Holden Volt - A few questions for existing owners

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Giesse
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Joined: Thu, 16 Sep 2021, 09:11
Real Name: Chris

Holden Volt - A few questions for existing owners

Post by Giesse »

Hi all,

I currently have a Gen 3 Prius and I'm looking at alternatives. I'm considering buying a Holden Volt but I have a few questions. I can't seem to find answers anywhere so I thought the best people to ask are those that own one.

1 - Does the Volt have active/adaptive/radar cruise control? I have seen things saying that it does and other things saying it doesn't. Or was it an option? Or only on particular models?

2 - If it doesn't, might it be something that I could update by buying/installing an appropriate replacement module from the US?

3 - I believe the early models didn't have Bluetooth audio streaming but the later models did. Does anyone know of some resource that might explain the differences between models and how to identify them?

4 - Has anyone had to have a battery pack replaced/refurbished that might know an approximate cost?

Thanks in Advance,

Chris.
Mitchbiz
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Real Name: Mitch Bisby
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Re: Holden Volt - A few questions for existing owners

Post by Mitchbiz »

Hi Chris,

No, the Volt does not have radar cruise. It does have 'forward collision alert' (audible warning only, it doesn't apply the brakes – it will cancel the regular cruise control though). If driven in 'L' (high regen mode, gets you about 90% of the way to one pedal driving) the regular cruise control will 'brake' and hold the set speed when going down steep hills, but doesn't adjust for traffic.

Aus Volts have Bluetooth for phone calls, but not music. (US Volts have this through the OnStar system, which we don't get). I solved this by getting a Besign BK01 off Amazon for $50 that plugs into the aux jack. Alternatively, the car has a HDD that you can load music onto.

The Volt has a reputation for having a solid battery. Only 10kWh of the total 16kWh pack is usable (~35% buffer) and it has proper active thermal management, so it never gets too stressed. Hell, I read the car will even fire up the ICE if you drive like a madman (drawing >100kW for extended periods) to soften things for the battery. I believe battery replacements are extremely rare. When buying, I recommend taking it to a Holden dealer (preferably one that was an approved Volt dealer) for them to do a health check. I also think it's best to look for one with a lifetime economy readout of about 1l/100km – that indicates the battery got plenty of love (wasn't left flat for extended periods), and the ICE was run often enough (more than the 10min maintenance cycle every 6 weeks) to keep all its juices flowing.

I've had my Volt for 2 years now and love it. Highly recommend getting one.
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Peter C in Canberra
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Real Name: Peter Campbell
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Re: Holden Volt - A few questions for existing owners

Post by Peter C in Canberra »

I had a Volt for two years 2018/19 as a stop gap before getting a long range BEV Hyundai Kona.
The bluetooth works for phone connectivity but not music. It has a built-in hard drive that you can load up with stored music.
The battery is really robust. Unlike other early EVs, it has excellent battery management. By only using the middle 2/3 of the battery and having thermal management, they last really well. It is unlikely that you will need a new battery.
The cruise control just doggedly sticks to the set speed and does not adjust for catching up to a vehicle in front.
A thing that puts some people off is having two bucket seats rather than a 3 seat bench in the rear.
I recommend a Volt ahead of an early Leaf or similar for someone considering a used EV. A Volt with a bit of petrol in the tank can be used for its full 60-70km range, whereas a Leaf or iMiEV with reduced capacity can only be used for a similar distance due to needing to leave some margin for error.
We averaged 2.2L/100km for our particular mix of local electric trips and longer partially petrol trips. If we never put petrol in it, we would have got 5.5L/100km. If we only ever drove locally, we would have used almost no petrol.
The car handles the transition to petrol seamlessly.
There are usually one or two on carsales.com.au but there were only ever about 250 in the country.
Daihatsu charade conversion 2009-18, Mitsubishi iMiEV 2013-2019, Holden Volt 2018-2019, Hyundai Kona 2019-2023, Hyundai Ioniq 5 2023-present on the ACT's 100% renewable electricity.
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