Posts

Removing the volts front seats.

Image
Our Volt didn't come with heated seats.  For what we paid for the car we were willing to over look it.  But it doesn't mean we didn't want them.  We decided to add some after market seat heaters. To remove the seat from the car:  The seat belt needs to be disconnected from the seat.  to do that pry out the little circle on the plastic bit that connects the belt to the seat.  See the picture below.  Note how the cap stays attached at the bottom. Remove the bolt in the center remove the plastic half. Then simply remove the metal tab that the belt attaches.  Might need to slide it down slightly to get it out. You may also might want to remove the head rest.  It will give more clearance for removing the seat.  Raise the headrest then remove the plastic bezels at the base of the posts by rotating them counter clockwise. To remove the headrest from the seat there is a latch on both posts that must ...
1 comment
Read more

First road trip with the Chevy Volt

Seems that every time a journalist drives an EV they think "Let's go on a road trip".   That makes about as much sense as getting a super car and thinking "Let's go to Home Depot and get some lumber". :-) Both might be able to do those things but that's really not what they are for.  They are not reviewing what the car will really be used for.  But I digress. The Volt can do long trips using the backup generator.  In the Volt the main electric motor can put out 149 hp where the generator can only put out 80 hp.  In other words when operating on gas only there is only half as much horsepower available.  Around town and at low speeds this is no biggie.  But at freeway speeds, especially climbing mountains at freeway speeds, 80hp simply doesn't cut it.  This is where "mountain mode" comes it.  That mode holds some electric energy in reserve for when more than 80 HP is needed.  We live in the Appalachian mountains so mountain mode is...
Post a Comment
Read more

1 Month with the Chevy Volt

Image
Today has been about month since we brought home the 2011 Volt.  We have put over 400 miles on it.  Only using the range extender once for about 7 miles.  The one time we used the range extender we were finally able to see how far the car would actually go on a charge.  Not just the predicted mileage. Keep in mind we live in the Appalachian mountains.  The roads are very up and down and never straight.  And on this run there were many sections of 55 MPH and we drove in sport mode (We always drive in sport mode).   And well it included a foot to the floor acceleration run from a stop light to 55 mph.  I'm sure that hurt the range.  We weren't seeing how far we could stretch the range.  We were just driving it like we would drive a car.  Anyway we got 42.3 miles on battery power alone.  Which seems right in the neighborhood of what was predicted for the car when it was new.  For a 7 year old car with a 125K miles I'...
Post a Comment
Read more

Blower module

Image
Blower module aka Blower resistor replacement for a 2011 Volt (Gen1)  22745409   First step is to remove the trim on the passenger door sill.  This is required as the right outboard screw holding the lower trim panel on is not accessible with the trim on.  Removal is simply prying it up and then back.  It just has tabs that click into the slots you can see here. The next step is to remove the lower trim panel. There are three screws.  (9/32 socket fits the head) One to the right of this picture.  One to the left.  Then one to the back center (toward the front of the car).  I'll try to circle these in yellow later.  The one in the middle was missing on my car.  Makes me think someone has been here before.   Once the lower trim panel is removed there is an air duct that needs to be removed.  This was missing on my car.  Apparently the person that was in here last...
1 comment
Read more

First week of EV driving

Image
The first week of EV driving has been great.  Put on 220 miles this week.  So far we haven't had to use the gas motor backup (as a generator) at all.    One day we drove the car to a local charging station to try it out.  Drove there just to try it.   So it wasn't useful other than our education.  It was only a 4 mile drive to the charge station from our house and it took about 30min to charge the car to full.  While interesting it showed me that our plan of charging exclusively at the house is the way to go.    When we purchased the car the guessometer said it could go 25miles.  Which was fine for what we needed.  This morning it is up to 36 miles of expected battery range.  And after driving 14 miles to work it guesses I have 29 miles left.  That'd be 43 total miles.  Good deal.   When we bought the car the blower fan didn't work.  The owner stated that it probably needed a b...
Post a Comment
Read more

EV at last!!

Image
The Warp 9 and all my miscellaneous left over bits are now sold.  Well except for some AGM batteries and Yacht battery chargers.  They are handy for other projects.  Like my electric mower.  Oh did I mention that I bought a 1970's electric tractor and use it to mow the lawn.  That is in addition to my converted electric riding mower.  A bunch of the AGM batteries and some chargers are living on in the mowers.  But for a road going EV this weekend the quest, for me, has finally come to an end.  Now that there are quite a few premade EV's on the market I decided to make life simple and just buy one. Originally I didn't want a EV with a range extender.  But Virginia is not encouraging EV ownership.  In Virginia the price for Vehicle registrations for a pure EV are significantly higher than a EV with a Range extender aka "Hybrid".  Once the range extender door was opened I started also factoring in plug in Hybrids.  I began ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Zilla and Warp9 (Sold):

Image
Plans change again. My son crashed his E46 (gas powered).  He bent the frame beyond repair.    Due to scheduling and things we really needed an extra car.  My plan was to buy a inexpensive overheated E46 and drop his engine in.  We shopped for a couple days but then I looked at my EV in the driveway.  It looked almost identical to the car he crashed.  So.... Yes you guessed it.  We pulled out the EV stuff and tossed in his motor and trans.  Had him up and running pretty quickly.  Long story short my EV parts are forsale . Sold http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176130 If someone wanted to come to the house and pick it up  I'd toss in some other EV bits I have.
Post a Comment
Read more