Is it safe to drive a chevy volt(2018) on L-gear all the time?
griffindm54
New Member
Not a problem. I have been driving in L for over a year with no issue. It just changes the regenerative braking to be more aggressive, giving you something closer to one pedal driving. Do not confuse it with the L functionality of an ICE vehicle.
Timothy Fay
New Member
General motors found it a bit costly to redesign a selected lever for their EV's so they stayed using the same one they use in ice cars. With more electrification of their fleet we may see a change in future models. This was GM's way of keeping cost down.
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Scramjett
Member
I would say yes, it’s the same. We mostly use L mode in our 2017 Volt but I will sometimes use D mode on the freeway with light traffic since it gives you a little more of the coasting feel ICE cars give you. In addition to what Timothy said above, I would also add that GM wanted the Volt to be familiar to drivers who might be new to a plug-in. I remember some of the confusion around the joystick shifter in the Prius back in the mid 00’s when they redesigned it. Personally, I like the traditional shifter a little more but could go either way.
Gabriel Teixeira
New Member
I drive my 2011 Volt on L all the time. While I haven't heard of or had any mechanical or electrical issue, the habit leads to expect strong engine braking on other cars or even in the Volt when I select it in D by accident. I tend to use less braking and when I drive without L the car fells runaway and brakeless when coasting. Tailgaters also get surprises since the L does not turn on the brake light when engine braking (the BMW i3, for example, does).
Scramjett
Member
GM changed that with the Gen 2. My 2017 Volt does activate the brake lights when in L gear and I take my foot off the “gas” pedal (and when I use the regen paddle). I have visually confirmed this myself.
Gabriel Teixeira
New Member
There should be a some improvement since the car in L would try to recharge the battery while going downhill while if going on D it would not so the extra energy that could have been harvested would be lost to the drag while going in a higher speed downhill.
Besides that, the Volt has almost no engine braking when driving on D, so the car would pickup a lot of speed when going downhill which could be dangerous, so driving in L should be safer when driving downhill. I've already been stopped by the police for speeding while going downhill without noticing the speed increasing (it was a Dodge Charger, though).
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Timothy Fay
New Member
It is perfectly safe to drive in L mode. I've driven in that mode since I've bought the car. I've had no issues with it. The cruise control works just fine in L mode. the only thing that does is increase the amount of regenerative braking
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Roland
Member
The "D" position might as well not even exist in my application. I've used "L" exclusively since about day 3 of owning my 2014 Volt. My brakes will probably never need to be replaced! I live in an area where straight roads don't exist more than about 300' in a stretch and regen does 95% of my braking. Every car or truck I've owned has been hard on brakes and brake jobs are expensive. I love regen braking!
Roland
Member
The only thing "L" does is engage the electric drive motor as a generator whenever the accelerator is not employed, whether by removing your foot from the pedal or downhill speed exceeds cruise the cruise setting. It's a gain, not a loss. Using "L" from a stop doesn't affect the energy necessary to accelerate from a dead stop or any other speed for that matter. In "D" and with cruise control set while going downhill, the only "advantage" you will see, is you may get to the bottom of the hill faster than your control is set to...but your battery will not receive any of the charge it would have if you had been driving in "L" under the same condition.
Gary Bergman
New Member
I assume, because the car is basically drive-by-wire where the computer controls everything, there should't be any difference going downhill whether driving in "L" or having your foot lightly on the brake. Although "L" guarantees not to use the physical brakes, I would hope the car is smart enough not to do that as well when braking lightly. I understand that braking "hard" will engage the brakes but, a light touch should be the same driving in "L". I'd like to hear some confirmation from GM that this is indeed the case.
ModernMarvelFan
New Member
No problem.
I have been driving my 2012 Volt for nearly 100K miles in L basically from day 1.
Keep this in mind. When driving in L mode, any time you release the throttle, the brake lights come on.
For City driving this is fine, and I recommend to all my customers, L for all City driving, up to 50 mph.
However, imagine heavy traffic, moving fast, and you in the Volt want only to coast a bit, but it triggers your brake lights. And you're the ONLY car who's brake lights keep coming on all down the freeway.
You don't want to be that person.
You all who have driven in L all the time, notice the people flipping you off as they pass.
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For City driving this is fine, and I recommend to all my customers, L for all City driving, up to 50 mph.
However, imagine heavy traffic, moving fast, and you in the Volt want only to coast a bit, but it triggers your brake lights. And you're the ONLY car who's brake lights keep coming on all down the freeway.
You don't want to be that person.
You all who have driven in L all the time, notice the people flipping you off as they pass.
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Brake pedal is brakes, light or heavy foot. They are purely mechanical, not computer controlled.
Coasting is regen. Full time or on demand (the paddle) and computer controlled
There is no overlap
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Coasting is regen. Full time or on demand (the paddle) and computer controlled
There is no overlap
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Not exactly... See this link:
Summarizing at speeds between 50ish and 70, in drive, the mode switches automatically to increase the efficiency by adding in power from a low torgue motor which is better at handling the higher speed, so you will get more miles per KW/Gal if you drive 50-60 and above in 'D'. Under 50-60, you will get better miles per KW/Gal using 'L' - for the details read all of the following post - I say read all, because you have to read down aways to get to the more detailed description. The early posts imply that it is a hard break at 70, when in fact it is a flexible break determined automatically by the vehicle based on certain factors https://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?6611-Voltec-drive-unit-has-four-basic-modes-of-operation
michel-slm
New Member
That's certainly not the case. The brake pedal would start off doing Regen, and will only engage the mechanical brakes if the amount of braking requested can't be satisfied fully that way.
The paddle, and L, would only do regen and not engage the actual brakes until you use the pedal.