This car takes about 2yrs for an oil change - I drive mostly electric. Use Mobil 1 with Wix filter. Usually oilchange is due around X-mas time.
It might show 20% oil life remaining - should i change engine oil before the trip?
You are making this way too difficult. Ideal conditions this is a 19 hour drive without fuel or meal stops. Leaving at 5 AM and planning to drive at 80mph in the dark is foolish. The 55 mph part after 10 am with sun heat does not even make sense.
Hey Sci, I drive a Gen2 Volt. Just use “hold” mode. What year is yours? Some Gen1 Volts did not have a hold mode. If yours doesn’t then do whatever you can to use only the ICE. With only 20% oil life I would definitely change your oil and filter. Good luck!
+1 But, unfortunately, modern technology like that didn’t exist in The Good Old Days.
You won’t see much traffic congestion in northern Nevada, Utah or Wyoming, that is the reason the speed limit is 80 mph. Anything less than 70 mph on rural interstate highway would make me crazy.
Yeah no traffic but instead the strict policeman will be there.
He gave me a ticket lastime and threatened to inform my home state, CO!
That is what we (dad did this also) do most of the time, hit the road around 5am and drive for a few ours and then stop and get breakfast, then hit the road till lunch and go from there… Always try to miss the evening traffic…
We always start early for trips. While we are only going a relatively short distance, getting ahead of the main part of rush hour gives us at least a four hour head start on the day. What are you going to do while you wait for the traffic to abate?
Two days with early starts sounds reasonable, and the pre-trip inspection advice above is good. One more thing worth doing before November: check exactly what your roadside coverage includes. Some plans only cover a short tow, which matters on long empty stretches like Winnemucca to Salt Lake or across southern Wyoming, where the nearest shop you’d want working on a Volt could be far away. Higher membership tiers or the towing coverage on your auto policy can go much further, so a quick call is worth it. If you do need a tow, ask for a flatbed instead of a wheel-lift. Keep the numbers saved on your phone, carry warm layers and water, and check WYDOT and Nevada 511 for I-80 conditions the morning you leave, since Wyoming closes stretches of I-80 in wind and snow.
