I was fortunate to be able to drive the Chevy Volt for a week, courtesy of the great folks at Gastorf Chevrolet.
With my job the Chevy Volt seems like a perfect car for both my business and personal needs. I own my own marketing company, and the majority of my customers are in St. Charles county and West or North St. Louis County. I also get to work out of my home office, and meet with my clients at their businesses, or at coffee shops and restaurants in St. Charles and St. Louis Counties.
My driving typically ranges between 10 and 45 miles per day. Most days I drive 30 miles or less. So I was really excited to give the Chevy Volt a try since it can go about the fist 40 miles on electric charge before having to use gas.
Day 1 – picked up the Chevy Volt and drove to my house in St. Charles, MO. I decided to drive until the electric charge was used up so that I could test day 2 on gas.
Day 2 – drove to client and business meetings in St. Charles, using gas the entire day.
Day 3 – drove to client and business meetings in St. Charles and West St Louis County – all on the electric charge.
Day 4 – drove to the Clayton / Richmond Heights area to run errands and each lunch. I used up the electric charge and drove the last 2 miles on gas.
Day 5 – drove to St. Louis County to run errands and to each lunch – all on the electric charge.
Day 6 – drove to Ballwin to play in the West County Chamber golf tournament – all on the electric charge.
Day 7 – drove to client and business meetings in St. Charles, using electric the entire day.
Day 8 – drove to client and business meetings in St. Charles and West St Louis County – all on the electric charge.
Day 9 – drove to a client meeting in St. Charles, then to Warrenton to return the Chevy Volt to Gastorf Chevrolet – I used up the electric charge and drove the last mile on gas.
The final results for the week: 419.1 Miles – 1.1 Gallons of Gas. Almost all of the gas was because I decided to drive day 2 on Gas and not electric, so realistically I would have used less than a half gallon of gas!
The Chevy Volt is a very nice car. It handles great, acceleration is good, and there is a decent amount of space though the back seat is pretty cramped for adult passengers. It worked perfectly for my lifestyle, supporting both my business and personal needs. Most importantly to me, I found out that I could use the Chevy Volt almost entirely on electric, but had the convenience of a conventional gas tank if I had to drive more than 35 miles before I could recharge the electric battery!















