The old saw "time is money" has never been more true. I'm lazy, you see. The reason for that: it's basically a 2016 Chevrolet Volt without the plug. Carlos Lago, senior writer, Technology-Audio "Android Auto integration rocks. Ed Hellwig, senior editor, "I really enjoy our Volt as a commuter. The Chevrolet Aveo . Again, lower is better. The plate bracket itself has all the necessary directions molded right into it. The moral, of course, is to always carry chains if you think you might encounter snow (I didn't encounter snowy roads on this trip outside of this brief foray) or to get a set of real winter tires if you live where snow is part of the usual seasonality. Power? Still, our carpool lane-eligible plug-in continues to impress. Brent Romans. Both can handle tasks like finding a nearby restaurant or reading your text messages aloud. And once again: When you're faced with the prospect of sitting in a Pep Boys waiting room for four hours, the benefits of a compact spare tire outweigh pretty much everything else. Mike Schmidt got a flat tire in October last year, and we likely forgot to replace the goo. A multi-info display between the main gauges lets you use buttons on the steering wheel to monitor speed, battery use and myriad other functions." 4) Simple menu interface. Then there was an emergency vehicle that forced me to pull over. The liftback design of the Volt also benefits practicality by means of presenting a massive trunk opening for easy loading. Getting cargo in and out of the Volt's hatch is relatively easy. The tires don't seem to have great grip which could contribute to the instability characteristics. The seat is just too flat and firm to go any longer without a break. Dan Edmunds. Caution: nerdliness ahead. Usually, this is terrible for me because I'm large. Traffic was pretty light, and I was able to drive normally (for So Cal), averaging around 60 mph. Will Kaufman, associate staff writer, "After five minutes I was in business and on the road, where the system worked beautifully. Considering how comfortable the Volt is and how you really can just treat it like an ordinary car, I wouldn't hesitate to road trip in it again. Until then, I'll stick to the brake pedal. Braking: The brake pedal has a soft effort and long travel, almost SUV-like. Call (410) 970-6777 for more information. A second flat called for a second tow, stranding us again. But here's what we've observed so far: Average lifetime mpg: 37.2 mpg Best fill mpg: 45.1 mpg EPA combined mpg rating: 42 miles, Average electric range: 52.8 miles Best electric range: 75.0 miles EPA electric range rating: 53 miles, Best range between gasoline fills (electric fills + gasoline): 681 miles Current odometer: 19,377 miles. Why We Bought It/Why We Got It? I can ignore Chevy's entertainment and nav system entirely, relying instead on Google Maps and my favorite podcasts." (Yes, go ahead and insert your cliched joke here.) Seemingly as a testament to its range-anxiety nullifying capability, we started September off with a full tank of fuel and only purchased 23.7 gallons of California's finest 87-octane to fuel the remaining miles. In terms of standard active and advanced safety and driver-assists, the LT is only fitted with an HD rearview camera, while the Premier has automatic parking assist as well. I kept waiting for the 2016 Volt to stop feeling energetic once the battery was depleted, but it had no trouble whisking three men and their golf clubs up and over a number of mountain passes Mountain Mode not required. The issue with the regenerative braking paddle is that it's an on/off switch, with no ability to vary the level of regen you dial in. Josh Sadlier. When the screen is bigger, it allows the system's designers to make the virtual screen buttons bigger and easier to consistently press. Other enhancements include improved active-safety features and more interior options." Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor, Interior "One of the supposed advantages of the new-generation Volt is its three-person backseat, as opposed to the original Volt's two-person seat. Other buttons, like the ones on the steering wheel, allow you to scroll through different metrics screens to learn more about your Volts performance and efficiency. Sure, the Volt's driving range has grown, but so have our expectations. Not just because it's less compromised than other hybrid sedans, but because its powertrain is so good. Maintenance and Upkeep The Volt went to the dealer this month for routine service and a trio of recalls. Traffic cleared about halfway home and started to move along at the 65 mph speed limit. Center console? With a depleted battery, the Volt relies on its 1.5-liter engine for power almost all the time. I'd been warned that it might take two hours or so, even though everything I'd read suggested it was a 30-minute job. With the caveat that my experience is just a small sample, I pose the following question: Would you want to buy a Volt because of this, or would you want something that stands out more? This is a big problem in most hybrids and electric cars because they tend to go with a more one-size-fits-all design to limit adjustability and, therefore, weight. With the second-row seats folded we fit all of our luggage with room to spare. It's a little distracting, even a little unsettling and maybe nothing to worry about. Key specs 4-door 5 seats 149.0-hp, 1.5-liter, 4 Cylinder Engine (Plug-In Electric/Gas) 42 combined MPG 180.40" length, 56.4" height Front Wheel Drive Color options Exterior Crimson Red Tintcoat. It's the steering wheel paddle on the left, and its reason for existence is questionable at best. thank you, Chevy, for the extendable sun visors), but on my commute there were moments when the chrome surround of the bowtie on the steering wheel reflected the afternoon sun directly into my eyeballs. There's no way to turn this off. She only drives 10 or 12 miles a day. Cargo Volume Rear Seats Down: The benefits to a quick charging time aren't limited to reducing the impact on your personal schedule. Aside from routine service and an errant flat tire, our Volt has trucked on with no complaints. The 2018 Chevrolet Volt has a quiet cabin, and its well-designed. Hi, Does anyone know the dimensions of the cargo area of a Gen2 Volt with the rear seats folded down? There's a $5,430 Launch Edition Package for the Bolt EUV that adds. We drove our 2016 Chevrolet Volt 2,305 miles in April. The Volt spent most of its time in April with our long-distance commuters, but the majority of the miles racked up in May were from editors close to our Santa Monica headquarters. For the past five days it was my daily commuter. --, "Front seat comfort is fine, but the lack of a power-adjustable driver seat and a cramped backseat that lacks both headroom and legroom is a drawback, especially for a car in this price range. And surprisingly, I am able to last a good two hours before my lower reaches grow tired. Three recalls fell under warranty but took almost four hours themselves. I'm still figuring it all out, including which apps are supported and which aren't. I hadn't driven the Volt before, but Dan had and he liked it. The Volt could. The seat of my pants says acceleration is about the same i.e., very good, with willing torque always on tap and while you can hear the gasoline engine revving up, it's never intrusive. A failure to record the switchover from electric to gas modes means a loss of useful data. Those are awfully convenient to have on the traffic-congested freeways of Los Angeles. A windshield chip repair and traffic accident rounded out the last of our extracurricular excitement. I tried it several more times. The first recall was for the lockset pins in the front seat tracks, but the technician had inspected our pins and found them to be just fine. I remain suspicious). Drives and rides better. They came to the office and repaired the chip to almost perfect invisibility. The lower anchors are recessed deep into the seat. With only 10.6 cubic feet of room available in the trunk of the Volt, there's not much offered in the way of practicality, albeit only marginally less than what's offered in the segment as average. Not surprisingly, when I started it up, the automatic climate control went into full-power mode to try to cool things down. No spare tire. No hyper-tests for it so far. The engine is quiet, too (unless you've got the gas pedal pinned). Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing, Performance "I live 46 miles from work, and the 2016 Volt has plenty of electric range to get home on a full charge. The Volt is equipped to seat a total of five passengers - however, with limited overall rear cabin room, only two small adults or three children will find a suitable level of comfort there. Lift off the throttle partially, partial regen. And everyone would enjoy instant-on electric propulsion that really thumps in the heavily trafficked zero-to-40-mph range. Naturally I fumbled with the steering wheel stalks to activate the rear wiper. Funny, it wasn't there earlier when you were watching Kimmel. You can also add safety options, including automatic parking assist, front and rear parking sensors, automatic high beams, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, a following distance indicator, forward collision alert, and forward automatic braking. And that meant our Volt's eyes rarely looked up from the 405 freeway all month. All of the above charging times assume a connection to a Level 2 charger. Drive our 2016 Chevrolet Volt and take full advantage of its single-occupant HOV lane access stickers. Yes, consequently it has a more versatile cargo area than a compact sedan. There's no waiting or wondering whether your button press actually registered or not. We drove it for 13 months and put 15,063 miles on it. I headed to Hooman Chevrolet in Culver City on Saturday morning to get things done. What Options Does It Have? But with our long-term Volt in my driveway, the temptation to just hop in and drive is certainly there. As always, tracking fuel economy on a plug-in hybrid such as the Volt is not straightforward. But driving wasn't the only work we subjected it to. Even with the modest miles added to the Volt, we were able to form more opinions about the Volt thanks to some all-gas driving and test the A/C system in our hot summertime Southern California weather. Under the Chevrolet Complete Care free maintenance plan, our 7,500- and 15,000-mile visits were free. The Volt seats, though, are quite comfortable for me. That's more cargo capacity than the Kia EV6 and Jaguar I-Pace, but smaller than the Tesla Model Y by 6-cubic feet. Perfect, I thought. The urge to fidget did not set in after 45 minutes and I don't remember having to ease the seat back to stretch my legs out as the miles wore on. Then I saw a little notification on the main touchscreen that told me one of my colleagues had sent me a text message. 4: There's nowhere to put my arms. Now if only I could live with the rest of the car." As you can see, the Volt, when it's running in pure electric mode, is right in the mix with the dedicated EVs like the Leaf and 500e in terms of energy efficiency. The only indication I had of the switchover was courtesy of the gauges. And this is with the seat set for a 5-foot-6-inch driver. In the Volt, I'm at the mercy of a battery's temperature fluctuation. That allowed me to hear the voice prompts more easily, and I assume it helped the voice recognition system hear me better, too. Chevy has a recent habit of assigning unconventional functions to steering wheel paddles. With a handsome interior design, the 2017 Chevy Volt's cabin is very quiet, especially when driving in electric mode. Innovative tech. But I don't need to break down the numbers to know there's more in there. My commute is dreadful. Best of all, I can't see it while I'm sitting inside driving our Volt. These hooks just push into the trim and turn, but that turn requires more force than my fingers could apply. It's capable of much more, but I got addicted to that electric torque, and electricity's cheap as hell, so who cares? All in, this 2016 Chevrolet Volt Premier Hatchback wears a sticker price of $40,620. Interior dimensions with the second-row seatbacks in place measured approximately 29 inches deep by 38 inches wide at the wheelwells. Edmunds purchased this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation. I have, however, found something to complain about. The 2016 Chevrolet Volt comes standard with an 8-inch touchscreen interface. Mark Takahashi, Automotive Editor, MPG "I live pretty far from the office, so my M.O. 2017 Chevrolet Volt (356 listings) 16 Great deals starting at $11,995. For me, it's just fun to think differently about efficiency in a way that's not miles-per-gallon. Normally ( for so Cal ), averaging around 60 mph improved active-safety features and more interior options ''. 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