Upon powering up the Volt on Friday I got a message on the main display asking me if the Volt can run the engine for 10 minutes or so. I tapped "Yes" and the engine instantly started. I decided to let it run while driving. On the DIC, the Volt displays the percent complete. My EMM ran for about 6 minutes or so. I thought the engine was a little loud initially but when driving I didn't notice it and especially didn't notice when EMM was done. At the end of my drive to work, it said it used 0.72 litres orf gas ($1.10 worth). Not too bad! I just read on gm-volt.com that you burn even less gas if you let EMM run while in Park. I will try that next time for sure. But that will be in 6 weeks since I have never come close to running out of battery.
I learned a couple of new things this week. When you load up the climate screen, you can go back to the radio by hitting the "back" button on the console. I initially thought I had to hit "Home" then re-select the source! Also, on my DIC (driver information center) I always had the display for instantaneous kW usage. If you hit the "back" button beside the DIC selector dial then it will close the display. This makes the DIC a lot less busier.
Range-wise, I am pretty sure I can hit over 70km on a charge. If the kW usage is accurate, then I managed 27.8km on 4kW. This results in 70km if I use up all 10.2 (or10.3) kW. The range estimate is still adjusting to me as it showed 59km total range, but then after driving 20 km it showed 49km left!
I love my L2 charger! Everytime I go to my parents' house even for just 30 minues, I will get a nice jump in range. Once chargers are installed in malls, restaurants etc. it will make EVs infinitely more practical!
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