Chevrolet Volt: Model History and Buyer’s Guide
Roll the clock back to 2011, and you’ll find only a handful of electric vehicles (EVs) on the market. The sales leader at the time was the original Nissan Leaf, boasting about 85 miles of range. And the sole Tesla model available was the two-seat, Lotus-based Roadster with a price tag over 100,000. EV sales for the year totaled just 17,000 units.
Enter the Chevrolet Volt. The Detroit-designed and.built compact sedan offered sharp looks, room for four, and an innovative hybrid-electric powertrain that could travel well over 300 miles without a refill. GM reportedly spent a billion dollars developing the car. Yet you could buy it for just 32,495 (after federal incentives).
No wonder the Volt was a hit, racking up an impressive list of kudos, including North American Car of the Year and World Green Car, and landing a spot on Car and Driver’s 10Best list, the first electrically powered car to do so. It quickly became America’s best-selling EV, a crown which it held for many years, only recently ceding it to the Tesla Model 3.
The qualities that made the Volt a popular new car — its outstanding fuel efficiency, robust engineering, and affordable price — make it an even better used one. After nearly a decade of production spanning two generations, there are plenty of Volts available for sale on the used market. And thanks to deprecation, excellent used examples are now available for as little as 10,000.
But which is the best Chevy Volt to buy? And are there any problem areas to avoid? We explore that and more in this detailed buyer’s guide.
Is the Chevrolet Volt an EV or a Hybrid?
While the Chevrolet Volt may seem rather mainstream these days, it was one of the most revolutionary cars on the road when it debuted. GM was still feeling the sting from the flop of its first electric vehicle, the too-early-for-its-time EV1 (1997-99), and they engineered the Volt to ensure its success wouldn’t be hampered by a lack of range or utility.
Unlike the EV1, which only had room for two and could (initially) travel just 55 miles per charge, the Volt seats four and boasts over 300 miles of range. How? Instead of making it a pure battery-electric vehicle like the EV1, GM designed the Volt as a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) — and a unique one at that.
Where most PHEVs (such as the Toyota Prius Prime) use electric power to supplement an internal combustion engine, the Volt does the opposite. It runs primarily on electric current, drawn either from its battery pack or its onboard four-cylinder engine. While the engine is capable of driving the wheels directly, it does so only under specific circumstances, such as at higher speeds with a low level of charge.
In other words, the Volt uses electricity as its primary source of power, with a gasoline engine to generate additional juice as needed. Accordingly, GM calls it an “extended-range electric vehicle.” Whatever you call it, it works remarkably well.
st Generation Chevrolet Volt (2011-2015)
When the first Chevrolet Volts starting rolling into showrooms, GM was just emerging from its 2009 bankruptcy. The automaker had invested a major chunk of its scarce resources into the new model’s development and production, so the stakes were high. Very high. That’s because, as noted above, the Volt wasn’t just a new car. It was an entirely new approach to automotive propulsion. Amazingly, the launch came off with nary a hitch.
Reviewers of the day praised the Volt for its distinctive styling, innovative engineering, and excellent road manners. In its full test at the time, Car and Driver concluded, “This is without a doubt the most important new car since the advent of hybrids in the late ’90s, and GM has nailed it.”
Performance and Range
Much of the Volt’s success is due to its unique hybrid-electric powertrain, which offered far more range than any competing model at the time. Its 16-kWh battery pack supplies enough current to provide 35 miles of electric-only driving — plenty for the majority of errands and commutes. But the game changer is its supplemental 1.4-liter four cylinder engine, which generates enough additional electrons to travel 344 more miles on a single tank of gas. That means the Volt is more than just a city car. It’s a long-haul cruiser, as well.
Performance isn’t too shabby either. With a 149-horsepower electric motor driving the front wheels, the first-gen Volt can scoot to 60 miles per hour in about nine seconds. importantly, it offers a healthy 273 pound-feet of instantly available torque, allowing drivers to summon a pleasant shove of acceleration whenever needed or desired.
The Volt is also designed for easy charging. It comes with its own charging cord, which fits into a standard household socket. A 120V outlet can refill the battery pack in about 12 hours, while a 240V outlet cuts that figure by a third. To ensure a long and healthy life, the Volt’s liquid-cooled battery pack is engineered to operate between 30-80% of capacity. It’s also warranted for 8 years or 100,000 miles.
Notably, GM increased the first-gen Volt’s battery capacity to 16.5 kWh for the 2013 model year, improving its battery-only range by 3 miles to 38 total, according to EPA estimates. Another slight battery upgrade came in the first-gen’s final production year (2015); however, GM didn’t certify the change, so its official range rating remains 38 miles.
Features and Options
The Volt feels special on the inside, too, especially considering the fact that it shares its basic platform with the far more pedestrian Chevy Cruze. The Volt’s premium, tech-oriented cabin centers around a distinctive center stack, which seems to have been inspired by the original Apple Macintosh computer. It houses a seven-inch color touchscreen along with an array of touch sensors and knobs to control the audio, HVAC, and other systems.
In place of traditional gauges, the Volt gets a futuristic digital cluster. The seven-inch customizable screen provides the driver with the basics (speed, fuel, range) as well as a video-game-like floating green ball, which helps to visualize the effects of acceleration and braking on overall efficiency. Hint: smoother is better.
A T-shaped battery pack takes up the space where the middle seat in back would be, making the Volt a four seater. Still, the compact EV feels relatively spacious inside, though taller passengers may find the rear seats a bit cramped. “Overall interior quality is also high, with materials that seem to be the best yet from recently improved Chevrolet,” noted the Edmunds review at the time.
Continuing the premium theme, Volts came well equipped from the factory. At launch, its standard equipment list even included navigation and a premium Bose audio system with Bluetooth connectivity. Those features became optional in subsequent years, however.
Also optional (starting in 2013) was some rather advanced (for the time) active safety tech, including a forward collision mitigation system and lane departure warnings. To protect occupants in a crash, the first-gen Volt employs eight standard airbags as well as a structure of nearly 80% high-strength steel.
How Much Does an EV Battery Replacement Cost?
Of course, you can buy a pack of batteries for your digital watch for less than 10, while replacing the 40-kWh pack in a Nissan Leaf will run you thousands of dollars. Sure, electric cars have fewer moving parts to service and are generally cheaper to maintain, but the cost of replacing the battery pack remains the Achilles’ heel of EVs.
Even this is set to become less of an issue in the future, as manufacturing improvements and additional scale ought to make replacing an EV’s battery pack a less costly affair. Plus, we now have a better picture of the typical EV battery pack’s average service life thanks to the global uptick in sales of such vehicles.
Battery Basics
Most modern electric cars use a lithium-ion battery pack to store energy. While other battery types are expected to power the motors of electric cars in the coming years, such as solid-state batteries, the current infrastructure for large-scale battery production favors those of the lithium-ion type.
Lithium-ion batteries have the following benefits:
- Lithium-ion batteries have a higher energy density than conventional lead-acid batteries, such as those that power the electrics of most modern cars, or nickel-metal hydride batteries, which are currently used in many hybrid cars, such as those from Toyota.
- Lithium-ion batteries self-discharge at a lower rate than other battery types.
- Lithium-ion batteries do not require periodic full discharges, nor any maintenance to electrolytes.
- Lithium-ion batteries provide more consistent voltage even as the charge degrades.
In the simplest terms, an electric car with a lithium-ion battery pack performs similarly to a car with an internal combustion engine and a full tank of gasoline, as an EV with the right combination of battery capacity, curb weight, and aerodynamic efficiency can drive hundreds of miles between charges. However, a EV’s peak power does tend to diminish with its state of charge, which is why we do all of our performance testing starting with a 100-percent charge.
That said, lithium-ion batteries do have some drawbacks:
- Lithium-ion batteries are expensive to produce, and mining the cobalt and nickel required to make these energy storage devices is rife with both environmental and humanitarian concerns.
- Onboard battery management is critical to the longevity of lithium-ion batteries.
- Fully charging and fully discharging lithium-ion batteries takes a toll on their service life.
- Though the chances are low, lithium-ion batteries have the potential to overheat and catch fire.
- Extreme temperatures affect the charging and discharging of lithium-ion batteries.
Automakers, however, have addressed most of these issues by developing software that manages the battery’s health and temperature, the latter of which also includes dedicated hardware, such as cooling and heating systems designed to improve the efficiency (and safety) of lithium-ion battery packs whether they’re motivating an EV through Norway during the peak of winter or Texas in the midst of an extreme heat wave.
How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?
Guesswork aside, the simplest way to judge the longevity of a battery pack is by way of the manufacturer’s warranty. Given the cost of replacing a battery pack, no automaker wants to get stuck with this bill due to the fact they overestimated the pack’s resiliency and longevity. The battery’s limited warranty, thus, provides an insight into what the manufacturer views as the typical pack’s minimum life expectancy.
All EVs sold today include a battery warranty of at least eight years and 100,000 miles. Tesla, for instance, offers an eight-year battery warranty and coverage of between 100,000–150,000 miles depending on the specific model.
This warranty doesn’t only cover the complete failure of the battery pack, it also serves as a guarantee against serious degradation. With each charge cycle, lithium-ion battery packs lose a fraction of their total capacity. As time goes on, these small hits to the pack’s maximum capacity take a toll on the overall driving range of an EV.
Tesla’s fine print says, for example, that a vehicle such as the Model 3 should maintain at least 70 percent of its charge capacity while its pack is still under warranty. If charge capacity falls below that during the warranty window, then owners should expect Tesla to address and cover the costs of this battery-related issue.
Tesla’s not working with an arbitrary percentage, either, as the likelihood of one of its vehicles’ battery packs degrading to less than 70 percent of its original charge capacity during the warranty period is slim. A crowd-sourced study by Tesla owners in the Netherlands—using data from Teslas sold throughout the world—showed that the battery packs of Model S sedans were seeing an average rate of degradation of around 5 percent during the first 50,000 miles of driving. This curve becomes less steep as more miles are added, too, with the study indicating the battery packs of these long-range Teslas typically held at least 90 percent of their original charge after 150,000 miles of driving. Our long-term Model 3 lost roughly 6 percent of its battery capacity after the first 20,000 miles but then didn’t degrade any further all the way to 40,000 miles over 2 years.
Hyundai offers a similar battery warranty for its EV of the Year-winning Ioniq 5, with coverage of 10 years or 100,000 miles. It also covers battery degradation, with Hyundai expecting the Ioniq 5’s pack to lose no more than 30 percent of its original charge during the warranty period.
The U.S. Department of Energy, meanwhile, predicts today’s EV batteries ought to last a good deal past their warranty period, with these packs’ service lives clocking in at between 12 and 15 years if used in moderate climates. Plan on a service life of between 8 and 12 years if your EV is regularly used in more extreme conditions.
Safety and Maintenance of an Electric Car
Except for the likes of low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles, electric cars sold in the United States are held to the same safety standards as all other passenger vehicles. Additionally, EV battery packs are required to be encased in a sealed shell, as well as be able to handle testing conditions related to overcharging, extreme temperatures, fires, accidents, water immersion, vibrations, and short-circuiting, per DOE. EVs also need to use insulated high-voltage lines and be able to deactivate their electrical systems in the event of a crash or short circuit.
Battery-related electric car fires often grab headlines because they are harder to fight. Yet, the likelihood of an electric car catching fire is far less likely than that of a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. In short, the chances of an electric car catching fire are extremely slim; however, should such a fire occur, it’ll likely require the local fire department to put it out.
Maintaining an electric car is a relatively straightforward affair. Owners need to keep an eye on fluids (coolant, refrigerant, windshield wash), tires, and brake pads and rotors, though the latter items ought to last longer than those of cars with internal combustion engines as the regenerative braking function of EVs puts less wear on the mechanical braking bits.
Battery 101
Any “battery” is an energy storage device, of course. It does not generate energy, it just holds energy for use later. Modern batteries have come a long way in a short time. The changeover from 160 years of lead-acid batteries, like those that still live under the hood of most petroleum-powered cars, to the lithium-ion cells that power just about everything these days, is an innovation from the 1990s.
We have the popularity of cell phones and laptop computers to largely thank for pushing the Rapid development of Li-ion batteries. Without the development of the lithium-ion formulation, much of the tech we now enjoy, from electric cars to smartphones to DSLRs to vape pens (and so much more) would not exist, or at least not in the convenient ways we have become so accustomed to and rely upon. Imagine running your smartphone on a half-dozen AAA alkalines. It probably wouldn’t last an hour, and the form factor? No thanks.
In an electric car, the “battery” is actually made up of hundreds or thousands of smaller batteries, usually the cylindrical type that look like oversized AA cells, sometimes called 18650 cells. They hold a lot of power, and in aggregate, can push a two-ton vehicle down the road for hundreds of miles at highway speeds. Pretty impressive.
But rechargeable batteries of any kind still wrestle with common problems: Degradation over time, which affects the ability to hold a charge, long charging times and myriad “best practices” that need to be followed to maximize battery life, even if those practices keep a battery from performing to its full potential. You know what they are: Don’t run them all the way down. Don’t get them too hot. Don’t puncture them!! Use only the approved charger/cable/thingie, and in general, don’t try to replace them yourself.
With electric vehicles, the checklist also includes not making a habit of fully charging to 100% all the time (80% is typically recommended) and not to run them down to zero, lest the voltage drop so far that the battery becomes damaged or “unrecoverable.” The reason is that such practices can accelerate the slow creep of degradation that limits how much energy the battery can hold. or even brick the battery, in terms of low voltage. And over time, the storage capacity only goes down and (so far) will not recover, along with a lessening of how much power the battery can put out at one time, which affects peak motor output and acceleration. Until at some point, it gets so bad it has to be replaced. Then what?
Recycle And Reuse
At present, there is no standardized organization around recycling used EV batteries. However, several countries, especially China, are not seeing this as a problem, but as an opportunity. Fortunately, lithium-ion batteries are recycle-friendly, and they can be made into. more batteries. Early indications are that it may be more expensive (and environmentally problematic) to “throw away” spent EV batteries, which often aren’t that “spent” to begin with.
When battery degradation hits 70 percent, most people are going to either choose to replace the battery, or replace the car. In either case, with 70% of the battery still working, recycling it makes much more sense than just lofting it into a pit somewhere, especially given the cost of the materials involved.
Batteries, given their tech pedigree, will probably follow the common arc of most tech products: They’ll get both better and cheaper as time goes on. And the recycling and disposal of the waste products will likely become big business, much as metal recycling is a huge industry today. That’s not to say all those things will happen automatically, but because batteries use fairly expensive materials, those seeking to recover the materials for profitable resale will continue to refine their methods, improving efficiencies, perhaps to the point where the issue of recycling the power packs becomes a major consideration in their initial design. At that point, EV batteries could come close to achieving a “closed loop” production cycle that requires a minimum of new material to make a new battery.
What’s Next (Maybe)
Last week, Wired noted that Tesla was filing patents for a new breed of lithium-ion batteries that could last for a million miles in their cars. The key appears to be a re-formulation or tweaking of the lithium-ion recipe. Essentially, an evolution of the battery tech we have now instead of a brand new idea. Will it happen? If the patents are granted, it might mark a new era in battery power. As you can imagine, with electric vehicles becoming more popular and the need for ever more batteries for our tech toys, the race is on to find a new battery formulations to replace the dependable, but ultimately limited capabilities of the lithium-ion battery. There are already some alternatives out there, but many EV makers and battery developers have pegged the solid-state battery as the holy grail of battery tech.
What’s so great about it? The solid-state battery could pretty much solve all known battery problems: As conceived, it would have enormous capacity, giving cars driving ranges over 1,000 miles easily. Charging times could be on par with a gas stop. With economies of scale, they could be inexpensive to make. and get cheaper as time goes on. They may end up being very light in weight, and due to their “solid” construction, very safe.
The problem is, no one is quite sure how to make one that performs like the current lithium-ion cells, although there are plenty of players looking to solve that problem. Finding the answer could trigger a complete rethink of how we power just about everything that needs a battery. or liquid fuel. Such is the promise of the solid state battery. Numerous companies are dumping huge amounts of money into solid-state battery RD since coming up with a reliable product could revolutionize the world in much the same way as the light bulb.
Recycle And Reuse
At present, there is no standardized organization around recycling used EV batteries. However, several countries, especially China, are not seeing this as a problem, but as an opportunity. Fortunately, lithium-ion batteries are recycle-friendly, and they can be made into. more batteries. Early indications are that it may be more expensive (and environmentally problematic) to “throw away” spent EV batteries, which often aren’t that “spent” to begin with.
When battery degradation hits 70 percent, most people are going to either choose to replace the battery, or replace the car. In either case, with 70% of the battery still working, recycling it makes much more sense than just lofting it into a pit somewhere, especially given the cost of the materials involved.
Batteries, given their tech pedigree, will probably follow the common arc of most tech products: They’ll get both better and cheaper as time goes on. And the recycling and disposal of the waste products will likely become big business, much as metal recycling is a huge industry today. That’s not to say all those things will happen automatically, but because batteries use fairly expensive materials, those seeking to recover the materials for profitable resale will continue to refine their methods, improving efficiencies, perhaps to the point where the issue of recycling the power packs becomes a major consideration in their initial design. At that point, EV batteries could come close to achieving a “closed loop” production cycle that requires a minimum of new material to make a new battery.
What’s Next (Maybe)
Last week, Wired noted that Tesla was filing patents for a new breed of lithium-ion batteries that could last for a million miles in their cars. The key appears to be a re-formulation or tweaking of the lithium-ion recipe. Essentially, an evolution of the battery tech we have now instead of a brand new idea. Will it happen? If the patents are granted, it might mark a new era in battery power. As you can imagine, with electric vehicles becoming more popular and the need for ever more batteries for our tech toys, the race is on to find a new battery formulations to replace the dependable, but ultimately limited capabilities of the lithium-ion battery. There are already some alternatives out there, but many EV makers and battery developers have pegged the solid-state battery as the holy grail of battery tech.
What’s so great about it? The solid-state battery could pretty much solve all known battery problems: As conceived, it would have enormous capacity, giving cars driving ranges over 1,000 miles easily. Charging times could be on par with a gas stop. With economies of scale, they could be inexpensive to make. and get cheaper as time goes on. They may end up being very light in weight, and due to their “solid” construction, very safe.
The problem is, no one is quite sure how to make one that performs like the current lithium-ion cells, although there are plenty of players looking to solve that problem. Finding the answer could trigger a complete rethink of how we power just about everything that needs a battery. or liquid fuel. Such is the promise of the solid state battery. Numerous companies are dumping huge amounts of money into solid-state battery RD since coming up with a reliable product could revolutionize the world in much the same way as the light bulb.
Taking a look at charge type
We were able to look at the predominant charging level used for the EVs in our system. North American EV charging stations are categorized in three common types:
- Level 1: 120 volt – a regular home outlet in North America.
- Level 2: 240 volt – typical for home or fleet charging.
- Direct current fast charger: DCFC – for faster top ups.
For an overview of charging and related costs, read our simple guide to EV charging.
Charging in most of Europe is referred to as AC charging (which is generally equivalent to Level 2 in North America) and DC charging (DCFC, as described above).
While Level 2 is often cited as the optimal way to charge an EV, the difference in battery health between cars that routinely charged on Level 2 as compared to those who used Level 1 appeared to be observable but was not beyond the level of statistical significance.
Figure 7: Battery degradation for vehicles that primarily charge on Level 1 compared with Level 2.
The use of DCFCs, however, does appear to impact the speed that batteries degrade. Rapidly charging a battery means high currents resulting in high temperatures, both known to strain batteries. In fact, many automakers do suggest limiting the use of DCFC in order to prolong their vehicles’ battery life.
Here we look at all battery electric vehicles in the same climate group (we chose to look at the most susceptible group – those operating in extreme climate conditions), and categorized them based on how frequently they used a DCFC: Never, occasionally (1–3 times per month) and frequently (more than 3 times per month).
Figure 8: Battery degradation appears to be strongly correlated with DCFC use for vehicles in seasonal or hot climates.
The difference between those vehicles that never used DCFC and those that used it even occasionally in seasonal or hot climates was notable. While there may be other factors at play (we want to stress that this wasn’t a controlled experiment), charging via lower power Level 2 charging should be prioritized.
Tips to prolong your EV battery’s life
While battery degradation varies by model and external conditions – such as climate and charging type – the majority of vehicles on the road today have not experienced significant decline. In fact, overall degradation has been very modest, with an average capacity loss of just 2.3% per year. Under ideal climate and charging conditions, the loss is 1.6%.
While some things are out of an operator’s control, there are ways you can extend the life of your EV’s battery.
Some tips for operating your EVs:
- Avoid keeping your car sitting with a full or empty charge. Ideally, keep your SOC between 20–80% particularly when leaving it for longer periods, and only charge it fully for long distance trips.
- Minimize fast charging (DCFC). Some high-use duty cycles will need a faster charge, but if your vehicle sits overnight, level 2 should be sufficient for the majority of your charging needs.
- Climate is out of an operator’s control, but do what you can to avoid extreme hot temperatures, such as choosing shade when parked on hot days.
- High-use is not a concern, so fleets shouldn’t hesitate to put them to work. An EV isn’t useful sitting idle in the fleet yard, and putting on more miles per vehicle is overall a better fleet management practice.
Final thought
Don’t sweat the small stuff. As vehicles come out with larger battery packs, losing some capacity may not impact your day-to-day driving needs, and shouldn’t overshadow the many benefits EVs have to offer.
Planning on electrifying your fleet? Geotab customers can get a free EV suitability assessment to take the guesswork out of EV procurement. Find out which EVs will do the job and save money. Learn more by visiting the Operate Electric: MyGeotab EV support page.
Originally published on December 13, 2019. Updated July 7, 2020.