New Cars

A few thoughts on the Volt as bit of fun

With the wonderfully low centre of gravity courtesy of the large central battery pack and the instant torque courtesy of the electric motor, the Volt is actually quite a thing of fun on a winding back road. While the steering isn’t exactly alive with feel, it is responsive and relatively sharp. The chassis has a […]

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New Cars

A few thoughts on the Volt as an open road cruiser

As we have mentioned previously the Volt is a supremely good open road distance eater. On electricity it is smooth and quiet (although road and wind noise seem more noticeable due to the lack of engine noise to mask them), although on petrol it does get a bit noisier. The engine noise is often unsettlingly […]

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New Cars

A few thoughts on the Volt as a people carrier

The Volt is not a particularly large car, but it will carry four people in relative comfort. But only four. The Volt is a dedicated four-seater, with the central battery pack running through the middle of the two separate rear seats. You could probably jam a couple of smaller passengers in the boot, but the […]

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New Cars

A few thoughts on the Volt as a daily commuter

In heavy traffic the Volt is, rather obviously, a dream to live with. Super smooth, instantaneous throttle response and with no clutch to worry about it is happy to glide smoothly and silently along at whatever speed the traffic is flowing at. It is a monster away from the traffic lights too, with all that […]

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New Cars

How exactly does the Volt work?

Here is an interesting video describing how the Volt’s drive system actually works. If the main video is too technical, then here is a simpler explanation! It is interesting to note that the first official video subtly avoids mentioning the point during “high speed” driving where two of the clutches lock up, essentially creating a […]

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New Cars

A few thoughts on the Volt as a shopping trolley

I went to get some groceries in the Volt the other day. So how did it perform as a shopping trolley? Again, pretty much like an ordinary car… But you could be forgiven for not initially expecting this. The Volt’s boot is an oddity. With the long, sloping hatch being almost entirely glass, along with […]

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New Cars

Holden Volt: after the road trip

Well, we have just completed a 400km+ round Christmas trip in the Volt and it continues to impress. Although possibly not in the way you might initially expect. Where it can potentially use literally no petrol around town – as long as you do under 60km – it will inevitably use petrol on a long […]

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New Cars

Holden Volt: The Christmas Day Update!

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 […]

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New Cars Road Tests

A Volt for Christmas!

For the next few weeks, over the Christmas/New Year break, we have a Holden Volt to run around in. So we thought we would let you know exactly what it was like to actually live with Holden’s range extender electric car on a daily basis! We will be posting regular updates on our daily life […]

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