Comment on Remember when car controls weren't complicated
icelimit@lemmy.ml 1 week agoI was thinking of getting a bolt for the longest time. How’s your experience with it?
Comment on Remember when car controls weren't complicated
icelimit@lemmy.ml 1 week agoI was thinking of getting a bolt for the longest time. How’s your experience with it?
kn33@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I really like it. It’s zippy af. Not burning gas or having to go to a gas station is really nice. I just plug in when I get home and unplug when I leave.
I will say, though, it has a couple drawbacks. The “budget” nature really shows when you have to go more than like 300 miles (or 200 in the deep cold).
I had a buddy ask about it a while back so I’ll try to copy paste what I wrote.
Q: Hey, I had a quick question for you mr Chevy Bolt. I rented one of those cars while I was in cold state and I really liked it. Have you have to do any major repairs or fixes for that car, or do you have any gripes with the car since you’ve been driving with it for so long now as a daily driver?
A: The only real work I’ve done is winter tires in the winter and summer tires in the summer. I’m looking at getting a second set of rims so I can do it myself next time instead of having to get a shop swap the tires. Other than that, basically just wiper blades. I sometimes get false positives on the driver’s side blind spot detection which is annoying, but not a big deal. Some people online have said that it’s due to a shielding coming off the sensor causing the car to detect itself, basically, and if you get some adhesive foil you can fix it, but I haven’t been bothered enough by it to get into that yet.
A minor gripe I have is that the stock tires are what the EPA rated range is based on, but they’re also very hard rubber so when it gets cold they get even harder and that’s bad for grip. I talk about the acceleration later, but if you try to use that in the super cold, you end up burning out.
The only major issue I have is the fast charging speed, especially in cold weather. It’s not very fast to begin with compared to the competition, and there’s no mechanism offered up to have it condition the battery for charging while driving. What you end up with is a charging speed that’s slow compared to the competition at its best and is then slowed down further by being cold. It’ll work on warming up the battery as soon as it starts charging, but by the time it warms up enough to get up to full speed (if it ever does) it’s up to >50% charge, at which point the speed starts going down again. Under ideal circumstances, it’s okay, but once you get past the ideal it’s annoying.
Consider ideal/EPA rated conditions and a 300 mile trip. We’ll say the average driving speed of 60 mph, so you’re starting at 5 hours of driving. Highway EPA rating for a 2017 Bolt EV is 110 MPGe or 3.26 mi/kWh. If you’re going 300 miles, that’s 92 kWh of power. It has a 60 kWh battery, so that’s the whole battery and 32 kWh more. Say that the charging stops are spaced out so that you’re always charging when you’re under 50% and it’s a perfect 70°F so you’re always charging at 50 kW. That means you’re doing 32 KWh of charging at 50 kW, or 38 minutes of charging. So for your 300 mile trip @ 60 mph, you’re adding 13% to your time under ideal conditions. Now, if that can be spread out nicely and it’s an 8 minute stop every hour, it’s not so bad. But once you start getting into deep cold like 0°F and lower, it’s easily 2-3x that.
With all that, it’s still not so bad because even when it’s really cold and my range is down to 130 mi or whatever, it’s still enough that I can go everywhere I need in a day and plug in when I get home and be fine. It’s only the few times a year when I’m visiting my family in bordering state or whatever that it’s annoying. Even if I’m going to city 45 minutes away, it’s still plenty as long as I’m charged up.
Technologically, it’s the best car I’ve ever had. I love the rearview camera/mirror for it’s wide FOV compared to a traditional mirror. I love my auto high beams, my remote start (haven’t had that until this car), my heated seats/mirror/wheel. I love the 360 cams - it’s enabled me to back out of spots I would’ve never gotten out of before. The lane keep assist, even without the 3rd party enhancements I added, has already saved my ass when I fell asleep at the wheel once. I got a dongle that makes the android auto wireless, and later models have it built in. It’s so nice to have.
It’s a lot of fun to drive, too. 0-60 in ~7 seconds, and 0-30 in like 1 second. Zippy as fuck, small enough to maneuver in tight spaces while not feeling like you’re sitting on the ground.
So yeah, I really like it, and I wouldn’t change my decision to buy it. I just wish that faster charging EVs were cheap enough that I could justify upgrading. At this point, though, I don’t have to DCFC often enough for the prices to be even close to justifiable for it.
Some updates since I wrote that (December 2024). Prices have come down on used EVs, but I still have such a great rate on my current car loan that it’s not worth giving up. I have since done what I talked about and got a second set of wheels so swapping tires is easier. The blind spot thing is still annoying but it’s so infrequent I haven’t bothered. It might also have something to do with snow/ice buildup in the wheel well. Overall, still no regrets.