Rolling the dice on a Chevy Bolt

HCHTech

HCHTech

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My wife's venerable 2008 Honda Fit has finally come to the end of the line. After looking around, we decided to roll the dice on our first EV. I don't buy new cars, so like the last several I've bought, this one was a 3-yr old (2018) off-lease. 24K miles, Premier model. In the last 10 years, she has averaged only 7K miles per year, so the 230-some mile range seems like a doable number. I drove it back on the 100 mile trip back from the dealer we purchased it from, and it performed just like a normal car in my estimation. Lots of gee whizzery, but you can also just ignore all of that and drive. I have some concerns because of the recent news items, but they weren't enough to quash the deal. No flames please - I don't want to become a statistic!
 
Be real careful during the winter and cold months of the year. The Bolt is reported to only have around a 140-mile range during those times.

I'd be afraid to depend on any EV car since there is no real standard on the charging stations.
 
If you can charge it at home, and you never leave it's relatively limited range I can't see how you'd lose.

I bought an electric golf cart just before the pandemic to get miles off my wife's minivan. Just getting the kids to and from school that changed $200 / month in fuel to about $10 / month in electricity. Everyone I know that's done full EV buys have reported similar savings, it's vastly less expensive per mile. The catch is range...

As for charging, every EV on the market in the US uses the SAE J1772 charging connector EXCEPT the Tesla... and the Teslas come with adapters to work with the aforementioned plug. So if you can find a charging station, it'll fit.

Now if you want fast charge... things go off the rails quickly. So yeah, assume the range is half what it lists, and charge at home, use it for your daily commuter / grocery runner and you should do fine.

My business partner lives near Pittsburgh. He had a Ford Fusion for awhile, said it worked great. But it did much better in the Summer than the Winter, running that heater is electrically expensive. He also reported surprising range with regenerative braking in the hills.
 
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Not flamin' - make sure you get the software update that charges the battery to only 90% (Should already have it if you bought from a dealer as it is a recall notice). Some small isolated fire incidents is the reason for the 90% update. Some suspect battery degradation too high at 100%, also, so update!

Not to scare you off, a friend of mine has a 2017 Bolt and he had to have the battery replaced at 40K(Q4 2020).... $16K battery and another 2K to put it in at the dealer - all covered by warranty, but still, took over a month. Eeek. If you notice your battery life is under 50% of rated range after a full charge, get it checked out.

Congrats!
 
I'd not have an issue buying and using an EV if the price is reasonable. I never buy new and usually pay in the 8-9k range. But last one I splurged and spent just over 13. But it was was an immaculate 2013 Caravan with only 59k. The range is what matters. And I'm not going to risk things even on a vehicle that claims 400 miles. My van can get it's 340 miles replenished in 3-4 minutes tops pretty much anywhere. EV's got a long way to go. But if my business model was different, say I only focused on a concentrated urban area, then it would work.

The main concern I have is battery replacement. At my preferred price point I'd bet an EV's battery is probably at 50% at best. So another 4-5k might be coming along much sooner than I want.

But best of luck @HCHTech. Sounds like it'll fit the bill for your wife's situation.
 
@Markverhyden My use case is very similar, and it's for that reason I'll be staying clear of any EV until I see them advertise a 600 mile range. Because at that point I can be reasonably sure I'll get the ~400 miles I get now.
 
Agree on the range issue. I could never do an EV for my main driver. I'm very happy in my hybrid, though - a 2016 Prius that is the first car I've ever owned that has a 500mi range on a full tank. My last Prius, a 2007, topped out at 325 - I was at the pump once per week on average. I've cut back on my driving since then so I'm down to twice per month - I'm much happier at that frequency. I hope that by the time I'm ready for my next car there will be more choices and more range (and better chemistry for the batteries!).
 
Range is always the most talked about concern but I'm hopeful with time it will become a non-issue due to rapid charging. If they can improve to a level where 80% charge takes under 10 minutes then it's not so different to pulling over for petrol in a normal car. And lets be honest if you have been driving 250+ miles non-stop from a full battery you're going to be thankful for that 10 minute break anyway.

Personally, I think they need another ~5 years to mature a little more before I jump in to buying one. More range, faster charging, better supporting infrastructure and probably the most important... the cost!

At least in the UK all the main manufacturers EV variants (Vauxhall Corsa-E, VW Golf ID3, Peugeot E-2008 etc) are nearly £10k more than their equivalent petrol versions. So any savings you make on fuel are lost several times over.
 
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The price differential to buy an EV is made up for beyond what you'll see in just fuel savings. Maintenance costs approach nearly zero. There's no oil to change, transmission fluid, etc. Brakes last forever. In general EVs will be more reliable as they have maybe 200 moving parts vs 2,000 on a regular car.
 
I'm waiting for solid state batteries before I jump on an EV. The current technology is just too dangerous. People are going to look back on these first electric vehicles and wonder how governments allowed them to be sold, sort of like how we look back at how electricity in houses was first implemented. The wires weren't even insulated! Or how women used to wear makeup composed of toxic materials. Or how people used to use asbestos in their houses.

The next vehicle I buy will be fully autonomous with a solid state battery. Buying a car now is like buying a PowerMac G5 when you know Apple is transitioning to Intel next year.
 
HCHTech said:
Agree on the range issue. I could never do an EV for my main driver. I'm very happy in my hybrid, though - a 2016 Prius that is the first car I've ever owned that has a 500mi range on a full tank.
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I have a 2011 hybrid Prius that is still going strong after 10 years. My main concern was battery life and replacement, but I'm still getting over 450 miles per tank. I researched online and it's around $2500k for the battery and $1500k labor, so not as expensive to fix if I wanted to do that. I can't see myself going full EV for a primary car either right now, but I love my Prius. It has been very low maintenance so far.
 
JoeTech said:
I have a 2011 hybrid Prius that is still going strong after 10 years. My main concern was battery life and replacement, but I'm still getting over 450 miles per tank. I researched online and it's around $2500k for the battery and $1500k labor, so not as expensive to fix if I wanted to do that. I can't see myself going full EV for a primary car either right now, but I love my Prius. It has been very low maintenance so far.
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Yeah, I had my 2007 for almost 11 years - maintenance was oil & tires. I did the brakes at 85,000, and they were still good when I got rid of it at 145,000. Original battery, too. The only big expense I had during that whole time was the front wheel bearings - way more complicated than the average car, ~$700 each. I did both within 12 months of each other somewhere in the 90,000 mile range. I researched the battery swap, and I think it was well within my skillset to replace it myself but frankly, I just got tired of the car. I replaced it with a 2016 higher end model (bought at the end of 2019), traded that dull silver for a candy red - haha. As I recall, I got a $2,500 trade-in, I was a little shocked it was worth that much.
 
britechguy said:
In today's New York Times: After Fires, Chevrolet Bolt Owners Are Warned: Don’t Park Indoors

Something worth being aware of.
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This is something everyone should be aware of already. Batteries off gas while charging, and sometimes the compounds in question aren't so nice.

Lead Acid batteries give off hydrogen and oxygen while charging, this is why they tell you never to put the negative clamp on the battery directly when you're giving someone a jump. The surge of energy from the running engine can cause the receiving battery to give off a highly flammable air mixture... combine that with a spark from the clamp as it's coming down on the terminal and... well... boom.

I assume there's a similar risk to lithium chemistries... but I'm unaware of the specifics. In this case though the news is trying to get people to park them outside so if they do burn, they don't take the house with them. But I'm concerned about charging a battery of that scale without proper ventilation as a general rule. All of the fixed emplacements of large lithium packs I've seen for homes have powered ventilation too. The documentation calls for fresh air inlets. If this practice was just for temperature control, there'd be no need. And given that lithium does better in cooler environments, you'd think conditioned air would be ideal. But no... the manufacturers recommend fresh air circulation systems.

Still, it's not common that an EV or a plug in hybrid has burst into flames in someone's garage. And I haven't heard of any medical issues for people living in these conditions either. So I have no evidence to suggest this is a real thing, it's just something of a habit left over from the older, and much better understood lead acid battery.
 
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