Chevy Volt Owner Hits 300,000 Mile Mark — “No Difference In The Battery Since The Day I Bought It”

A 2012 Chevy Volt owner by the name of Erick Belmer recently surpassed the 300,000 mile mark in his plug-in hybrid — potentially giving some new insight into the durability of the popular model.

Of the more than 300,000 miles on the Volt, more than a third (over 105,000) were in the all-electric mode — which, interestingly, has had only a minimal effect on battery performance.

“There’s no difference in the battery since the day I bought it,” Belmer noted during a recent phone interview with GM-Volt (given during his 110-mile each-way work commute). “I still get the same amount of EV miles I did when it was new.”

During the interview, Belmer also noted that his 2012 Chevy Volt with 300,000 miles on it was still running just as smoothly as his wife’s 2013 Volt with 96,000 miles on it.

“It rides just like my wife’s Volt,” Belmer stated. “We can’t tell them apart.”

GM Volt provides more:

Of these miles, more than 105,000 have been all-electric for the extended-range EV purchased April 2012, and it is one of the highest mileage Volts in a private customer’s hands having accrued miles at an exceptional rate.

In the 47 months that Belmer has owned it, he’s averaged 6,393 total miles per month, and of these, 2,236 miles have been on battery power alone. Just the EV miles are close to double the distance an average driver travels, and when we last checked on Belmer mid December 2015, he’d crossed the 100,000 EV-mile mark, and was believed to have been the world’s first to have done so. To date, the vehicle has been remarkably trouble free, said Belmer.

A millwright at General Motors’ Lordstown Complex and assembly plant where they build the Chevy Cruze, Belmer said he was faced with the long commute when the local GM plant he was working at closed down a few years ago. In the interest of staying near to aging parents and other community ties, when he was relocated by GM, Belmer and his wife decided the commute, while self-sacrificial, would be in their family’s best interest. But, they wanted a car that would be economical to run, and the Volt was chosen, said Belmer, after he and his wife – an accountant – determined that of all potential cars to draft into epic commuter duty, the Volt would make the most economic sense.

A determination that appears to have been the correct one, going by the figures below:

Worth noting here is that General Motors provides free employee charging at the Lordstown facility where Belmer works.

“This is the only car that I ever purchased that I feel I got more than I paid for it,” stated Belmer.

Image Credits: Erick Belmer; Volt Stats