For Better or Worse, It Blends Right In - 2016 Chevrolet Volt

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For Better or Worse, It Blends Right In - 2016 Chevrolet Volt

The 2016 Chevrolet Volt drives more like a normal car than ever before. But it also looks more like a normal car, too.

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lmbvette

Good write-up. I think this is exactly why Chevy went with this design on the 2nd gen, to make it look normal, thus appealing to a bigger audience.

FYI, I had a 2012 Volt and now drive an ELR.

I still find it difficult to explain to people how the Volt works, they just don't seem to comprehend the simplicity of it. Here is a typical conversation:

Person: Is it an electric car?
Me: Yes
Person: How far can it go?
Me: As far as you want it to go.
Person: Huh? I thought it only goes 40 miles.
Me: Yes, it can go around 40 - 50 miles on electricity. After that, the gas engine turns on and you can drive to Canada if you want.
Person: I thought you said it was electric.
Me: It is both. It runs on electricity until the battery is used up, then the gas engine turns on so that you can keep driving to anywhere.
Person: What kind of gas mileage does it get?
Me: Around 40 mpg.
Person: So how many times have you filled the tank since you bought it?
Me: Twice, I went on two long trips over the past 20,000 miles.
Person: WHAT???? Twice? But you only get 40 miles on electricity.
Me: Yep, I've spent $40 on gas in 2 years. The car works out perfectly for my round trip commute of 26 miles. So I drive to work and back then plug it in at night.
Person: How much does the electricity cost?
Me: If the battery needed to be completely recharged, less than $1.50, which is still cheaper than a gallon of gas.
Person: How long does it take to charge?
Me: If the battery were empty, and it was plugged into a regular wall outlet, around 10 hours. So, over night. However, if you have a 240v charger, around 4 hours.
Person: Pretty neat, I had no idea.

kirkhilles1

Yeah, there will always be those with the California attitude of look-at-me-I'm-green BS, but for the rest of the Country/planet, we're just looking for a car that makes "sense". It needs to look appealing to us and have good advantages. Personally, I think its great to see more "normal" looking cars. That was/is the problem with the i3. It looks like some sort of hippy-mobile. If it looked like a BMW 3 series, it'd sell 10x as well.

I'm not saying it can't look different and exciting, but that's more for the high end models (i8, Teslas, etc).

jim_nj

Brent Romans: I'm curious. Did you eventually tell you mom that she had been driven home on electricity? If so, did she even care?

I'm not so sure being normal looking is an asset. I think part of the reason the Prius has done so well is that it does stand out. But then again, if the Chevy Volt had a Toyota badge (with no other changes) sales would probably be at least triple what they have been for Chevy.

I agree with lmbvette about how misunderstood this Volt is, and
I'm still amazed over five years later how many people don't understand it. I was talking with a co-worker, who has known for a while that I have a Volt, about it because he was thinking of getting some sort of electric car. The conversation was similar:


Me: It gets 40 miles on electricity now, but in the winter it only gets 25 miles on electricity.

Him: Really? I guess you don't take any long trips.

Me: Oh yeah, I've taken it to Boston several times [we live near Philadelphia].

Him: How many times do you have to stop?!?!

Me: We usually stop twice for bathroom or food, but I usually start with a full tank and full charge so I usually don't need gas until we're coming home. It gets 300 miles on gas.

Him: Oh, so it has both gas and electric? How much does the electricity cost?

Me: It's the equivalent of $1.10/gallon.

Note: I like to use the $1.10 a gallon (which is based on my $0.13/kwh rate) because I think it's the easiest way to compare it to gasoline.

uncanny_man

I'm perfectly fine with a normal looking electric. Especially considering the alternative in this segment is the "look at me, I'm hideous!" styling of the bmw i3 and new prius.

csubowtie

If the "Look at ME!!!" cars actually looked good, like the Tesla, then that's okay. But most of these cars, prius, leaf, are just hideous to stand out. It's like high fashion. It's a statement just to make you think you're better than everyone else, but it makes you look stupid. Maybe someone sees somebody in a Prius and is impressed. Me, I see someone in a Prius and I see someone who hates cars, and isn't intelligent enough to shop around or actually research saving the earth. If they did, they would probably be on a bike, the bus, or in a well maintained 20 year old car.

bromans

@jim_nj I did tell her once we were home. "So mom, did you notice that this is the new Volt?" Her initial response was a typical mom-like "Oh, that's nice dear." But I explained it more, and then the conversation turned similar to the ones that you and lmbvette noted. -- Brent

darthbimmer

Conspicuous looks were a huge part of the Prius's redesign in the late 00s and a key to its breakout sales success. Just ask the kids of my affluent friends. It turns out well-to-do tweens are total snobs about cars. At schools where kids would be made fun of for getting picked up in a Lexus ES -- because it wasn't the flagship LS -- the Prius had considerable cool factor. Kids would see one of those alien golf carts rolling up to the curb and stop arguing about how much less cool the MB S400 was than the S430 and stare in awe at the person who SO OBVIOUSLY CARED ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT.

Keerock

csubowtie said:

If the "Look at ME!!!" cars actually looked good, like the Tesla, then that's okay. But most of these cars, prius, leaf, are just hideous to stand out. It's like high fashion. It's a statement just to make you think you're better than everyone else, but it makes you look stupid. Maybe someone sees somebody in a Prius and is impressed. Me, I see someone in a Prius and I see someone who hates cars, and isn't intelligent enough to shop around or actually research saving the earth. If they did, they would probably be on a bike, the bus, or in a well maintained 20 year old car.

I own and I am mostly likely about to trade in a Prius Plugin for a Volt.

I am fully aware of the carbon footprint of hybrids, electrics and plugin hybrids. They really are not fully saving carbon emissions when you factor in manufacturing BUT they are getting better.

I personally am not trying to save the planet with my Prius, although I am very much working hard to save the planet with other efforts.

Ok, that said, here's why I bought a Prius Plugin and why I most likely will buy the 2017 Volt.

Money.

I like money and want to keep it.

My total cost of ownership on my PP was crazy low. I leased the car for $260 a month ALL - IN + lease fees for 36/15 and I have averaged around 58 mile per gallon with the electric and gas mileage. Summertime I can do 70+ mpg. My total cost of ownership with gas, electricity and maintenance (free for 24 months/25K miles) was stupid low.

I expect a similar lease price (not quite as good) and excellent total mpg when factoring in electric with the Volt.

I personally think the Prius, before 2016, was a really nice looking car. I certainly could not have cared less if anyone looked at it and said "I think that guy driving that Prius is better than everyone else!" I'm pretty positive they did not, and think they looked at the car and said "cool car, nice lines" or "meh".

2016 Prius falls right in line with your "statement" theory but only in terms of standing out.

I love cars by the way.

jim_nj

bromans said:

@jim_nj I did tell her once we were home. "So mom, did you notice that this is the new Volt?" Her initial response was a typical mom-like "Oh, that's nice dear." But I explained it more, and then the conversation turned similar to the ones that you and lmbvette noted. -- Brent

Thanks for the update. Obviously a lot of people aren't into the intricacies of cars as long as they get a person from point A to point B. But what makes education important with a car like the Volt is I say "It goes 50 miles on electric and then the gas engine kicks in.", people seem to hear only the first part of that sentence, and think "It only goes 50 miles?!? Who would buy a car with only a 50 mile range!?!?" It's a tough thing for GM to market.

stever

A reporter is looking to talk with someone who traded in a hybrid or EV to buy a regular gas-powered vehicle. If you're willing to share your experience, please reach out to pr@edmunds.com by no later than June 6, 2016.