Car Buying for Today’s Families: Understanding Habits & Electric Options #NextGenVolt

This is a sponsored post written from my experience with She Buys Cars and Chevrolet at the Washington Auto Show’s press day.

Did you know that the average car on the road is 11 years old? Whether you’re in the market for a new car this year or in the near future, chances are that the cars that you’ll be looking at are different from what you currently drive.

When I was at the Washington Auto Show last week, I had the opportunity to go on a tour of the auto show floor with James Bell, Head of Consumer Affairs for General Motors, who gave me an overview new technology in vehicles and what to expect in the coming years from various car brands.

I’m not a novice when it comes to attending car shows and understand the under the hood lingo but I wanted to better understand what today’s families should look for when buying a car from a true expert. Rather than giving me the hard sell on the Chevy line of cars, James urges consumers to know their habits to determine what car best fits their family.

I also had a chance to ask him about propulsion. Propulsion was a term that kept coming up in our tour of the cars on the show floor as we made our way through Mazda, Toyota, Kia, Mercedes, and the Chevy family of vehicles. Essentially propulsion is what makes your car run and these days there are many options other than just gas. I had a chance to talk about the different propulsion options that consumers have when looking for vehicle. Take a look!

While hybrid cars have been all the rage as an eco-friendly option that uses less gas, electric vehicles let consumers rely on energy as a source to power their cars. The first electric cars came with concerns about the distance you could drive on the charge, where to plug in along the way, and the need for a 220V plug but we’ve come a long way. Electric vehicles that charge thanks to a regular outlet at home, plugging stations that are more conveniently located, plus never having to worry about the fluctuating prices of fuel makes plug-in cars more appealing option than ever.

At this year’s auto shows the new electric darling is the 2016 Chevy Volt. According to Pam Fletcher, the Chief Engineer for the Volt (yes, the chief engineer for the Volt is a woman!), innovation, technology, and consumer feedback from current Volt owners has made the 2016 Volt better than ever.

This sleek little package features a fresh new aerodynamic design, new interior with seating for 5, and an intuitive instrument panel with controls that have been designed for ease of use.

Charging the Volt

Volt’s features include location-based charging capabilities, allowing owners to pre-set their 120V charging level. Drivers can determine whether they wish to charge immediately, set a departure time for each day of the week, or set a departure time and a utility rate schedule to charge only at off-peak rates. Such features are designed to save the consumer money through efficient charging.  These setting will only have to be programmed once and the Volt will default to them when the vehicle returns to its home location.

Intuitive charge status indicators allow Volt owners to confirm that their vehicle is charging while gauging charge status. A specially designed tone indicates when charging has begun and there are additional tones for delayed charging. Volt will even let you know if the charge port door was left open after unplugging but before entering the vehicle. A helpful updated charge status indicator light can also be seen through the windshield and an illuminated charge port makes it easier to plug in after dark.

Safety

With a stronger body structure that uses high strength steel, Volt is safer than ever. Standard and available safety options work with an all-new body structure to provide crash-avoidance and passenger protection capability through features like:

• Standard rear-vision camera
• Ten standard air bags, including driver and front-passenger knee air bags
• Optional active safety features such as lane keep assist with lane departure warning, side blind zone alert with lane change alert, rear cross traffic alert, forward collision alert with following distance indicator, front automatic braking, and advanced park assist with front and rear park assist.

Images of the 2016 Volt courtesy of Chevrolet.