Chevy Volt Electricity Usage

Many people have asked me how much electricity my Chevy Volt consumes. I intended to do complete a study of this long ago, but I finally got around to it. 

In a nutshell, our electric bill has gone up an average of $7.52/month.

My methodology:

• I studied a total of 62 months:
• 32 months before the Volt arrived
• 30 months since
• I averaged multiple instances of the same month (for example Dec 2009, Dec 2010, Dec 2011) to develop a monthly "Pre-Volt average" and a "Post-Volt average".
• I calculated the difference in the averages on a monthly basis
• I added the differences and divided by 12 to get a monthly average

Some more factors to keep in mind:

• Our whole house is electric -- no gas
• We have these terrible electric baseboard heaters in each room -- terribly inefficient. I've gradually deployed electronic thermostats in key rooms to manage this
• We do have central A/C, but it is a very old system (~20+ years old). 
• My Volt has very low miles... averaging about 10,000/year... and I've had it two and a half years.  
• The Volt is typically charged every night - often requiring a full charge.
• I do travel a fair bit for work -- meaning that the Volt will sit idle (not requiring a charge) for days at a time.

What I deduced:

• Climate extremes (i.e. excessively cold or warm months) had a much greater impact on our electric bill (as compared to the Volt).  
• The past few winters have had some frigid temperatures reflected in the January and March differentials.  
• Also, we had an excessively hot August in 2011 (the year before I got the Volt)... every August since has been much cooler

Another way to judge the Volt from a cost perspective is Gas & Fuel.  Over the past two and a half years, I've spent $352.14 on gas for the Volt.  Note that is Premium fuel -- as required by the first Volt (the new Volt won't require premium gas).

So to sum up, we're very happy with the Volt.  And looking forward to upgrading it later this year!

Lastly, it's important to point out that we had another new addition (about the same time as the Volt)... that was Nathaniel!  

Nathaniel in his car seat (actually NOT the Volt - this is in Kelly's Buick Enclave)

That puts the modest increase to our electrical bill in a new light... was it the electric car?  Or growing our family from 3 to 4? 

Chevy Volt: The First 100 Miles

Kelly and I upgraded the fleet this past weekend.... BIG time. Our cars were a combined 20 years old... so it was time. That said, it's not easy going from no car payments to two! Kelly will drive our new people-mover, the Buick Enclave:

And I will drive our new commuter car - the Chevy Volt!

I've been a Volt enthusiast for some time. But paying $200+ for gas in my beloved Chevy Avalanche pushed me over the edge. So after 3 days and just about 100 miles... here are my thoughts:

The Good
There is much good.  The Volt is a lot of fun to drive.  You step on the gas... uhhh... oops, I meant the acceleration pedal... and the car takes off.  Many would have thought an "electric car" to be anemic.  The Volt is most certainly not.  Similar to the Toyota Prius, the Volt provides real-time feedback to your driving.  A spinning green ball (with three leaves on it) moves up and down depending on how hard you've pressed the acceleration pedal or how heavy your foot is on the brake.  It's basically a video game to see how well you can keep the green ball in the middle.  The main attraction for the Volt is, of course, not using gas (if you drive less than 35 miles per day).  So if the idea of trying to drive more efficiently turns you off, you shouldn't be buying this car anyway.

But even before you begin driving, the first thing you notice is what is missing... the sound of the engine.  In fact, any sound at all.  The Volt is super-quiet.

The electronics package for the Volt is excellent -- starting with the two large full-color LCD screens.  The screens act as a Head Up Display for all manner of interesting metrics.  Combined with the sheer quiet of the electric motor, it is like piloting a flying saucer down the street.  In fact, one of my first calls to my mother (from the included Bluetooth system) went like this... "Hello Mother, I'm calling you from the future..."

Not only do the screens provide a wealth of information -- including battery charge, tire pressure, time to next oil change (don't worry, it's a LONG time) and other interesting stuff, but my loaded Volt also includes Sirius-XM Satellite Radio, GPS with real-time weather & traffic reports, a DVD player, Bluetooth for phone calls, USB connection for playing music off phones or MP3 players and a 30GB hard drive.

Charging the Volt is super-easy -- and I have two interesting tidbits from my first day with the car.  The Volt includes a 100-volt charger you can plug into any household outlet.  We plugged into a notoriously touchy outlet in our lower level and ran the cord out to the car in the driveway.  20-30 minutes later, the Volt began beeping with annoyance.  Not quite as loud as a car alarm, but definitely enough to get our attention.  We'd tripped a breaker in the house and the Volt reported a very detailed error describing how power had been cut unexpectedly!  Pretty cool.

Next, I moved the 110-volt charger to a more reliable outlet on the other side of the house and re-positioned the Volt appropriately in the driveway.  Just in time for a thunderstorm.  I was pretty freaked out about charging the car in my driveway overnight with recurring thunderstorms passing through.  But the forums assured me this was alright.  And sure enough, my Volt was happily fully charged in the morning.

The further integration of the Volt with OnStar (3 years included!) and mobile devices is very cool as well.  iOS and Android apps may be downloaded and configured.  Most metrics from the car are captured in the apps -- including battery charge and miles remaining, gas, tire pressure, etc.  You can get an e-mail or text alert when the car needs to be charged, when it is completed charging and more.  Finally you can even remote start or unlock the car from your phone!  Very cool!


The Bad
The ground clearance is perilously low.  I scraped the bottom of the car on the first speed bump I went over -- and the first time I pulled into my own driveway!  I've almost immediately adjusted my driving style, however, and incidents have gone down.

Lack of Bluetooth audio is a bummer... but a USB cable really makes this only a minor annoyance.

The Ugly 
Nothing at all. This car rocks and I'm having a great time. Stay tuned for my report on getting a 240-volt charger installed...

Less than three weeks left to the AWLA Walk for the Animals!!!

I’m Walking to Help the Animals... there is less than 3 weeks left!


On Saturday, May 12th, 2012, I am participating in the Animal Welfare League of Arlington's 17th Annual Walk for the Animals. Kelly & I have participated in this event since 2005. And I have been the top personal fundraiser for the last two years!


Please support me this year by making a donation via my personal donation page:
https://awla.ejoinme.org/12486


If you are not comfortable making an online donation and would prefer to write a check, please make the check out to: Animal Welfare League of Arlington and mail it to me at home:
5730 5TH ST S
Arlington, VA 22204


All money raised from the Walk will go directly to helping the shelter. 


The Animal Welfare League of Arlington is committed to the humane treatment of animals and to the promotion of animal welfare. To learn more about the 17th Annual Walk for the Animals, please visit my personal donation page listed above or www.awla.org.


Thank you for your donation!

The nihilistic political campaign against the Chevy Volt…and against American industry - Renewable Energy Magazine, at the heart of clean energy journalism

The nihilistic political campaign against the Chevy Volt…and against American industry - Renewable Energy Magazine, at the heart of clean energy journalism

...great read, sums up how I feel better than any other article I've read to date.

Microsoft Office Live doesn't support Chrome? Really?

Sad to see Microsoft is still struggling to play well with others.

Considering Chrome has upwards of a 26% market share, this is just silly.

Found Treasure, Part 2

I finally asked the writer if he would consider returning a few of my Dad's signed comic book covers -- but he should keep his favorites.  I explained I would pay him if he asked.  His reaction was expected -- a bit surprised; taken back.  He wrote he cherished all comic book collecting -- and this would be hard for him to do.  But he would consider my request.  I waited.


Only days later, I received a stiff package in the mail -- with ALL of the covers!!!  I was ecstatic.  I wrote the writer back to thank him and he explained that my appeal had touched his heart -- especially considering my father had passed.  I thanked him profusely (and sent an Amazon gift card - ;-).



Next I set out to display the comics prominently - preferably with full bibliographic information (yes, even comics have bibliographic information!).


The writer's information the comics was sparse.  So I sought additional online resources, ultimately finding the Grand Comics Database, an excellent, community-maintained site.


So here the covers, with all of the data I mined from the database:

Sabres Up!  Wings Comics #116 (1952).  Fiction House (1940 Series).  Pencils & Inks by Bill Discount [as Dee].

Square It For Barney.  War Birds #3 (Winter 1953).  Fiction House (1952 Series).  Pencils & Inks by Bill Discount.

Ploesti Raid!  Jet Aces #4 (1953).  Fiction House (1952 Series).  Pencils & Inks by Bill Discount.

Silence From Planetoid X.  Planet Comics #71 (Summer 1953).  Fiction House (1940 Series).  Pencils & Inks by Bill Discount.

Kill the Tiger.  Danger #11 (August 1954).  Comic Media (1953 Series).  Pencils & Inks by Bill Discount.

And here is the finished project -- two beautiful frames now hung in "our bar" -- downstairs in the rec room: 

Kelly & I are very proud of them.

Found Treasure, Part 1

Recently, I was contacted by a writer for the online magazine Alter Ego.  The writer was trying to track down my Dad, William, who was a comic book artist briefly in the 1950s.  Apparently, my Dad had sent this gentleman several signed covers of comic books he had illustrated (pencils & ink).  This gentleman wanted to write a story on my Dad's experiences for the online magazine.  Not knowing that my Dad had passed away, he had found me online (no, there are not many Discounts out there!)


So I began a correspondence with this gentleman over e-mail.  I answered his questions about my Dad and his career as best as I could -- after all, my Dad's comic book artist career was 20 years before I was born!  I was almost immediately interested in retrieving these authentic artifacts of my Dad.  I have a hunger for truly authentic pieces such as these.  My mother has an original cover of the Saturday Evening Post -- a famous Norman Rockwell painting -- "Do Unto Others..."

It is signed by Rockwell to my grandfather Lowell.  My mother has it framed in her home.  I've told my mother there aren't a lot of family heirlooms I am interested in -- but that is the top of the list -- by far.


And so as I corresponded with this writer I wondered how I might get my father's signed comic books back.  I thought about how much it might be worth to me.  After all, my father worked in comics only briefly -- and he never worked on any major books.  Would I pay?  How much?  $50?  $100?  $500?!?!


I would be completely surprised at his response...