Chevy Bolt - 200 mile range for $30k base price (after incentive)

[daniel]

The latest Bolt

Enterprising EV Owner Taps The Sun To Power His Chevrolet Bolt (CleanTechnica Exclusive) | CleanTechnica

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Back in the day (the article linked below is about 12 years old) you could get a Zap Xebra truck with solar panels. If you left the car in full sun all day you might get 5 miles driving from it. The Bolt pictured above appears to have more panels and panels today are better. So maybe you could get 10 miles after a day of full sunlight, if you're willing to make your cat that ugly. Or you could put the panels on the roof of your house where you have more space, which is what normal people do.

WARNING: The comments appear to have a spam link in them. There's also a tinyurl link that goes to a url that no longer exists.

ZAP Adds Solar Option to Xebra Xero Truck

 

[mspohr]

Back in the day (the article linked below is about 12 years old) you could get a Zap Xebra truck with solar panels. If you left the car in full sun all day you might get 5 miles driving from it. The Bolt pictured above appears to have more panels and panels today are better. So maybe you could get 10 miles after a day of full sunlight, if you're willing to make your cat that ugly. Or you could put the panels on the roof of your house where you have more space, which is what normal people do.

WARNING: The comments appear to have a spam link in them. There's also a tinyurl link that goes to a url that no longer exists.

ZAP Adds Solar Option to Xebra Xero Truck

He says he has 2.2 kW of solar panels... impressive. This could give him 10 kWh/day (on a good day) which would be about 40 miles of range.
Still, I agree that it's much more efficient (and not nearly as ugly) to just put the solar on your roof and charge from that.

 

[jgs]

says he has 2.2 kW of solar panels... impressive. This could give him 10 kWh/day (on a good day) which would be about 40 miles of range.

Except I wonder how many of those miles are given back by butchering the aerodynamics of the car?

 

[Darren Donovan]

Psssst... it's not 2005 anymore.

Exactly! Their vehicles have been extremely reliable in my household. No point in dragging up the past. I know someone who's a WWII vet who still hates Germans and by extension, their cars. Yet he loves sushi. The grandson loves his Cayman GTS, Lol.

 

[MP3Mike]

Except I wonder how many of those miles are given back by butchering the aerodynamics of the car?

Not to mention the extra weight of not only the panels but the secondary battery system and inverter that he uses to store the energy and then charge the car from.

 

[daniel]

He says he has 2.2 kW of solar panels... impressive. This could give him 10 kWh/day (on a good day) which would be about 40 miles of range.
Still, I agree that it's much more efficient (and not nearly as ugly) to just put the solar on your roof and charge from that.

I fine it notable that while the article talks about the total capacity of the panels and their efficiency and the size of the inverter and battery and EVSE and the speed at which he's tested the car and his motivation and goals, it never once mentions how far he can actually drive on the solar power he actually gets, or how many more Wh/mile the car needs with the modification.

I am convinced that it would have been far more economical to increase his rooftop solar from 6 kW to 10 Kw and add a Powerwall, and charge the car at home.

BTW, the people I knew of who had the solar panel on their Zap Xebra said they actually did it as a way to increase public awareness, because the range boost they got was insignificant. This was at a time when the only EVs you could get were the Xebra, or a NEV, or a home conversion.

 

[Big Earl]

He says he has 2.2 kW of solar panels... impressive. This could give him 10 kWh/day (on a good day) which would be about 40 miles of range.
Still, I agree that it's much more efficient (and not nearly as ugly) to just put the solar on your roof and charge from that.

Sure, it's 2.2 kW worth of panels, but some of them are pointed at the ground, sideways or are shaded by other panels. In perfect conditions, he might get 70% of that. If he leaves the panels on the car while he drives, the additional drag probably eats up whatever energy the panels provide while parked.

 

[cwerdna]

The 2020 Bolt is getting a range boost. Though it appears to take a hit in MPGe while doing so.

Chevrolet Raises the Bar: 2020 Bolt EV to Offer Impressive 259 miles of Range mentions 66 kWh (for 2020) instead of 60 kWh before.

Re: MPGe hit, oddly, I can no longer find the 2020 Chevy Bolt at Compare Cars Side-by-Side. It was up there the other day but has been removed for the time being. And yes, there was a slight hit when it was up.

I even posted at link to 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV elsewhere showing the 2 cars previously, but now the 2020 doesn't come up.

 

[Big Earl]

It’s disappointing that charging speed hasn’t improved. Just 90 miles of range in 30 minutes, for an average rate of 45 kW.

 

[yuhong]

It’s disappointing that charging speed hasn’t improved. Just 90 miles of range in 30 minutes, for an average rate of 45 kW.

It can do 55kW on 60kW chargers already.

 

[scottf200]

It can do 55kW on 60kW chargers already.

Then some serious step downs tho.

 

[30seconds]

Not sure why the hate.

I find GM cars to be way more reliable than Tesla with better support overall.

It's crazy how much better their cars are now than a decade ago.

You are funny.

 

[seattlite2004]

Cool drive unit disassembly vid:

 

[wws]

Bolt EV "Cannon ball" from NYC to LA. Total drive took 78 hours, 59 minutes. Mostly CCS, but as it was a solo drive, he did some L2 while sleeping:

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
I was going to post about this but you beat me to it. Article at A Chevrolet Bolt EV Set a Cannonball Run Record and No One Noticed | Torque News. Kinda "watching" the longer video now.

 

[wws]

^^^
I was going to post about this but you beat me to it. Article at A Chevrolet Bolt EV Set a Cannonball Run Record and No One Noticed | Torque News. Kinda "watching" the longer video now.

Back in 2016, I started a long-running thread over at the Volt forum wondering when it would be possible to drive coast to coast - only using CCS. (When will a Bolt EV be able to travel coast to coast using only CCS charging?) At the time, there were just a handful of CCS charging stations around the country - mostly here in California. By then it was already quite possible to cross the U.S. in a Tesla via the Supercharging network. If GM had their act together. they would have arranged for an initial CCS corridor across the U.S., say on I-80 or I-40, very quickly. With like 20 125-150 amp CCS stations arranged 150 miles apart, it would have only cost them about $2 million. Pocket change for a company like GM, and great PR for the car. If they really didn't want to be in the car charging business, after the initial push they could have then sold the stations cheaply to someone like recargo or EVgo. But that is water under the bridge.

It has taken another three years, plus the VW Dieselgate settlement creating EA, in order to get a couple of initial CCS corridors across the U.S. Neat that it is finally possible.

 

[scottf200]

... If GM had their act together. they would have arranged for an initial CCS corridor across the U.S., say on I-80 or I-40, very quickly. With like 20 125-150 amp CCS stations arranged 150 miles apart, it would have only cost them about $2 million. Pocket change for a company like GM, and great PR for the car. If they really didn't want to be in the car charging business, after the initial push they could have then sold the stations cheaply to someone like recargo or EVgo. But that is water under the bridge. ..

Did you read this article yet? Holy sh!t

InsideEVs: Electrify America Talks Charging Network Problems, Has Solutions

 

[bro1999]

2020 Bolts (and whatever 2019s are left) have a ridiculous $8,500 cash on the hood this month. I believe the 2020s only had a piddly 2k rebate in December, and '19s had $5,500, so this is really a huge jump in incentives, especially for the '20s. GM card holders also received $1k in bonus earnings they can use towards a Bolt, so someone who is currently leasing a GM vehicle and is also a GM card holder can receive $11k in incentives/rebates on any Bolt in stock right now.

 

[Cosmacelf]

What is "Consumer Cash"? Simply a manufacturer's discount from list price?

 

[bro1999]

What is "Consumer Cash"? Simply a manufacturer's discount from list price?

Basically a manufacturer discount everyone is eligible for, which is before any further dealer discounts.