Day 1 with the Chevrolet Volt

I get to New Smyrna Chevrolet at about 4:00pm. The Volt is waiting there for me fully charged and ready to go. The dealership slaps a license plate on it for me, I sign my second child over in case something happens to the Volt and off I go.

The exterior of the Volt is very impressive. Very sleek with details that I would consider a luxury vehicle having.

I open the back and to my surprise the hatch space was great. I dropped my backpack and lunch bag into the back and got ready for my Volt experience.

I mentioned that the exterior looked luxurious, well I think the interior may be even better. Beautiful leather seating, buckets in the front and back. The dashboard looks amazing. The layout is great and I’ll try to capture some details as I go.

No need to start the Volt with a key. I have the FOB in my pocket and I just need to press the brake and hold the Start button.

The first thing I notice is the driver display. I take note of the mileage, 67 miles on the Volt, then the battery and estimated miles and the estimated mileage with charge and gas.

Next I go over the information display, ALL TOUCH SCREEN and very cool.

I start looking through the climate control, radio with satellite, and then the Volt “green” section.

The display is cool and shows you the Power Flow. Basically the Volt shows you how the battery is used and when it also charges under the Regen, details to come later.

I toggle to the Energy Info section and take note of something really cool. It shows you the average gas mileage of the Volt as it is used for the lifetime of the vehicle. I can already see myself getting addicted to this.

The other neat thing is that the center console is touch driven so if you want radio, touch radio, if you want climate, touch climate.

So I leave the dealership and head home to the town next door.

I get on Route 1 and start driving south. Heads are just turning as I pass cars.

I get home and quickly note my lifetime mileage. Wow, I somehow jumped up to 195MPG already.

Well its dinner time and some friends are having a birthday dinner at Outback Steakhouse. So the wife and two boys jump in the Volt and here we go.

My wife takes a picture during the drive to show how the Volt displays electric usage, that’s the Power Flow I mentioned. It shows electricity going out when you press the accelorator and shows electricity going back in when you coast and brake, that’s the Regen piece of the puzzle.

I also mentioned the Start button, you can see it lit up in blue in the center console. Just above that with a leaf icon is the button to get to the Volt section of the information display.

Oh, and the Volt has heated seats. Not that big of a deal for me but my wife loved it!

So we get to Outback, enjoy a good meal with friends and come back out. All of the kids surround the car and call it the “Car of the Future”.

We get in and I snap a quick shot of the lifetime mileage before we leave. Up to 200MPG, not too shabby.

We get home, I snap another quick pick and boom, up to 205MPG lifetime. Amazing! At this rate I would never have to buy gas.

The Volt is sitting in the driveway, my wife doesn’t share the garage with our Chevy Tahoe. I take out the charger from the back. Plug it into the side of the house and then the Volt. 4 hours till a full charge and the Volt quietly goes to sleep.

Day 2 with the Chevrolet Volt

The next morning, I almost forget that I own a Dodge RAM. I unplug the Volt and wrap the cord back up and put it in the back.

I’m ready to go! Took me less than 2 minutes, that’s much faster than sitting at the gas station.

Well the boys love the “Car of the Future” and they want to be dropped off at school so all the other kids can see how awesome their Dad is! Ok I embellish a little.

Another cool feature is the backup camera. The sensors on the car are mind blowing. If something is back there then the car chirps like crazy.

Crystal clear picture and the Volt is very easy to see out of the sides and back. No running over Rover this morning.

Oh, I need to mention that my youngest son Alex loves the HEATED seats too!

Well I drop the kids off and I happen to work at the school part time so I’m at work too. No plugging the Volt in, the 8th grade wants a demonstration. I’ve never seen this group of young adults get so excited. They loved the car, go figure.

I’m also up to 215MPG, way to go.

Work is over, I pick up the boys and head to Publix for some shopping.

I pull into the parking lot and heads just turn, no one has really seen a car like this and it almost feels like I’m driving some kind of exotic sports car.

Shop, put the bags in the back with plenty of room left, that’s with three backpacks, lunch boxes for all three of us and there is still plenty of room to go.

Day 3 with the Chevrolet Volt

Ok so I get up, make lunches and walk the dog.

I unplug the Volt with minimal hassle and I’m ready to go again. Me and the boys got into an argument so the drive was as silent as Monk retreat high in the Himalayas.

Drop the kids off and go to a client site back in Edgewater.

I park and take another pic of the information display. Up to 225MPG baby!

I finish off at my first client site and head off to another client site.

Get to the client and take another pic of the display. Up to 229MPG!

BTW, if you look at the driver’s display you will see that little green ball. I hadn’t mentioned it before but this feature actually shows you in real time how your driving effects the performance of the Volt. When the ball goes up you are not accelerating efficiently When the ball drops you are not braking efficiently. Keep the ball in the middle and you are golden!

So my day of work ends and I head back to the Volt.

I found a spot to charge the Volt while I was working so I have a full charge and its ready to go.

I make one quick stop on the way home and then pull into the driveway with storm clouds looming to the west.

I’m almost fully charged so no plugging in tonight, what the heck I like to live dangerously!

I power down the Volt and get my last pic for the evening. Up to 235MPG now! Can it get any better?

Day 4 with the Chevrolet Volt

My last day with the Volt. I look at it in the driveway and I somehow know that I’m going to miss it.

The Volt became a part of me and how I started to think. I wasn’t just driving a car, I was driving a car that actually made me smarter. I started to get excited each time I saw the lifetime MPGs climb. I thought it could be addictive, guess I was right.

Well enough of the drama, the day has to start. The boys and I are ready to head out. We get in The Volt and now my oldest son is in the front seat with the warmers on. No arguments today so everyone is in a great mood.

We get to the school and the boys unload all their stuff. I stop to head inside and pay for their lunch so I take another quick snap with my phone of the information display.

BAMM, 242MPG!!

I make a few client stops, go to the bank and then head to the dealership to return the Volt.

I pull the Volt into the dealership and for one last time I take a pic of the information display.

I literally cannot believe my eyes. My Lifetime MPGs has climbed to 250, yes 250! Can you believe that! I don’t think you would unless I took the pic.

You can see that on this last charge I went 36.8 miles and used no gas. In fact, during my whole 96 hours with the Volt I never burned one ounce of gasoline!

I used it just as I would day to day and can see that I would almost never buy gas again if I drove a Volt. Its then that I realize buying a Volt could pay for itself within years.

Think about it, any other vehicle you purchase you loose money as soon as you sign the papers. You continue to loose money on gas during it’s lifetime.

Not with the Volt! You can actually make your money back!

I hand the key FOB back to the dealership owner and I tell him how enjoyable the last few days were with the Volt. I also tell him that I know a Volt is in my future!