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

[diamond.g]

Bolt EV maintenance schedule:

Basically nothing that needs a visit to the dealer until 150k miles. Bolt's gonna be expensive to maintain!

That does look better than Tesla's.

 

[Jeff N]

That does look better than Tesla's.

Here's a slightly expanded version of the Bolt EV schedule:

I believe Tesla's maintenance schedule calls for replacing the coolant every 5 years or 62,500 miles and replacing the brake fluid every 2 years or 25,000 miles.

 

[JRP3]

I don't plan to, but it just seems disingenuous to tout EVs as having fewer maintenance requirements (which is true) and then hit people up with hundreds of dollars of annual service requirements/recommendations. To me, this is a little too close to the dealership model for my liking.

Agree that it was a bit of a mixed message. On the other hand there are people who like inclusive service plans and who will pay for it, especially in higher end vehicles, so if Tesla didn't offer one they'd be leaving money on the table.

 

[JRP3]

I believe Tesla's maintenance schedule calls for replacing the coolant every 5 years or 62,500 miles and replacing the brake fluid every 2 years or 25,000 miles.

Which always seemed excessive to me, especially the brake fluid.

 

[diamond.g]

Here's a slightly expanded version of the Bolt EV schedule:

View attachment 205156

I believe Tesla's maintenance schedule calls for replacing the coolant every 5 years or 62,500 miles and replacing the brake fluid every 2 years or 25,000 miles.

So never replace the brake fluid in the Bolt?

 

[diamond.g]

Which always seemed excessive to me, especially the brake fluid.

Yeah. Though I could buy the more frequent battery coolant changes for the performance models.

 

[Jeff N]

So never replace the brake fluid in the Bolt?

Replace the brake fluid when brake work is done, which isn't very often when you have regenerative braking. This is the same story that Toyota has for the Prius and that GM had for the original Volt.

Curiously, later on they changed the Volt schedule to suggest replacing the brake fluid every 45,000 miles according to the 2015 Volt owner manual but then the 2016 Volt owner manual reverted back to only replacing during brake service.

The 2016 Spark owner manual has the same suggested schedule as the Bolt EV.

 

[Oil4AsphaultOnly]

I don't plan to, but it just seems disingenuous to tout EVs as having fewer maintenance requirements (which is true) and then hit people up with hundreds of dollars of annual service requirements/recommendations. To me, this is a little too close to the dealership model for my liking.

What's wrong with selling preventative maintenance? Washer fluids need to be refilled, key fob batteries need to be replaced, and tires should be rotated. Those are all things you can do yourself, but Tesla is offering the service to you.

Edit: the point being, you're told it's an option, and you're being offered the option of not having to worry about these things. Some people consider it a worthwhile expense.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I don't plan to, but it just seems disingenuous to tout EVs as having fewer maintenance requirements (which is true) and then hit people up with hundreds of dollars of annual service requirements/recommendations. To me, this is a little too close to the dealership model for my liking.

Elon thought that same, which is why since mid-2013, maintenance is entirely optional:
"As such, we are comfortable making the annual checkup entirely optional. There is still value to having Tesla look at the car once a year for things like tire alignment, to address a few things here & there and perform any hardware upgrades – our goal is not just to fix things, but to make the car better than it was. However, even if you never bring in the car, your warranty is still valid."
Creating the World’s Best Service and Warranty Program

 

[Az_Rael]

Elon thought that same, which is why since mid-2013, maintenance is entirely optional:
"As such, we are comfortable making the annual checkup entirely optional. There is still value to having Tesla look at the car once a year for things like tire alignment, to address a few things here & there and perform any hardware upgrades – our goal is not just to fix things, but to make the car better than it was. However, even if you never bring in the car, your warranty is still valid."
Creating the World’s Best Service and Warranty Program

While he did post that in 2013, I find it interesting that even to this day all of the documentation says 12,500 miles or 12 months. They never updated any of it to a lesser schedule.

And if you buy the extended warranty, during its effective period, you ARE required to perform every service on time to maintain the extended warranty.

 

[samotlietuvis]

You think a Spark looks great and Bolt looks like ass? OK. I bought a Spark for an employee, and while it's been trouble free for 50,000 miles in 1 year, it's seldom mistaken for a McLaren by most people.

Definitely not a McLaren . But it is a very fun to drive car with 327 ft-lb torque at 2800lb.
Spark EV has some cuteness to it; Bolt looks like utilitarian EV vehicle designed purely by engineers.
After I done with the Spark EV I plan re-using its battery for my home made battery project.
Hopefully somebody on the board will pick up a Bolt up and give it a review.

 

[FlatSix911]

Chevy Bolt DC Charging question: 80kW or 50kW? Here’s what we know and why we’re still confused

So there’s been a very important question about the Chevy Bolt that we’ve been following closely since its specs started trickling out earlier this year. How fast can it charge? We’re not talking about Level 2/Home charging which was clarified this week at 7.68 kW.

The Chevy Bolt Owner’s Manual which is now online (PDF) confirms that the Bolt will charge at 32 amps at 240 volts = 7.68 kW – giving the car 25 miles of charge per hour. This week, AeroVironment also announced that they would be providing the optional Chevy-branded home charging stations (vs. the included 110V plug adapter) to Chevy by upping their 30A EVSE-RS Charging stations 2 more amps to reach this level. As we’ve discussed before, this is a solid speed for home and destination charging but trails Tesla’s 48A chargers. The real world difference here in charging 100 miles is 3 hours for Tesla and 4 hours for the Bolt. Not a huge difference really when most of this will be done overnight.

But the real question when we are talking about charging speed is DC fast-charging for long distance travel. There are a bunch of differing statements out there which say Chevy is going to include either 50W or 80W depending who and when you ask.

While this might seem trivial on the surface, it is actually quite a big deal. The difference between 50W and 80W is a significant 60% increase. To put that into a real world scenario, imagine you want to fill up 2/3rds (40 kWh or 158 miles range) of the Bolt’s 60 kWh, 238-mile battery pack:

• 80kW, that takes 30 minutes
• 50kW, that takes 48 minutes

So we’re getting mixed messages from Chevy.

 

[wycolo]

> After I done with the Spark EV I plan re-using its battery for my home made battery project. [samo]

Better value in EVing a classic car or a speedboat (for an eLake). Just extract the entire Spark EV system from the rusting hulk. Get your battery from from a non-Spark low powered wreck or from a cell tower.
--

 

[Sonny Daze]

Elon thought that same, which is why since mid-2013, maintenance is entirely optional:
"As such, we are comfortable making the annual checkup entirely optional. There is still value to having Tesla look at the car once a year for things like tire alignment, to address a few things here & there and perform any hardware upgrades – our goal is not just to fix things, but to make the car better than it was. However, even if you never bring in the car, your warranty is still valid."
Creating the World’s Best Service and Warranty Program

Admittedly, my opinion is from outside the process based solely on comments posted here. Seems like too many (for me) reports of people being overcharged (in my opinion) and getting the idea that basic service items have to be done by Tesla. Maybe I'm overreacting to a few unfortunate instances or people complaining about situations that they've put themselves in.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

While this might seem trivial on the surface, it is actually quite a big deal. The difference between 50W and 80W is a significant 60% increase. To put that into a real world scenario, imagine you want to fill up 2/3rds (40 kWh or 158 miles range) of the Bolt’s 60 kWh, 238-mile battery pack:

• 80kW, that takes 30 minutes
• 50kW, that takes 48 minutes

So we’re getting mixed messages from Chevy.

No, there are no mixed messages from Chevrolet. People are simply making assumption about what Chevrolet have said.

Initially it said 90 miles in 30 minutes.
Now it's clarified to say 90 miles in 30 minutes from depleted if the charger has 80kW or more available.

It says that if the charger is an 80kW+ (CCS) charger it will allow the car to charge from depleted at an average rate 3 miles per minute for the first 30 minutes.
It does not say what the maximum charging rate would be.
It does not say what the minimum charging rate would be.
It does not say anything about a charging curve.
It does not say anything about efficiency.
It does not say what the rate will be after 30 minutes.
Everything else is people making assumptions or guessing based on other knowledge and biases.

What should be happening is that journalists should grilling GM for more details on the shape of charging and on hardware and software limits.

Fortunately, I'm not planning to buy my next car until 2019 (unless pricing and tax credits make it worth buying a bit earlier), so I can afford to wait for the useful information to be figured out by enthusiasts.

 

[callmesam]

No, there are no mixed messages from Chevrolet. People are simply making assumption about what Chevrolet have said.

Initially it said 90 miles in 30 minutes.
Now it's clarified to say 90 miles in 30 minutes from depleted if the charger has 80kW or more available.

It says that if the charger is an 80kW+ (CCS) charger it will allow the car to charge from depleted at an average rate 3 miles per minute for the first 30 minutes.
It does not say what the maximum charging rate would be.
It does not say what the minimum charging rate would be.
It does not say anything about a charging curve.
It does not say anything about efficiency.
It does not say what the rate will be after 30 minutes.
Everything else is people making assumptions or guessing based on other knowledge and biases.

What should be happening is that journalists should grilling GM for more details on the shape of charging and on hardware and software limits.

Fortunately, I'm not planning to buy my next car until 2019 (unless pricing and tax credits make it worth buying a bit earlier), so I can afford to wait for the useful information to be figured out by enthusiasts.

GM seems to be fumbling around and a bit clueless about their own product.

 

[Model 3]

What should be happening is that journalists should grilling GM for more details on the shape of charging and on hardware and software limits.

There was an article in a Norwegian magazine today that had tested the Ampera-e. They did ask about this, and the answer he got was - yes, DC charging IS limited to 50kWh, what they have said is that you can charge the car from an 80kW charger, what they left out was that it would still be charging @50kW.

charging question
In the US, Chevrolet even said that Bolt, car Ampera E is 99.9 percent identical, supports 80 kW chargers. What has led many to trim (supposedly also internally within GM), is that the charger on board Ampera e only manages 50 kW.

The answer to "riddle" is simple: Neither Bolt or Ampera E can charge faster than 50 kW. When GM have written that Bolt supports 80 kW chargers, it is because many fast chargers here in the US has a maximum capacity of just 80 kW - but one must be connected to a bolt, can still only take 50.

The point would supposedly be telling that Bolt can connect to American fast chargers.

 

[bro1999]

My Bolt is coming! $1k off MSRP and likely $500 farm bureau rebate and $500 lease loyalty rebate too.

 

[McRat]

... However, even if you never bring in the car, your warranty is still valid."

With any product, if something fails because it was not serviced per instructions, you are on the hook when under warranty. But only for that component.

They cannot "void your warranty" except in very rare instances, like using the vehicle for an application that is specifically denied in the warranty like taxi service or racing. Oddly enough, GM will cover some models for track use, most mfr's void your entire warranty.

GM seems to be fumbling around and a bit clueless about their own product.

Show me the page on any BEV mfr website, or a page in the OM that specifically graphs out all the various charging scenarios. Initial state, temp, altitude (cooling is significantly affected by high DA), type of charger, max charger ability.

Chevy has been saying the Bolt goes 200 miles, will go to 60 in under 7, will charge at 25mph at home, will handle at least 50kWh, and can add 90 miles in 30 minutes.

Which of those claims do you find to be in error based on your personal testing?

There was an article in a Norwegian magazine today that had tested the Ampera-e. They did ask about this, and the answer he got was - yes, DC charging IS limited to 50kWh, what they have said is that you can charge the car from an 80kW charger, what they left out was that it would still be charging @50kW.

You do realize that a 50kW charger will not add 90 miles in 30 minutes, right? Do the math. Neither the battery system nor the charger is 100% efficient.

So the magazine tested the AmperaE and found it can't add 145 km in 30 minutes, right? Or is the magazine guessing?

 

[Model 3]

You do realize that a 50kW charger will not add 90 miles in 30 minutes, right? Do the math.

Don't shoot the messenger! I tell you what the article says, and have not done any math or testing myself.

So the magazine tested the AmperaE and found it can't add 145 km in 30 minutes, right? Or is the magazine guessing?

No, the magazine asked GM and got an answer. I have no idea - and neither has the magazine - if GM lied or not.