
Black plate (3,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
Lighting 6-3
A light sensor on top of the
instrument panel makes the DRL
work, so be sure it is not covered.
Fully functional DRL are required on
all vehicles first sold in Canada.When the DRL are on, the taillamps,
sidemarker lamps, instrument panel
lights, and other lamps will not be
on. The instrument cluster will be lit.
When the exterior lamp control band
is turned to the headlamp position,
the low-beam headlamps come on.
The other lamps that come on with
the headlamps will also come on.
When the vehicle is on and you are
stopped, the DRL can be turned off
by moving the shift lever to P (Park).
The DRL will stay off until the shift
lever is moved out of the P (Park)
position.
The regular headlamp system
should be turned on when needed.
Hazard Warning Flashers
|(Hazard Warning Flasher):
Press this button, on the center
stack, to make the front and rear
turn signal lamps flash on and off.
This warns others that you are
having trouble.
Press
|again to turn the
flashers off.

Black plate (36,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
9-36 Driving and Operating
Regenerative Braking
Regenerative braking takes some of
the energy from the moving vehicle
and turns it back into electrical
energy. This energy is then stored
back into the high voltage battery
system, contributing to increased
energy efficiency.
The hydraulic disc brakes work with
the regenerative braking to ensure
effective braking, such as when a
high braking demand is requested.
The braking system is computer
controlled and blends the
regenerative braking with the
conventional hydraulic disc brakes
to meet any requirements for
deceleration. The controllerinterprets the braking request and
uses regenerative braking,
conventional hydraulic braking, or a
combination of both as necessary.
Because the controller applies the
hydraulic brakes through its high
pressure accumulator, you may
occasionally hear the motor‐driven
pump when it recharges the system.
This is normal.
See
Warning Lights, Gauges, and
Indicators on page 5‑8 andDriver
Information Center (DIC) on
page 5‑45. In the event of a
controller problem, the brake pedal
may be harder to push and the
stopping distance may be longer.
Ride Control Systems
Traction Control
System (TCS)
The vehicle has a Traction Control
System (TCS) that limits wheel spin.
The system operates if it senses
that one or both of the drive wheels
are slipping or beginning to lose
traction. When this happens, the
system brakes the spinning wheel(s)
and/or reduces power to limit
wheel spin.
The system may be heard or felt
while it is working, but this is
normal.
To assist with directional control of
the vehicle, TCS automatically
comes on whenever the vehicle is
turned on. To limit wheel spin,
especially in slippery road
conditions, the system should
always be left on. But, TCS can be
turned off if needed.

Black plate (5,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-5
G
Garage Door Opener . . . . . . . . . . 5-65Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-60
Gauges Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Driver Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Trip Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Warning Lights and
Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
General Information Service and Maintenance . . . . . 11-1
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-64
Vehicle Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
GM Mobility Reimbursement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
H
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Hazard Warning Flashers . . . . . . . 6-3
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Daytime Running
Lamps (DRL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-2
Lamps On Reminder . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Heated Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Heated Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Heating and Air Conditioning . . . 8-1
High Voltage Battery Gauge . . . 5-14
High Voltage Devices and Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . . . 9-9
Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-7 Hood, Door, Hatch Open
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
I
Immobilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Infants and Young Children,Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-36
Information Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-43
Infotainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Instrument Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Instrument Panel
Storage Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
J
Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-75

Black plate (6,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
i-6 INDEX
K
Key and Lock Messages . . . . . . . 5-51
Keyless EntryRemote (RKE) System . . . . . . . . 2-3
Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
L
Labeling, Tire Sidewall . . . . . . . . 10-45
Lamps Daytime Running (DRL) . . . . . . . 6-2
Dome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Exterior Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
License Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-31
Malfunction Indicator . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51
On Reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Lap-Shoulder Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
LATCH System
Replacing Parts after aCrash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-50
LATCH, Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children . . . . . . . . . . 3-42
LED Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Lifting the Vehicle, Tires . . . . . . . 10-3 Light
Ready Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Vehicle Ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Lighting Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Illumination Control . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Lights Airbag Readiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Antilock Brake System(ABS) Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Brake System Warning . . . . . . . 5-22
Charging System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Electric Parking Brake . . . . . . . . 5-22
Engine Coolant Temperature Warning . . . . . . . 5-25
Engine Oil Pressure . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
High-Beam On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-2
Hood, Door, Hatch Open . . . . . 5-28
Low Fuel Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Mountain Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Safety Belt Reminders . . . . . . . . 5-16 Lights (cont'd)
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Service Electric Parking
Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Sport Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
StabiliTrak
®OFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
Traction Control System (TCS)/StabiliTrak
®. . . . . . . . . . 5-25
Traction Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Locks Automatic Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Lockout Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Power Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Low Fuel Warning Light . . . . . . . . 5-27
Lower Anchors and Tethers
for Children (LATCH
System) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-42

Black plate (12,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
i-12 INDEX
Vehicle (cont'd)Starting and Stopping . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Total Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-81
Vehicle Care Storing the Tire Sealantand Compressor Kit . . . . . . . 10-74
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-50
Vehicle Ready Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Ventilation, Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
Voltage Devices and
Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
W
WarningBrake System Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Warning Lights, Gauges, and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Cautions and Danger . . . . . . . . . . . .iv
Hazard Flashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-21 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55 Wheels
Alignment and Tire
Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-63
Different Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-61
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-63
When It Is Time for New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-58
Where to Put the Restraint . . . . 3-41
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Windshield
Wiper/Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10
Winter Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-45
Wiper Blade Replacement . . . . 10-28
Wiring, High Voltage Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32