Chevrolet 2013 VOLT Owner's Manual page 170

9-16 Driving and Operating
Mountain Mode
Mountain Mode should be selected
at the beginning of a trip before
climbing steep, uphill grades and
when expecting to drive in very hilly
or mountainous terrain. This mode
maintains a reserve electrical
charge of the high voltage battery to
provide better grade climbing
performance. While driving in
Mountain Mode, the vehicle will
have less responsive acceleration.
Mountain Mode will not change
normal vehicle braking performance
for steep downhill grades. See
Electric Drive Unit on page 9 19.
Press the DRIVE MODE button to
select Mountain Mode. If steep hill
driving is expected, it is
recommended to select Mountain
Mode at least 20 minutes before
driving on steep grades. This will
allow the vehicle time to build a
sufficient battery charge reserve.
If Mountain Mode is not selected for
these conditions, propulsion power
may be reduced and the engine
speed may increase. See
Propulsion Power Messages on
page 5 46.
The engine may run when Mountain
Mode is selected, depending on
high voltage battery charge, to build
reserve battery charge for uphill
climbs. If Mountain Mode is entered
with a sufficient battery charge
reserve, the battery charge reserve
will appear greyed out and any
battery charge reserve still unused
upon exiting Mountain Mode will
return to normal appearance.
Press the DRIVE MODE button
again to return to Normal Mode and
it becomes active after
three seconds.
The Mountain light comes on when
Mountain Mode is selected. See
Mountain Mode Light on page 5 20.
Each time the vehicle is started, it
will return to Normal Mode to
maintain a smaller battery charge
reserve for normal driving.
Hold Mode
Hold Mode is only available when
the vehicle is in Electric Mode. This
mode places the remaining battery
charge into a reserve for the driver
to use as desired. Selecting this