Overview & Reviews

The Chevrolet Volt represents a voyage into uncharted waters for both General Motors and automakers in general. A so-called plug-in hybrid, the front-wheel-drive Volt is a four-door, four-seat hatchback that's motivated primarily by an electric motor good for about 40 miles of range. That's enough to get most people to work and back. Should you need to go farther, a gasoline-powered engine is aboard (it acts as a generator) to extend the car's range by as much as 300 miles and essentially turn the Volt into a regular hybrid.

Truly, the Volt represents a glimpse into the future of automotive propulsion. For those with a short commute, the concept makes a lot of sense, while the car's gasoline-powered engine gives it a notable range advantage over all-electric cars like Nissan's Leaf. Moreover, with potentially hefty government tax rebates plus a $5,000 price cut for 2014, a new Volt is more attainable than ever, with used values likely to drop accordingly. We encourage early adopters to give the innovative Volt a chance.

Current Chevrolet Volt
The Chevrolet Volt is essentially a plug-in hybrid, meaning it has the ability to run much faster and farther under electric power alone than a normal hybrid. In the Volt's case, this means up to 100 mph and anywhere from 25-50 miles without using a drop of gasoline.

Once you run out of battery juice, the gasoline-powered inline-4 engine kicks in, producing electricity for the motor and actually powering the wheels in some circumstances, stretching the Volt's range by as much as an additional 300 miles. A "Hold" feature lets you choose when to bring gas power online, allowing all-electric mode to be saved for opportune stretches.

The electric motor is rated at 149 horsepower (111 kilowatts) and 273 pound-feet of torque. Drive force is sent to the front wheels through a specialized planetary gearset.

Standard feature highlights include keyless ignition/entry, automatic climate control, a split-folding rear seatback, a six-speaker sound system and GM's MyLink system that includes Bluetooth streaming audio, voice controls and enhanced smartphone integration. Major options include low-emissions equipment so it can qualify for HOV lane access (certain states only), a rearview camera, leather upholstery, heated front seats, lane departure warning, a navigation system and a Bose sound system. Volt owners can monitor the car's status and set charging times through an online Web portal or a mobile phone app.

In our reviews, we've found that the Chevrolet Volt has satisfying zip at low speeds thanks to its electric motor, which offers abundant torque. Although the Volt corners surprisingly well due to its low center of gravity, the overall driving experience is as bland as one would expect from a car designed to maximize energy efficiency. But the Volt certainly isn't a laggard, and overall performance is similar to what you'd get from a normal four-cylinder-equipped family sedan. Acceleration is the same whether or not the gas engine is in use, but there is a noticeable (though not really objectionable) increase in noise.

Inside, the Chevy Volt features a unique dashboard layout that's part spaceship, part iPod -- and pretty darn cool. There's a high-tech gauge readout behind the steering wheel and a swoopy center stack that looks like an oversized high-end electronic device. Unfortunately, the touch-activated "buttons" can be difficult to pick out at a glance, and sometimes don't respond on first press. This is definitely an instance of form over function.

The rear seat is adequate for two average-sized adults, but there's no middle seat thanks to the T-shaped battery pack, which occupies this slot as well as part of the trunk. Cargo capacity is limited due to the Volt's rakish roof line and that hefty battery pack, though the rear seatbacks do fold down.

Used Chevrolet Volt Models
The Chevrolet Volt debuted for 2011. In this first model year it came standard with navigation and the Bose sound system; they became options the following year. Note that these early Volts had a potential battery fire issue after a particularly severe side crash. As such, you'll want to make sure any early 2011 Volt has received the needed fix.

Changes have been mostly minor since, though the 2011 and '12 Volts lack the optional low-emissions equipment and lane departure and collision warning systems found on the current model. Likewise, the "Hold" mode wasn't introduced until 2013.

User Reviews:

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  Amazing! - 2015 Chevrolet Volt
  By Terry McDill - October 16 - 10:54 am

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  The combination of a Volt and a Bolt will rock - 2015 Chevrolet Volt
  By Rennie Allen - October 11 - 8:25 pm

  I have had this car for 5 months (purchased new in May 15) and now and have 8000+ miles on it. So far the car has been mechanically flawless (software issues noted below). Only after owning a car like this, do you begin to understand all of the considerations that need to be taken into account when purchasing an EV. One of the most amazing things about the Volt that is overlooked, but is incredibly significant is the selection for the range of the battery. It isnt that more is better when it comes to battery range in fact, what GM engineers nailed is the realization that a ~50 mile range battery hits a significant sweet spot, in that it can be fully charged overnight on 120V. This has the significant advantages that the battery life is maximized (by a slow charge rate) and that no special charging equipment is required to be installed into the home. If you are going to have only one EV, currently the Chevy Volt is it, there is nothing that comes close. As mentioned above, if you have only one EV the Chevy Volt should be it (unlimited range with gas, no special charger required, maximal battery life) but the other interesting point is that if you have two EVs one of them should be a Chevy Volt (the Volt becomes the long distance vehicle, freeing you to select a second battery only EV that matches your situation exactly). Clearly Chevy is intending to be the premium choice for the second EV as well, with the forthcoming Bolt EV. The combination of an unlimited range Volt, with a significant (~200 mile) range Bolt means that for 90% of the travel of a typical family can be electric only, with the Volt easily handling the typical cross country trips. Of course, at that point a Level 2 charger must be employed to charge the Bolt (but importantly, I would still charge the Volt on 120V in order to maximize battery life). When you consider that you can purchase a Volt + Bolt for less than the price of a Tesla Model S, it is clearly the way to get the majority of people doing the majority of their mileage with electric drive. OK, so thats the good news. As mentioned above there are a couple of software issues, one that will affect everyone and one that will only affect a very small number of people (probably in San Francisco only). The first issue is that when charging on 120V, you will almost certainly want to select 12amps rather than the default 8amps, otherwise a full charge cannot be achieved overnight. The problem is that you will need to select 12amps every time you charge, as there is no way to configure the software to default to 12amps. I charge 12amps every night and I have never had a circuit breaker trip, so I should be able to configure the default to 12amps as I know exactly what circuit I am on and that 12amps is fine for that circuit. This will affect pretty much everyone who charges at 120V (and everyone should even if a Level 2 charger is available). The second issue is an odd bug in the software that causes the Volt to underreport zero emission miles, for people who live right at the top of steep hills. I live at the top of a 1 mile long 16% grade hill and in the morning when the car is fully charged, when I go down the hill in L (always, always drive in L by the way) the software will incorrectly report gas operation, since the battery can not accept any more regen charge and will engage the ICE (internal combustion engine) without starting it, as a braking element. The engine is not burning fuel but only acting as a braking element, yet the software will count it as ICE mode operation since the clutch to the ICE is engaged. This is a silly bug that wont affect 99.9% of the people, unfortunately it affects me.

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  Beware as they age.... - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By S. Moore - September 3 - 7:45 am

  what started out as a love affair has turned into a headache/nightmare. My volt started out great but as it has aged it seems to be heading into the service dept more and more for repairs. Chevy has covered all of these repairs under warranty even though my car is well past the 3yr/36k mile point without a fight which leads me to believe that I am not the only owner experiencing these sort of problems. When I called to complain about the more and more frequent service dept visits, GM CS told me I really don have anything about as they have covered all the repairs even though my car is long out of warranty. While I appreciate that, I really don like that the service dept at my local dealership know me by sight. I really hate that I have fallen out of love with it, handles well, incredible acceleration, quiet and awesome gas mileage....well over 500mpg. Down side is repeated service visits and a lot of time in a loaner car as they fix mine. Really wonder what the long term will bring.

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  Best Used Car you can buy - 2015 Chevrolet Volt
  By ThatGuy - August 26 - 2:56 pm

  While i would never buy one new, because lets face it i purchased mine with 12k miles for 16,995 and it was new at 41k bucks.. i dont recommend a new one.. But i will say.. WOW.. I am really generally amazed by this car.. Not only is it a blast to drive, it is incredibly cheap to run, and the fit and finish, and quality of the interior,.. build quality, it is frankly amazing.. After owning nothing but Toyotas until having a major issue with one, and writing that company off, i never thought another car could meet the quality.. While only time will tell if it holds up to a 200k mile life of driving without falling apart, i am completely satisfied by the car currently, which is more than i have been by Toyota of recent.. There are however a few things that i dont like.. But that is much like any car.. 1. I hate where the cup holders are located, they are in a bad place, and should be up close to the center console. 2. The car is entirely too low to the ground, i have had slammed civics when i was a kid, this is lower. 3. the headlights are horrible.. At night, you would be better off guessing where things are.. Aside from these things though, the car is really amazing.. quiet, no rattles anywhere, good stereo, very comfortable, efficient, it costs me about 12.00 a month on .06 cents per kilowatt hour. This in English is a savings of over 300.00 a month on gas compared to my Toyota Sienna. While no where near as big,.. I can deal with its size for what i save. Anyone looking at a Prius, or a Civic Hybrid should honestly look at this first.. While not as big as the Prius, it makes up for it in the driving dynamics and position.. It is also a much more solid feeling car than anything Honda makes.

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  Started off as the best car, has morphed into a le - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By Dave Thompson - August 21 - 2:12 pm

  Beware, mine has been in for service 17 times in the three years, 9 trips for issues with the charging system/battery alone. Started off as a reliable car, but as we have passed the 50k mark it has broken down 4 times in the past 5 months. Two of those times it had to be towed to the dealer. Thankfully I have raised enough of a stink that GM has been covering the cost if these frequent repairs. No way should a vehicle w 52k miles on in and 3 years old be in the repair shop multiple times for the same issues. Great idea for a car, but wait til the bugs are worked out to buy. My neighbor has a volt w similar miles on it and has even worse luck than I have. Worse part is I looked to trade in in and was offered 10k by numerous dealers, nothing like a 75% depreciation in 3 yrs .....and the car is in show room condition. Unless GM buys it back, it looks like Im stuck w the car

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  Electric Car Adopter - 2015 Chevrolet Volt
  By VictoriaVolt - August 20 - 7:10 pm

  If your looking for savings, look no further. I leased my Volt a few months ago and have put just over 3,000 miles on it. So far I have filled my tank once. I purchased a level 2 charger and for my 36 mile commute. The volt is perfect. I charge in about 3 hours from empty to full. 90% of my driving has been on full electric. I decided to go with the volt after buying my first home to try and save money. I used to have a 2013 chrysler 200 with v6 power averaging 30 mpg which I thought was very good.... I was wrong. Im averaging 250+ mpg and have gone from spending a little over $200 on gas to $25 and an increase of about $40 on my electric bill charging everynight. On top of that because my gas engine has only run for about 300 miles Im not even close to needing an oil change. My Volt came loaded with features I didnt need or want but hey, why complain! Electric cars are not for everyone.... only those who want a reliable, loaded and money saving vehicle.

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  Overall one big giant shrug: "meh" - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By Maggie B. - August 12 - 12:41 pm

  Having previously owned a second gen Prius, a 2006 Ford Fusion, I got to feel very different rides and experience very different levels of sorrow at the gas station. On the one hand, the Volt will get most folks super far on the just electric mode, but on the other the ride is still hybrid and numb. The efficiency drops when Im in standard city or suburban stop and go traffic, accelerating to 45 on most roads is fine until I have to stop and do it again literally 2 miles later and the electric range just plummets. There is almost no way to recoup ones range by barking or cruising so dont have your hopes up if you previously owned a Prius or other hybrid. Then in dense city areas the efficiency goes up marginally until the city driving is over and then the range just drops as soon as youre back on the highway. That point is especially true for most N Americans outside of largely dense cities. Then there is the technology. Hybrids are the vehicle equivalent of smartphones. The Insight and Prius were the smart phones before Apple iPhone and Volt, Tesla and Leaf are the equivalent of those that came after. Having owned the 2nd Gen Prius it was like having one of the rock solid 3g phones before the iPhone: I thought it would be cooler to upgrade and now I regret it. Sometimes we are too set in our ways to upgrade our hardware, I say this as a millennial btw. The Volt is more like a shiny iPhone 4. One in which you cannot in fact turn off most notifications during meetings. One in which the phone (car) will tell you that you put your phone in your purse or took it out of your pocket or that its about to turn off due to low battery and so on. And these alerts are not mute-able! Imagine that. Its insane the amount of bells, bongs and rings this Volt makes. I remember the backup signal on the Prius, that was the only alert, and it was bothersome but I would appreciate having only that over all the other alerts on the Volt. And to think I havent brought up the entertainment system. You have a smart phone or iPod and plug it in and select your favorite band and then ... wheres the album list... so you select a song. Now that great song is playing and the next song is whichever song is alphabetically later in the song list. So think you can remember that bands best album you loved? No, sorry, scroll through the millions of albums and now the songs will play in Alpha order from the album you just selected. If that sounds "smart" then you my friend belong in a VOLT. The touch controls are sometimes responsive and sometimes require a little extra prodding below the touch screen. So memorizing the touch buttons by feel is now impossible. And if you once had a Prius in the always hot SW, you probably got used to adjusting the climate on the steering wheel, and now you get to shift your eyes away from the road, onto the center console, over the the split climate section and adjust every two seconds since eco mode on the climate control is as effective as having a golden retriever pant on your for cooling. Yay, Volt! Now youre turning left, trying to see past the giant six inch pillars which are still in the way no matter whether you lean left or right and then check your rear view mirror which now is misaligned due to slightly shifting your seat and the rear window couldnt possibly get any higher/narrower/less effective now could it? Sure the Fusion has absolute crap rear-view and so do most chunky-reared sedans, but this here Volt is a purported Hatch! So surely you have more window and a better view.. sorry no, this a Volt and even worse, a Chevy. In summary, SUV drivers may love the fuel efficiency and Prius owners may love to up their smugness with this green-hov-sticker qualifying car but the vast majority hate the numb steering, the dead until youve hit something braking and the lack of visibility due to crash test standards where we absolutely must be able to flip five times into a moving train and live. But honestly, give me a plug-in Golf and lets call it a day. This is still a Chevy after all.

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  Fantastic car for city driving - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By Paul S - July 16 - 8:23 am

  I leased a 2012 Volt in April of that year and loved it. Once I learned to always drive in “L” gear for maximum regen braking, and “S” drive mode for maximum acceleration at the light the car was so much fun to drive. It was extremely quick and totally quiet. What I like is the acceleration is 100% useable. Since there is no noise, grinding and shifting you can put the pedal to the floor every time you start off without any guilt or spectacle. 90% of my driving is in town and I never have to use gas unless I go on a trip out of town. My only disappointment with that car was that in the third year that I owned it my battery range dropped about 20%. I went from seeing 36 miles after charge in the winter to 30 miles. In the summer it went from 47 to less than 40. Chevy said this was normal, but I can’t believe that since it all happened in the third year. Also in that year I added a level 2 charger at work and started topping the car off both at home in the evening and work in the morning. Turned that car in at end of lease and got a barely used 2014 with every option which I love. It has navigation which the 2012 did not and that is a great feature because of how it integrates with other features. Lots of improvements over the 2012. Now I’m not charging until I drop below 20 mile range and keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t lose driving range in two years.

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  Love Electric Powered, BUT BEWARE! - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By ns2935 - June 4 - 12:59 pm

  The Volt I purchased was a left over 2012 model I purchased Aug 2013 with 600 miles on it. The cars exterior and motor was a mess. It took the dealership some six days to clean the vehicle to new looking. I drove the car for additional 18 months prior to trading it in for a Cadillac SRX. I had taken the car to various dealers of GM, Mitsubishi, Subaru. The dealers all expressed concern on taking the Volt in on trade and that concerned me even more and finalized my reasoning for getting rid of the Volt. Just too much unknown on this vehicle for us consumers. Cadillac dealer who took the Volt in trade doubts they will resale on their lot and will send to auto auction to get rid of it.

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  The best Car we have ever owned - 2012 Chevrolet Volt
  By lock11 - May 3 - 6:03 pm

  We just retired. The key to a successful retirement was to control our expenses. I decided to invest in some Green solutions. First we installed a Solar Array on our roof. Then I researched electric Cars. The only one that answered the question "What happens when I run out of Juice?" was the Volt. I paid 20, thousand for a 2012 with 20 thousand miles. It was loaded. I got a Tax credit of $7500. so net out the door was $12,500 not a bad price. WE charge it and it goes, no problems and it is the most dependable car ever. So far it has cost me an additional $O to operate.