I’ve had my Volt for 4 months now and have driven 4000 miles. So I’m doing just 1000 miles/month.
I have burned 22 gallons of gas, most of it on the trip up north to see the eclipse in mid-May. I have not added gas since then and still have about a half tank left.
I love the car — so much fun to drive, and so cheap to drive. Expensive to buy compared to a Civic or Chevy Cruz, but since it drives more like a BMW I think the price is in the right range.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Richard // Aug 2, 2012 at 11:57 am
You need to consider a fuel stabilizer like STA-BIL. Gasoline can go bad in just a few months.
Perhaps a good approach would be to never fill it up unless you are planning a trip. Just keep a couple gallons in it so you can add a gallon or two a month. That way you would always have fresh fuel.
2 Daryl // Aug 4, 2012 at 10:19 am
Hmm. I thought I replied to this comment yesterday, but it’s not here.
GM says that with the sealed pressurized gas tank the gas goes stale more slowly. There are also claims that premium has additives that help it age better, but I don’t know if that’s true.
GM also recommends that if you rarely use any gas you should leave the tank only about 1/3 full.
Over the last few weeks I was slowly moving towards the 1/3 full mark, when yesterday Les and I went out for a hike. I was going to take the Volt, so I filled the gas tank. Then Les warned me that the road we were going on was unpaved and rough, so at the last minute we switched to the van.
So now I have a full tank of gas that will probably sit there for another year, unless I go on a long trip somewhere. Oh well, it was only $16 worth of gas.
3 Richard // Aug 4, 2012 at 11:40 am
You might give serious consideration to siphoning some of the fuel out of the Volt and putting it in Gisele’s car, or the van.
4 Dale // Aug 5, 2012 at 5:18 pm
You mentioned that the volt drives like a BMW. Did you try one out before you bought the volt?
5 Daryl // Aug 5, 2012 at 11:19 pm
In the Volt forum that I frequently read, many contributors report trading in a BMW for their Volt. Almost invariably they say it compares well with the 3 series, but that the BMW 5 series is better.
Of course it’s a skewed sample. People reading and contributing to the forum are going to be those who are enthusiastic about the Volt.
But I can say that it is a lot more fun to drive than my Acura MDX was.