referencing the eCVT blog post or whatever you call it on here.
2 years ago, I got my first hybrid - a toyota rav 4. I live in suburban appalachia, which means nobody here even gets the city rating on cars if they are not far from the city and can game the numbers with interstate.
Charging system (not batteries) and coordination in a car is supposedly the big reason prior hybrids get junked. 15 year old car, for example, charging system fails, and the fix is $6k or whatever.
last car was a scion xb - we managed to get 21 miles per gallon out of it on average, which sucks. chrysler van that snags 30 on the highway easily? Locally, wife gets 16.5 miles a gallon out of it.
But the comments I saw on poo-pooing mechanics about CVTs (subarus, etc) often included "except the Toyota eCVT design".
I live in an area where affluent folks live to the north, and they travel past my bus stop, or where I used to get the bus, so we get a what's current view on cars. Have to go more rural to get a "what's still in use if you can find a mechanic that doesn't pay $10k a month site rent for two or three stalls", so..
...I haven't seen a volt in a LOOONG time. the rav4 hybrids are basically the new corolla here, albeit a good bit more expensive, with a dose of toyota camry also taken over by the rav4s. they are a sneaky way of making a semi-compact car look taller.
short story long, local mileage 38 in warm weather, 33 in cold (wife lets the car sit and run a lot and runs the heat on high while driving, causing the car to run just to make heat).
Great drive system for new drivers, too - it's sort of like driving a go kart, and the only annoying thing is the drone if climbing a long hill. No gears, no up or down - same pitch of the motor steady for a while, and it sounds more like driving a tractor due to that.
haven't seen a bolt in a while, either. Boatload of teslas and toyota hybrids.
Peter - you have a running volt?!!!
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Re: Peter - you have a running volt?!!!
Edited #2
@David Weaver,
Yep! 
Zoom zoom!
Added later 56 min 48 s:
I was working as a field engineer driving over 100K per year and looked for something to replace the Land Rover Disco that was eating my travel expenses for lunch. I was about to get a BMW 335D but stumbled upon a 2014 Volt and was intrigued. The 335D was a blast to drive (insane torque that just seemed to get stronger as you approached 100 mph), but the Volt was equally fun because of the 100% torque from zero mph and remained steady thru acceleration. But in overall handling, I give the nod to the Volt, because of the low center of gravity just ahead of the rear axles from the high-voltage battery pack. That's exactly where you want it; think Lambo, et al.
The car has been perfect, zero problems, only normal maintenance like wiper blades and oil changes about every 30K miles. The computer keeps track of how often the ICE runs and calculates when it needs changing. Brake pads and rotors like new at 170K miles because of the regen braking. No apparent battery degradation. Rated for 37 miles range in EV mode, still gets that. As a hybrid, it get 42 mph, the factory rating.
An engineer from the Volt team told me they over-engineered almost every thing to target ten years or one million miles on the drive train. Now over ten years but no where near a million miles, so I can only verify half of that claim is accurate.
The piano-white trim with black leather took some getting used to. Now I rather like it. Gets lots of complements and questions about WTH kind of car it is. I'm an attention whore, so that pleases me. Bose is known for marketing hype and over-rated but they can make nice stuff, and the custom system they designed for the Volt is probably the best I've had in any car. I can even drown out the loud exhaust noise from muscle cars as I silently pull away from them at stoplights.
Window sticker in the glovebox from original owner shows $50K new. I paid $12K in 2019. Glad I didn't buy it new.
On January 11. a 100-foot poplar tree behind my garage decided to break about 20 feet up and smash across my garage, then split again at the front and hit my Volt parked in front of it. Broke the glass in the hatchback. Insurance is calling it totaled based on shop estimate of $10K. Ordered a salvage hatch for $212 on eBay which will be here Monday. I'll just fix it myself and drop the insurance claim. No way will I let them total it. I can't think of any car I would want to replace it with for even 4x what they are offering me.
How do you like your Rav?
Re: Peter - you have a running volt?!!!
#3peter, this is pretty exceptional experience! I never heard much explanation as to why they left the area here so quickly. Not sure if maybe it was thermal, or if it's another issue here - a lot of people lease cars here. Over and over and over.
Your mention of salvage value is the drawback, I guess, of all hybrids - plug in or not. They all create fear of charging system component repairs, which makes them an ideal target to get used if you can retain that risk on your own. Which, unless someone is living payment to payment, of course they can.
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Ok, rav 4 - I didn't want a plug in here because I don't have anything set up to do it (outside), and at the moment, it doesn't make rate sense here in AI center land vs. the cost of gas. I knew I wanted a stripped down base or one-up version of a camry (xle, or maybe an SE), but when I replaced my car, I also wanted something the wife would drive to get away from grinding 16.5 miles per gallon out of a van that's already got 100k miles on it (and is Chrysler - but in fairness, we got it used four years ago and haven't had to fix anything on it that wasn't wear items. I do the brakes, so that's not a big threat).
That boils down to I wanted a camry hybrid. But the mrs. has the ladies illusion, let's call it, that cars that are not tall are dangerous and will get run over. Wife and her friend group share this unreasonable fear of death by super duty monster truck type crash, and if I'd have gotten the camry hybrid, she would not drive it. the rav4 is a compromise. the mileage is 20-25% worse (but still in warm weather averages about 40 in all driving, cold weather declines due to habits here - wife letting the car run to warm up, and sitting in it with it running at kids events, etc), but it's still well over 30. There is nothing exciting about it, but it's easy to drive, and though it's just a mid-compact car raised up, it gives the mrs. the illusion that it's safer. The eCVT setup has a motor front and rear, so it has "cheaty" AWD. No drive system from front to back, but the second motor on the back will automatically operate if there is wheel slip, so the things we really get stuck in here for AWD - mud or slow driving in snow, it's good for that.
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my boys dream cars were all inline six something, or like the old 300 diesel benz, but I've given up on that. I just don't like giving money away, the government hates diesel and the price locally is always high enough to negate any fuel savings, and the ship has just sailed. I'm nearing 50 and thrill purchases would just delay retirement, and I don't plan to be working after late 50s.
But I'd still like to have a 10k mile early to mid 80s benz mechanical diesel if one just popped out of nowhere for $10.