration power used elsewhere - house battery maintenance, wipers, lighting, and other loads, HVAC, etc. FWIW I've never once seen it display the technical "full" 10.3kWh consumed that my battery should be capable of, yet I'm regularly exceeding it's rated range...so I know I'm getting my full complement of Kilowatts out of the battery still.

 

[PrivatePilot]

OK, that worked....but I just went back and it looks like the original images I posted Saturday did indeed resize finally. Must have been a forum bug that got worked out.

 

[eljay]

I got my car on the 18th. I've driven to Toronto and back home 8 times since then. I've used almost 10 litres of gas. One time for about 1/2 hour I thought I was on hold but was actually on mountain so I've used a bit more than I should have. My employer has paid for half my charges. Wiring is in for my level 2 charger at home. Charger still in a box waiting for electrician to come back. I usually get to work (68km door to door) with 6 or 7km range to spare. I go about 5km on gas on the way home. Still trying to figure out how to use all the climate features. Gave up on the entertainment/bluetooth stuff, too complex, just listen to AM640 and have Waze on my phone. I wish I could use the phone voice features along with listening to the radio but it seems that wasn't figured out prior to 2014. I'm pretty sure my Nokia could do it 10 years ago though...

 

[PrivatePilot]

Yeah, it wasn't until the "MyLink" radios came out in 2014 that the integration you're looking for arrived. This isn't a handset issue though (Apple vs Nokia as you mentioned), it's an automaker issue.

Some features (like voice dialling, calls, etc) do require the radio be muted however as otherwise things would be competing with each other.

Better yet now automakers are moving away from proprietary systems all together and implementing Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, so you use whatever you like as your phone integrates perfectly with the car.

What's still confusing with the HVAC? I'm sure I can give you some pointers.

Sounds like the savings are working out very well for you? Being able to focus mostly on electric is huge.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Same trip as last weekend, to the barn and back this morning. Still couldn't quite make it home on battery alone, but I won't complain about 0.35L/100KM.

If the weather ever warms up (arrrrghhh) I'm sure it'll be possible to achieve my goal of making it all the way (72.2KM there and back) on electric alone.

 

[slowbird]

So this is what it looks like when I drive the car "hard". Was in a bit of a rush and had it on sport mode and was booking it on the highway.


Not a bad worst case scenario.

PP My app is fixed, have you checked yours? I'm getting the notifications now on my phone.

Yeah, it wasn't until the "MyLink" radios came out in 2014 that the integration you're looking for arrived.

What features does my 2014 radio have that yours and eljays Volts don't have?

 

[PrivatePilot]

PP My app is fixed, have you checked yours? I'm getting the notifications now on my phone.



What features does my 2014 radio have that yours and eljays Volts don't have?

Yes, elsewhere it was posted that OnStar finally woke up to the issue and fixed it - it seems it was an issue between the Canadian OnStar servers not talking to the American OnStar mothership properly. It's a shame they not only let this go for so long (despite a LOT of trouble reports on the issue) before waking up and fixing it...and then feeding BS to a lot of customers during it all - I wish I had saved the voicemail from the OnStar rep in Texas that told me there was no problem, it was just that 2014 or older vehicles were not "compatible" with these notifications.

As for the radio, in 2014 the radio MyLink option was introduced which provided bluetooth streaming between smartphones and some other integrations that didn't exist previously. The current day MyLink (introduced on the gen2 Volts I believe) include even more features like CarPlay/Android Auto, etc.

 

[Brian P]

From those two screen shots, you might as well drive like a bat out of hell, because it doesn't cost you much anyhow!

This is what I like about small/economical cars in general. Drive them however you please, the difference in consumption doesn't amount to a hill of beans anyhow.

 

[PrivatePilot]

From those two screen shots, you might as well drive like a bat out of hell, because it doesn't cost you much anyhow!

Well, it does - in electric range. The waters are clouded in a direct comparison between my Volt and Slowbirds Volt as his has a battery with 0.5KW more capacity vs mine as well - the first generation Volts had three different battery capacities based on their years:

16.0 kWh lithium-ion (2011–'12)
16.5 kWh lithium-ion (2013–'14)
17.1 kWh lithium-ion (2015)

So, in the end, he went almost 11KM less then I did on battery despite having an extra half a kilowatt of capacity vs myself. So, his self admitted aggressive operation on that specific drive vs my efficient "trying to make it there and back on battery alone" driving, the kilometers on electric figures show the tale.

FWIW, The second generation Volts have an 18.1KW battery, hence the bigger range yet.

 

[PrivatePilot]

On a similar EV topic, but off on a bit of a tangent, I had a delivery at a GM Facility in Oshawa last week and low and behold they had a few Bolt's on the property so I finally got to see one in person, as well as sit in it and poke around a bit.

All in all, not a fan of the colour scheme on that one in particular (at all) but the car itself was neat. A huge majority of the features of the car (short of basic radio and HVAC controls) are configured through the giant touch screen. I didn't have a lot of time to poke at the menus in much detail but it did have a better look and feel vs the Volt, both the dashboard itself, as well as the touch screen GUI.

The shifter is kind of weird but it does feel like an evolutionary thing that's going to be inevitable for all cars as the "traditional" transmission goes away. The floor is flat, incredibly so - in the back seat there's not a sign of a hump or bump anywhere. The rear bench seat almost looks out of place in the world of bucket seating in almost every car, but it works - didn't get to sit in it to see if it was actually comfortable but there was a lot of legroom (pretty sure notably more than our Volt) even after I pushed the drivers seat all the way back to sit in it.

I definitely see one of these in our future, but not in baby blue, that's for sure. I could see my wife liking this colour - our old Aveo was a similar coppery-colour and she loved it.

 

[LBV]

I saw 77 km on Sat morning on the battery range-o-meter.

I've been resetting the trip odometer every morning before heading to work and trying to keep the sum of it and the range-o-meter in the upper 70's/low 80's range as that's what I expect will be the next day's range after the day's driving.

Still trying to beat my best so far of 79 km since owning the car from new in May 2014 ... sooo close.

 

[eljay]

Yes, elsewhere it was posted that OnStar finally woke up to the issue and fixed it - it seems it was an issue between the Canadian OnStar servers not talking to the American OnStar mothership properly. It's a shame they not only let this go for so long (despite a LOT of trouble reports on the issue) before waking up and fixing it...and then feeding BS to a lot of customers during it all - I wish I had saved the voicemail from the OnStar rep in Texas that told me there was no problem, it was just that 2014 or older vehicles were not "compatible" with these notifications.

As for the radio, in 2014 the radio MyLink option was introduced which provided bluetooth streaming between smartphones and some other integrations that didn't exist previously. The current day MyLink (introduced on the gen2 Volts I believe) include even more features like CarPlay/Android Auto, etc.

is that 2014 model year or in 2014 for the 2015 model year? I have a 2014. I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to technology so if I don't figure it out in the 45 seconds or so that I'm waiting for my wife to get outside I'll usually abandon it.
what app are you guys talking about?
I feel like i'm sitting on a treasure trove of technology but can't unlock it...

 

[LBV]

79 this morning ... sooo close.

 

[slowbird]

I have to say, as much as I like this car, the seats are bloody awful. I don't know if the cloth ones are any better, though I doubt it.

You can't adjust the seat so that the bottom part is flat without raising the seat so that your head touches the ceiling. I've never owned a car where I've had to go out and buy a seat cushion for it.

Ugh! My back is killing me.

79 this morning ... sooo close.

Wow! What are you doing to get this kind of range?

What are your tires pumped up to? Are you cruising at like 60km/h?

 

[PrivatePilot]

I have to say, as much as I like this car, the seats are bloody awful. I don't know if the cloth ones are any better, though I doubt it.

You can't adjust the seat so that the bottom part is flat without raising the seat so that your head touches the ceiling. I've never owned a car where I've had to go out and buy a seat cushion for it.

Ugh! My back is killing me.

Hmm, I've driven ours for a few hours on some longer drives and didn't find it bad - we have leather too.