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Borrowing a description from one of dozens of awards received, Chevrolet says its first-generation Volt was a “moonshot” so in what way has the two thousand sixteen Chevy Volt been improved in order to top that glowing description?

Now that we know pricing starts at $33,995 for the base two thousand sixteen LT, $38,345 for the LTZ, and GM’s ordering guide is online, some people are still wondering whether the two thousand sixteen Volt is indeed fully better than the original.

If you want the seller to tell you, Chevrolet’s dedicated two thousand sixteen Volt web page boldly quotes another publication telling “Second-Generation Volt is better by every measure,” and for many this will be absolutely true. For others, maybe the fresh car will be close but no cigar?

Chevrolet says it listened to concentrate groups in developing the two thousand sixteen Volt, and to cast a bit more detached spotlight on it, following are some of the switches including major ones, minor ones, and ones that are merely different.

Powertrain

The single fattest reason to buy a plug-in gas-electric car is of course to avoid using gas. Does that sound almost strange or are you already with us?

The Volt’s mission in life is as an extended-range electrical vehicle and its 50-mile EV range is more than dual the next-closest nineteen miles from a Ford Fusion and C-Max Energi and significantly above the 2011-2015 Volt.

Given the Volts were tweaked along the way, they came with either a 16.0-, 16.5- or 17.1-kilowatt-hour battery, so the boilerplate “30-percent” better range now being trumpeted from the hilltops is only true by the latest EPA reckoning. Actually it could be better or a little less. Compared to the 2011-2012 models, the fresh Volt gets forty three percent better range. Compared to the 2013-2014, it gets the advertised 30-percent better range.

And, compared to the present-spec two thousand fifteen Volts with 17.1 kwh, the Volt may only get 25-percent better range. Why? Knowing the fresh Volt was coming, and to save certification costs and to possibly be able to pad advertising and editorial potential, GM did not EPA rate range for the 0.6-kwh larger 17.1-kwh battery in the 2015. Was this Sneaky? Clever? Or guiltless and unspoiled as driven snow? Not sure, but this is fact.

Of course the “range” comes by way of a fresh Legitimate.4-kwh battery with fewer but more-efficient pouch cells assembled stateside from Korean company LG Chem. The fatter battery saves twenty pounds and is in the same T form.

Unclear is the exact “buffer” of held-back energy, but the thermally managed T-pack is believed to be designed for long life as was the case for the 2011-2015.

The original Volt was conservatively set up, GM says it has a “pharmaceutical grade” quality, and its but two failures per million is off the charts – a much better record compared to the Nissan Leaf’s air-cooled pack for example.

Under the spandex hood, the range extender is now an all-aluminum direct-injection, DOHC Ecotec 1.Five liter four from GM’s fresh family of petite engines co-developed with a Chinese playmate, SAIC. This is a bit thicker than the 1.Four, rated forty one mpg instead of 37, and requires regular gas instead of premium.

An issue with Volt drivers who hate the engine to come on is “Engine Running Due To Temperature” (ERDTT) in cold climates to augment the HVAC. The fresh car is a smidge better at not running the heat-generating engine, but it may still come on as needed.

The electrical front-wheel drive transaxle – the “drive unit” is now a fresh two-motor design and not engineered for a 12-percent efficiency improvement.

And, the drive unit is adaptable now to other vehicles whereas GM says the gen-one Volt’s was not. This has less bearing on Volt ownership but is good for GM. The Malibu Hybrid was co-developed with the fresh Volt, for example, and the fresh Volt is meant as a DNA donator to plant fresh electrified vehicles within the automaker’s future lineup.

Dimensions

The Volt rails on GM’s Delta II platform. It remains a compact class car when competitive other brands of plug-in hybrids are midsized.

It is most comfy up front, and depending on stature, less so in the back seat.

The dimensions of the fresh car are similar up front and in the oft-criticized taut rear seating area, the two thousand sixteen gets 0.6 inches more gam room, and 0.Two inches less head room.

Also there’s now a center rear leap seat of a perch for kids and child seats.

Car Features

A look at GM’s online ordering guide shows the fresh base LT adds a number of details here and there over the outgoing Volt while significantly less tooled than the LTZ which guidelines a $Four,350 surcharge.

Click to expand, To see entire 25-page ordering guide, click here, go to “Print Book,” choose “Volt,” then “Print model.”

Gone is the CD player, in are A/C controls switched from touch-sensitive to knobs. Fresh also are dual center displays enhanced from seven to eight inches diagonal.

The fresh car has more airbags and one extra USB port. The front reading lights are now LED, included is a leather shift knob and there’s a rear-view camera too.

“Location based” charging is also now included as is a different charge indicator light and interface.

Missing on gen-two is also one power outlet with two now instead of three, also gone are visors with illuminated mirrors as found on gen-one, and deleted as well are outside heated mirrors with integrated turn signals.

No power seats are suggested, and this was the case for gen one. It saves weight for a car with a mandate to be efficient.

The two thousand sixteen Volt rails on fresh Michelin 215/50R17 all-season, blackwall, low-rolling resistance tires.

Also fresh for two thousand sixteen is an automatic audible signal during low speed driving. For previous Volts, a Safety Alert Signal was a dual horn chirp the driver by hand actuated by pushing a button on the end of the turn signal stalk.

For 2016, the signal tone has switched to more of a mechanical pump sound that was derived from the ELR and Spark EV and automatically turns on below nineteen mph and remains on continuously. The driver typically cannot hear it, but pedestrians can.

Styling

The Volt is a clean sheet, all fresh, and the lines were developed, GM has said, to suggest more “mainstream” appeal with a touch of “upscale” styling.

Many observers have noted the similarity of both Volts to Honda products, and the very first generation from fifty yards away might make some do a dual take wondering if it’s a decade-old Acura TL. The two thousand sixteen has more than a passing resemblance to a few-year-old Civic or two thousand fifteen Kia Forte.

Kia Forte left, Volt right.

We think the Volt is unique enough, does present a newer arguably nicer visage and truth is copying goes on all the time in the car world. Even Tesla all-but cloned the rear clip of the Model S from a Jaguar XF.

The Volt is designed as a sporty looking car, it now gets a shark fin type antenna, LED lowbeam headlights, and cuts through the air with a similar 0.285 coefficient of haul.

Spectacle

The ultimate test will come in another quarter year or so when third-party drive reviews begin to pour forward, but meantime the two thousand sixteen Volt promises improvements where it counts.

Zero-to-30 mph was quickened twenty percent to Two.6 seconds compared to a former Three.1 seconds, and 0-60 is said to be 8.Three seconds instead of 9.0 seconds by GM’s reckoning.

Top speed drops two insignificant percent from one hundred mph to 98.

Note the horsepower is the same at one hundred forty nine (111 kw) but torque has been improved from two hundred seventy three pounds-feet to 298.

Also better should be noise, stimulation and harshness from the 100cc larger, newer, and more-sophisticated engine.

And as for the all-important efficiency, GM says miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) is now one hundred two compared to the former ninety eight albeit fans at the GM-Volt.com forum are hoping GM will have a surprise that this is even better.

As mentioned, combined fuel economy is forty one when the battery is depleted and running in charge sustaining mode. GM has not listed city or highway, and the EPA has no listing on its website yet either.

Electrified range of fifty miles speaks for itself. The former car got 35-38 rated, and up to forty unofficially for the two thousand fifteen with its 0.6-kwh larger battery compared to the 2013-2014.

Value Proposition

The original Volt commenced just timid of $40,000 in two thousand eleven and in two thousand fourteen GM chopped it to just below $35,000. Loaded earlier examples could lightly top $47,000 before taxes and fees making it a $50,000 compact Chevy.

GM has lopped $1,175 off of an already discounted – but still pricey for a Chevy compact – car. The fresh one offers more of everything existing Volt owners said they wished. This is doubly significant with the unique “E-REV” because this is a car that has had a mental block surrounding it.

GM has said actual Volt proprietor input helps because outsiders may think they want this or that about the Volt, but experienced users have a finer understanding of what’s significant. And they understand the car, period, which can’t always be said for many others.

Surveys have shown for the past five years many have remained oblivious to its benefits, not to mention unmotivated Chevy salespeople, who “don’t get it” as to what an amazing gas saver the Volt can be – not to mention its quiet slick rail, and respectable road manners.

That said, even among those who do comprehend the vehicles’ operational attributes, there are those who will still not be sated with Chevrolet’s fresh green halo.

The smallish interior packaging makes this still a car best suited for two plus kids or short-hop trips with large adults in the back seats.

Its pricing is not below the sweet spot of $29,995 for which many were hoping. Options will still drive the base price up and nice ones will be in the 40s. Federal and as-applicable state credits will still help reduce the effective price, as may lease deals or manufacturer and dealer incentives and as needed eventually, discounts.

GM has a history of going for the gusto with its alternative energy vehicle pricing, pushing to the limit, and after sales suffer and it maybe feels a PR backlash, it has been known to then lop off money as needed.

In two thousand fourteen it cut the Volt’s price by $Five,000 after dealers were already doing as much in active markets.

Speaking of which, California has accounted for over forty percent of the Volt’s sales and has been the only state in which it was advertised. Talk of ever being a Prius beater by sales volume is a topic present Chevrolet marketers do not wish to entertain, and it’s been dismissed from the top as irrelevant.

The Volt has morphed into a bit of an upper socioeconomic compliance vehicle and very first roll-out states will be the original CARB states.

GM’s modus operandi emerges to be reading from a similar script as before while its fiduciary obligation is to recoup its development costs for the all-new car.

One way it can do that without selling volume is the Volt’s powertrain architecture may be used in an untold number of hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

SEE ALSO: Explore Shows Chevy Volt Can Burn Less Gas Than Any Other PHEV But on a positive note, GM has kept the Volt alive, and improved it, and is committed to it as it now stands. So we’ll see if it surprises analysts such as Michigan-based Alan Baum who projects 25,000 unit sales for 2016, 21,500 for 2017, and 20,000 for two thousand eighteen as fresh all-electric models like the Chevy Bolt, Tesla Model Three, two thousand seventeen Nissan Leaf come along.

Meantime, today the Volt is all-new and stands goes above not only the benchmark it has set the past five years, but against all others in its class.

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