Sweater, gloves required when driving Volt in cold

did anyone expect that the electrification of the automobile would not hit any bumps in the road? consider it all good. ten years from now, when battery development any everything else has advanced a million times over, we'll be laughing at the absurdity of the hand wringing. as long as government keeps promoting thru tax savings and oil prices keep increasing.

 

I thought waiting until 2010/2011 until one could even buy an EV car that didn't have a top speed of 30 mph and the crash worthiness of a go kart WERE the speed bumps.

 

Remember again you are comparing your 2010 warm up time to my 08's. I have to remember that a buyer will be comparing the 11 Prius to the Volt, not my 08. I monitored the coolant temp, I know exactly what it did and when. It took about 5 of those miles on cold days to get to the magic 157 deg mark where my engine wouldn't run just to get warm. I would use a little heat after that point, but if I used too much, the temp would again fall below 157. Why? The last part of the commute was a 40 MPH zone, partially flat, but mostly downhill. It was VERY difficult to maintain 157 degrees AND heat the cabin. Grill blocking helped, but I was too lazy the last year I had it. Keeping the heat off made a big difference in fuel economy over those last 3 miles. Engine on vs engine off.

I am like 2k1Toaster. I dress for the weather outside, not inside the car. I always have. Don't any of you have to walk from the car to the office, or go to a meeting where you have to walk? Really? I suspect the majority of people dress for outside temps, though I have some friends that don't. It's strange to me. It'd be like wearing a winter jacket in Florida because the AC in the car was cold.

Still, I get the point. For $40k you'd expect a useful heater. I'm just not sure THAT is the deal breaker. I'd think the crappy cold weather range would be the deal breaker.

I just think Prius Chatters IN GENERAL are too hard on the Volt. It's the first generation, it isn't great, but isn't it a step in the right direction for GM and American car companies?

Zhe Wiz

 

I go fast I dress for temps indoors and car and kind of "outside for a little while". If I'm ever stuck somewhere I keep gloves in the trunk only.

Probably

 

problem solved.



something like this might even work for the pathethic front defroster the prius has

 

Toyota had a few things to correct too; I've heard the first Prius relied only on the traction battery for reverse, and some people in San Francisco had problems backing up on hills if their battery was low. This was corrected by running the gas engine to generate power for reversing.

GM should be able to improve the heat (even if it means less range). Consumer Reports said the Volt has weak heat, but the Leaf's heat is better (and is totally electric).

I wouldn't be too hard on the Volt, GM may be able to improve it in the future. Right now, it seems like it may be a reasonable car for specific purposes (daily commuting within battery range), but not as good as a general-purpose car. I'd still like to see the technology improve. Better gas efficiency without requiring premium fuel would be a good start (and may be possible, since GM may have concentrated on the battery side of things for the first generation).

I read that the 2nd Gen Prius has an electric resistance heater to supplement the engine's heat. Does anyone know if the 3rd Gen is the same?

 

I didn't realize Toyota's success with the Prius dictated perfection from everyone else. Musta missed the memo.

And I think you should remove the rose colored glasses. There are a few Prius imperfection I would deem more of a problem STILL than the need for a sweater, like the Prius' inability to climb a gravel hill. I guess you can't see it, but the Prius is far from perfect now, and was even further from it in 2001.

Honestly, what do you gain from bashing the Volt? Does it make you feel better since you bought a Prius? Should we just kill the Volt now and not give it a chance to get better? Shut down GM? What is it that you want?

I happen to think it's a pretty good 1.0. It's not for me, but I can see it being better than a Prius for a lot of commuters

Oh, and by the way, what's the EV range of your Prius? Hmm, seems the Volt improved on that, no? Give it a chance!

Zhe Wiz

 

...I thought this was still true for the Gen III??

 

No, Gen1 could run the gas engine in reverse as well. MG2 did not have enough torque, especially when the gas engine run in forward direction.

They increased the torque of MG2 in reverse in Gen2.

 

How many EV miles do you expect from a cordless Prius?

The only thing Volt does better than Prius is consume electricity. The hype of electric miles were through the roof and there were plenty of Prius bashing in the Volt enthusiast forum too. Why did they mislead the public that the gas engine did not turn the wheels? How about GM market the Volt as what it is (a plugin hybrid)?

Now, the real-world data are pouring in and it is killing the hype. They over-promised and then under-delivered. Are you really surprise that backlash follows?

 

How about running the car with the ICE engine until the car and battery is warm, then switching over to EV mode? (keep in mind that winter is only one out of four seasons of the year.

Also, because I'm seriously planning on getting a PHV Prius for my next car (unless the Prius c mpg wins me over), if I leave my house in EV mode and get on the highway, when I get to 60mph does the ICE turn on at 60mph when it's COLD?

 

I'm with Zhe on this. Coat and gloves in the winter, use of waste heat only after the ICE is happy. Grill blocking has dramatically shortened my discomfort.

As for the Volt: Give me back my money spent on the bailout, 'FreedomCar', and tax credits; force the company to clean up its toxic dumps, and then I will not care what they do.

 

It started with the intentional withholding of information, then it got worse by allowing people to assume incorrectly. We finally called it blatant misleading and got attacked for our trouble. Now there's data confirming we were correct after all.

My favorite was the "Freedom Drive". GM did everything in its power to distract from MPG data and the enthusiasts followed suit. Why in the world drive 1776 miles, yet share nothing whatsoever about the gas consumed... especially when people repeatedly asked about it.
.

 

This has been my thought too for a while, but I think blended mode once the cabin is warm is smarter because the passengers will continue to demand heating, so we should continue to use ICE waste heat.

 

The experiences posted in this forum shows that the Prius is indeed far from perfect. The TC is just one example.

To consumers like you and me, competition is great !
To others vested in one model or manufacturer, not so.

I agree the Volt is an excellent 1.0 without any major flaws (yet?). GM should be able to sell every vehicle it can make this year.

 

I definitely agree that competition is good. If the Volt is crap, then people won't buy it, and GM will have no choice but to improve it for the 2.0 version. That's how competition works. If Apple just sat on it's laurels, we'd still have the original iPhone and the Android smart phones would be pummeling it out of the market place. Were the first Android phones better than the iPhone? According to most reviews, no they were not. Today, the Android OS phones outsell the iPhone and many (not all) reviewers think it's better than the iPhone. My point here is that this is just Volt 1.0. It's like Android 1.0. GM's never done this PHV thing before. They will learn from their mistakes (and based on the lambasting on these forums, the mistakes are substantial), and if they don't they will be history. But wouldn't you rather they continue to exist and compete and keep Toyota looking in it's rearview mirrors, innovation accelerator on the floor? If Android had failed, Apple wouldn't have a near equal competitor to keep them innovating at "110%". Although the Volt is not for me, I'm sure glad it exists. And I sure hope they make a 2.0 version that keeps Toyota's attention on their rear view mirrors, innovating aggressively.

By the way, I posted above that I am planning on buying a PHV Prius, and I'm wondering if anyone knows what happens when I pull out of my driveway in EV mode, get to the highway and hit 60mph ... does the COLD engine turn on at 60mph??? Please help me if you know the answer. Thanks!