One year, 12k miles later, I still love it. It has taken another trip up to CT from here in Baltimore and over Thanksgiving, took another trip up to Maine and back. Other than the couple long trips over the year, it has used barely one tank of gas. I've spent in total over the 12k miles, $120 in electricity (approx $10 a month) and $160 in gasoline (that covered local use as well as the 4 total long trips).
There have been zero maintenance costs (the oil life meter still shows about 78% left, so it may still be a while before I do an oil change). There was one Check Engine light come on for the charge port door, and one recall for the charging system, all done quickly and I was well taken care of by my dealer.
I drive with the trans in Low and with Sport mode engaged for better throttle tip in and agressive regen "braking" when you let off the throttle. The EV thrust is smooth and quiet and actually feels like a big engine luxury car (much like my 740iL). If you drive in D and in normal mode, it feels completely different, as there is little regen and it will coast forever, and you also have to use more throttle travel to make it accelerate quickly. Most people leave it in Normal and D for the test drive. Salesmen don't usually even know that there are other modes. You can use L gear all the way up to 100 mph, as it's not really another gear ratio, it just mimics the engine braking of a lower gear ratio by making regen aggressive. It's aggressive enough that I've been able to add a couple miles of range to the car just coming off an offramp of the highway and letting low gear slow the car and put energy back into the battery.
I find the premium leather seats to be more comfortable, and in my case, the Pebble Beige gives suede inserts on the seats and door panels (the black leather interior has no suede and the door panel inserts are smooth plastic.). The base interior is cloth, and it feels kind of cheap, to me. I'd definitely spring for one of the premium interiors. Also, there is a choice, with the black or base interiors, to have the center stack and instrument binnacle to be glossy white plastic or charcoal grey. I prefer the charcoal grey.
Hold mode , like I said in the OP, allows you to use the gas generator when it's most efficient, and the pure EV modes for when they are most efficient. By using hold mode, the generator runs to "hold" the battery charge at whatever level it was on when you changed modes. It'll actually build charge and then shut the engine down while you are driving, as the engine is not used to drive the wheels, until you are doing close to 100 mph (I've had it over 80 mph in normal and sport modes and the engine never fires up...). By using Hold mode, you can improve engine efficiency on the highway to get closer to 60 mpg (lowest I've seen if 45 mpg). The car is rated at 37 mpg because the EPA tested it in normal mode and let the engine run after the battery was depleted, at which point you're using it to not only maintain the battery charge, but run at low speeds in town where it's just not as efficient.
Battery range has increased as the weather warms up. I've gone the equivalent of 60 miles on a charge (used 5 kWh to go 30 miles), and gone the 8 miles one way to work on an indicated 2 miles of range, and I don't hypermile. I just drive it like a normal car.
Battery range is also affected by using the climate control settings. Fan only is what it says, and runs only the fans. Not bad most of the time, and uses very little power, so you maximize range. Eco is a setting that allows limited heating and AC (it uses electric heat and AC powered by the main battery pack), and works well to maintain temps even at local extremes (I've driven the car in as low as 15 degrees and as warm as 100 degrees since I've had it). Comfort is the max setting and will reduce range by a couple miles, but cools nicely in 95-100 degree heat (I use it to get it to temp in the cabin, then switch to Eco to maintain). In the winter, using the seat heaters will do wonders for improving range vs using the cabin heater. I just wish it had a heated steering wheel.
The Volt does not drive the wheels with the gas engine EXCEPT in certain rare instances which I've never experienced.
I charge the car every night with the stock 120V charger. It's habit to pull in, pop the cover and plug in. Takes about 10 seconds to do. There are two charge modes on 120v (and one 240V mode if you have a Level 2 charger). On basic charge (8 amp draw) it'll take about 10 hours to charge. On the high draw charge (12 amp draw) it'll take about 6 hours to charge fully. But since I rarely use more than half the range in daily use (I only go 15-25 miles per day in commuting and errand running) I usually charge in 4 hours with the 120v charger even on the 8a draw. So far since I got the car in February, my electric bill hasn't changed at all vs the same time last year.
If you guys test drive one, make sure of two things:
1) make sure the car is charged (so many aren't) and then
2) drive for a bit in normal mode (default) and D. Then put it in Sport mode and Low gear (they drive all the way up to 100 mph in low gear). Feel the difference in torque delivery for throttle position, and engine braking in Low. Punch it repeatedly from about 15-20 mph. Giggle a bunch. Seriously.
Some of the negative things...
The flexible air dam is quite low and scrapes on everything.
I wish it had a heated steering wheel.
I wish it retained sport mode when you shut it off, instead of having to select it every time I start the car up.
On those lines, I wish it retained the charge mode every time, in stead of having to select 12a charging every time I shut the car off before I plug it in. Normally I leave it in 8a mode as I don't need it charged until late, but if I could leave it in 12a mode, that would be cool.
Rear legroom is kind of tight. I never need 5 passenger seating, so 4 seats is fine, but a 6 footer doesn't fit well in back for longer trips.
Lastly, the A pillars are huge and do interfere a bit with blind left turns, as the driver's side pillar tends to block a lot of what's coming at you and can make it harder to place the car in faster twisties or parking lots. This is a problem I've seen in a lot of new cars, though, in trying to make rollover protection better.
Only other cost had nothing to do with the car, and that was that a couple weeks ago someone hit my driver's side rear door and quarter panel and took off leaving no note. So I had a $250 deductible on the repairs (which were done to a high standard by a local high end bodyshop)
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After:
