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

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It's easy to make a car with no vampire drain. It's hard (if not impossible) to make a car that has no vampire drain and also protects its batteries from degradation in hot weather. Tesla made some mistakes that led to extreme vampire drain under certain conditions, which I gather they've since fixed, and they made some choices which allow features that do have an energy cost even when the car is "off."

The opposite extreme was the Gen 1 Nissan Leaf, which in hot climates saw significant battery deterioration.

It would be nice if the car had a storage mode that would shut off everything, possibly with a warning about the lack of battery conditioning in that mode. (Though now that I will no longer be leaving my car unplugged for any period of time the issue does not affect me any more.)
 
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You are correct, if my Spark_EV was ever in need of battery cooling when turned off, the cooling system would indeed draw from the battery. Luckily I got this car used in Michigan and now use it in PNW so battery cooling is not likely to ever occur. You really need "99*F at midnight" type conditions such as found in southern AZ.
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Zombie thread resurrection!
Quick note about the vampire drain in the Bolt (or rather lack thereof). Left for a 3 week vacation with my Bolt at 29% SOC and 74 miles on the GOM.
Came back 3 weeks later, to find it had exactly 74 miles on the GOM (and somehow gained 1%). Only vampire drain in the Bolt if it it sucks up juice from a nearby appliance. :D
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Another concurance/data point. I too have taken multiple 2+ week trips in winter, summer, fall and the GOM remained the same after the trip. I also drove the vehicle right after I came back from my trip and there was no noticeable change to my mi/kWh trip meter, and no noticeable increase in the typical difference between the vehicle's reported kWh usage since last charge to what my chargepoint charger's inputed kWh.

But, the Bolt doesn't have Sentry, and is not a node on Tesla's Neural Network, and doesn't download any (since I bought the car) OTA updates. I also suspect that it's computer prob doesn't have/need the processing power as the T-cars thus is smaller and prob doesn't require liquid cooling like the T-cars.
 
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No kidding? OK, live and learn.

It has a few advantages that I can think of:
  1. It removes heat from the cabin reducing the load on the AC.
  2. It removes multiple fans from the cabin making it quieter and removing them as a failure point. (I think the S&X have 4 "PC" fans to cool the MCU and AP computer in the dash.)
  3. The heat from the MCU/AP computer can be used to heat the battery when necessary. (Of course if the battery needs heated the cabin likely does as well.)
 
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It has a few advantages that I can think of:
  1. It removes heat from the cabin reducing the load on the AC.
  2. It removes multiple fans from the cabin making it quieter and removing them as a failure point. (I think the S&X have 4 "PC" fans to cool the MCU and AP computer in the dash.)
  3. The heat from the MCU/AP computer can be used to heat the battery when necessary. (Of course if the battery needs heated the cabin likely does as well.)
Sure, no doubt. I guess I'm still struggling to get over the scarring from too many meetings where I heard "we really want to liquid-cool this widget, but whenever we propose it to the customers they tell us to go to hell" and similar. (In a completely different problem domain.)
 
Literally the last thing the Bolt needed was more range; it was already under-rated and competitive in that regard.

The car needs:

-Lower MSRP
-Better seats
-Adaptive cruise control
-GPS
-Nicer interior materials
-Available sunroof & power seats
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-More range
GM had to improve the fast charging performance too. Will have to wait on that one.
 
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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.

GM has a very long and sordid history of screwing over its customers, its employees, and the country. It has shown itself to be an irresponsible corporate citizen with no conscience and no shame in its single-minded push to make money and damn the consequences. Every corporation is in business to make money, but GM has shown itself more than willing to go further than most into unethical, if not downright criminal behavior.

It had to be forced to make the EV1, which by all accounts was an excellent car for its time, but it refused to sell the car and immediately sued the state of California over the issue, and as soon as it won the lawsuit it recalled and crushed the cars, which many people wanted to buy outright. It only made the Volt and then the Bolt when it became clear that it needed to greenwash its image after Tesla had demonstrated that an EV could be a great car. You can bet your last dime that if Tesla went bankrupt, GM would immediately quit making both.

GM is the poster child for everything that's bad about capitalism.
 
> I find GM cars to be way more reliable than Tesla with better support overall. [Cheb]

Especially if you make that 'GM Korea' ie SparkEV and Bolt.

Re Bolt seats: Used to be that Recaro would step up and design a luxury seat when necessary. Hasn't anyone managed to fit a nice Mercedes seat into the Bolt by now? [Memo to self: remember to stop by local GM dealer and this time actually *sit* in the driver's seat and take good notes].
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GM has a very long and sordid history of screwing over its customers, its employees, and the country. It has shown itself to be an irresponsible corporate citizen with no conscience and no shame in its single-minded push to make money and damn the consequences. Every corporation is in business to make money, but GM has shown itself more than willing to go further than most into unethical, if not downright criminal behavior.

It had to be forced to make the EV1, which by all accounts was an excellent car for its time, but it refused to sell the car and immediately sued the state of California over the issue, and as soon as it won the lawsuit it recalled and crushed the cars, which many people wanted to buy outright. It only made the Volt and then the Bolt when it became clear that it needed to greenwash its image after Tesla had demonstrated that an EV could be a great car. You can bet your last dime that if Tesla went bankrupt, GM would immediately quit making both.

GM is the poster child for everything that's bad about capitalism.
Psssst... it's not 2005 anymore.
 
Literally the last thing the Bolt needed was more range; it was already under-rated and competitive in that regard.

The car needs:

-Lower MSRP
-Better seats
-Adaptive cruise control
-GPS
-Nicer interior materials
-Available sunroof & power seats

That is a nice improvement with the range. But what most people don't like about Bolt is the design. They need a fresh and more appealing look. Those narrow seats need to be updated as well. Otherwise, it is a very nice EV.
 
The latest Bolt

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

daniel-mcguire-solar-powered-chevy-chevrolet-bolt-sunpower-7.jpg