2016 Volt First Drive Review

First review I've seen of the new Volt......

http://autoweek.com/article/drive-reviews/2016-chevrolet-volt-first-drive

Keith

But wait, there's more:
http://insideevs.com/test-drives-2016-chevrolet-volt-goes-further-than-expected-in-electric-only-mode/

(more than one test drive is mentioned in the article above.)

Fast and furious now:
http://insideevs.com/2016-chevrolet-volt-test-drive-review/
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/hatchbacks/1509_2016_chevrolet_volt_first_test_review/

17,000 miles left on my FFE lease...by maybe June of next year I can turn it back in and get one of these bad boys. WOOT...next pure EV will be a 150-200 mile class one, maybe in two years?

michael said:

17,000 miles left on my FFE lease...by maybe June of next year I can turn it back in and get one of these bad boys. WOOT...next pure EV will be a 150-200 mile class one, maybe in two years?

Click to expand...

My thoughts as well. My FFE lease is up in May next year; after reading all those Volt reviews I may have to seriously consider getting one.

I would consider it too, but not as a replacement for the FFE (Focus Electric), but rather for the other FFE (Fusion Energi). However, our Fusion Energi is paid for & we want to really get some life out of it before replacing it. It's very nice having only 1 small car payment each month. And the next time we buy a car I want to pay cash for it and not have a loan. I don't want 2 vehicles with ICEs. Having one is enough. I'm quite concerned about the lack of available options for when our Focus Electric lease is up next August...

My tentative plan is to replace the FFE with a new Volt when the lease ends, Sept 2016. The other two Volts' leases expire in March and May 2017 , respectively, so I'm desperately hoping some higher range BEV (Bolt or Gen2 Leaf) will become available somewhere in the sequence. I prefer not to end up with three Volts, but I'm not seeing a clear solution.

My friends have a RAV-4 EV whose lease expires in September 2017. It currently delivers 130 mile real-world range, but by that time the car will have 80,000 miles on it and I expect the batteries to be fading. Their buyout is $18.5K. Also, the car is a little larger than I prefer.

michael said:

My tentative plan is to replace the FFE with a new Volt when the lease ends, Sept 2016.

Click to expand...

Why not replace the FFE with something like a Kia Soul EV? Or a Spark EV?

I'm not sure if that's a serious question or tongue-in-cheek, but...

Apart from the fact that both cars are a dramatic step down from FFE or Volt in terms of amenities...

The Spark doesn't offer substantially better range, it's rated at 82. Its highway range is 75 vs FFE 71, not enough to matter. It's a tiny little rat car. And it has only 3.3 KW charging for a full EV. In a Volt, the 3.3 kW charging isn't such a problem because if you don't get enough charge, you are still OK. The fact that Spark supports DCFC is immaterial since those chargers are so scarce.

The Soul looks like a teenager car. I saw one at a dealer and the paint scheme was so wild I though it was aftermarket. While it's rated at 93 miles, this is only when using it in extended range mode. Also, its highway range is 79, only slightly higher the the FFE's 71. The battery is air cooled, something which we FFE drivers hold in low regard. It has a dinky 81 kW motor

http://insideevs.com/2015-kia-soul-ev-gets-official-epa-range-rating-93-miles-city-range-will-blow-mind/

Neither one of those offers sufficient upgrade in range from the FFE to appeal to me. And both are a substantial downgrade from the FFE in terms of amenities. I'm waiting for the 150 mile class car that I hope isn't too far off. If I get another BEV, I will be locked out of the market for three years.