Author Topic: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....  (Read 8656 times)

John (Boston)

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Re: Now for a bit of silliness, possibly purchasing a Chevy Volt....
« Reply #30 on: February 12, 2019, 03:41:43 PM »
Since this message came back up near the top I'll add a couple of comments...  First, the two people that I know who have Volts love them.  But, their commutes are such that they can charge them enough to make it worthwhile.

My commute is too long for an EV.  I actually HAD one (a 1996 Ford Escort conversion).  It was a cool car, built by a good friend who has sadly passed away.  I tried to come up with methods to "make it fly" but in the end the distance was too long, batteries too heavy (to add more), and charge cycles too deep (as most of you know this ruins the batteries).  I reluctantly sold it.

Then, two years ago I bought a used 2009 Prius.  This is the last year of the second generation (in USA).  I was never a "Prius hater" but I will say that I had no idea how good they were.  I wasn't interested in them at all until I was pressed into getting a reliable car that would "pay for itself" - and one that my Wife could also drive (not a manual shift).

In my search I did NOT want an automatic.  Modern automatics scare me.  They are very complicated and enough friends have had them go out - leaving them with either a very expensive repair, or - junking a perfectly nice car.  The Prius (not sure about the newest ones) really has NO transmission.  It has two electric motors and a gas engine, the three connected by a planetary gear set.  There is no shifting - nothing to wear out.  They make the setup work like a CVT by varying the motor torques.

So, I've been driving this car for nearly two years (put about 33K miles on it) - and I LOVE it.  What a nice car.  I can carry the strangest things in the back - and close the hatch (a claw foot bath tub, a 55 gallon barrel, ten foot long boards) things you'd never get into a lot of cars).  Once you learn how to "play" the computers you can get some pretty serious miles per gallon out of these.  On my commute (back roads) I get 55 to65 MPG, typically.  Highway I only get 50.  Cold weather makes the MPG go down, understandably.

Anyway, not sure if this will help anyone here but...  for some this is a darn good commuter car.

-John (Boston)
Metro 6/1 (genset)
Cummins 6BT (89 Dodge truck, bought it new)
Cummins 4BT (91 Oshkosh bread truck)
Kubota D1005 (B2320 tractor)