Will a volt work for me

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Duffman
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Will a volt work for me

Post by Duffman »

Hi i am new to this forum i live in rural vic and drive 80 to 90k's
A day round trip to work.
80% of it is on the freeway at 110 kph
How much of this trip would i get purely on the electric power and
Would a volt be the best fit for this or should i look at a hybrid camry or such.
Any information or help is greatly appreciated.
Cheers jon.
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g4qber
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Will a volt work for me

Post by g4qber »

get an audi a3 etron if you can afford it
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mjcrow
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Will a volt work for me

Post by mjcrow »

Hi Duffman, can you charge whilst at work? Would be a big plus for a volt if you can.
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jonescg
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Will a volt work for me

Post by jonescg »

Hi Jon,

Sounds like the Volt could be a good option for you, and there are some second hand ones kicking around for a reasonable price these days. The Volt will offer about 70 km of electric only range, although at freeway speeds, this will probably be closer to 50 km. Still, when charged at home, you will have plenty of electric power for round the trip.

If you can secure some charging at work, you would remain largely fuel-free for the commuting week, however it would also mean a Nissan Leaf was an option. A second hand, or ex-demo Leaf might be about the same price as a Volt...
AEVA National President, WA branch director.
Duffman
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Will a volt work for me

Post by Duffman »

Hi thanks for the replys
The audi is out of my budget.
I will look into the possibility of charging at work
But with out charging at work i would get 50 to 70 k range which would mean driving 20 to 40 k's on petrol a day.
Would it still work out better than a hybrid ?
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Post by MrD »

Hi Duffman - a MiEV or Leaf (all electric) will do this PROVIDED you are happy to do 90kph on the Freeway, generally only yourself in the vehicle, and sparing use of any aircon. I have been commuting six days a week in regional NSW in my 2012 MiEV for nearly three years now - typical daily round trip of 70 to 90kms and always have capacity to spare (typically one quarter). Most of my trip is on 110kph highway - and I just sit with the 'P' platers and school bus..... Go 'all the way' - pure electric - as our Dubbo Mayor has just done after a Volt and an Outlander...
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jonescg
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Will a volt work for me

Post by jonescg »

Yes, you would still be burning petrol on your commute unless you can get a charge at work. Also, the service costs will start to catch up on any hybrid or plug-in hybrid.

Do also consider what you might use the car for outside of the working week. If you want to take a longer trip on the weekend, a pure electric like the Leaf might not have the range (without a fast charger network), which makes the Volt more attractive.
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Duffman
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Will a volt work for me

Post by Duffman »

The reason i was looking at the volt was the extended range.
with two children i don't think a pure electric like the leaf will work and can't afford a tesla
My brother in law just did a review of the tesla p90d (techau.com.au) if you want a look
And thats what got me thinking about the electric / hybrid car option.
mikedufty
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Will a volt work for me

Post by mikedufty »

What makes pure electrics incompatible with children? I have 2 children and an i-MiEV.
Duffman
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Will a volt work for me

Post by Duffman »

I wasn't trying to say that children and pure electric cars are not compatible just saying that one with 150k or so range is not suitable for me.
They're perfect for the daily commute to work but thats all no good when you go on holidays or trips inter state to see family and having to have two cars one for work and one for every thing else doesn't save me any money.
The volt on the other hand should do both and save me money.
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g4qber
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Will a volt work for me

Post by g4qber »

Have you test driven a volt?
Have you read the volt posts?

Being Devil's Advocate
Be prepared to reset RCDs at times and have check engine light (CEL) show up unless you have one of e-station's wall boxes.
Also be prepared for touch screen freezing and indicators being stuck.
Best to remove the front air dam too.
Spongy brakes, though this also seems to occur with i3 but to a less degree; possibly because they seem to be brake by wire? And a Committee is behind them?
http://forum.amg-owners-club.org/public ... gy-brakes/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensotr ... ke_Control
http://gm-volt.com/forum/archive/index. ... 16810.html
Foot Brake also seem to lose effectiveness very soon after volt is turned off, hence put the park brake on before turning volt off.

Do you need 5 seats occasionally
then the mitsu phev / audi may be more suitable.
Volt, Imiev and i3 have 4 seats
One couple went from LEAF to PHEV, the opposite to Dubbo Mayor.

Volt capped pricing is $187 possibly for life.
Last edited by g4qber on Wed, 06 Jan 2016, 14:33, edited 1 time in total.
2021 Model 3 PW MIC RWD FSD - Mon 28 Jun ‘21 -
k kms 17x
2009 Tango - http://www.evalbum.com/211
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2014 Model S
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reecho
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Will a volt work for me

Post by reecho »

Volt will work for your vocation. You will require petrol for some of the travel.

The RCD issue with Volt is due to poor localisation from GMH.

A second hand Outlander PHEV may be an option as well but at a slight extra cost.

mikedufty
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Will a volt work for me

Post by mikedufty »

Duffman wrote: I wasn't trying to say that children and pure electric cars are not compatible just saying that one with 150k or so range is not suitable for me.

That makes more sense. i-MiEV only works for us because we kept the other car for long trips. Still not sure what children have to do with it though.

Outlander PHEV looks ideal if you want one car for everything. I suspect I'd have one by now except my wife really wanted 2 cars.
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Will a volt work for me

Post by rhills »

I own an Outlander PHEV and I'm happy to recommend it strongly if your budget will stretch that far. If you can charge at work, you should get most of your kms on electric. I do 40 km each way most days of the week and charge in between so I rarely use petrol.

If your only reason for a "long range" car is annual holiday trips, maybe consider renting a car for that. You get to drive something different for the holiday and don't have all the static costs of ownership in between.

Cheers,
Rob Hills
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marty11
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Will a volt work for me

Post by marty11 »

Hi ,

had a Volt for 2.5 years, still have it. I do around 30 kms per day, and charge overnight every 2nd or 3rd day, so do not use any fuel at all normally. (I sometimes average 25 per day, so then I usually squeeze 3 days out of it.

I have had nothing but fun in my Volt, and highly recommend it. Been to Queensland, South Australia etc in it.

2nd hand ones are cheap. Not bad for what you get. The ability to do 70 - 80 kms in ev mode, then keep driving in hybrid mode, is pretty unique,

I looked at converting a car to electric, then Tesla came out, then the Volt came out. Could not spring the money for a Tesla. So the Volt won.

Last time I was in Rural Vic (on the way to Adelaide) , a policeman pulled me over just to chat about it.

I would say go for it. Have spoken to a few others with them, and they are all happy, and none want to sell. Enjoy 2016 ! Cheers, marty
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