Make, Model and Year of Car – 2013 Chevrolet Volt (Premier Trim)

In late 2015, I was researching the car as I have a 26-mile, one-way commute to Winter Park. Since our homes in Laureate Park are prewired for a car charger, I was looking for an affordable, practical car that I could charge in my garage, reduce my impact on the environment, and maybe save money. The Chevrolet Volt became a front runner in my research due to the technology involved and how GM had warrantied the battery and EV systems. A Tesla was out of my budget, but the Volt had the best of both worlds – an internal combustion engine (ICE) AND a battery powered electric vehicle (EV). However, I found a new Chevy Volt was much too expensive for our budget. I started talking with Volt owners on the r/volt Reddit page and GM-VOLT.com forums. I asked them a ton of questions about fair pricing, must-have features, and what they liked and didn’t like about the car.

During these conversations on Reddit, I was introduced to a man named Lewey Marcucci, a 24-year-old with his PA car dealer license who happened to be a technician who worked on Volts and Priuses and wanted to start selling them on his own. He bought the Volt that eventually became mine at an auction in the Boston area and sent me a ton of pictures. I went to our local CarMax to test drive a Volt, and I was hooked. The instant torque, quiet ride, technology, and handling got me.

Lewey’s Volt had everything I wanted: under 35k miles, a 150k mile warranty on the EV system (except the adaptive cruise control), leather, Bose stereo, and heated seats.

Since the Volt doesn’t run the ICE most of the time, the cabin air heat is very inefficient. It’s like running a hair dryer – uses a lot of power to heat a coil that air is blown over. Most ICE cars just blow the air over the hot engine to heat it up. The Volt can’t do this when in EV mode. Heated seats are significantly more efficient when it is cold in Orlando.

Lewey offered to personally deliver my Volt to me – he drove it himself down from his home in the Hershey, Pa., area in October, and I drove him back to the airport to fly home after an extended test drive. Like a “Carvana” experience, I never thought I’d buy a car without sitting in it first, at least. But to have it drive up to my garage and be mine right away was awesome, way better than any dealership experience I’ve had. And I knew it was a good car because I bought it from a guy who works on these cars!

My home electric costs are approximately 11 cents per KW, or $1.15 for a full charge (40 miles). There is a charger across the street from where I work. There, I pay 15 cents per KW, or $1.40 for a full charge (40 miles). At current gas prices, I’m saving more than $3.50 per day on my commute. That’s at least $910 a year at today’s $2.30 for regular at Sam’s. Free charging stations are popping up all over Central Florida. Even the Lake Nona Town Center, Laureate Park Pool, Gateway Building, and USTA have free chargers!

I’ve put about 21,000 miles on it myself now and love it. There’s plenty of cargo room, power, and the sound system is awesome! My son calls it “ROCKET!” I plan on having the Red Rocket for at least 3 or 4 more years, when the Model 3 Tesla has been out long enough to come down in pricing off lease (just like my Volt was).

Mods:
HID Projector Bulbs from Makoto (the stock headlights are terrible).
LED light bulbs on the interior and license plate lamps.
Vinyl wrap on the Chevy Emblems for the “Black Tie” look.
GE Durastation J1772 40 Amp Car Charger installed in garage. This charger fully charges the Volt in about 3½ hours (limited by the onboard charger to about 20 amps).
VoltScreen – aftermarket front grille to protect the radiators – a common, preventable issue with the Volt, due to its low stance/open grille.
VoltMat – aftermarket thick carpeting for the hatch area to reduce road noise.
Michelin Premier All Season Tires – The OEM tires (special Goodyears made for the Volt) are lighter and thinner to increase range, but that also makes them louder and less durable. Since the Volt doesn’t carry a spare, I wanted more durable and safer, quieter, albeit less-efficient tires.

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