Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah said there is a reason that the focus today was on the car’s improved all-electric range: It was the number one request from customers. Three miles is incremental, but “it will enable more people to go gasoline-free in their daily driving,” said Farah, and those miles “add up over a week.” Farah wouldn’t talk about how many more miles we can expect in the 2014 Volt, just that, “my expectations are that we would see larger improvements with model changes.” Importantly, Farah said that the EPA made no major changes to the test procedures, so it is legit to compare the 2013 MPGe number to earlier ratings.
The new battery is not any heavier or larger, just “electrically bigger.”
The extra range comes from a different battery chemistry as well as a slightly bigger battery, 16.5 kWh instead of 16. Farah said the battery is not literally any bigger (i.e., it’s not any heavier or larger), just “electrically bigger.” The .5-kWh growth seems small, but from a “battery guy’s standpoint,” nothing is small and no one should expect any dramatic changes from future versions of the Volt’s current-generation battery, just continued incremental changes, said GM’s director of global battery systems engineering, Bill Wallace. He added that GM is always looking into how much more energy they can wring out of the battery, but are not yet wiling to talk about how much more could be pulled out in the future. He did hint there is more to be had, though, saying that, “battery life is not as sensitive as we previously thought.”
Other changes in the new Volt are more minor. There is now an optional arm rest between the two back seats. A new power gauge in the dash shows more information about where the energy used to move the car is coming from, how much is from the battery and how much is from the gas tank. We already talked about the collision alert and lane departure warnings as well as the new standard “hold mode.” The 2013 model also has new interior and exterior colors (pebble beige and silver topaz metallic, respectively) and new sport alloy wheels, which were actually available late in the 2012 MY.
For some reason, GM has not yet released photos of the 2013 Volt, even though they will be instantly noticeable from the rear and above since the roof and liftgate on the new Volt will now match the body color (they used to be black). All GM has released is a small Photoshopped crop, seen right, of the new backside (click image to see the unmodified version below).
The 2013 Volt goes on sale in August. GM said there has been no change in pricing or destination fees compared to 2012 model. You can see pricing details below as well as in the gallery.
2013 Chevy Volt Pricing:
- MSRP $39,145
- Destination 850
- Comfort package 275
- Premium Trim 1,395
- Safety Package 1 – 575
- Safety Package 2 – 595
- Free flow options:
- NAV 895
- Bose Audio 495
- Cargo Cover 110
- Cargo Net 60
- Polish Wheels 595
- Sport Alloy Wheels 695
The details on all of this are available in the gallery.
