How My Volt Greets Me in the Morning

It's tough to understand what it's like driving a Volt until you get a chance to drive one.

I don't mean to imply that driving a Volt is challenging. To the contrary, it's very easy. But there is a lot of information to take in. I don't want to inundate you with knowledge - at least, not all at once. But let's discuss some basics.

This is the screen in the dash that the driver sees over the steering wheel.

Some of the indicators are obvious. Mph, "gear", and miles driven are easy to find and understand. The graph on the right side of the screen lets you know how efficiently you are driving at the current moment. The green "ball", when in the center of the stack between "accel" and "brake", indicates that you are driving efficiently. Speed up too quickly, or brake too aggressively, and the ball will shrink, turn yellow and move up or down respectively. You do not want this to happen if you care about the number of miles you can get out of your battery. Besides, that ball doesn't look very happy when it turns yellow and shrinks.

The graph in the middle (the one that is currently showing 0.5 kWh) is a bit more complicated. For now, let's just say that it lets you know how much energy you are using at any given moment. We will discuss this further in another post at another time.

The little gas tank in the upper left corner lets you know how many miles you can travel given the gas in the extended range tank. This is the gas that, when you run out of battery power or tell the car to hold the battery power, will power the generator that powers the electric motor. I've gone exactly 10 miles on gasoline since acquiring the Volt, 13 days ago. I still have to drive 261 miles on gas to empty the tank. I just cannot imagine a universe in which this is going to happen but I suppose, eventually, that it will.

The glowing green battery is the one indicator that has taken over my life for almost two weeks. It has caused me to completely change my driving habits - no more gunning it off the line, screeching around turns, or whaling on the breaks. The things you'll do to a leased car are one thing. The things you'll do with a purchase are another. Couple that with the video-game-like fun of trying to "stretch" your battery and it creates a decidedly granny-ish situation.

So what does it mean to "stretch' your battery? When I first brought my Volt home and charged it, the battery indicator told me that I'd get 38 miles of range out of my charge. Over time, given excellent Volt driving (which I'll explain momentarily) and conservative climate control while driving, I was able to "stretch" the indicator to as high as 46 miles for the last few days (as you can see above).

You see, the number in the indicator isn't a true statement of how many miles you'll get. It's a "guess" based on your average driving habits. This is why Volt drivers refer to the battery indicator as a 'guessometer".  You can do better than the guess, or far, far worse. The guess will adjust itself over time.

Given that I drive mostly on the highway in my daily commute, I don't know if I'll get much above the 46 miles I've been getting - but I'm sure going to try. 

So what exactly does excellent Volt driving entail? There are two driving "gears" on a Volt. They aren't really gears as an electric engine has no such thing - they are more like "modes". 

• Drive (D): In this mode, the Volt feels pretty much like a normal car. It accelerates when you hit the accelerator (it's not really a gas pedal, is it?) and when you let off, it coasts a bit before slowly decelerating. 
• Low (L): In this mode, the Volt feels more like a really nice golf cart. It accelerates when you hit the accelerator, but when you let off, it begins to brake immediately. In this mode, with practice, you can navigate traffic with very little brake usage. Casual observers might think you are driving a 5-speed. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In terms of driving, here are some tips that I've picked up from the pros:

• No gunning. Easy, smooth acceleration is best.
• Coast when possible. Use neutral when you can.
• Use Low when in stop-and-go traffic. I've noticed the battery lasts MUCH longer this way. Just be careful that the person behind you knows you're stopping - tap the brakes if need be.
• Use Drive when on the highway if you won't need to do much slowing down.
• IMPORTANT! Start the engine while you're still plugged in and the car will draw from the AC to power the vehicle on and cool/warm the cabin. 

And one other tip that Volt owners will universally state:

• Tires should be filled to at least 45 PSI. The recommended level is 38 and the max is 51. All Volt drivers know that 38 will eat your battery. Some people say to fill to 48 or more.

If you follow these suggestions, you can stretch your range quite a bit, and then your Energy Info screen on the center stack (one of many screens you can look at) might look like mine did this morning when I arrived at work.

It might seem a little silly to be so concerned with maximizing battery range. After all, two weeks ago I was zipping along in my Camry without a thought as to how much gas I was using. It's hard to explain how and why one becomes obsessed with range maximization. But this is a common reaction to owning your first electric car. Don't believe me? Try it.