Black plate (65,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2011
Vehicle Care 10-65
The Tire and Loading Information
Label indicates the original
equipment tires on the vehicle.
SeeVehicle Load Limits on
page 9‑14, for the label location
and more information about the
Tire and Loading Information label.
Different Size Tires and
Wheels
If wheels or tires are installed that
are a different size than the original
equipment wheels and tires, vehicle
performance, including its braking,
ride and handling characteristics,
stability, and resistance to rollover
may be affected. If the vehicle has
electronic systems such as antilock
brakes, rollover airbags, traction
control, and electronic stability
control, the performance of these
systems can also be affected.
{WARNING
If different sized wheels are used,
there may not be an acceptable
level of performance and safety
if tires not recommended for
those wheels are selected.
This increases the chance
of a crash and serious injury.
Only use GM specific wheel
and tire systems developed
for the vehicle, and have them
properly installed by a GM
certified technician.
See Buying New Tires on
page 10‑63 andAccessories
and Modifications on page 10‑4
for additional information.
Uniform Tire Quality
Grading
Quality grades can be found
where applicable on the tire
sidewall between tread shoulder
and maximum section width.
For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA
Temperature A
The following information relates
to the system developed by the
United States National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), which grades tires
by treadwear, traction, and
temperature performance.
This applies only to vehicles
sold in the United States.
Black plate (11,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2011
Customer Information 13-11
Some insurance companies will
not specify aftermarket collision
parts. When purchasing insurance,
we recommend that you ensure that
the vehicle will be repaired with GM
original equipment collision parts.
If such insurance coverage is
not available from your current
insurance carrier, consider switching
to another insurance carrier.
If the vehicle is leased, the leasing
company may require you to have
insurance that ensures repairs with
Genuine GM Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM) parts or
Genuine Manufacturer replacement
parts. Read the lease carefully, as
you may be charged at the end of
the lease for poor quality repairs.If a Crash Occurs
If there has been an injury, call
emergency services for help. Do not
leave the scene of a crash until all
matters have been taken care of.
Move the vehicle only if its position
puts you in danger, or you are
instructed to move it by a police
officer.
Give only the necessary information
to police and other parties involved
in the crash.
For emergency towing see
Roadside Assistance Program on
page 13‑6.
Gather the following information:
.Driver name, address, and
telephone number.
.Driver license number.
.Owner name, address, and
telephone number.
.Vehicle license plate number.
.Vehicle make, model, and
model year.
.Vehicle Identification
Number (VIN).
.Insurance company and policy
number.
.General description of the
damage to the other vehicle.
Choose a reputable repair facility
that uses quality replacement parts.
See “Collision Parts” earlier in this
section.
In a crash, the sensing system may
shut down the high voltage system.
See Battery on page 10‑28 for
important safety information. If an
airbag has inflated, see What Will
You See after an Airbag Inflates? on
page 3‑31.
Black plate (26,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2011
13-26 Customer Information
Vehicle Data
Recording and
Privacy
This GM vehicle has a number of
sophisticated computers that record
information about the vehicle’s
performance and how it is driven.
For example, the vehicle uses
computer modules to monitor and
control engine and electric drive
unit performance, to monitor the
conditions for airbag deployment
and to deploy airbags in a crash,
and to provide antilock braking to
help the driver control the vehicle.
These modules may store data to
help your dealer technician service
the vehicle. Some modules may
also store data about how you
operate the vehicle, such as rate of
fuel consumption or average speed.
These modules may also retain the
owner’s personal preferences, such
as radio pre-sets, seat positions,
and temperature settings.
Event Data Recorders
This vehicle has an Event Data
Recorder (EDR). The main purpose
of an EDR is to record, in certain
crash or near crash-like situations,
such as an airbag deployment or
hitting a road obstacle, data that
will assist in understanding how
a vehicle's systems performed.
The EDR is designed to record data
related to vehicle dynamics and
safety systems for a short period of
time, typically 30 seconds or less.
The EDR in this vehicle is designed
to record such data as:
.How various systems in the
vehicle were operating.
.Whether or not the driver and
passenger safety belts were
buckled/fastened.
.How far, if at all, the driver was
pressing the accelerator and/or
brake pedal.
.How fast the vehicle was
traveling. This data can help provide a better
understanding of the circumstances
in which crashes and injuries occur.
Important:
EDR data is recorded
by the vehicle only if a non-trivial
crash situation occurs; no data is
recorded by the EDR under normal
driving conditions and no personal
data (e.g., name, gender, age,
and crash location) is recorded.
However, other parties, such as
law enforcement, could combine
the EDR data with the type of
personally identifying data
routinely acquired during a
crash investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR,
special equipment is required, and
access to the vehicle or the EDR is
needed. In addition to the vehicle
manufacturer, other parties, such
as law enforcement, that have the
special equipment, can read the
information if they have access to
the vehicle or the EDR.
Black plate (1,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-1
A
Accessories andModifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4
Accessory Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Add-On Electrical Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-63
Air Cleaner/Filter, Engine . . . . . 10-16
Air Conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Air Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Airbag Adding Equipment to the
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-38
Airbag System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-40
How Does an AirbagRestrain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-30
Passenger Sensing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-33
What Makes an Airbag Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-30
What Will You See after an Airbag Inflates? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-31
When Should an Airbag Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-28
Where Are the Airbags? . . . . . . 3-27 Airbags
Passenger Status Indicator . . . 5-20
Readiness Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Servicing Airbag-Equipped
Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-38
System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-25
Alarm System
Anti-theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Alert Pedestrian Friendly . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
AM-FM Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10
Antenna
Multi-band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-18
Anti-theft Alarm System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Alarm System Messages . . . . . 5-51
Antilock Brake System (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Appearance Care Exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-89
Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-93
Assistance Program, Roadside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6 Audio Players
CD/DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-18
MP3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-23
Audio System Hard Drive Device (HDD) . . . . . 7-26
Radio Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-17
Theft-Deterrent Feature . . . . . . . . 7-3
Automatic Climate Control System . . . . . . . . 8-1
Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Auxiliary Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-38
B
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16
High Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16
Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-79
Power Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Battery and Charging Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
Blade Replacement, Wiper . . . 10-31
Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-85
Brake Parking, Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35
Black plate (6,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2011
i-6 INDEX
I
Immobilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Infants and Young Children,Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-43
Information Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-41
Open Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-24
Infotainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Instrument Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Instrument Panel Storage Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
J
Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-79
K
Key and Lock Messages . . . . . . . 5-48
Keyless Entry Remote (RKE) System . . . . . . . . 2-3
Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
L
Labeling, Tire Sidewall . . . . . . . . 10-49
Lamp Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
Lamps Daytime Running (DRL) . . . . . . . 6-3
Dome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Exterior Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
License Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-36
Malfunction Indicator . . . . . . . . . 5-21
On Reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Lap-Shoulder Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
LATCH System Replacing Parts after aCrash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-57
LATCH, Lower Anchors and
Tethers for Children . . . . . . . . . . 3-49
Lifting the Vehicle, Tires . . . . . . . 10-5
Lighting Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Illumination Control . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5 Lights
Airbag Readiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Antilock Brake System
(ABS) Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Brake System Warning . . . . . . . 5-24
Charging System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
Electric Parking Brake . . . . . . . . 5-25
Engine Coolant Temperature Warning . . . . . . . 5-27
Engine Oil Pressure . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
High-Beam On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-2
Hood, Door, Hatch Open . . . . . 5-30
Low Fuel Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Mountain Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Safety Belt Reminders . . . . . . . . 5-18
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
Service Electric Parking Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
Sport Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Traction Control System (TCS)/StabiliTrak
®. . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-7
LocksAutomatic Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Lockout Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Power Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Low Fuel Warning Light . . . . . . . . 5-28
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children
(LATCH System) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-49
M
Maintenance
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-8
Maintenance Modes . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Maintenance Schedule Recommended Fluids andLubricants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
Scheduled Maintenance . . . . . . 11-2
Malfunction Indicator Lamp . . . . 5-21
Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-44 Menu
Configure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-66
Messages Airbag System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51
Anti-theft Alarm System . . . . . . . 5-51
Brake System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
Door Ajar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
Drive Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
Electric Drive Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
Engine Cooling System . . . . . . . 5-47
Engine Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
Fuel System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
Key and Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
Object Detection System . . . . . 5-49
Propulsion Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
Ride Control System . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
Service Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51
Starting the Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52
Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
Vehicle Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-53 Mirrors
Automatic Dimming
Rearview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Convex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Folding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Heated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Mode Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Extended Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Modes
Driver Selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26
Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Monitor System, Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-55
Mountain Mode Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
MP3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-23
Multi-band Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-18
Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2011
i-8 INDEX
N
NavigationDestination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-51
Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-47
Using the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-39
Vehicle Data Recordingand Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-27
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
O
Object Detection System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Oil Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . 10-15
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Older Children, Restraints . . . . . 3-41
Online Owner Center . . . . . . . . . . 13-4
OnStar
®System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-27
Open Source Information . . . . . 13-24 Ordering
Map DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-76
Service Publications . . . . . . . . 13-12
Out of Fuel/Engine Unavailable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Outlets Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Overheating, Engine . . . . . . . . . . 10-23
Overview, Infotainment System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
P
ParkShifting into . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Shifting out of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Parking Assist, Ultrasonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-43
Brake and P (Park)Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . 10-30
Over Things That Burn . . . . . . . 9-24
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
Passenger Sensing System . . . 3-33
Pedestrian Friendly Alert . . . . . . . 6-2
Perchlorate Materials
Requirements, California . . . . . 10-3 Personalization
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
Phone Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-85
Plug-In Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-49
Power Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31
Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Protection, Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Retained Accessory (RAP) . . . 9-22
Steering Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Pregnancy, Using Safety
Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
Privacy Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) . . . . . . . 13-27
Problems with Route
Guidance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-76
Program Courtesy Transportation . . . . . . 13-8
Black plate (9,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-9
Proposition 65 Warning,California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Propulsion Power Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
Propulsion System Start Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
R
Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) . . . . . . . . 13-27
Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-28
Radios AM-FM Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10
CD/DVD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-18
Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-17
Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-16
Reading Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Rear Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Rear Vision Camera (RVC) . . . . 9-46
Rearview Mirror Automatic Dimming . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Reclining Seatbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Recommended Fluids and Lubricants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
Records Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-8 Recreational Vehicle
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-87
Regenerative Braking . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Reimbursement Program, GM Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-5
Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Remote Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Replacement Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
Replacement Parts Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-40
Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-7
Replacing Airbag System . . . . . . 3-40
Replacing LATCH System Parts after a Crash . . . . . . . . . . . 3-57
Replacing Safety Belt
System Parts after a Crash . . . 3-24
Reporting Safety Defects Canadian Government . . . . . . 13-25
General Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-25
U.S. Government . . . . . . . . . . . 13-24
Requirements Electrical Battery Charging . . . 9-56
Restraints Where to Put . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-47 Retained Accessory
Power (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Ride Control Systems . . . . . . . . . 9-39 Electronic Stability (ESC) . . . . . 9-39
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
Roads Driving, Wet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Roadside Assistance Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
Rotation, Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-61
Routing, Engine Drive Belt . . . . . 12-3
Running the Vehicle While Parked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-31
S
Safety Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
Extender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
How to Wear Safety BeltsProperly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Lap-Shoulder Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
Replacing after a Crash . . . . . . 3-24
Use During Pregnancy . . . . . . . . 3-23