Chevy Volt (good earth day post.)

[ME_Andy]

That's cool that your 70,000-mile car has an essentially new engine.

[pinballlooking]

Yes and I have only done one oil change in that many miles.

I am getting close to needing my second oil change.

[pinballlooking]

My 2013 Volt now has 58,021 EV miles solar powered. We have seen no range lost so far.
Total miles 73,775 still only one oil change.
My total miles on the motor is 15,754
Very close to my second oil change.
This time a year we put on about 400 EV miles a week.

[pinballlooking]

My 2013 Volt
61,020 Solar Powered miles so far. I really love driving on the sun.
2 oil changes 77,874 total miles so far.
16,854 Dino juice miles.
We still really like the car.

[Daox]

Have you had to do any repairs, recalls, etc. on the car?

[stevehull]

Pinball - how does the new Chevy Bolt look in terms of miles per kWhr. All the review of the Bolt are stellar - but what are your thoughts?

Have to share this . . . . Just got an offer from Renvu for a 260 W panel, the M215 microinverter AND trunk cable for $0.89/watt - total. Talk about a SMOKIN' deal! A 10 kW system would be $8,900 and with racking (~$30/panel) that is another $1500 for a total of about $10,500 for a 10 kW system.

Incredible!

RENVU Specials


Steve

[pinballlooking]

@Daox
Yes a couple things. Some 2013 Volts had a bad heater valve installed. Mine was bad but once it was replaced it worked fine. My charge door did not always open the first try. They replaced the door and it works great now. When it was in for the charge door they and two recalls and they did those same time. Driver’s door lock button on the handle stopped working they fixed that same time as charge door.

One recall was some people would not turn their car off in their garage and when the battery would run out of power the engine would start not good in a garage. The other one was a vapor canister.
It is strange with this car as other EVs you don’t hear the motor so you can forget to turn off the car.

Since about 30k miles till now it has not seen a dealer.
I would not consider any of this major the heater was a pain but not a huge deal. All new cars have a couple things for them to take care of. All repairs covered under warranty.

We drive a lot and do our own maintenance I do not like to take my car to the dealer if I can help it.

[pinballlooking]

@Stevehull

I am not sure on the miles per KWhr. I have been reading the reviews and it is getting really good reviews so far.

I am glad they are using the great Volt tech on the new Bolt the Chevy Malibu I hope many other.
I think they need a volts style truck I think it could be a big seller.
Wow smoking deal on solar power!


http://www.voltstats.net/

Look at the Volt sparkie EV miles 124,265.17 Total miles 355,155.33

PLUG1N EV miles 104,613.93 total miles 104,753.64

My car is "Flynn's Light Runner" on voltstats.net

[pinballlooking]

My 2013 Volt
62,584 Solar Powered miles so far.
2 oil changes 80,212 total miles so far.
17,628 Dino juice miles.
It is amazing and satisfying using solar power to drive our car. We drive many miles taking our boys to school.

[pinballlooking]

I received my first error code on my Volt this weekend.
P1FFF, P1FFE - Service High Voltage Charging System
A quick internet search. I found if the HV coolant is low it will cause this error.

https://transportevolved.com/2014/06...oolant-system/

This is a known issue with some Volts. Mine was low but only a few ounces low. I had the right coolant on hand so I topped it off. I went for a short drive but the car still had the code and would not charge. Another internet search and I found you need to take to the dealer to get it reset.

Then I keep looking and found this. P1FFF, P1FFE,P1E00 - Home Solution - Service High Voltage Charging System - Easy Fix.

I have a Bluetooth OBD adapter ELM327.

So I bought TORQUE for Android $5 I put my volt into service mode.

I read the code and then reset the code.
Turned off my Volt and connected up the charger I am back to a good Volt again.

I did check coolant level today after a full discharge from driving it is fine. (I will keep checking it this week just to be sure everything is still ok)

I wanted to post this as it might help someone else out.
Our Volt 62,756 EV miles and still going strong.


How to put your Volt into service mode

“Service Only Mode
This power mode is available for service and diagnostics, and to verify the proper operation of the malfunction indicator lamp as may be required for emission inspection purposes. With the vehicle off, and the brake pedal not applied, pressing and holding the POWER button for more than five seconds will place the vehicle in Service Only Mode. The instruments and audio systems will operate as they do in ON/RUN, but the vehicle will not be able to be driven. The propulsion system will not start in Service Only Mode. Push the button again to turn the vehicle off.
Notice: Service Only Mode will discharge the 12‐volt battery. Do not use Service Only Mode for an extended period, or the vehicle may not start.”

Keep in mind Chevy does not want you to add coolant to HV system and they don't want you to reset codes. So use your own judgment following this.

This is s DIY site so most people on here would still want to know how to take care of this without taking it to the dealer. Most scan tools can also reset the codes.