After a few days pottering around town in the Volt we headed down south to Otorohanga for a family Christmas.
The first open road trip in the Volt was a rather uneventful and rather disappointingly ordinary experience, driving home the fact that the Volt is very much like an ordinary car to drive.
Apart from the lack of engine noise for the first 60km that is. Then after that things get slightly surreal. You see, when the petrol engine kicks in to supply power to the batteries, its revs don’t entirely match the road speed of the car, rising and falling in response to the electricity demands of the batteries instead.
This leads to high revs when sitting at traffic lights and other fun oddities as the Volt regulates its power reserves.
This would appear to be the most glaring “fault” of the Volt and is a slight oddity, as the same engine – albeit with a turbo – in the Cruze is a smooth and pleasant unit. Maybe it is just all down to the perception of timing, or maybe it is just a little coarse without the turbo. Who knows?
Outside this minor oddity, the Volt is a thoroughly pleasant and surprisingly involving car to drive on the open road. The steering is nicely weighted and, while lacking in ultimate feel, provides a decent amount of feedback.
This, combined with the Volt’s low centre of gravity and impressive torque band, makes it rather fun to chuck around the winding bits.
Not that there was a lot of that this journey. The busy Christmas eve roads, lowered speed tolerance and all-round lack of urgency meant that a main road cruise was the order of the day for the 190km trip. Well, that plus the fact that I had a rapidly defrosting turkey in the passenger seat…
Once the 60km battery range ran out – pretty much at Pukekohe, meaning a commute from there into the city would be easily do-able (providing you had an employer who was amenable to charging it up at work).
Once the petrol engine kicked in the rest of the trip saw fuel consumption of 4.2L/100km, which is still impressive for a petrol-powered small sedan the size of the Volt.
Things we like about the Volt so far?
The performance is impressive, especially around town. The fact that the Volt makes no demands on your driving style; you simply drive it however you normally drive. It looks fantastic and is simply an enjoyable car to be in.
What are we not so keen on?
The dashboard switch operated electric parking brake is an exercise in pure bastardry, requiring you to hold on to it just a little bit longer than you instinctively would to release it. And my phone may well have to share the blame, but the Volt’s Bluetooth simply refuses to pair with it. No matter how much thou swear at it…
However, today is Christmas day, therefore it is for eating too much and drinking to match. No driving today!
Have a great Christmas and be sure to check back here after Boxing Day for more updates after I have emerged from the food-induced coma…
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