It’s no secret that older electric and hybrid vehicles can suffer battery degradation, which will oftentimes lead to a costly battery replacement that approaches or exceeds the residual value of the vehicle itself. This unfortunately appears to be the case with the first-generation Chevy Volt, as a Twitter user pointed out in a now-viral post that has generated nearly 15,000 likes on the social media platform.
The Twitter post shows a repair estimate for the replacement of a 2012 Chevy Volt battery pack at Roger Dean Chevrolet in Cape Coral, Florida. The invoice lists the price of the battery pack at $26,853.99, plus some additional expenses for labor, battery coolant, shop supplies and required state fees. The total quoted price of this repair with tax would be $29,842 – just a couple thousand dollars less than a brand new 2022 Chevy Bolt EV.
The 2012 Chevy Volt was sold with an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty, which means this particular vehicle had an expired warranty when the shop provided this repair estimate on August 23rd, 2022. Unfortunately, it was well under the mileage limit for this warranty despite its age, with the odometer showing just 70,489 miles. It’s worth pointing out that we do not know why this vehicle required a battery pack replacement, so it could be related to a manufacturing defect, or it may be the result of physical damage or misuse.
Bet that Chevy Volt sounded like a good idea at first. pic.twitter.com/q57U0gZowU
— Rob O’Donnell (@odonnell_r) August 25, 2022
An article written by Autoblog in 2014 appears to back up this Twitter user’s claims. The publication called a Chevy dealership in Los Angeles to inquire about Volt battery replacement costs and was told these repairs could range from $3,400 on the low end for simple repairs to around $34,000 for an entire module replacement.
A recent article published by Kelley Blue Book listed the second-generation Chevy Volt as one of the best used hybrid vehicles and noted that second-hand plug-ins may be enticing at the moment due to high gas prices. This viral Twitter post serves as a good reminder for consumers to ensure used hybrids and EVs they’re looking at do not have degraded, damaged or high-mileage battery packs, as repair work on battery components can outweigh savings on fuel costs.
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Comments
Fake news. The dealer is incompetent and looked up the wrong part number. The parts guy and service writer both should have seen the prices are way out of whack and immediately suspected this.
The right part is 20979876, remanufactured battery assembly for a 2011-2014 Volt, lists for $9,100.
The author of this article could have spent 2 minutes looking this up…
Sam: I agree totally. Something on this doesn’t pass the smell test.
I have an Opel Ampera/Chevrolet Volt with 300.000 kms on the odometer and the car runs like new and there’s absolutely no degradation in the batery. According to Opel, the batery guarantee is of 700.000 kms and a new battery pack is in the range of about 8.000 eur. I don’t know what’s the specific damage of the article to be that expensive.
$9100 – a bag of shells. LOL.
$9100? Is that all?
I recharge my Volt off of 110 v outlet. You don’t need a 220/240 volt outlet unless you want to fast charge your car. I have yet to need to fast recharge my vehicle. Also the price of batteries will come down as new companies such as Quantum Scape develope new replacement items. Things will get better, distances will become greater and prices will come down. There is a company In Michigan I believe that put a different type of battery in a Tesla that went over 750 miles before it needed to be recharged. Things will improve as more companies come out with new products. I think this will include current vehicles like the Volt.
The Volt can’t fast charge, and you need more than 240V to do that
When you are talking about fast charge for a Volt you are talking about level 2.
I think he is referring to DC Charging. the volt does not have provisions for this.
Just make sure you have a full charge before you venture out in a snow storm and get stuck in traffic. Once that battery charge goes your heater will stop and it’ll get a tad cold sitting in a car that has no heat. Bring a thermos of hot chocolate just in case the tow truck with the gas powered charger for your EV can’t get through the traffic and 5 feet of snow. LOL.
Ed:
Did you know that Tesla owns a fleet of Ford F350 Diesel roll-on / roll off tow trucks based at their regional service centers for picking up disabled Teslas?
Do you know of any electric towtruck they could buy?
i mean they built a god awful looking truck, and a semi, so I would say maybe they should make them and Beta test them on themselves. They also use a bunch of 2019 Ford Transit connects loaded tot he gills with tools, coffee makers and so one to actually service the Tesla cars at the customers house or work.
Great ! A fleet of fossil fuel vehicles ready to go to pickup a disabled Tesla. Kind of defeats the whole idea to clean energy doesn’t it ? Thanks but I’ll pass. My 2021 Nissan Maxima has 26,000 miles on it (gas powered) and I’ve never got stuck once and except for the occasional flat tire which I call an on the road towing service to fix on site, I don’t plan on worrying about sitting in a cold car freezing my tookas off waiting for a tow truck to come from who knows where and how far away to spend 2 hours charging my battery. Noooo Thanks. I’ll stick with the more reliable gas powered vehicle and in 2 years when Trump is re-elected in a landslide election (not rigged this time) and gas prices come back down to $2/gallon I’ll open a side business and charge stranded EV owners $75/pop to charge up their dead batteries with my diesel powered charger. LOL.
Should probably stick to things you know, like tonka trucks. The Volt has a fuel generator on board. Part of the appeal of the Volt especially in Canada.
The fuel generator does not run when the car is stopped. So stuck in a snow-storm COULD leave you in a very cold car.
Keith j
As BigB said you don’t know what you are talking about. There is a drive setting that will make the cars engine run all the time.
OK, I do not own a Volt, but two of my friends do and they assured me the gen will not run when stopped. So we have two opinions. Not an issue for me as I don’t plan to own one. (or get stuck in a snow drift!! :0)
I also own a volt if you are normal drive mode yes it shuts down but if you put it into mountain mode the engine ALWAYS runs. But no even though you don’t own one I’m sure you right.
when you run accessories the volts work like autostart/stop engines. They stay on, or start up when needed. The Bolt, not so much, no engine. perhaps you are thinking the full electric bolt.
his is not an opinion. It is a fact that the engine can and does run when the car is stopped and provides heat during that time.
My 2012 is 10 years old…things I say about it are not opinions lol.
I own a Volt. If the battery is depleted, it operates just like any other hybrid and the engine runs as needed whether the car is moving or standing still. If the battery is not depleted, you can put it in Hold mode which switches it to hybrid operation if you want to save the battery for later.
It has resistive electric heat that works just fine without the battery.
My Chevy Volt 2014 has 120000. miles, and yes the generator does run and heats the car when it is not moving. Also because the battery is so heavy it has never gets stuck in snow! Just barrels thru the snow! Has never been in the shop for repairs after 6 trips to Florida and multiple trips from Chicago to Pennsylvania. At 73 years old I have never had a more reliable car.
When you have the heater on and are out of battery the car will keep the motor running to provide heat.
I haven’t been stuck in a snow storm in my Volt, but I have driven through a few.
We did however spend an hour in mid winter sitting in the car outside the vet while our dog had emergency treatment. (In the middle of Covid, so we couldn’t come in.)
The heater was on, and we were warm and comfortable. The engine never started. It used up a couple of miles of range, but we had plenty to get home on battery only. The Volt has an electric heater. The engine is not needed to keep the car warm.
I’ve never heard of a ‘fuel generator’ but If I could buy one I’d open my own gas station.
And what pray tell fuels the fuel generator ? Farts ? LOL. Pleeez. I’ve looked at all kinds of EV’s – once Mr. Battery goes dead youse screwed. You’re better off with a Tonka Truck than an EV anyway. Your friend can push you from behind and you can say beep beep and you won’t ever have to worry about blowing $30,000 on a new battery. LOL.
Ed, it is obvious you are too fearful to admit your wrong. It is also clear your lack of knowledge has no impact on your opinions.
The Volt comes with a gas motor and if I run out of juice the motor kicks in and operates the heater.
If the volt comes with a gas engine then why bother buying an EV in the first place ? Just buy a gas powered car for a lot less $$$ and avoid all the headaches you know that you’re going to have with the EV ? Warranties cover 100,000 miles on most gas vehicles and cover bumper to bumper. EV warranties from what I’ve seen are like playing Russian Roulette. Potential to get hit with a $30,000 battery replacement 50,000 miles down the road on a vehicle that costs $65,000 is insanity.
ED said:
“…Warranties cover 100,000 miles on most gas vehicles and cover bumper to bumper….”
This is the BIGGEST KNEE SLAPPER you have come up with yet…
Please Name 10 100% gasoline powered vehciles that are BUMPER TO BUMPER…. Do you understand what that term means?
Other inaccuracies….No offense – but you just do not understand the savings you get when running in electric mode which for the workaday world is at least 5 days out of 7…
When on weekend trips or holiday travel, the savings you get are similar to a plain old hybrid – it is still more economical than a normal car – but most of your driving is not done this way.
All bets are off of course if the USA government mandates electric pricing such as in France ($1 / kwh) or Germany ($0.85 / kwh). Unless of course gasoline is $20/US Gallon or more….
Gov’t is going to change in November? Fat Chance…
They still use the same corruptible voting computer machines they did last time… I don’t know of many states that either require Voter ID now, and NONE that have elmininated the machines.
This comment is beyond low IQ.
ManMan:
Well at least I use my REAL NAME, and I give out factual, actionable information…
Haven’t heard any really great brain statements from you yet, No offense!
Because it’s a plug in hybrid. If your commute is normal, you will hardly ever use the engine, and when the battery is depleted and the engine starts, it’s still a hybrid that gets almost twice as good gas mileage as a comparable gas car.
Because 99% of the time, it only runs on the battery. That way for long trips, you just let the engine run and get 45 mpg. And the rest of the time you run on electricity (and for me, that’s about 10c/kWh so “fueling” it costs pennies). I drove mine from 2013 to 2021 and used barely any gas. So I bought a 2020 Bolt since I can do all of my driving now on electricity.
Fake news. Electric vehicles are far safer than gasoline or diesel vehicles if you’re stuck. You can keep your heater on for several days in an EV.
No electric vehicle has enough battery for that. You’ll need a very long extension cord.
You are wrong, it has been done, Try YouTube.
Even for my Volt with a small battery, it’s normal to camp in the car over night with the AC or heater on. Sometimes it’s good for those who don’t drive an EV to get their facts from those that do instead of Faux News.
You believe what you see on YouTube? You’re sick.
I am always surprised how many idiots on the Internet who have never been in an electric vehicle are experts on the subject.
I believe what I experience in my own car. Which electric vehicle do you own?
In the middle of Covid, we sat in our car with the heater on in mid winter for an hour waiting for our dog receiving emergency care at the vet. We were not allowed in. I could read how much range was consumed in that hour and easily calculate how many hours it would last until the battery was empty. It should be noted that my 2013 Volt has a resistive heater which uses a lot more electricity than a modern EV with a heat pump.
Several tests have been made with electric vehicles leaving the heater on to see how many days it would last. In the extreme cold, a Mustang Mach E lasted well over 30 hours. In more regular winter temperatures, It would last days. However, that test was skewed, as he didn’t stay in the vehicle. A human contributes about 100W, so with one or more humans in the car, the battery would last even longer. It doesn’t take that much to keep the car warm once it has been warmed up.
A contributing factor is that electric vehicles have better sound insulation, and that sound insulation also works as heat insulation. It sounds counterintuitive at first glance, but because there is no engine noise, you hear every other sound the car makes, and the manufacturers add sound insulation for that reason.
This is not true. In fact, when below 25 degrees, the volt will use the gas engine to provide supplemental cabin heat because it is more efficient to burn gas to do it rather than using electricity.
Tigger, please tell us how much it cost to replace the motor in:@ 2012 Toyota Corolla, AT the dealer.
$3,559 for an autozone replacement engine. Worst case, 3K to swap it. But no Toyota motor would be dead at 70K miles except in the event of extreme abuse and lack of maintenance
You were asked about a dealer price, you responded with an autozone price. So, total $ 6559 for that AutoZone engine installed. The company Hybrid Drive Batteries will replace the battery in a Volt for $5000 with a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty. The price at a Chevy dealership should be around $10500, but unfortunately, some dealerships are dishonest and others are clueless.
Replacing the battery at 70k miles is extremely rare. Many Volts have gone more than 200k on the original battery. At least one is at over 550k. I’m only at 117500. That’s rookie numbers…
You’re also forgetting to factor in the fuel savings in that Volt over a decade. That’s a lot more than $5000, The Corolla didn’t save anything and needed a lot more oil changes and other running costs.
Agreed. Its nothing but greed at that price point and that dealer should be out of business and frankly GM if they allow it. But GM could save face and come up with a utium replacement of the same form factor even if temporary knowing all this. Even that green tech group aka one in Jersey is charging double what they use to for used pack parts they put together. Sign of the times…greed.
So “Joe” did all of that in a year and a half?
There is a huge lithium mine under the Salton Sea in Riverside and Imperial Counties of California.
Also a mega Lithium deposit is under Searles Lake in Ridgecrest, California, Kern County. The Lithium is in a brine solution. First extracted by American Potash then Kerr-McGee. It’s estimated to be one of the largest brine Lithium deposits on the planet.
The tire makers are going to love the EV revolution as battery trays are very heavy which has a big impact on tire wear.
which is where Stellantis has secured sources for the lithium. not sure if the Salton sea area will be better or worse once the Leach fields are set up though. The Bonneville salt flats and the great salt lake will also be targeted for domestic lithium mining, but after the issue with coper mining affecting the Colorado river, I have a feeling the greenies will stop in domestically and look away from 2nd world countries ruining populace and land to claim clean energy.
Just read up on the Salton Sea lithium deposit. They are already mining it in a very green way. It will probably help to clean up the Salton Sea which has been in bad shape for years. 60 years ago we used to fish in the Salton Sea. It will also bring in jobs.
There are also battery manufacturing facilities in at least Michigan and Georgia. The OP should tell us which regulations were put in place during Biden’s watch that “prevent US companies from manufacturing these batteries.” Back that up if you can
The price quoted was completely wrong. It should be $10500 from a Chevy dealership. Around $5000 from several third party shops.
I think the prices for replacement batteries from third parties going up has more to do with availability of the packs, as they can only get them from totalled Volts. Hybrid Drive Batteries used to charge $3199, now it’s $4999. The labor cost didn’t go up by $1800, so it makes sense that the cost of the battery went up. The issue is, the vast majority of Volts are still on the road, so naturally, those batteries are not available.
Everything to do with the dealer. Other Chevy dealers are charging $10500 for the same repair. Third part shops are charging $5000.
Still a very expensive “gas tank” replacement! That would buy enough gas to go 90,000 miles.
We still don’t know why the battery needed replacing. Your comment is therefore the equivalent to someone commenting on the costs of a gas engine and transmission replacement with how many miles worth of electricity that money could have paid for in an EV. A better question is, how much greenhouse gas would be emitted by burning 90,000 miles worth of gasoline? That seems more relevant to our current existential threat. How do the lifetime emissions of an average ICE vehicle compare to the average EV. We already know those answers. It’s not about perfection, this is reality not fantasyland after all, but weighing all pros and cons and overall environmental impact objectively, there is a very clear answer as to which one is less bad for the environment and which option will continue to improve dramatically over the coming decades, not just in environmental impact but in running costs. Spoiler alert: it’s not a gas guzzler. But then you already knew that. Those who don’t deny objective reality already know that. The question is, will they admit it, or does it conflict with their personal interests?
So where do you think the electricity comes from that charges the EV’s ? Duh. It comes from coal fired power plants and nuclear power plants. Climate Change – what a scam. You buy in to that crap ? LOL. All the gases that are expelled by cars/humans/farting cows escape in to the atmosphere and mix with Nitrogen and Oxygen and produce CO2 which is absorbed by trees/plants and then converted by the trees/plants to OXYGEN through a process called photosynthesis. If that process didn’t happen you would not be able to breath because you wouldn’t have any oxygen to breath. Guess you skipped Biology and Chemistry in HS or it was never taught which is probably the case. LOL.
Not just the location of the generated electricity, but the environmental cost of mining the rare metals. I read somewhere that it takes 900 gallons of diesel for an excavator to mine 1 ton of cobalt!! OK, so that makes a few batteries, but it is still part of the equation that gets ignored.
I get the electricity for my Volt from solar panels. We have had them 20 years. We got a rebate for the year last year. We even have a small 3.5 KW system. For gas mode we calculated an average of two-thirds of a gallon a month since we bought it. There is also a guy on youtube who went 400,000 miles on his Volt and despite getting in a wreck, is still going after some repairs.
And you ignore the fact that the bigger use of Cobalt is in refining gasoline to get the sulfur out. Most EVs use very little cobalt and a number of them use none. There are no “rare earth metals” in EV batteries. Look up with the 7 rare earth metals are (and the fact that they are not actually “rare” just that for metals, they have rare properties).
A little less than 20% coal in the USA. A little more than 20% renewables and improving.
Less than 20% of electricity generated in that USA comes from coal. A little more than 20% comes from renewables.
And where are you buying YOUR electricity from, Christoph ?
I’ve owned 3 Generation 1 gm plug-in hybrids – a 2011 and 2012 volt, and a 2014 ELR.
At over 90,000 miles on each the batteries have been uneventful , but basically have lost 40% of their capacity at that time…. Its just like buying a brand new plug-in hybrid with a 40% smaller battery… NOTHING ELSE CHANGES except it doesn’t take as long to recharge the smaller battery..
Keep in mind that these dinky batteries all had 365 charge/discharge cycles per year (cycled every day ) and they still work kinda well considering….
A BOLT with a battery 6 times bigger should therefore give similar performance of the battery of 40% degredation at the 540,000 mile point… Of course – repairs ARE NOT necessary – it just becomes a smaller battery. It might even last longer since it is charged and discharged much more slowly considering its size
6 times bigger but only twice the charging rate, and 1/6th the dischrage rate.
Ed:
You keep saying EV the volt isn’t a EV it’s a hybrid so you can do the EXACT same trip in a volt for less gas money. Now if you were talking about a tesla bolt leaf and others you would be right. And BTW you can force the volt engine to run all the time so the heater WILL WORK. But it’s a free country still for now so you still allowed to be a non critical thinking sheep who just believes talking points without knowing what the hell you are talking about.
The heater in my Volt works just fine on battery.
Ed:
If you prefer to do 100% of your driving in 100% internal combustion vehicles.. More power to you…
Many people I’m sure will pay the $80 per gas tank fill up, and the maintenance, and the engine and / or transmission overhauls at 100-150,000 miles, and the requisite brake jobs necessary, as well as the more often oil changes and transmission oil changes… That is just fine with me.
However, a favorite pass-time of THESE SAME PEOPLE is to whine and moan about HOW HORRIBLE the transmissions are – and how expensive transmission and engine overhauls are…. Lately – it has been how their wallet is emptied when they go to the filling station…
Things are a tradeoff – you take the good with the bad, and neither style of vehicle Is perfect for every user…. You prefer Gasoline , I prefer Electrics…
Actually – both electricity and petroleum products should be far cheaper than they currently are, but these terms ‘Climate Change’, “Fossil Fuel”, “Conspiracy Theory” cutesy phrases have all mostly have their origin in Rockefeller types of the controlling people – since that gives the MASSES the illusion that energy should be EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE – since they tell the huge fib that ‘there is so little of it’, or, that it is in danger of running out…
As far as the electric world goes, the USA has 200 years of coal (at current consumption rates), and the UK has 1,000 years of coal at current consumption rates.. But usage is banned in my state (NY).
Coal usage hit an ALL TIME PEAK in 2021, and will set new records AGAIN in 2022 – mainly since the majority of ohio, west virginia, and pennsylvania coal is helping EUROPE get out of ‘shooting itself in the foot’.
I know one thing: Russians this winter will be WARM and well-fed.
You never have to wait at a charging station for a Volt.
I go months without filling up. I like that I don’t have to waste time at a gas station once a week. I like that I don’t need to get oil changes every few months. I like that my brake pads lasted 10 years before I had to change them, but only because they rotted, not from use. I like that I can drive 99% of the time with one pedal. I like that I save about $100/mo on “energy costs” for the last 10 years. I like not having any gears, mountain driving is so much easier up and down.
Ed, people like you fail at being able to contemplate walking in someone else’s shoes. If I had an Ionic 5, I wouldn’t mind walking around for 20 minutes while the car charges. Its a heathy thing to do. I don’t drive EVs to save the world or the climate, I drive them for the convenience and to save a few bucks. Even if I did have to pay the whole $10,500 price for a battery replacement, I would still be ahead.
Still way too costly of a repair for a vehicle with 70k miles. I will drive ICE forever.
Some ICE cars blow their engines after 70k too. Writing off a whole category of cars due to a single failure on the internet is pretty much the problem with the world today.
You’ve been fed your “information” and you will stand by that until the day you die. ‘Merica!
Every “remanufactured” part for anything I ever owned is always cheaper, but only lasts a fraction of a new one. Look at engines, transmissions, alternators, starters, or any other “remanufactured part. Engines and transmissions only have a 12000 mile warranty. Your buying crap at $9100 that might last another 20,000 to 25,000 miles.
That argument doesn’t apply here. They have to put in all new battery cells anyway, since they can’t be repaired. They’re just reusing the structural pieces that hold the battery into the car.
and the cells themselves are usually an alternate brand. So it is still dubious how long they will last, I would run from Dorman Brand battery cells.
Every “remanufactured” part for anything I ever owned is always cheaper, but only lasts a fraction of a new one. Look at engines, transmissions, alternators, starters, or any other “remanufactured part. Engines and transmissions only have a 12000 mile warranty. Your buying crap at $9100 that might last another 20,000 to 25,000 miles.
Perhaps the writer was looking for clicks and a $9,000 repair simply wouldn’t do it.
Thanks Sam.
sounds to me the price is correct for a new battery, and what you are quoting is for a rehash.
what other volt component could cost 27K?
I found 20979876 at GM Parts Direct for $6,879.60 just now.
I found 20979876 at GM Parts Direct for $6,879.60.
Not anymore, “Not for sale: No longer available for purchase”
When Autoblog asked GM to clarify the cost of a Volt battery, an answer was “not forthcoming”according to the site. Instead, here’s what Kevin Kelly with the company said:
“GM’s strategy when it comes to servicing Volt batteries has been to repair, rather than replace. Technical support has been in place with trained service technicians at dealers specializing in repairing these battery systems. As part of the replacement and repair process, we provide the option of using refurbished batteries that provide the customer with similar or better range performance as they would expect from their original battery system. I should also point out that the quotes you received could include a possible dealer markup for out of warranty repairs. The high end of what you provided is not consistent with what we would expect the customer to pay.”
It’s a simple question which should have easy answers.
GM’s so afraid of badmouthing their dealers, they rather let their own brand and basically their huge EV investment be trampled upon. Doesn’t work in this social media, Twitter, news blog age.
This really has little bearing in the future.
The new GM packs have replaceable cells so you can replace just part of the battery pack.
I agree the Volt packs were like $9k
My concern is this. Will EV tech continue to grow to the point hat used EV prices will be like an Apple 8 phone?
Most electronics have poor resale value due to great advances and that people want the better product vs the old lesser model. Time will tell as we have yet to really test these waters.
Cell-level serviceability is useful for manufacturing defects which will be covered under warranty. It’s not going to matter when the pack simply wears out due to use, since all the cells will need to be replaced.
It will extend the lives of 200k mile cars that will be worn out anyways. Few cars in the. Few cars will out live the batteries as rust will claim most of them in the majority of the country.
I’ve never had even a single tiny spot of rust anywhere on any car or truck I’ve ever owned or on any of my parents’ cars growing up.
I’d hate to buy a nice new car and have it consumed by rust in ten years.
You mustn’t live in the snow/rust belt of Nirth America
Probably just lives in a fantasy world.
Isn’t the volt only a 30 mile charge range???? For 9K 🤯???? How much will the bolt be??? Or a Silverado EV
I swear that even at 70-80K GM will loose money on every Silverado EV sold if those prices are to be believed
To bad they did not consider retrofitting the volt to its existing form factor using ultium too to save face!
I’m not an engineer, however every type of battery I’ve ever used cautions against recharging before the battery is nearly depleted , and usually state that it’s only supposed the be recharged so many times. This may be why the battery died before the mileage warranty was up. It clearly stated it was a 2012, that means it’s 10 years old on an 8 year warranty. I know the new lithium batteries perform better, but what kind was the 2012?
2012 was lithium. Needing a battery replacement after 70k is NOT normal. I would say a very small percentage of volts need battery packs by then.
Lithium battery packs suffer the greatest wear and tear when the pack is over depleated or charged too quickly when nearly full. The volt has a ~16KWh battery pack. Of those ~16KWhs, only ~10 are “useable” for driving. The volt only lets the driver use the middle portion of the pack so as to keep the wear and tear from charging down to a minimum. As the battery ages, the system will slowly start to use the extra 6KWs so that you can have 10 available KWhs available for as long as possible. There are MANY examples of Volts with 100K miles of battery use on them. Like EVERY car model, there are some to get better than average and some that get less than average. That’s kind of how averages work. However, the internet only hears about the worst cases. Nevermind the thousands that have had hundreds of thousands of pain-free miles.
My 2012 has 91,000 miles. The sticker price for my car was $44K and I bought it used with 28k miles in 2015 for $13k. Other than scheduled maintenance, I have had 1 issue in the last 7 years, and
that just required a software update for no charge.
In those 7 years. I have had 3 oil changes. The original front brakes were changed this summer. The pads were still 75% useable. The only reason for the change was because the surface of the rotors were disintegrating from rust pits and the surface wasn’t smooth. The rear brakes are still going strong, 10 years later.
Simply put, this has been the best car I have ever owned. I didn’t buy it to save the world, just a few more $$$ in my pocket. Nay sayers can say nay all they want. I have facts to prove it.
I don’t believe the Ultium existed, even as a thought when the Volts were being designed. The Ultium concept came out of what they learned after the years of Volt data was accumulated.
So some are saying its “only” $9,100…..which like 80-90% of the value of a used Volt. Hooray.
Well if you think about it go fix your old TV and tell me what they charge? Its nearly the cost of a new tv. So its all alike…but avoids buying a totally new car if you can’t afford one or just love the one you got with hopes upon fixing it it lasts with the other parts of the car. I hope I get onto an all EV before my starts having those same issues. GM really should have come up with a same form factor volt batter on the ultium cell system.
Bad reporting, just pure scare tactics, if your gonna do an article at least fact check and give us the right numbers. Yes it’s still 9k for a replacement which sucks but either spend 9k on a gas car or fix your electric one which saved you 9k over the 7-10 year warranty
It’s going to be $9100+$1200 labor = $10,300. $10300 at $3/gal for gas is 3400 gallons. The comparable 2012 Cruze is rated at 30 MPG combined, so that would have gone 102,000 miles. According to the estimate, the car only made it 70k miles.
So even ignoring electricity costs and any gas they might have burned, the cost of the battery alone made it more expensive to drive the Volt than a gas car.
Maybe do some math before calling others uneducated?
Will any Chevy Cruze make it past 100,000 miles? LOL
I’ve said for the last few years that the EV market is more hype than fact and it wasn’t more than a rich kids toy. What you save in gas you’ll either pay in a replacement battery or suffer the consequences of buying a new EV and trading in your worn out EV. Plus the hassle of finding a charging station that works or is available, I’ve seen to many you tube videos about recharging station that don’t work, are taken by a line of people waiting their turn to sit and wait to be recharged. All the while I pull into the gas station and fill my car in five minutes and I’m on my way.
It’s the Uber effect… people simply don’t understand how to account for amortized costs, which for a car, greatly exceed direct costs. If they aren’t paying for it at a gas pump, the cost doesn’t exist in their mind.
Go ask random people, how much does gas cost relative to the total cost per mile of a typical car? They’ll say ridiculous numbers like 50-75%, where in reality it’s around 25%.
I was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee when in 2012 I bought my first Volt. Jeep was getting 19mpg at the time. In the first year I saved $2700 driving the 2012 Volt on gas and maintenance. Was averaging about 45mpg (including lots of long trips). This year I gave the Volt to my nephew with 137,000 miles on it. It was still getting 90+ % of full charge the final year I owned it. The final lifetime mpg was 65. I have since bought a 2017 Volt, 2017 Bolt, and a 2022 Bolt EUV. Love them all! By the way I lived in the mountains of WV in 2012 and now live on coast of SC. Much better for EV range.
This is the logical flaw EV and hybrid drivers keep having. You had a Jeep something or another. You switched to a Volt, and you saved gas. But those aren’t comparable cars.
You went and bought a Volt, but you could have just as easily gotten a Cruze which is the same size and platform as the Volt, and cheaper. So the proper financial comparison is between a Volt and a Cruze, not a Volt and a Jeep.
Bolt drivers make the same mistake. They were going to buy a mid-size SUV, then they bought a subcompact EV. The proper financial comparison is between a Bolt and a Spark, which are basically the same platform and size, not a Bolt and whatever they used to own.
In other words, you didn’t save money because you bought a hybrid/EV. You saved money because you bought a (much) smaller car. The hybrid/EV part was the opposite and ate some of the savings.
I was never going to buy a mid-size SUV. I wanted off gas, period. That was the goal, and for us, it wasn’t about money. My husband and I traded in our two mazdas for two bolts two years ago and no regrets. We happened to have saved thousands on fuel, though.
There is no comparison of a Volt to a Cruze. A Cruze is a tin can, built with the cheapest possible materials. The Volt was a first class build. Take a look at the components, the parts, the software, the regen braking. There is no comparison to a Cruze/Spark/Leaf etc. The re-gen engineering has been used in ICE vehicles to boost mpg to make the fleets able to meet gov imposed mpg targets for years. This was developed in early EV & racing technologies. You vastly underestimate the quality of the Volt build & R & D.
The Cruze and Volt were the same platform.
I love how you know better than I do about what I was thinking when I bought my car! The Volt was one of the safest cars on the road back then. Quality through and through. top level components, and drove like a super high priced sports car. Still does! Fun drive not a tin can like the Cruze, Cobalt, Prius, etc. Junk death traps. By the way I included the cost of charging the Volt in the $2,700 savings as mentioned earlier.
As a retired GM engineer I will support Nate – the Volt was based on the Cruze architecture!
How do you figure it saved you about $9k when you need to spend a lot of money to upgrade your home electricity system and pay a higher electricity bill to charge your ev? Electricians charge a lot per hour plus wiring and replacing the current fuse box in any home cost quite a bit. I was quoted over $5k for my house in NY. And I know for a fact (it’s not rocket science) that charging a car will draw more electricity than using a space heater and when I have needed to plug in a space heater my electricity bill has sky rocketed. So, I don’t see where you people come up with the brilliant suggestion that an ev can save us any money vs the gasoline vehicle.
I had a 30a breaker and a 240v plug installed to charge our EV and it cost me about $500… In the San Francisco Bay Area. And driving an EV costs about 1/8 the cost of driving my SUV that gets 15mpg. You’re right it’s not rocket science, it’s easy math. Also I NEVER have the inconvenience of going to the gas station. I just spend 3 additional seconds before I walk inside to plug my car in. My time is valuable so that adds up quickly.
Quick question. I can do that install for 50$ here in the Midwest. Does California require all eletrical work be done by a state certified eletrician? That itself is a higher costs
Also, there is NO EV currently or in the works that is in the same class as an SUV that gets 15mpg. Currently the model X is in the same ammentites and size class as a Chevy blazer. The blazer gets 26-28 combined????
I have a 2014 Audi Q5 TDI that gets 35mpg at 70 mph on the highway. I will keep that till it is a rusty hulk for long range driving.
On the other hand I am going to sell/trade my 2017 MBZ 350GLE (at best 21 mpg highway and terrible in city) and get a Lyriq for town and short trips.
Use the tool that fits the job.
Agree with Ray, I have a 1997 Toyota Corolla for short trips around town, and a 2014 VW Jetta Sportwagen 6 speed manual TDI for long distance road trips. Intend to keep both as long as I can!
You left out a bunch of stuff – what was the cost of the EV – $65K – $90K ? and 2. What will the battery cost you when it craps out in 60K – 70K miles ? IF it’s still available that is ? Your total investment will potentially be $75K (car) + $25K (battery) = $100K. Easily. Add in your daily electric charges and if you’re in SF I know that you’re getting reamed on power supply charges and delivery charges big time. All told, you’re looking at north of $125,000 over an 8 year period for cost of car, battery replacement, home power costs – now for the rocket science part – my 2021 gas powered Nissan V-6 Maxima which gets 30 mpg and has an 8 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty will go 500 miles on 1 tank of gas (about $75 per tank) and no stopping for recharging for 2 hours and no home power expenses. My battery, if it craps out cost $75 to replace. I have guaranteed heat in the winter and AC in the summer EVEN IF I break down on the highway. My total investment is $50K for the car – $0 for electricity and all the CO that my car expels is absorbed by trees and plants which produce OXYGEN that keeps me alive and makes trees and plants greener !! It’s a win-win. I also don’t have to plan stops on a trip and locate charging stations because the gas stations are already there and not going anywhere anytime soon. LOL.
My EVs cost $20k each. If my battery craps out at 70k, it’ll be under warranty. I pay 14 cents per kWh or 3.5 cents per mile to drive my EV. That’s when I charge at home, but most chargers around me are free (like at both our jobs). We spend less than $500 year to charge each car. Also our insurance went down from when we had gas cars. Sorry your numbers seem to be vastly higher.
I get the electricity for my Volt from solar panels. We have had them 20 years. We got a rebate for the year last year from the electric company. We even have a small 3.5 KW system. For gas mode we calculated an average of two-thirds of a gallon a month since we bought it. There is also a guy on youtube who went 400,000 miles on his Volt (original battery) and despite getting in a wreck, it is still going after some repairs.
I recharge my Volt off of 110 v outlet. You don’t need a 220/240 volt outlet unless you want to fast charge your car. I have yet to need to fast recharge my vehicle.
Volts a small car with a small battery. The larger teslas take 3 days to fully charge on a 110V socket. Those are much heavier vehicles. That’s roughy 100 miles a day on a 300 mile vehicle. And considering you’ll only get 8-10 hours a day charging after work/commute and possibly errands, that means you will be fine as long as you don’t have to commute more than 35 miles…. And that counts for both there and back (and plan for lesss than that if you live somewhere with intense heat or cold)
Now say you want a larger EV such as a ford lightning or Silverado EV…… forget about 110V charging. You may find that even 220 is barely sufficient
Few hundred bucks for the right outlet in your garage. Many newer homes already have the right outlets. I didn’t have to change anything other than just run a circuit.
My volt, uses about 10KWhs of electricity to charge from empty. With charging losses, that is probably closer to 12 or 13. It costs $0.11/KWh for electricity in my area. That means it costs about $1.43 in electricity for a full charge to go ~40 miles. Show me any car that gets close to that gas only.
On top of that, I don’t have to change my oil often. In 7 years, and 75K miles, I have had to change my oil only 3 times.
On top of that, I haven’t had to change the original brakes until this year.
And on top of that, all of the time involved with doing all of the above things is time I saved. Every fill up, oil change, brake job….it adds up.
If it was going to cost you $5k to have a circuit added to your house (fuse panel? not been used in years), you either live in a very old outdated house or they were raping you.
You probably think solar panels are just as much of a waste of money too. Spending more now to save later is a concept foreign to a lot of people.
Bob:
Totally agree – people just have to be around electric cars a bit before it changes their minds….. I’ve made several medium length trips in my 2022 BOLT EUV with 3 elderly ham radio friends who previously wouldn’t have ever considered an electric car….
But just travelling – they come up with comments like:
“I can’t believe how quiet this car is”.
“This car’s handling around corners is fantastic.”
And then when I tell them it costs between 1/4 and 1/5th the current cost of gasoline to refuel, and there is little maintenance – without any help from me I can tell their minds have totally changed ON THEIR OWN.
As far as the VOLT goes – there is not any huge necessity for doing any home rewiring… The 2016-2019 volts do have much longer electric range (around 60 miles on average) and have about 13 1/2 kwh of energy (needing around 15 kwh to recharge), and will substantially recharge itself overnight.
As far as hiring electricians they seem to be getting more and more pricey – like plumbers… The guy 2 doors down had his 20 year old electric service ‘condemned’ by the electric utility (no doubt for a silly reason), and had one week to have a new (duplicate – unchanged) 150 amp service installed for $3.200 with NO CHANGES…
I’m sure there are many people who just use what ever existing facilities they have to recharge either a plug-in hybrid or a full electric – and they survive just fine.
I’ve been charging my Volt on a 120V/15A outlet in the garage for 4 ½ years.
We charge a Tesla and a Mercedes EV every day and our electric bill has gone up $30 per month…and that has been consistent for the past 4 years. You do not have to completely upgrade your system either. We found a 30a level 2 charger for $100.00 and had it installed…was under $500. Defending our choice is tiring and there are actually very few articles about negative experiences with EVs…and they are usually old/outdated. We have had zero degradation on either of our cars. We pay for electricity that is supplied by renewable resources…yes, we can do that here in Oregon. If you don’t want an EV, don’t buy one…it is that simple. Oh, and our ICEs cost WAY more to own/operate than our EVs.
Greg, I agree with you, if you don’t want an EV don’t buy one. The Green New Deal does not give us that option, and either does my state in 2035.
2035 is a future you problem. Are you really going to lose sleep over something that’s going to happen 13 years from now?
2035 ? LOL. The infrastructure that took 75 years to build out (gas stations) isn’t going anywhere soon. I heard this same propaganda 40 years ago – by 2000 this that and the other thing…yeah , sure. The infrastructure is the same now as it was in 1960. Pleeeez. That’s 62 years. Most gas stations won’t put in EV chargers because their lots won’t accommodate the extra cars – ain’t happening. Try to imagine just 10 cars lined up in a gas station parking lot sitting charging for 2 hours while regular gas customers try to navigate their way to the gas pumps. LOL. The gas station owners will have to purchase additional land first and most don’t have the time, money or incentive to purchase more land IF the land was actually there to purchase. What will doom the EV isn’t the expensive replacement batteries it’s the logistics/infrastructure just isn’t going to work.
Ed:
Utilities around here for the past 120 years continually upgrade their infrastructure and it is continually ongoing – I for one see plenty of useless ‘Reinventing the Wheel’ kinds of things constantly going on – to the point that 9 years ago I tired of paying for it, and installed Solar Panels…. As far as amortizing the cost – that happened last year – and now my electricity bill is $10.80 per month – except for a month or so when it is nothing since I make more juice than I actually use – but thats ok since during the snow covered winter months I just ‘use up’ most of my electric credits from the summer time, and the bill is still under $11 / month.
The fact that WOKE areas (all of California, TEXAS, all of EUROPE, etc.) can’t keep the lights on just proves that they are a TOTAL JOKE. The artificial LACK OF ELECTRICITY is just the tip of the iceberg of the problems people will have who live there. Keeping warm and not starving are more of the problems they’ll experience in the future.
Gary,
Nothing is going to be phased out immediately and hopefully, in 13 years, the world will look at things much differently…regardless of your affiliation, there is no doubt the planet’s health and resources are significantly diminished from what they were 13 years ago…we all know this but many don’t want to admit it. Some will always be early adopters and some will kick and scream all the way to the end.
What’s diminished over the last 13 years isn’t the earth/climate, it’s pure common sense – lower IQ’s across the board and dumb motherfuc&ers drinking the cult of Climate Change kool aid. That’s the problem. The earth doesn’t share our biases – it just is and will continue to change regardless of what we peons do here on the surface. Just ask the citizens of Pompei from 79 AD who were covered in volcanic lava and ash if they feel like they’re a threat to the planet today. LOL Or the hundreds of thousands covered in rubble from earthquakes in Haiti, Mexico or a thousand other places in the world if they feel like they’re a threat to the planet today. LOL.
Yeah, the world will look different then, many of these dinosaurs will be dead. That is the only thing that moves the US along….waiting for the old stuck in their ways gerries to croak so the rest can move forward. And I say that as one of them.
However, I took the time to actually learn about this stuff rather than just repeat all of the crap my internet bubble throws at me….like the original article that everyone here is using as proof that electric cars are a failure.
Gary:
Haha! Who cares? At the rate they are going California won’t exist as a state by 2035…. Give it back to Mexico.
Soooo many questions….. what ICE cars did you own??? Imports? Well yeah, probably as BMW’s and MB’s are know to be problematic. Or are you saying you had suburban and downgraded to a Chevy Bolt?
1, you must compare apples to apples as even the hummer EV will be cheaper to own and repair than my freightliner
The bolt is the class equivalent of the Chevy spark or Mitsubishi Mirage. A 40K EV has the same size and only slightly better admenties than 15K ice cars that are known to have almost no problems up to 150k miles and many exceed 200K on original engine and transmission.
A Tesla modle 3 in all honesty is the same class as Malibus and Camrys. A 60-70K car vs 25K cars
ModleS is same class as a CT5, one is 130K, the other is 60K. One is better 0-60, the other is outrageously better on the track.
FYI, if your comparing a Cadillac Escalade and a Tesla, and say “I can afford both, but the Tesla saves me money on gas”…. You should probably get your head checked. If you can afford both, don’t ask about gas.
Your either in the wrong forum, or your comment was posted 4 years ago.
Try “you’re” either instead of “your” either.
No, you wandered to the wrong site. I think you wanted the girls on “The View” to converse with.
No, dead beat I’m in the right forum and this is the present. This is about electric cars that we are being forced to drive, high gas prices, high food prices, stupid decisions, weakness, family corruption, Inflation. 4 years ago, there was none of that.
This appears to be a fake estimate used primarily by the anti ev crowd to confirm there own suspicions. Unfortunate that the author didn’t verify its authenticity.
LS swap anyone? JK sort of.
30k? Looks like the dealer broke out the Parts Rail Gun…much bigger than the parts cannon.
Bet the batteries are fine in this Volt. I wouldn’t trust the dealers diagnosis.
Basically what you need to do if you’re the type of person that keeps your cars longer the the payments is every time you recharge your car put $40 the amount you would spend on a tank of gas into a savings account to buy a new battery for your gas saving car. Dealers don’t tell you about these things when you buy it, just how much money you’ll save by not buying gas. Lol. I just told my wife our new hybrid will be traded in after 5-6 years.
The price quoted was completely wrong. It should be $10500 from a Chevy dealership. Around $5000 from several third party shops. The dealerships is either dishonest or clueless.
A used 10 yr gas car with only 80000 miles on it still has good resale .I would rather Be able to sale my car for 6 to 10 .000 or more. Makes more sense than 29,000 out go
My ’13 Volt with 115000 miles on it is worth almost exactly what I paid for it in 2018, with 50000 more miles on it.
You don’t have to upgrade your electrical infrastructure in your home. Been reading to many Facebook memes.
On my Chevy Volt 2nd gen I just use a regular 110 outlet. With only a 40-50ish range it’s fully charged by morning since I usually don’t deplete the battery everyday.
I think Chevy discontinued the volt to early and should of used the technology on a truck. The Volt had a small battery for common daily commute but had a gas generator that turned on once the battery was depleted. I don’t think the infustructure and battery technology is ready for all out electric cars.
A regular 120V outlet will take a week to recharge the newer EVs.
Bob –
Yes a HUGE electric truck (the Ford F150 Lightning and that pricey RIVIAN are really the only things available) will take several days to recharge from fully dead to fully full.
But thats a REAL IRRELEVANCY. Do you drive 400 miles per day EVERY DAY? Unless you are a Maintenance Technician or a Travelling Salesman – I would doubt it.
The reason people can get by (whether they know it or not) with just a ubiquitous 110 volt receptacle in their garage, driveway, or car port is that they only need to gain a bit more than the number of miles they plan on driving the next day.. After a week of that the vehicle is FULLY CHARGED for weekend jaunts.
30 mile range on a 3000lb car vs a 300 mile range on a 7000 lbs car……….your talking oodles more power required. A 220 charger you will find may also be lacking
How about stopping rocket launches for rich people to experience floating in air for joy rides. Stop the rich private jet rides everywhere they want to go. If car pollution was really there target I would think there’s bigger pollution makers to clean up. Instead of forcing Ev’s on everyone, with ridiculous battery replacement costs. I have a 2002 Silverado that’s runs great, will I ever be able to say that about an Ev after 20 years.
GMT-800 chassis trucks (’99-’07) were the best GM ever built
Currently listing my 2015 Volt with 108K miles for $3000 as a parts donor, dealer told me the battery needed replacement and the cost would be $24K. I will NEVER buy another EV until the manufacturers guarantee the battery for 300K or more miles.
Do some do some research.. you can get the battery for $7K from the online parts site like gmpartsdirect, gmpartsonline, etc or aftermarket like besthybridbatteries. Don’t give up on your car yet I have 271k on my volt it’s awesome.
This is obviously fake.
Or if your goal is to save the environment….. how about main GM modern ICE affordable. The new 3.0 diesel makes more than 30mpg highway and mid- high 20’s combined……. Yet we got construction workers driving 20-30 year old trucks averaging 10 because it’s what they can afford. Ditto with many workers driving old ford grand Vic’s they got at a buy here pay here that averages 20mpg cause they can’t afford a new Malibu that averages in the 30’s.
But you can’t fix stupid…..
Just look at the rust buckets on the roads today. Are those owners going to replace them with an EV when that vehicle dies?
Eventually they’ll have to. And nobody is going to want an old EV that might need a battery.
Poor people just won’t be able to drive anymore.
Here is a problem. that is real. My 2016 Cadillac ELR, which is essentially a Chevy Volt with leather, stopped being a hybrid a few months ago. It ran fine as a gas car and I should have let it go. But with 75,000 miles on it I took it to a GM dealer for service under the 100,000 mile warranty. Well they ordered $2,000 worth of parts and the car has been held hostage ever since. No parts available, and Cadillac’s customer service is substantially worse than terrible. I asked the dealer to just button it up and return it to me. He said labor for diagnosis is already $750; it wou6 another $500 to return it to original status, GM is not going to pay that fee; and “liability” is a problem. Hmmm. I just went back to my old ways, bought a five year old XTS with 6-cylinder 3.6 that will go 300,000 miles at 29mpg and I will wait for the ELR so I can sell it.
How much would you take for the ELR as is?
Thats great, the poor guy who can only afford a used EV will have to fork out all this money for replacement batteries. I don’t hear Biden mentioning that in this ridiculous push for these unwanted electric cars
We own a Gen. 1 Volt. If you read the Facebook Volt Owners Group, they have discussed a used battery pack from wrecked Volts priced around $5,000-10,000. That is nowhere near $28,000. I love “ICE” internal combustion cars, but we think the Volt is awesome! We expect to replace the battery in our Gen 1 Volt in the next 200,000 miles, and will buy a used Prius too.
Al,
I think that’s been a massive mistake on the part of Mary Barra. She’s cozied up to Joe Biden, brought him to Factory Zero, had him do a photo-op driving the Hummer EV, and allowed him to make announcements for the company about the forthcoming ERay Corvette. She’s lobbied him for government subsidies and tax credits and now gotten them. In doing these things, she’s tied GM’s EV future to a president that half the country doesn’t like. For those that do like the current president, imagine if Donald Trump were still in the Oval Office pushing you to buy something he favored; what reaction would that elicit?
The whole EV thing was marching along free of being political. Yes, one side of the political aisle was more aligned with the overarching goal but an EV was an option for everyone and Elon Musk and Tesla were downright cool. The Republican audience appreciated Musk’s tenacity and entrepreneurship while the Democrats saw him as bringing credibility to electric cars that could help achieve their goals. Both sides bought and often loved their Teslas and were wowed by the technology. Nobody thought they were political per se.
That’s changed. Now Barra has allowed a GM EV to become something Biden wants us to own and something Governor Newsom is forcing the people of California to own. For all the pushing coming from government, there will now be a predictable push-back from the citizenry, or at least half of them. It didn’t have to be this way but, like everything now, it’s been made political and so now EVs, especially those from GM, are polarizing with strong opinions having developed on both sides. We see that here with comments on EV articles having taken on a far more divisive and political tone. It should’ve just been left as a choice for consumers, completely free of politics, like choosing to buy an SUV. If EVs are as fantastic as the proponents say they are, they’ll sell themselves, as SUVs have done, and no government mandates or publicly-funded rebates will be necessary.
Ci2Eye
There are so many fronts in play at the moment all coverging to make the perfect storm of the century. Never before in the industrial, technical, political and sociological world have we seen such a situation related to motor vehicles, the workplace, energy, and the environment.
Covid ,War, power and greed have been the catalyst. We have a dirty raging war on a former president. Elections that are definitely suspect. A union that is now divided in a similar state to the civil war era. Race relations that have sadly lost several decades of advancement. Inflation similar to the Roaring twenties and a Russian – Chinese power play that will be global in push many times beyond what Hitler planned.
We have the tale of two cities as an example to cite, Berkeley, California versus Decatur, Illinois. Similar size populations but polar opposites in thinking.
Now in closing we must revisit the very basics and where are we going? Tangible natural resources-solid and gaseous hydrocarbons versus Intangible natural resources – radiation from sun and atoms, and air molecule movement.
Ci2Eye:
Well I don’t like Mary Barra for another reason:
They have forgotten how to run a Production Line..
I ordered my Caddy LYRIQ on 5/19/22. Calling the dealer keeps telling me that the vehicle is one month away…. Now it seems GM is lieing to the dealerships also and that it will be almost January 2023 before I get my vehicle… Thankfully the purchase price was LOCKED when I signed the contract..
The anti-ev people here have NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT…
If all companies were like GM they’d make a few 100 evs of each model (which will have ZERO EFFECT on any supposed infrastructure problems) per year…. EVs by them – which used to be quite popular prior to discontinuing the VOLT – now will be few and far between.
I’m still waiting for the brand new battery I’m promised for my 2022 BOLT EUV purchased 16 months ago.
They can’t seem to do anything timely with Barra in charge.
Bill,
If GM can’t build and deliver a car in a timely manner and keep the buyer apprised of the progress, why would you have confidence in that vehicle after delivery? Usually incompetence knows no bounds.
Honestly, though I loved GM for many years, I’ve never known them to be able to do new technology right, right out-of-the-box. I would consider these issues to be a red flag.
The 2011 – 2015 volts were FLAWLESS from the get – go (thanks to the micromanagement by BOB LUTZ), and there sure are plenty of them still on the road..
Incidentally – this is the SAFEST CAR MODEL ON THE ROAD EVER.
My 2019 volt (generation 2) is good, but no where near as safe as that car was.
Old EV batteries ARE NOT RECYCLABLE! They just take up more space in the landfill!
Lmao there’s a battery recycling plant down the highway from me. EV batteries have valuable second lives. Putting them in the landfill would be burying millions of dollars.
@Robert Paull: Exactly. Who in the right mind would want to extract their highly valuable components when they could spend 10x as much painstakingly searching for resources and setting up mines to extract them?
Fossil fuels are far more recyclable. We burn them, they go into the atmosphere, our planet burns… In a mere several million years, the bones of our extinct race are renewed as fossil fuels. Recycling in its purest form. 😜😂
One thing that is lost in this conversation…. the Volt is really a “dual fuel” car. You can drive it till the wheels fall off on gas only if you want.
You are so right. And unlike basically all other plug in hybrids, you rarely have to use it as a hybrid. Almost all driving can be done in EV mode, no assist from the gas engine needed when accelerating (I’m looking at you embarrassingly gutless Prius). This is why I prefer to call it an EV with a range extender. Semantics to an extent, yes, but for real world usage for most owners, it is a very real difference in performance and gas issue that separates it from virtually all other PHEVs. And unlike something like a BMW i3, which can also be had in EV with range extender variants, at highway speeds the gas engine can directly power the wheels, which is much more efficient than gas engine turning generator to charge battery, battery powering electric motor to turn wheels (lots of energy conversations = more energy lots = less efficiency). For that reason, when I really get down to describing how the Volt operates, I’ll explain that it basically functions like a hybrid between an EV and a hybrid. That is to say, it can function as a pure EV for all of your city driving (on actual real world roads and not just on paper like other PHEVs) and only switches over to functioning as a hybrid on road trips. This makes it both an ideal commuter car AND a roadtrip monster. You have both the convenience of at home charging and the convenience of going long distances on roadtrips while spending very little to refill the tank.
Now if only the trunk wasn’t so small and it was tow rated, it would be the perfect hauler for family vacations 🤷♂️
No, I have a Volt. If the battery is damaged, it will not run. However, the price quoted in this article is BS. In the highly unlikely event that you need a battery for a Volt, it should be $10500 from a GM dealership, or around $5000;from a third party shop.
This dealership is either dishonest or clueless.
Ridiculous article! On common GM parts sites like gmpartsonline, the battery goes for $7K. And there are aftermarket options too. For about $6,500 by besthybridbatteries you can have it installed…
I have 271K miles on my 2013 Volt, battery is at about 83% of original capacity! Amazing vehicle
Well – I don’t trust anyone who says that batteries don’t degrade… But its still not a big deal. My experience:
I’ve owned 3 Generation 1 gm plug-in hybrids – a 2011 and 2012 volt, and a 2014 ELR.
At over 90,000 miles on each the batteries have been uneventful , but basically have lost 40% of their capacity at that time…. Its just like buying a brand new plug-in hybrid with a 40% smaller battery… NOTHING ELSE CHANGES except it doesn’t take as long to recharge the smaller battery..
Keep in mind that these dinky batteries all had 365 charge/discharge cycles per year (cycled every day ) and they still work kinda well considering….
A BOLT with a battery 6 times bigger should therefore give similar performance of the battery of 40% degredation at the 540,000 mile point… Of course – repairs ARE NOT necessary – it just becomes a smaller battery. It might even last longer since it is charged and discharged much more slowly considering its size
6 times bigger but only twice the charging rate, and 1/6th the dischrage rate.
???? From whence cometh the electricity????
JIMBO:
Electricity? Not a problem man….
Idiotic California (worst place I can think of in the US) actually has WAY TOO MUCH electricity during the morning what with all the Solar panels sending juice ‘back to the grid’ when it isn’t wanted…
If the Regulators there had half a brain – besides doing everyone a favor and committing Hari Kari – would give electricity away (only during times of day when there is too much solar power) to people who recharged their cars. Since all California homes have time-of-day pricing – they could give EV owners FREE ELECTRICITY during the morning when they simply have too much of it, proof of which is that they FORCE SOLAR GENERATORS to curtail output during an hour or two every day.
It goes without saying that the EVs charged during the free time period DO NOT NEED to be charged as much during other times.
Giving the VIN number to the utility would prove there is an electric car recharging there. If that doesn’t ‘relieve’ the electricity supposed shortage then just give EVERYONE free electricity during this time.
Enough people would only charge their cars during this time period that it would alleviate all the ‘shortages’ until the great-brains came up with another ‘manufactured problem’.
so many arguments i see dont forget the airplane they use cable to make it fly, in the 1940 we had electric train but the fossil fuel was manipulated by big companies gas and diesel took over, soon or later fossil fuel will desappear we need to
change, the sun rays or beta rays are free let the tecnology have a futuristic view give the elecric car plane and rockets missiles try the next universe ,be ready and tolerate the changes of the globe that we are living, be open mind we have inteligent people with fresh mind, let work together for our own good , Im 67 year old and have seen how the world has
evolucionado with innovation I worked in the electrical field retired after 45 year of service goad bessed all of us
A lot of good information and a lot of misinformation. The first generation volt got around 30 Mi range, second generation gets between 50 and 60, almost double. As others have said, no need to fast charge unless you have a long commute every day of the week. It is very clear from many other posts on many other sites from many other owners of both generation volts and any other electric car and any other battery for that, that age and charge cycles affect longevity much more than mileage. 2012 2013s they are failing, with 20,000 and with 200,000 miles. Only thing in common is age. As far as not charging when the battery gets depleted, volts don’t get depleted. That’s the great thing about them and why they are still on the road after 10 years as opposed to the original Nissan Leafs which you never see anymore. The volt has a buffer engineered at the low end and upper end to prevent undercharged situations and overcharge situations. The average price of a new vehicle is something like 48,000 now, 9100 is basically the typical depreciation when you drive a car of that value off a lot new, once in a Century pandemic MSRP markups and temporary used car overvaluations aside. My volt looks and drives brand new with 30,000 miles after almost 5 years. It’s a simple straightforward car and handles well to the everyday user. I agree that as Battery Technology goes up prices will come down, including the retrofits for these. I would rather have a retrofit for this and keep driving it, even though I would have other cars and would buy another electric car by then. As far as the comparisons to phones and other electronics, you’ve got to think what you use a phone for. Capabilities and features. If the capabilities are set to increase with re-engineered replacement batteries year after year, it is not an Apples to Apples comparison to call a 10 year old electric car an iPhone 8 at that point. Competition will also Drive prices down for these batteries. Nobody’s going to going to GM for a replacement battery
My question is: why doesn’t electric car need coolant?
They do need coolant. Batteries don’t like heat. Or cold.
I’ve owned 3 Generation 1 gm plug-in hybrids – a 2011 and 2012 volt, and a 2014 ELR.
At over 90,000 miles on each the batteries have been uneventful , but basically have lost 40% of their capacity at that time…. Its just like buying a brand new plug-in hybrid with a 40% smaller battery… NOTHING ELSE CHANGES except it doesn’t take as long to recharge the smaller battery..
Keep in mind that these dinky batteries all had 365 charge/discharge cycles per year (cycled every day ) and they still work kinda well considering….
A BOLT with a battery 6 times bigger should therefore give similar performance of the battery of 40% degredation at the 540,000 mile point… Of course – repairs ARE NOT necessary – it just becomes a smaller battery. It might even last longer since it is charged and discharged much more slowly considering its size
6 times bigger but only twice the charging rate, and 1/6th the dischrage rate.
Grab your ankles. Stay tuned. This is only the beginning.
Gruesome Newsom and his team know not what they do.
And when the power grids fail? They are so old and outdated! Ask Texas what happens then? Good luck charging a car!
Sorry Karen.. Power grids only fail in WOKE states…. All utilities over the past 120 years have constantly upgraded their facilities… My utility in Western NY OVERDOES IT to the point where they are constantly replacing things that need no replacement.
The Texas case the february before last where people froze to death is an prime showcase of an Avalanche of Stupid, Useless decisions….. Of course, it turned out to be worse than Useless since people died.
Verified that part number still exists. That vin is good for a 2012 Volt. There was 1 dealer in Oklahoma reports to have it. Our list price was almost $22k. What people should really upset is the profit margin on that part number lol
The battery pack is made up of individual cells that are monitored by a control module. This module compares voltage levels of each cell and determines the health of the battery pack as a whole. The individual cells are replaceable but may not be available. The Volt is a plug in extended range Hybrid that when the battery is depleted the gas engine will start and recharge the battery pack. Only under hard acceleration will the engine be mechanically connected to the drive wheels. The problem with the early Volts was that they were only driven within the battery range and if the gas engine was called upon to start, stale fuel could be an issue. Oil changes also had to be done based on run time not mileage. The Volt was ahead of it’s time and never was appreciated for how innovative it was. Honda came out with their own version of an extended range Hybrid but didn’t sell well. It’s sad that GM doesn’t offer some financial assistance with battery replacement.
If the gas engine could completely recharge the HV battery, it wouldn’t be a plug-in.
The gas engine can only generate enough power to extend the range of the car not recharge the battery pack completely
I think you will find the Volt engine/generator is NEVER connected mechanically. It provides power to the electric motors AND recharges the battery.
Keith J:
This will surprise you: The GEN 1 voltec vehicles (2011-2015 VOLT, 2014, 2016 Caddy ELR) had 3 servo clutches in the drive train and would “LOCK UP HARD” at any steady state driving around 40 mph or above..
The GEN 2 VOLT 2016-2019 simplified this – since it has only 2 servo clutches and one ‘Bicycle Coaster Brake’ style lock to keep the engine from spinning backwards when off.. In this vehicle – the ENGINE is CONSTANTLY GEARED to the wheels but is prevented from spinning when in electric mode by Differential Gearing.
Also, in the GEN 2’s the engine (when needed) is mechanically DRIVING the wheels far more often than the GEN 1 vehicles..
Both Generations (1 and 2) have no Starter Motor – on the GEN 1’s through a clutch, and on GEN 2’s, the engine is basically ‘push started’ (even when standing still).. GEN 2’s actually perform the CRANKING FUNCTION by overspeeding one of the 2 drive motors.
The end result of all this is that in both electric and gasoline modes – the car is more efficient than the earlier GEN 1 vehicles – and go farther in either electric or gas modes…
On the GEN 2 Volts, it is impossible to recharge the battery using the engine beyond 15% capacity, and then only in ‘Mountain Mode’. It is expected to use the battery capacity as prudently as possible and tries to greatly minimize gasoline consumption.
Car Fans:
I’ve been doing a fun informal survey on EV’s, and believe me I like Elon Musk and his assorted activities. Also I like EV’s as an option but not a mandate. In fact I like Mary and her team, but I’m worried about their all in EV thing, and what Brandon is doing.
Back to my informal survey. I drive alot between Reno and Salt Lake City. I currently drive a Suburban and Equinox. When traveling I stop in West Wendover, Nevada and Elko, Nevada where Tesla has charging stations. These stations have been in place for about six years now. For the first couple of years driving by these charging stations they have been vacant. Along about the third year one car would be charging. Currently when I drive by there are on average two Tesla’s charging. I look at the driver seated while charging occupying their time on a smart phone. The driver is usually solo, a white female in her thirties. Well groomed and professional looking, most likely a mid level college educated professional. I see a similar profile with Tesla drivers in Salt Lake City.
Tesla male drivers that I’ve seen are white males, professional types, mid thirties most likely in an IT professional.
This seems to be the nitch buyer/user that Tesla has found and successfully plays to.
VW with the Hitler / Porsche designed beatle has found a nitch group with young white females and urban Hispanics in Latin America.
The Tesla products are appealing to mainstream white professionals in their mid twenties to mid forties.
Not a family vehicle, particularly if you have a couple of youngsters in the back seat and have to spend time at charging stations on long journeys. This is where an IC Suburban comes into play.
Automaking is one of the most interesting businesses in the world. The automaker is an engineering / manufacturing organization that seeks to build products that will sell themselves. This is the code.
Not building vehicles by government mandate. Although Hitler did this with the Peoples ( Volks) Car ( Wagon) and it has been successful.
I do wish Mary and Brandon success but I’m uncomfortably spooked by what they are doing.
Newsom is out of line in his 2035 mandate.
See you all at Burning Man next week.
This is the “Go Away” price, or “If you’re really that stupid”. The price from a Chevy dealership should be $10500. Many third party shops will do it for around $5000 or less with a 2 or 3 year unlimited mileage warranty.
My 2013 cruze is a eco it can get 50 mpg on a trip around town it gets 35 mpg .I have 200,000 miles on it with no major repairs.
Stanley Peters: Is this the Diesel Model, with a 5 speed manual transmission?
Great car, I had the same. 5 speed right?
Probably one of the best (ecological) ICE vehicles built.
I just like buying domestic electricity for fuel instead of foreign oil.
This looks like one of those junk mail ads that tell you your car warranty is expired and trying to sell you one, or a dealer ad trying to sell you a new car. Did gm authority perform due diligence in trying to verify this, or just passing along a fake viral ad.
Say Ed…are you done eating tide pods now. The volt has a hybrid drive system, n electric and gas. So if I want, I can leave my charger at home and drive coast to coast without using the battery. Do a 30 sec Goggle search before you spout ignorance.
You CAN do that, as long as you don’t get stuck in a snowstorm when your battery drains and the engine/gen does not run when the car is stopped. Then you will freeze!
Keith J:
WRONGO man….
In a gas car during a snowstorm – when you run out of gas you are DEAD.
In a VOLT you STILL have whatever is left in the battery, Plus about 5%.. Since the engine CRANKS off the HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY, it is never discharged to the point where when you put gas in the tank the car wouldn’t start….. Therefore, not only will the car drive many miles totally out of gas, it will also recover when gas is put back in..
I’m sure you would say you can carry a GAS CAN around with you to never run out of gas.
Hint: You can Carry a GAS CAN around in the back hatch of a volt also – if you think you’ll need it.
GM replaced the battery in my wife’s 2015 Volt for $11,000 under the CA emissions warranty at 131k miles. No cost to me. My other Volt is at 200k, no issues. This story is bogus.
Volt: when battery is empty it runs on gas. Period. If you want, you can force it to use gas, period.
If you don’t own a
Volt, keep your ignance to yself, or ask questions.
Don’t know about the Volt, but with the Impala Hybrid you can NOT drive the car when the battery pack is bad. Yes, it has a ICE and batteries, when the battery pack went bad, an all night charge would get you 22 miles. Traded for a Nissan pickup.
Toot!
I replace the battery in my 2012 Chevy volt. the de alership said the weight would be a year. another place had batteries for $6,000. I bought one on eBay for $2,000 and it didn’t work so they took it back. I bought another one on eBay for $2,500 and that one worked. I sold the car pretty quickly after that. the problem is they don’t make these batteries anymore the volt was a good car but Chevrolet did not stand by the product
1.4 turbo 6 speed manual
Owen:
If you state that 20% of electricity is currently produced by coal and that 20% of electricity is currently produced by renewables, where do you say the remaining 60% of electricity is produced by?
David: other non-renewables, like natural gas.
None of this even matters when you’re told not to charge them 🤷♀️
In upstate NY I have seen many Evs in the winter months go down the road and laugh because all the windows are fogged up. So either their hvac systems don’t work well or the driver is worried about battery drain. EVS have a long way to go on multiple fronts, Especially in the colder parts of the country.
I just received information about an outfit in Texas that will fix a Volt with a bad battery for $2500 with a three year warranty.
Talk to:
Monroe Lee King Jr.
At
Nuts & Volts 227 Harrell Drive Copperas Cove, Texas 76522.
254-371-1438 text can sometimes get you a faster response.
I do not know about electric car but I own an 2013 chevy volt l-4 opel engine i have used about 80% on electric or battery and 20 % on gas it has 131000 miles still running like new i love it save me a lot on gas and i use solar energy to charge it has three mode to drive normal sport and mountain i have learn to use all three mode as i needed it perform very goog with no problem it does have high sound noise when generating energy charging the battery it givme up to 15 miles of charge that i use in high traffic i get and average of 90 miles combine gas and energy battery used