The Volt was redesigned for 2016.
It went from a 2-seater to a 3-seater in back – but we’d say this is in name only, as 2C is essentially useless. No adult can manage to straddle the massive console they would have at their feet if they sat in 2C. And the oh-so-necessary double cupholders encroach into 2C so far that many car seats & boosters won’t even have enough room to sit on 2C’s cushion (they can not sit on the cupholders). Like all GM vehicles, 2C has no head restraint – so it can never be used for a child in a backless booster or an adult due to the risk of severe whiplash injuries. Therefore, we’d strongly recommend thinking of this Volt as still a 2-seater in back – with just 2D & 2P.
Seat belt installations will be especially problematic in this vehicle due to the extreme bucketing of 2D & 2P coupled with the fact that the seat belt buckles are anchored many inches above the seat bottom. This can also lead to poor lap belt fit on adults – where the lap belt is more on the belly than on the hip bones.
If you need to install a car seat in this vehicle, you’re going to want to use LATCH… but don’t expect this to go smoothly with many car seats either as the lower anchors are located quite high above the bight (seat crease). Selecting a car seat with a very high LATCH weight limit will be helpful – like the Graco Extend2Fit for rear-facing (goes up to 45 pounds of the child’s weight) and for forward-facing the IMMI Go (up to 55 pounds of the child’s weight).
The Volt was first introduced in 2011 as a 2-seater in back with a large console in between.
This model year range of the Volt has a slightly more favorable design for 2D and 2P than in the 2016 & newer Volt. The original Volts have slightly less bucketing of the vehicle seats and the lower anchors are located where they should be, not high above the seat crease as is found in the newer Volts. However, the original Volts have a significant bump at the bight (seat crease) which will interfere with some car seats – in particular infant seat bases.
