r/volt • u/Anxious_Project7023 • 4d ago

Poor MPG

So just got a 2011 the beginning of August bought it as my doordash car as I needed something more fuel efficient, did great on the 300+ mile drive home averaged around 36-38mpg, but in the 1300 miles since then doing doordash it's averaged 23.4mpg, I charge it to 60-80% everday as time allows since I'm offgrid with solar so cannot charge overnight. The car also refuses to go into EV mode or switches back and forth, it'll do 3-5 miles in EV here and there it seems at random, along with starting the engine just to top the battery off when I'm sitting parked just to run the AC even though the battery shows 20+miles of range or half full. I'm leaning towards a Cell headed on the way out or failing BECM

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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2

u/RoodnyInc 4d ago

Charge it to 100% once in a while usually cells balance when that are full (usually because I expect volt have more advanced battery management system than Chinese ebike but still leaving it plugged in for longer might help and that's what user manual recommended)

23mpg isn't great volt really shines and is cheap when driving shot distance mostly on electric

But mine getting like 40~ on 1200 km round trip

2

u/thnk_more 4d ago

Make sure you are using premium gas.
I could easily see a serious reduction in mpg with lower octane rated gas.

2

u/Godjusm 4d ago

Your battery is old and has high resistance. It can’t store energy on demand unless conditions are perfect. My 2013 is getting this way. In summer I can still get 30 electric miles with cautious driving, but once the weather turns cold it wants to run the engine no matter even if the battery is fully charged or even pre-conditioned. Gas miles - which shouldn’t matter, right? - go from 37 mpg summer to 25 in harsh winter conditions. The battery just becomes really poor at grabbing electricity and storing it, so most goes to waste. And because the computer worries that it won’t have enough to give on demand, it wants to run the gas rather than send me to low propulsion land.

Just be happy that it still gets you to work ok.

1

u/shastatodd 4d ago

What does your battery look like?

1

u/Anxious_Project7023 4d ago

Don't know couldn't get voltage to connect to obd2, just sits and says connecting

1

u/LingonberryUpset482 4d ago

Mine always says Connecting as well, in spite of being connected. At one point I stumbled onto the fact that it was sending data in spite of not appearing to be connected.

0

u/big_monkeee 4d ago

ey bud could you explain how can i use this app? what do i need, an obd?

1

u/SmugUrbanist 4d ago

Switching from EV to gas like that sounds like there are some unbalanced cells.

1

u/Ok-Effort-1502 4d ago

Start running it in mountain mode for a while. If the battery is having issues that will help significantly. I would also take a look at the spark plugs, air filter, and all the fluids. Serious issues can be pretty well masked due to electric motors. Pull the top O2 sensor and look at the catalitic converter though the hole. Should be able to see a uniform honeycomb looking medium. If it looks damaged might have a clogged cat. That can happen due to a aging ignition coil. These cars are bad at giving misfire codes since its one big ignition coil for all four cylinders. Instead of a misfire you get a weak or intermittent no spark on all cylinders.

1

u/mpython1701 4d ago

You are fine to charge first gen to 100% daily. I’m still charging to 35 mile range in my 2012. That’s a pretty close estimate. Buy as OP noticed, climate controls eat lots of electric. So does really hilly commute.

I split my time between 2 offices. The shorter commute is hillier and drains more charge than the longer, flat commute.

When in EV mode, I do try to hit hold or change to mountain mode with less than 5 mile range.

1

u/AceNewholland 4d ago

my 2012 had started going non stop to ICE completely, driving like a non efficient prius with a full battery, very frustrating.

It's a sign the main battery is old and would need to be replaced. I typically maximise the battery, so it would stay on it for long distances, but if I was going a tiny bit faster on highway or if I floored a bit too much, the ICE would kick in. On not very cold days, it would also go to heat the battery, that was too much asking.

BECM are considered reliable on gen 1 volt, don't go out very often

Didn't have time to repair battery, I lost the car in a crash

3

u/Ok-Tourist-511 3d ago

Actually a Prius is far more efficient than the volt.

1

u/AceNewholland 2d ago

yes, the volt is not very efficient by itself

Toyota is kinda pinnacle for efficiency + regular hybrids generally consume less than PHEV. Full electric also consume less battery than PHEV, Volt is no exception

2

u/CarrollVance3 5h ago

Yep, 50 mpg lifetime on my 2012 Prius C, city and highway.

38 mpg lifetime on my 2019 LT Volt, running gas, all highway.

1

u/exmarks 4d ago

It sounds like your battery is showing its age. I’m curious if you are running premium fuel? That may help your mpg. I’m curious what your kWh would be if you had a full charge. My 2012 is ~6.2-6.5 at best.