2015 NAIAS: the “_olt” announcements (Part 1, with video)

I was picked up this morning, from Caesar’s Palace in Windsor, Ontario, by a Via Motors representative and driven to the Renaissance Center’s Jefferson Lobby. The purpose of the trip was to join with a group of other Volt owners, some who had driven through the night, to see the new 2016 Volt’s debut and to then have brunch together, courtesy of GM. Via had offered a ride in a Via 100 MPG electric limo van, but the driver showed up in a standard ICE vehicle. He said the icy streets (we were heading out at 5:45AM) were better handled in the four wheel drive ICE SUV, instead of the Via van, since the van is rear-wheel drive. No argument from me!As it happened, the brunch was right down the hall from a place I’d been wanting to visit, namely The Volt Lounge. I had expected a Volt-themed, enclosed bar, but it was actually a large area, completely open to the hallway. The only thing denoting it as the Volt Lounge was a large Volt logo in a window. They were not yet serving, when we stopped by, but the bartender verified that they carry Patron tequila, so it’s good, in my book.

Seemingly a simple thing to do, catch a ride from my hotel in Windsor, Ontario, to the “RenCen” in Detroit, but I really goofed up. I left my tripod in the back of the SUV. The driver and I tried to reconnect, but the Volt debut was about to begin, so I headed into the show. I was just going to have to hold my video camera (iPhone 6) by hand.

The first indication that something major had changed in marketing the Volt was my first view of the Chevrolet exhibit. Every single display was showing information on the Volt! GM was bragging that the Volt outsold 160 other “automotive nameplates.” Also that the Volt was the “Sierra Club’s #1 plug-in hybrid.” I thought that last one interesting because the Sierra Club has a site where you can enter information about your location, driving habits/needs, etc. and the site will guide you to the best hybrid or EV for your specificneeds. No matter how I tried (and trust me I did) my inputs never resulted in the selection of the Volt! Update: I tried this morning and it DID come up with the Volt.

We Volt owners had reserved seats on the front row and were surprised that we weren’t just going to walk around the new Volt, but we were going to see a presentation on new vehicles. Another surprise was when we realized that the only vehicles being discussed were plug-in vehicles!There were tons of media representatives present, with lots and lots of video cameras. There seemed to be real interest in this announcement. One of the U.S. Senators from Michigan, Debbie Stabenow was present and even sat in the Volt for a photo op, after the presentation concluded.
So, enjoy the video and I’ll follow it up with lots of eye candy. (You can’t have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!)

Here’s that eye candy I promised you:

Oh! You wanted VOLT eye candy… Okay. Here you go…

A few of things to notice on the dashboard image above:

• Just to the left of the center hub of the steering wheel is a button to heat the steering wheel. (it’s an option)
• The dashboard display, “Driver Information Center” in Chevy-speak, has become more like the Cadillac ELR’s display.
• On the right-hand side of the wheel, the audio input selector has been replaced by four arrows and a check mark. This is already in use in many 2015 Chevy vehicles and calls up graphic menus on the DIC.

Another item Volt owners have complained about has been remedied. Notice the “Mode” selector button is now on the base of the console, far removed from the start/stop button. No more killing the motor at a stoplight, when all you wanted to do was drop into Sport Mode! I’ve done that myself on more than one occasion, but it was always an experiment, in the interest of science. One thing that isn’t apparent in the image above (or the image to the right) for that matter, is that the shifter’s top, blue surface lights up. In fact, there were fiber optic lights running along the upholstery seams in the side door panels. Seems GM is going for a futuristic look.

The center stack, source of many complaints, due to its seemingly haphazard arrangement of buttons, has been made much more like any other Chevy. Now, the only physical buttons/knobs are for the air conditioning/heating system and the seat heaters. One step backward though, is the exposed USB ports (two now) in front of the shifter. My personal preference is to keep those hidden in the console, but that’s just me. Also notice the lack of a slot-loading CD player. Steve Jobs was right: The age of physical media is dead.

Another area at issue with many potential Volt customers, is the fact that it can only carry four passengers, because the battery pack runs through the center of the cabin, much like the transmission tunnel in rear-wheel drive cars (only higher). Volt 2.0 has a solution! (sort of) The rear seat now spans the width of the car, allowing a fifth person to be seated in the middle. Of course, the battery shape is unchanged (or at least very similar to the previous version), so there are a couple cup holders on top of the battery hump and no place for the center-seated person to put their legs. As a man, this looks extremely unfortunate, in the case of a front end collision, were a male to be seated there, with one leg on either side of the hump…Also, the center seat position has no headrest. This seems to make this seating location geared toward child safety seats or booster seats. Hey, if it can persuade a family of five to get a Volt, I’m all for it!This arrangement does finally completely separate the back seat from the hatchback storage area behind it, lending a more finished look to the car. One Volt owner on Facebook asked if the new Volt has a solid cargo cover, rather than the current cloth cover.There was no such cover on the display Volt. It would appear, due to the four “hook” locations, that Volt owners will still be securing the cloth cover by the four loops in the corners of the cloth.

The air dam many owners complain about being too low and dragging on their driveways is still present, although tucked further back and it appears (I didn’t whip out a tape measure) to be smaller than the current Volts air dam. Maybe it will drag less. Mine drags every time I enter or back out of my drive, but it’s flexible and never been damaged, so this is a non-issue for me.The front of the Volt is definitely changed and there have been comments both positive and negative, since the first teaser reveal at the L.A. Auto Show. A GM representative had also mentioned the new Volt taking design cues from the Stingray. The only evidence I’ve noticed of this is shown in the front view image above. Notice the two triangular appendages sticking forward from the lower front fascia? Looks sort of like the image below, although more outboard on the Volt. The new Volt also shares another characteristic with the Stingray: it has four wheels. (ba-dump-dump!)The new Volt comes with two electric motors and a new range extender. The 1.4 liter of Volt 1.0 is now a 1.5 liter in Volt 2.0. The new range extender will deliver increased miles-per-gallon over the previous version and is the first GM vehicle in the U.S. to utilize it.

**Updates** There is a 2016 Volt page up on the Chevrolet site now. New items mentioned there include:

• Rear cross-traffic alert (I’ve wanted this for a while) lets you know if a vehicle is approaching from either side, as you back out of a parking spot.
• Automatic front braking has been added to the forward collision alert. (nice, but I wanted adaptive cruise control)
• Still no Synergy Green paint (dang!)
• Center stack display has pinch to zoom capabilities like and iPad or iPhone
• ApplePlay and MirrorLink systems (optional) allow your smartphone’s screen to be shown on the display exactly as it appears on your phone. (hopefully NOT playing movies while moving…) Note: Apple has a site for CarPlay but I cannot locate ApplePlay.
• There are two sets of paddles on the back side of the steering wheel. The left paddle increases regen, resulting in a more pronounced slowing of the Volt and increased energy recapture. This is similar to the paddles on the Cadillac ELR, which I loved during our test drive and review. The Volt’s right paddle set is to control volume of the speakers, since the current steering wheel volume buttons have been removed.
• The lithium-ion battery pack has more energy storage (18.4 kWh versus 17.1 kWh in the 2015 model) even though it has 96 fewer battery cells, reducing weight by 21 pounds.
• Official electric range is 50 miles. Total range is up from 380 miles to over 400.
• Volt no longer requires premium gas. Regular gas is just fine!
• The dual electric motor drive is more efficient and 100 pounds lighter!
• Gas engine efficiency increased from 37 MPG in the previous model years to 41 MPG (combined highway and city). It also has increased power and torque than the previous model at the same RPMs.
• Top speed has been reduced slightly to 98 MPH
• Heated front and rear seats are available, as is a heated steering wheel I spotted on the show car.
• Charge cord is no longer stored under the floorboard in the hatchback area, but instead is stored in a side hatch on the driver’s side (like where the fuses used to be).
• It will warn you if you left the charge door open BEFORE YOU ENTER THE CAR!
• It will use GPS for setting charging preferences for when you’re charging at home (this will be BIG!)
• A lighted charge port is optional (unless you’re cool…then it’s a must.)

This is the Volt color I want:

Pretty interesting stuff. Having worked for Apple, at one point, it would have been nice if Mary Barra had wrapped up the Volt presentation and then said, “Oh. One more thing…”

If you watched the video, you know the announcement wasn’t just about the Volt 2.0 that debuted today. More on that tomorrow. It’s late and I’m dog tired. Here’s a preview of tomorrow’s subject: BMW i3 & Nissan Leaf, eat your heart out!

Before you get all upset with me, I’ll leave you with the following. I know Volt fans are techies at heart, so this’ll keep you busy while I recharge my batteries.