Next plug-in Volt to roll in January...

But it won't have the 260 mile range of the current Model S, so it will be a bit disappointing (unless you enjoy stopping every two hours to supercharge it).

 

The debut, that is we will see what it is in January, we shouldn' t expect any shipping until the end of next year.

Details that are likely but are not official is a 3cyl turbo ice, with more kw and better fuel economy, and seating for 3 in the back.
Sources: Next-Gen Chevy Volt To Get Seating For 5; 1.0 Liter 3 Cylinder Engine

The early leaks seem like they will hurt sales this year and next. This may be part of gm strategy, as they may want more of the 200,000 tax credits for the gen II. Perhaps we will see 2000 fewer volts sold this year than next. If the gen II is a good update, and comes with a big enough price break, 2016 should be a very good volt year.

Rumors are gm will come out with a long range bev in 2017.

 

I sure hope they fix the horrid back seat! Many persons can live with only seating for 4, but the current Volt is seating for 2 in the front seat and seating for 2 Hobbits in the back seat.

 

No word of that, but my gf fit fine in the back of a friends volt. It is in no way as big as a suv back seat though, or as big as a camry.

 

It will be interesting to see if VOLT-II has as much improvement over the current one as the NHW20 did over the NHW10/NHW11.

Bob Wilson

 

I doubt that, but we will have a good idea in January. I'm hopeful that we will get a more efficient ice (although this adds cost) from the opel, and better battery packaging providing a bench back seat, along with lower costs passed onto the consumer.

 

Seriously? He thinks that it was the range of the gas generator system, and the appeal of the interior that was keeping people from buying the Volt?

Cost is the number one thing I have heard (amongst those who are even considering it).

 

With the significantly larger tax incentives than on the Prius, cost isn't as big of a difference (but most people just look at the sticker price). For me it was: 4 seats, mediocre gas mpg, smaller, and reputation of Chevy. Now that I know significantly more about the tech than I did when I was shopping, I would include the 3.3 kW charger. If I need to charge my car for 4 hours it better be a 6.6 kW charger. In addition being able to go 500-550 miles per tank (NOT include EV miles) has been more comfortable as I visit the gas station less often. Of course, this one depends on your daily commute compared with the EV range of your car (my longer commute tends to be less friendly to middle range EV).

 

Interesting comment on the influence of frequency of gas station visits as an influencer of buying impulses. It was one of mine, I was tired of needing to top off every week even if I was not a daily commuter. It wasn't so much the cost or even the mileage. Being 70+, the bladder controls the frequency of gas stops now rather than any limitations of the car's mileage.

 

It's something most people don't think about until their habits change. I was filling up my Mustang every 200-250 miles, it felt like I was always at the gas station, but I never noticed it. Most of the time when I would come home from surfing I would stop by the Costco in Garden Grove to fill up gas. Guess what, I haven't been back to that Costco once since getting rid of that car. I wish I put my numbers into fuelly to compare with my PiP, but I lost the receipts long ago.

 

I'm sure the frequency of gas stations is a big reason the volt is the best selling plug-in in the US. The leaf is the best selling in the world, but for instance, the shorter commutes mean that range anxiety is not an issue. The volt gas only range is around 350 miles, and add anouther 38 miles for every time you fully recharge it, so that should not be an issue. The i3 to comply with CARBs crazy BEVx requirements had to make the tank less than 2 gallons, that is too small for most of us. My bladder is fine, but I like big gulps on long trips, even at 75 mph, four hours is more than enough driving before a break to stretch ones legs.

I agree with corwyn price is a key thing here, or improved value. I think gm can shave at least a couple of grand off the price, even while dropping in a more expensive more efficient ice, because other components like the battery and electronic air conditioning should have dropped. There are two other plug-ins coming as part of the retooling. 1 is most likely a 150+ bev, the other likely a phev, but we don't know what it will look like.

 

Be careful...I was fired multiple gun shots after stating those same words about the Volt/Ampera...

 

Well, compared with 50 mpg, my opinion is 37 mpg is mediocre. Yes, there are probably hyper-milers who can get much more, but same goes for the Prius. However, my buddy who just got a Ford Raptor a few weeks ago would say that is phenomenal coming from his 12 mpg. Those were just my reasons for getting a PiP over a Volt considering my specific commute and use. Of course needs and uses are different for different people.

 

It is mediocre compared to 50mpg, but Prius drivers drivers quickly forget that the Prius' rating is a high outlier.
In 2011, the next most efficient hybrid was the CT200 with 42mpg. Followed closely by the Insight2 and Civic with 41mpg. Between them and the Volt was the Fusion hybrid and its brand mates with 39mpg. The other hybrids available at the time were worse than the Volt.
Compare Side-by-Side

Right now there is only one other hybrid that has matched the Prius, and it is a smaller Prius. There are now other brands within 5mpg of the Prius rating. The Accord with 47mpg, and the Civic and Jetta with 45mpg. There are now more hybrids will several receiving an update since the Volt came out. So the Volt is now further down the list, but its EV range can not be over looked when it comes to reducing an individual's other all gas use. The Ford Energi's have a little more than half the Volt's rated EV range, while only being 1 or 2mpg better.

The plug in Prius and Accord may meet, or come close to their non-plug mate, but their much shorter EV range means generally less people would be able to go gas free than with a Volt. They are also not available nationwide with 14 states for the PPI and 2 for the Accord PHV.

The Volt's CS efficiency needs to improve in the next gen. 40mpg is the minimum to keep it within the pack for buyer attention as word of the gas savings with the longer EV range spread.

 

Two Chevrolet salespeople have told me only the battery is changing (from a T shape to a goalpost shape) to increase rear seating from 2 fat Americans to 2.5 fat americans (3 of everyone else). They said the MPG would remain the same, so it's likely the engine will be the same too.

 

I wouldn't trust a car sales person farther than I can throw them. Its unlikely that gm engineering is leaking more information to the salesforce than to the press.

ICE will definitely change. The opel 1L turbo is only a rumor, but gm has confirmed a different engine than the non di non turbo 1.4L currently in the car. That ice was shoved in at the last minute because gm didn't have time to put in an engine they wanted, and that original thought was very much like the new opel engine.

 

GM Trademarks ‘Chevrolet Bolt’

 

Whenever GM states they are lowering cost I get an alarm going off. GM has a long history of cutting cost by cutting quality. This is going to be a real indicator of GM changing their culture or not.