Is there any truth to the Volt's engine only running on premium gas? If its true and with the engine powering the vehicle after the electricity is gone you get 33 MPG the engineers should be fired. If this is the case for 15,000,000,000 dollars and two years of research in development your tax dollars were wasted on the GM's bailout. alfon
Good lord. It does: Why the Volt Requires Premium Gasoline Sheesh. I wish them well, but the Volt appears to be too complex and expensive for the benefits it delivers. Even so the government has a good chance of making a profit on the GM bailout: Taxpayers may profit on GM bailout, despite weak IPO market - Sep. 27, 2010
Yes, premium fuel is required, not optional. This would mean, you'll void the warranty if you use 87 Octane gas.
The premium fuel gets discussed here: http://priuschat.com/forums/chevrolet-volt/85573-motor-trend-first-drive-volt.html For those who will rarely has the ICE, the premium gas, depending on formulation, may have a longer shelf life. Since most people don't know about Sta-bil, or that gasoline can actually go bad, GM was likely erring on the side of caution. A tank of premium will cost a person an extra $1.80 over regular for the Volt. In my case, that's a lot cheaper than the 20 extra gallons of regular I would need to buy with my current car.
Yes it is true and yes I agree it's shameful. It is a glaring mistake, an unacceptable oversight deserving of no forgiveness. That may be one of their supposed reasons, but I don't think it's the real one. It would be far better to have said 87 is fine and tune the motor accordingly, then with some clock indicating last time the tank was filled if the tank was flirting with getting old the gas motor would kick in before it otherwise may have to to burn the fuel. That would be a reasonable solution and since few people will ever encounter it a far better one than pretending that they require premium in part for longer lifespan.
Just came across this: About Face: Chevy Volt Can Run On Regular Gas – Gas 2.0 Turns out the Volt does have a knock sensor and can run on regular. The call for premium is likely CYA on GM's part. Even though the system will periodically turn on the engine to keep it lubed and burn off gas, premium gas is cheap insurance to head off complaints do to stale gas if the turnover rate isn't fast enough. Another consideration is the EPA test. A standard test blend of gasoline is used. It likely doesn't have ethanol in it. In areas with an ethanol mandate, I think all areas where the Volt will be first released do, premium may be ethanol free. If so, that helps the drivers get closer to the EPA results. Like the author of the article, I think it's bogus calling for premium. At least, without taking full advantage of it. On a slightly different topic, Americans are 'penny-wise and a pound foolish' when it comes to gasoline. Once, years before gas hit $4 here, there were two gas stations across the intersection from each other. The cheaper one was packed. Traffic patterns alone could explain for one getting more business, but not why the other was empty. I went to the empty one, filled up, and was on my way, before most of the waiting people got to a pump. If my car at the time had been running on fumes, it wasn't, it would have cost me 16 cents more than the using the cheaper place. Or just a penny more a gallon. The typical SUV, minivan, or even car of the time burnt that much gas or more waiting in line at the cheaper place. I used to automatically discount vehicles that called for premium, but there is more to value that the flat price. If I can ever find out if the premium around me is ethanol free, I'll give it a try even though my car calls for regular. The increased fuel mileage may be worth the 20 cents.
Will it void the warranty if the owner put in regular gas? The emission may go up with regular gas as well.
Under current law (Moss-Fergussan Act?) the manufacturer has to prove the car owner's actions caused the failure to deny warranty coverage. First, the manual given out with the consumer bought car will have to say required. Then GM has to prove any damage is do to the use of regular gasoline. Even then GM couldn't flat out void the entire warranty. They could likely claim the fuel could poison many things under warranty, but would have a tough time saying it affected a problem with the suspension. If it turns out to be that way, a person will likely have a tough time going up against GM in practice. The first people having sludging issues may not have had an easy time Toyota.
I don't understand the issue of premium fuel with fuel efficient vehicles. I can understand it with regular vehicles cause there is the extra cost (e.g. you have two vehicles that are identical in engine size, output, weight and mpg.. of course the one that requires premium will cost more... and the difference is larger, the lower the mpg). But with a fuel efficient car, I don't think it adds up to much. My smart fortwo costs the same to refuel as a Yaris (assuming the same distance travelled of course)
I don't think it is the cost but the concept. People buying the Volt doesn't want to use gas. To have to use the premium (more expensive) gas is just goes against Volt's Kool-Aid.
I have this (probably completely wrong) idea about premium fuel that it is used in performance cars or as a crutch for a lousy ICE. If this notion is common it might explain things a bit, since no one confuses the Smart or the Volt with a race car.
Mostly because these performance cars put the engine under higher stress. A MINI also requires premium fuel for its 1.6 litre. It could be to do with brand image? Yeah but you're barely using any.... I wonder if they're the same ppl that decide they should "treat" their car every once in a while by filling their tank with premium fuel.
lol... well at least for the Gen 3, Bob suggests mid-grade (89) for longer trips. I forget which thread he posted with all the graphs that he usually makes to support the recommendation...
This is it for me, and I do not treat my other car to premium from time to time. If I'm pressing the 93 octane button when I get back in the car and floor it I better get slammed in my seat for the cost. I do not want to compromise in this. I will not put premium into a car that is slower than my minivan (which BTW takes 87 also). I won't. I am philosophically opposed to it. And morally opposed and diametrically opposed and generally put off by the entire concept.
I don't think this is a big deal. Given The Volts projected MPG's whether someone is filling with Regular or Premium isn't going to make much difference. My speculation is the GM wants the VOLT to run as strongly as possible, with as little potential negative publicity. If they said run it on regular and early adopters complained of knocking and pinging? Better just to go with premium.
It wouldn't do that if it was tuned for 87. My guess is that as things started getting on with the Volt they basically had this discussion: "Uh, boss, this thing's mileage is going to really suck after the batteries are exhausted." "Crap, what if we use premium, can you squeeze out a few more MPG? I'd rather higher MPG and hope people don't realize it requires premium. Make it so!"
Point taken. When you do use it, you can bet it will consume more (expensive fuel) and pollute more than a comparable non-hybrid. Buyers coming from 15 MPG SUV and trucks may not mind but it is a step backward for the current hybrid owners (even for decent non-hybrid including TDI owners). Those long trips will be painful, knowing you have a substandard gas engine on-board. Engine maintenance (every 6 weeks) and fuel maintenance (empty the entire than annually) will be painful as well.
