Moving on from my G4

[Go4th]

Hope your experience is good with the Volt. I did some light reading and fount some not-so-happy customers.

I started researching in January of last year (ok, that's weird to type now), and as usual that included forums and facebook groups. I also found some no happy people, but like the Mirage, the happy people far outnumber the not so happy ones. Plus I still have warranty on the Voltec powertrain system until 100k miles (currently at 28k). I wouldn't have bought a Volt without that coverage. So far a month and 2k miles in and no issues and loving the car.

[Dirk Diggler]

I started researching in January of last year (ok, that's weird to type now), and as usual that included forums and facebook groups. I also found some no happy people, but like the Mirage, the happy people far outnumber the not so happy ones. Plus I still have warranty on the Voltec powertrain system until 100k miles (currently at 28k). I wouldn't have bought a Volt without that coverage. So far a month and 2k miles in and no issues and loving the car.

I'm guessing the Volt has an eCVT, a much more reliable version vs the push belt JATCO design the Mirage has.

[Fummins]

I'm guessing the Volt has an eCVT, a much more reliable version vs the push belt JATCO design the Mirage has.

I thought the volt was basically an ev and the gas engine is just a generator and isn't hooked to a transmission? I'll look it up then realize I'm wrong after I post this lol

[Fummins]

https://www.autonews.com/assets/PDF/CA713241015.PDF I wonder if the volt uses the same 1.4L engine that the cruze uses minus the turbo? I know the older cruze turbo engines had enough problems to make me never own one. I would hope most of the issues wouldn't carry over to a non turbo version.

I think the volt concept is great. With it being 3-4 years old now, what kind of range do you see on battery alone? I found a few first gen volts for sale earlier this year but they had no warranty and cost close to what a new Mirage would cost.

I'm curious to see what mfg's come up with in the next 5 years with solid state batteries.

[dspace9]

I think you were kinda on the right track originally. There's no transmission per se, the engine totally does work like a generator, powering the electric motor, either fully, or the batteries power the electric motor. Like when in EV mode. When depleted of batteries, the 4 cylinder kicks in and generates power for the electric motor.

[Dirk Diggler]

I thought the volt was basically an ev and the gas engine is just a generator and isn't hooked to a transmission? I'll look it up then realize I'm wrong after I post this lol

Sorry I must of been thinking about the Prius set up.

[klroger]

When depleted of batteries, the 4 cylinder kicks in and generates power for the electric motor.

... So after the batteries are dead, it runs like a train?? The engine runs a generator that powers the motor?? The engine doesn't have a connection to the drive wheels?? Sorry, I should look into this more as it's very interesting...

[MirageRally]

Oh a traditional hybrid setup the engine has a backup electric generator that handles charging and regen? I might be wrong but hybrid usually means when you're depleted of gas you have a small electric range left. With a regular setup like the Prius, both the electric motor and gasoline engine work in conjunction to get you the best MPG but you still need to fill up with gas and you don't have a special plug.

if you have an all-electric vehicle I'm pretty sure once you deplete the battery it's dead... Then you got to either push it to a station to charge it or make sure you get home to charge.

With a plug-in hybrid Like the Prius prime, you can either drive it like a regular gasoline car or use the special plug and drive only in its electric range which is 25 mi I think... With only electric it's different and I'm not entirely sure how it all works other than you charge it instead of getting gas. I Love My Mirage because it gets great MPG without the hybrid system....

But my next car will be a Toyota Prius and I am a little leery of hybrid systems, just because it's more to go wrong. But hey, I'm slowly adapting lol. At this rate I'll be in my 50s by the time I decide to go all electric haha.

I hope I was able to answer your question klroger?

[dspace9]

... So after the batteries are dead, it runs like a train?? The engine runs a generator that powers the motor?? The engine doesn't have a connection to the drive wheels?? Sorry, I should look into this more as it's very interesting...

At least that's how I understood the Volt's diagram, that Fummins posted earlier.

I took a screenshot so we could all have a double look. What do you think, klroger?

[Go4th]

With a plug-in hybrid Like the Prius prime, you can either drive it like a regular gasoline car or use the special plug and drive only in its electric range which is 25 mi I think... With only electric it's different and I'm not entirely sure how it all works other than you charge it instead of getting gas. I Love My Mirage because it gets great MPG without the hybrid system....

Right now in the colder weather, and needing to use heat, I'm seeing 40-50 miles. On a couple of milder days, I've already seen closer to 60 miles all electric. Overall, when I use gas, I'm getting about the same MPG as my G4 (G4 does SLIGHTLY better at freeway speeds), but the big difference for me is when I'm delivering and doing a lot of stop and go. Where I used to let my G4 idle, and ultimately watch the MPG drop, my Volt-even in 'hold' (gas) mode-will default back to electric for those lower speed stop and go's, and also 'idle' in electric, so my gas MPG isn't affected. If anything, the system calculations make the MPG go up.

I didn't look at or drive the Prius Prime, but I didn't look at a couple of other PHEV's-Outlander, Niro, and IONIQ. I liked them all, but the gas motor was sometimes eager to kick in while driving in 'EV mode', where in my Volt, if I'm in electric mode, it's will NOT run the engine unless the battery depletes, and then it will come on to help propel AND charge the battery.