GM cuts the price of the 2016 Volt by almost $1200

[Automate]

"GM says it can reduce the price because lithium-ion battery and other costs are coming down."

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/05/03/2016-chevy-volt-msrp-33995/

 

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/05/04/gm-cuts-2016-volt-plug-in-hybrid-car-price-by-almost-1200/?intcmp=features

Edited May 4, 2015 by Automate

[jeff_h]

Attached is the order guide for anyone who wants to browse - base price around $34k and about $38-41k loaded with available packages/options, but then reduce that with $7,500 tax credit for those who qualify (meaning your tax liability needs to be at least $7,500, not your withholding... we discuss that in the Energi forum now and then)

 

Stuff I like: 18.4 kWh HVB (about 2½ times the size of the Fusion Energi) so HVB estimated range is 50 miles

 

I don't like: No adaptive cruise, and "Pedestrian safety signal, automatic audible signal during low speed driving" which means no more stealth mode, your car will now make some fake annoying sound

 

What coulda been better: Charging rate on current Volt and Fusion Energi are 3.3kW, while the Leaf has capacity of 6.6kW... ordering guide doesn't say, but article on motor trend says the capacity is upgrading from 3.3kW to 3.8kW but not 6.6kW as the Leaf has.

 

2016_Volt_Order_Guide.pdf

Edited May 4, 2015 by jeff_h

[acdii]

I wont look the other way. If they can't fix mine, I'll check it out.

[jeff_h]

I wont look the other way. If they can't fix mine, I'll check it out.

 

Not so fast, better check out the seats as you said those are important - you'd think they would have power seats, I guess not. Below is from the ordering guide:

 

Seat adjuster, driver 6-way manual, fore/aft, up/down with recline S S

Seat adjuster, front passenger 6-way manual, fore/aft, up/down with recline

[acdii]

Oh they must have followed the Prius design guide then. Maybe an Avalon then? Its the only other one out there that can hold a candle to what Fusion has to offer, and from what I can tell doesn't look like a Cylon.

[hybridbear]

Sadly the Volt still doesn't have power seats. The current gen Volt has adaptive cruise, I'd be surprised if it is no longer available on the new one. The real feature the Volt is missing is Lane Keep Assist. It just does the stupid warning when you cross the line.

 

And, the biggest issue of them all is the fact that Chevy still only has stupid 3.3 kW charging. That means you can only add ~10 miles per hour of charging. That's such a waste... The Focus Electric has 7.2 kW charging and we can add ~20-25 miles per hour of charging. The new Volt with its larger battery should have at least 6.6 kW charging to enable more electric only trips with charging throughout the day.

[jeff_h]

Sadly the Volt still doesn't have power seats. The current gen Volt has adaptive cruise, I'd be surprised if it is no longer available on the new one. The real feature the Volt is missing is Lane Keep Assist. It just does the stupid warning when you cross the line.

 

And, the biggest issue of them all is the fact that Chevy still only has stupid 3.3 kW charging. That means you can only add ~10 miles per hour of charging. That's such a waste... The Focus Electric has 7.2 kW charging and we can add ~20-25 miles per hour of charging. The new Volt with its larger battery should have at least 6.6 kW charging to enable more electric only trips with charging throughout the day.

 

The 2016 will have lane keep assist, video clip on their site says it will nudge you back into your lane, so I assume it's more than just an audible warning.

 

Yeah an upgrade to 6.6kW charging would be nice, the 2016 is getting an upgrade from 3.3kW but only to 3.8kW, which helps but going to 6.6kW definitely would have been better.

[jeff_h]

This afternoon I went to a public showing of the 2016 Volt, which I think is great looking on the outside but the inside was OK but a bit "plasticky" - but for someone who is looking for more EV range, it has an HVB more than twice the size of the Energi so depending on a person's priorities they may care a lot more about that than the finer points of the interior.
Not a great day to make a trip to downtown DC, since holiday weekend coming up and everyone wanted to skip town and probably take Friday off:

Here's the nice lady who was giving the sales pitch and handing out the brochures, talking with a Volt owner - I asked him if he was a Volt forum member and he said he doesn't post but goes to that forum for info.


She said that this color is the Iridescent Pearl... was a nice color but not sure it's worth a premium price (on 2015 model it's an extra $995), however it was overcast so maybe be really comes to life in the sunshine.


Here is the door on the left side in the rear that is meant to hold the 120V charger -- it was too dark to show it very well, but there is a net inside that comes up a few inches to help keep the charger in there, and then the door goes into the two notches at bottom and knob twists at the top to secure it. It was really just a flimsy piece of plastic, I thought maybe it would have been good to have it be a bit thicker and hinges at the bottom so that the door doesn't get lost, but then the cord might catch the door and break a hinge, etc.


One of the things I really wanted to check was the black plastic trim that goes along the bottom of the doors, and it is smooth shiny black plastic rather than the rougher texture plastic that can get muddy and tough to clean, etc. To compare on the Fusions, it was similar to the piano black that stays shiny, rather than the duller black plastic that was on my 2013 SE Hybrid that was tough to keep clean.


There was also a guy there to help demo the car, he was wiping down the outside every few minutes -- it was bit disconcerting that when one Volt owner wanted to open the hood and was having trouble finding the secondary latch, that the demo guy said "it doesn't have a latch" (I always thought a secondary latch was required for safety reasons) and then told the owner that "maybe they (Chevy) don't want it to be shown since this is a pre-production model" -- however 10 minutes later a different owner went and found the secondary latch and opened it up -- so the secondary latch is yellow just up and to the left of the bowtie.


Here are the other pics I took - and since the Volt is "dead" per a recent article that was very pro-Tesla and anti-Volt, I also snapped a pic of Ford's Theater since it was only 100 yards around the corner.









http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a551/jeff_h_fusion/Volt_20150521_02_zpsquyf4q2x.jpg
http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a551/jeff_h_fusion/Fords_Theater_1_zpslgmnbhh9.jpg
http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a551/jeff_h_fusion/Fords_Theater_2_zpscdhzssje.jpg

[GrySql]

Wow, nice photo journalism!

[lolder]

I was looking at the transmission architecture of the latest Volt. It is an PHEV, not an "Electric Car" as GM would have you believe. It has two planetary gear sets in an effort to improve economy. The Prius has two also. The Volt also has THREE electric clutches. All the FFHs have one planetary gear and no clutches.

[Cobra348]

Exterior styling is improved, but for me and the miles I drive a hybrid is the way I decided to go ... and I can't see me jumping from the Ford ship I'm on.

[tr7driver]

it looks like both the upper and lower grills are permanently blocked, or do they have openings and shutters behind them?

[jeff_h]

it looks like both the upper and lower grills are permanently blocked, or do they have openings and shutters behind them?

 

The opening is down a bit lower and shutters are behind that area, see below:

 

 

I think this one looks pretty good - I got it last week.

 

 

EV range is rated at 53 miles but a guy who tries to drive smoothly can get much better, as shown in bottom left of the below -

 

[tr7driver]

Thanks for the additional pics Jeff. It looks like it lets in a lot less air than our Fords.