Chevy Bolt first drive

[Warren]

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1135425_toyota-nissan-ev-tax-credit-phaseout-soon-affordability-window

 

[Hillhater]

Ok then,.. call it a tax credit if you prefer !
But the question is the same....why on some but not all ?

Because the tax credit is only good for a manufacturer's first 200,000 plug-in cars. Tesla lost that first, then GM, mostly from Volt sales. Nissan will be next, but may still get a few Ariya SUV sales before they run out.

Ahh, OK , my mistake, i thought the Leaf had sold (500+ k) over the tax credit limit , but of course the tax credit is only for US sales (165k), !
thanks for clarifying.

 

[RTLSHIP]

How do you charge up from an apartment or condo when the car is 100 ft away? Or do you just go to a charge station?
By the way if you can get a tax credit, it is done through your federal tax return. I don't know about state or local incentives.

 

[CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING]

How do you charge up from an apartment or condo when the car is 100 ft away? Or do you just go to a charge station?
By the way if you can get a tax credit, it is done through your federal tax return. I don't know about state or local incentives.

Genuinely, As long as your electrical cable was rated for it you could just run an extension if you felt okay doing that. A 110v is only pulling 12 amps at most by design.
Most people tho, would go to a charge station. In the midwest most friends of mine who rent had at least one outlet in the apartment garage, but that's just a little personal exprience.

 

[Warren]

How do you charge up from an apartment or condo when the car is 100 ft away? Or do you just go to a charge station?

As CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING said, most can find an outlet somewhere. If not, PlugShare is your friend.

https://www.plugshare.com/#

 

[Hillhater]

Where there is a will , there is a way !
But public charge stations can be VERY expensive !
EVgo example..

Let’s do the math on charging real quick. Say you are charging at 30kW for 2 hours to fill up your Chevy Bolt. That’s going to cost you $.30 * 120 = $36. That’s not a bad price but it ends up being about $.60/ kWh which is about triple the local energy rates...

https://electrek.co/2019/02/08/evgo-switches-charging-prices/
At the 3 miles per kWh mentioned, that ends up at $0.20 per mile !

 

[Hillhater]

One important point i missed in this last few weeks was the fact that GM ARE PRODUCING THE BOLT again...
....contrary to our suspicions a few weeks back when they announced the shut down of the bolt line and potential conversion to SUV production.
That, coupled with the reduced pricing of $31k is indeed good news.

 

[Warren]

Where there is a will , there is a way !
But public charge stations can be VERY expensive !

Yes. You need to pay attention to where you get your juice. Lots of 240 volt AC stations are free. These will fill you battery at 7.2 kW with the onboard charger. If there is one you can ride a scooter or folding bike from, to work, coming back at lunch, or quitting time, will get you anywhere from 50% to 100% charge.

And unlike ICE vehicles you don't think about "filling up" each time. If you live in an apartment, or condo, you probably aren't driving more than 15 miles to work each day. If you plug into a free 240 volt EVSE over lunch, that covers most of the commute right there.

As for DC chargers, look for the ones that will output 150 amps That will have you charging at 55 kW starting from 10-20% SoC. Quit at 50%, where the Bolt starts to taper the charge rate to save time, or money if they charge by the minute. No point in paying higher prices for energy you aren't going to need today.

 

[calab]

No banging shifts, first class with a big noisy muffler and a peace sign sticker on the rear bumper.

Hows the space inside the Bolt for people 6'2" and what about rear seating space and cargo space in the frunk or trunk or wherever it is.

 

[Warren]

No banging shifts, first class with a big noisy muffler and a peace sign sticker on the rear bumper.

Hows the space inside the Bolt for people 6'2" and what about rear seating space and cargo space in the frunk or trunk or wherever it is.

One of the best parts is the stealthy nature of EV acceleration. As long as I avoid too much wheel spin, nobody realizes I have my foot in it. Last week, I pulled up to a light where a highway crosses our local road. The two lane road spreads out into 4 lanes briefly at this intersection. A noisy dual-sport bike pulled up on my right revving his throttle in typical "look at me" fashion. When the light went green he was clearly intent on getting in front of me. By the time he hit second, he was in the rearview mirror.

Lots of head and leg room. Some of the folks on the Bolt forum bought it specifically because they are tall. As for cargo, I bought six new tires, and a rim from Insurance Institute wrecked Bolts, at a fraction of retail, back when they tested the 2017s. With the rear seats down they all fit, with room for at least two more.

The main complaint I see is people who think the seats are too thin and firm. Some hate them. Others, like me, prefer them.

 

[thepronghorn]

No banging shifts, first class with a big noisy muffler and a peace sign sticker on the rear bumper.

Hows the space inside the Bolt for people 6'2" and what about rear seating space and cargo space in the frunk or trunk or wherever it is.

I'm 6'8" and got the Bolt because I fit in it better than the Model 3 or Y. The rear seating space is pretty tight behind me, same as any compact car. If you want more space, the EUV is pretty much the same car just 6" longer. I prefer the shorter EV version since it fits in more parking spaces in the city.

Regarding the seats - I like them. I prefer the fabric in the base trim since it doesn't smell like VOCs that make my head hurt.

 

[ZeroEm]

I'm 6'2" and most cars are to tight. So now my first test is sitting in a car to check the fit. My Ev is great to sit in. Think the ICE machines are cutting space to get the weight down. EV's are adding space. The battery mounted low makes them feel like a go-kart.

The prices are moving up on used EV's my Leaf after 4 yrs is worth 3k more than the purchased price.

 

[Hillhater]

......My Ev is great to sit in. Think the ICE machines are cutting space to get the weight down. EV's are adding space. .......

It seems your glowing enthusiasm for EVs , has blinded you to the fact that the most popular passenger ICEs are SUVs..!
NO shortage of space in those !.
Or maybe you believe that the Nissan Versa ( ice version of the leaf) has less space than the leaf ?

 

[ZeroEm]

Popular for whom? I'm single no family. But you are right the SUV's are everywhere 10-20 mpg. They are singing the blues.

 

[Hillhater]

Popular for whom? I'm single no family. But you are right the SUV's are everywhere 10-20 mpg. They are singing the blues.

Again maybe you have not noticed...not every SUV is a V8 Hemi..
.....mine does 40+ mpg without trying to save fuel. ( it is not uncommon to get 50+ mpg on a steady highway run)

 

[ZeroEm]

I'm sure it's different where you are, more civilized. As for me in South Texas they want big, powerful. Gasoline is normally cheaper here than most of the US.

I see the smaller SUV's on TV not on the roads here. Truck's, crew cabs are popular here too. Just not for sure how far they go on a budget.

 

[speedmd]

Popular for whom? I'm single no family. But you are right the SUV's are everywhere 10-20 mpg. They are singing the blues.

Again maybe you have not noticed...not every SUV is a V8 Hemi..
.....mine does 40+ mpg without trying to save fuel. ( it is not uncommon to get 50+ mpg on a steady highway run)

Nothing sold in the USA comes close to your claims in my experience. Maybe a few tiny ones with a pedal artist can get close. Maybe with a tail wind and no hills!

 

[Hillhater]

Nothing sold in the USA comes close to your claims in my experience. Maybe a few tiny ones with a pedal artist can get close. Maybe with a tail wind and no hills!

And “Maybe” you just need more experience ?

 

[speedmd]

Nothing sold in the USA comes close to your claims in my experience. Maybe a few tiny ones with a pedal artist can get close. Maybe with a tail wind and no hills!

And “Maybe” you just need more experience ?

HA HA,, Have you experienced the SIZE of the average American family? :lol: None of the tiny suv shaped cars would work out very well for a good portion of them. Point taken on the latest hybrids that are nipping at 40mpg (mfg claimed). In our hilly region, I know of no one that gets close to "claimed" mileage unless they are significantly soft pedaling it with line of cars behind them. :x Will be interesting to see how sales for them fair in the coming year.

 

[RTLSHIP]

What's the mileage lifespan of the typical battery on an electric car? I ask after viewing some used electric cars online. They had 40,000 miles on average. I'm referring to some small used BMW's and Audi's. The typical prices were around $16,000 for 2014-15 models.
The Tesla 3 used was a lot more. maybe 40,000.

 

[speedmd]

What's the mileage lifespan of the typical battery on an electric car?

With or without Thermal management? Climate and average SOC also important questions. Saw a Model 3 drivers posting pack capacity of his with 200K miles with better than 80% of initial stock capacity. I have not heard of any of the leaf packs doing as well. At least from the warmer areas of the country. Not sure if this is tallied anywhere.

 

[Hillhater]

A “typical” battery on an EV car will have a manufacturers warranty for 8 years.

 

[speedmd]

Battery university did some summary of various charge discharge cycle scenarios.

batteryuniversity.com/img/content/DST-cycles-web2.jpg
for some reason image is not posting?

Figure 6 illustrates dynamic stress tests (DST) reflecting capacity loss when cycling Li-ion at various charge and discharge bandwidths. The largest capacity loss occurs when discharging a fully charged Li-ion to 25 percent SoC (black); the loss would be higher if fully discharged. Cycling between 85 and 25 percent (green) provides a longer service life than charging to 100 percent and discharging to 50 percent (dark blue). The smallest capacity loss is attained by charging Li-ion to 75 percent and discharging to 65 percent. This, however, does not fully utilize the battery. High voltages and exposure to elevated temperature is said to degrade the battery quicker than cycling under normal condition. (Nissan Leaf case)

Here is one on region - cooling from green car rep...

 

[ZeroEm]

When looking at EV's need to look at the battery data. How much the battery is charging up to. They don't publish this only miles. Don't go by miles. You want a used car that is charging up to 80-90%. 70% they claim you need to change the battery. Life of a battery we all know is how it was treated and cycles. So don't depend on miles.

 

[Warren]

I just read Karl's piece on guerrilla charging his Bolt. I like it all, but would warn about the Mustart EVSE. The early ones, at least, were not safe. They did not have the resistor which signals their amp limit to the car's onboard charger. The J1772 plugs were not rated for the 32 amps the Bolt can pull. This meant they could weld themselves to the car's inlet. Not only was the EVSE plug ruined, but the charge inlet of the cars as well. This repair is not cheap, and not paid for by Mustart

https://www.macheforum.com/site/attachments/d1-3a_-_march_2019_epri_iwc_-_evse_safety_analysis-et-1-1-pdf.51197/

https://openev.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/6000052074-basics-of-sae-j1772

https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/mustart-chargers-damaging-cars.39601/#lg=attachment_xfUid-1-1656255959&slide=0