Video: 2016 Chevrolet Volt Review

much more conventional styling than the first generation Volt, which was a very boxy car, it seemed like the obvious result of a wind tunnel exercise. Much more car-like, curvier all around, and that actually conceals the fact that this car is a little bit bigger than its predecessor, a few inches longer close to an inch wider. Now the Volt is still an electric car with an engine generator that runs as a backup, redesigned hardware with this generation improves all of its fundamentals so that now you get an EPA estimated 53 miles of range, much better than the last Volt 38 miles of range. And once that engine generator has to kick in, the EPA estimated 42 miles per gallon versus 37 before, and when you do have to fill up with gas, it takes regular gas now, the first generation required premium. None of this seems to have sacrifice drivability very much, like its predecessor, the new Volt rides and handles pretty well with plenty of torque from its electric motors for quick acceleration around town. Editors were a little bit split over breaks however, some found little improvement over the prior generations real artificial brick-like brake pedal, other editors thought there actually had been significant improvement in this redesign. We all agreed at the end of the day, though, that our particular test car has a bad case of squeaky brakes. A much more cohesive interior to this car versus the first-generation Volt, which kind of had a boxy futuristic seeming dashboard. Lots of flowing shapes here, very pleasing to look at I gotta say. Controls for the center stack now physical controls again, real buttons and knobs versus the hard to use capacitive touch buttons before. Now, visibility, not super great, it hasn't really improved a great deal versus the first generation of the Volt, also not an easy car to see out of. A very squat windshield here, big A-pillars that really fan out as you get down to where the side mirrors are, big B-pillars if you look over your shoulder. And the rear window used to be a split design, now it's a single window. In theory, that should be improved, but still a very small window, and it doesn't have a wiper, even though the Volt is hatchback and the window is raked such that you get a lot of rain there during the storm. There is a fifth seat now, it's a middle seat in the back that used to just be a two position backseat. It's there, I wouldn't use it, it's tiny. The Volt is still eligible for a federal tax incentive, which knocks the starting price effectively all the way down to the mid twenties if you qualify, thanks to a price that's nearly $1,200 cheaper than the outgoing Volt. Still gas is cheap right now, and people are not buying fuel efficient cars like this. So how much should you pay attention to the Volt? Well it depends how much all this new technology matters to you and how much you want to create a hedge against a future rise in those gas prices. (gentle music) (trunk door shuts)