Chevy Volt oil analysis at 26,800 miles - UOA

[blackman777]

I found this online and decided to share: QUOTE from Motor Trend: "I had an oil sample taken and sent it to Blackstone Laboratories for analysis. Blackstone's Andy Martin retorted, 'Well, you can't go wrong following what's recommended, but...' aluminum, copper, and particularly iron were high. I sent the report on to GM for comment, and they replied that this was 'within normal range.'"

The car had 26,861 miles, and the engine was turned on about 20,000 of those miles.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/oney...l#ixzz2WbXX7rya

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/oney...l#ixzz2WbXSYK8T

 

[Voltmaster]

Its a new engine , until a few oil changes goes and more miles are driven nothing can be really be said about the engine.

considering it cost alot of money , the electric motor and battery life is much more important.

There is no reason to buy one of these , unless you are plugin in often. Prius is better deal over this anyday.

 

[blackman777]

Well true. It IS the original break-in oil.

 

[dparm]

Too early to draw conclusions. A single "iffy" UOA does not indicate imminent death for a motor, honestly.

 

[LeakySeals]

Avg econ/CO2 47.6 equiv mpg/0.45 lb/mi Thats it? What oil was used? I ask because thanks to BITOG, we know PP and PU cuts down metal the shedding GM engines are known for substantially. We also know from UOA's here that this shedding can go on for years, appears to be a "GM thing" vs any indication of excess wear.

 

[RobertISaar]

47.6MPG with the gas engine running in a primarily electric propulsion vehicle? i wouldn't be complaining.

 

[DAC17]

Originally Posted By: RobertISaar
47.6MPG with the gas engine running in a primarily electric propulsion vehicle? i wouldn't be complaining.


This is pretty close to what I average (about 45 on ICE), but my electric use is closer to 85%.

 

[RobertISaar]

Originally Posted By: DAC17

This is pretty close to what I average (about 45 on ICE), but my electric use is closer to 85%.


doing some really shady math.... the kind the automotive industry loves best:

assuming you only use the ICE only 15% of the time at 45MPG, you ESSENTIALLY go 300 miles on a single gallon of fuel. electric cost, plus a gallon of gasoline to go 300 miles, you're pretty far ahead if you don't count the purchase price of the volt itself...

i love the concept, but if GM wants it to succeed and proliferate, they need to reduce manufacturing costs somehow to get it in more driveways.

 

[blackman777]

38.7 in gas-only mode. Most of the hybrid Honda and Toyotas do better than that. Heck the CruzeEco does better than that & it's only ~17,000 brand new. I'm planning to buy a Volt but not until they drop below $15,000 used with few miles.

It's cheating to pretend the electricity is free. I could get 500 mpg too in my regular car if I "plugged in" and added half-a-gallon every time I stopped at home or work. Let's see: "I went 10,000 miles until my tank ran empty. Amazing."

The EPA rating for the electric operation of the Volt is ~95mpg so that's the maximum MPGe you can get even if you never ran the Volt's engine. Maybe a little higher like 100-105.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: blackman777
It's cheating to pretend the electricity is free. I could get 500 mpg too in my regular car if I "plugged in" and added half-a-gallon every time I stopped at home or work. Let's see: "I went 10,000 miles until my tank ran empty. Amazing."

The EPA rating for the electric operation of the Volt is ~95mpg so that's the maximum MPGe you can get even if you never ran the Volt's engine. Maybe a little higher like 100-105.


The linked article also links to the CO2 issue of electric versus gas and the equivalence of the two...

Shows some US states have greater emissions using a volt on electric than when on petrol...some do less.

Utility of fuels is regional, and not many cars can run coal or nukes, so there;s either a U.S. "spread", or there's a regional. You can cheat the figures/morals either way.

 

[blackman777]

I'm glad you brought-up CO2 and pollution. An environmental site called "greenercars" shows an electric car is no cleaner than a Prius, and less clean than the top tier cars (60mpg insight, 70mpg Lupo, or Civic CNG).

People don't realize that the U.S. electrical system is still pretty dirty unless you live in hydroelectric zones (like the west coast). Greenercars.org says your EV or range-extended EV is still polluting as badly as a 50mpg SULEV car..... it's just been displaced to the exhaust pipe of the power plant.

 

[Sunnyinhollister]

Originally Posted By: blackman777
I'm glad you brought-up CO2 and pollution. An environmental site called "greenercars" shows an electric car is no cleaner than a Prius, and less clean than the top tier cars (60mpg insight, 70mpg Lupo, or Civic CNG).

People don't realize that the U.S. electrical system is still pretty dirty unless you live in hydroelectric zones (like the west coast). Greenercars.org says your EV or range-extended EV is still polluting as badly as a 50mpg SULEV car..... it's just been displaced to the exhaust pipe of the power plant.


Depends on where you are getting the electric power from. We charge our Volt with the solar panels on our roof:

https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/tqVE104687

As far as mileage we are getting about 170mpg so far.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: Sunnyinhollister


Depends on where you are getting the electric power from. We charge our Volt with the solar panels on our roof:

https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/tqVE104687

As far as mileage we are getting about 170mpg so far.


Solar panel production can be very toxic. Odds are you did more damage to the environment by producing those solar panels than just utilizing energy production already installed and hurting your intended overall goals instead of helping.

 

[Sunnyinhollister]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: Sunnyinhollister


Depends on where you are getting the electric power from. We charge our Volt with the solar panels on our roof:

https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/tqVE104687

As far as mileage we are getting about 170mpg so far.


Solar panel production can be very toxic. Odds are you did more damage to the environment by producing those solar panels than just utilizing energy production already installed and hurting your intended overall goals instead of helping.


Ummm - wrong.

How much pollution was involved in building that power plant that burns coal or natural gas? How much pollution was caused by building the infrastructure to connect it to the grid? How much pollution and environmental damage is involved in the mining of coal? How much pollution is involved in the transportation of that coal? How much pollution is involved in the extraction and transportation of natural gas? How much more energy (pollution) is involved in transmitting the electricity over the grid due to the inherit losses involved?

Once the solar panels are made and installed, there is no more pollution involved in generating the power and there is no transmission losses due to generating the power where it is used. The same argument cannot be made for the other common forms of energy production.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: Sunnyinhollister

Ummm - wrong.

How much pollution was involved in building that power plant that burns coal or natural gas? How much pollution was caused by building the infrastructure to connect it to the grid? How much pollution and environmental damage is involved in the mining of coal? How much pollution is involved in the transportation of that coal? How much pollution is involved in the extraction and transportation of natural gas? How much more energy (pollution) is involved in transmitting the electricity over the grid due to the inherit losses involved?

Once the solar panels are made and installed, there is no more pollution involved in generating the power and there is no transmission losses due to generating the power where it is used. The same argument cannot be made for the other common forms of energy production.


Sigh....You missed the entire point not to mention you appear to not understand how "sunken costs" relate to pollution/environmental impact.

I'll save time and energy and just suggest you look more into the entire life cycle of products including material origination, manufacturing, distribution, and toxicity of process used to develop things like semiconductors used in photovoltaics.

 

[blackman777]

Originally Posted By: Sunnyinhollister
As far as mileage we are getting about 170mpg so far.
I doubt that. You are neglecting to account for the electricity you used. EPA rates the Volt at about 95mpg in electric mode.
As for solar: Well I'm not rich enough to spend $60,000 on a car + panels to charge it.

 

[blackman777]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
Sigh....You missed the entire point not to mention you appear to not understand how "sunken costs" relate to pollution/environmental impact.
He didn't make a mistake. Even accounting for the cost of manufacturing the solar panels, an EV running on that solar energy is cleaner than running off coal or CNG electric.