Did the Bolt ruin it for me? At least a little?

[jchag]

I currently own a Bolt and a Tesla Model S, Prior cars are Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf. Bolt in my opinion has the best regen, followed by Tesla, Volt and Leaf is last. The range on the Bolt is exceeding my expectations. I think that is because the EPA rating was done in D mode and I drive in L mode. I'm currently getting about 200w/mile on the Bolt compared to 290w/mile on the model S. I also think the Chevy battery maybe larger than the 60KW the say. Bolt kicks the 75D butt in range

 

[Cosmacelf]

Yeah, on the Bolt forums, all I hear is the Bolt exceeding range, never the other way. Quite a change from Tesla.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Yeah, on the Bolt forums, all I hear is the Bolt exceeding range, never the other way. Quite a change from Tesla.

Tesla doesn't know how to make conservative estimates. They do know their hyperbole, though.

 

[Jeff N]

I also think the Chevy battery maybe larger than the 60KW the say.

The consensus guess is that the Bolt's actual pack capacity is around 64-65 kWh with 59-60 kWh being usable. I'm guessing that's done with a 4-5 % SOC buffer on the bottom and top.

 

[David29]

You sure lost me here. I've never driven a Bolt but I can't even feel the regen on my Leaf at all. I can watch it work with the circles filling up, but I can't feel it like my Tesla which grabs me.

Well, i drove a new Leaf, and as I recall there was a second or third level, as on the Bolt. I think I had to set the transmission lever to a different position, "L" or maybe "B." But it was quite strong

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Well, i drove a new Leaf, and as I recall there was a second or third level, as on the Bolt. I think I had to set the transmission lever to a different position, "L" or maybe "B." But it was quite strong

We have a 2016 leaf. First you get no regen if over 90 percent. After that you have a choice of D or B. In B mode it is stronger and quite noticeable but not as much as the bolts we drove when we were trying to decide between a bolt and a leaf. It was one of the few things that we thought were a plus for the Bolt, the other being the acceleration. Anyway we ended up with the Leaf as it was a better fit for us. We seem to be around 200 km on a charge which is plenty for our needs...and more than we expected. Probably the 70/30 city/highway driving we do. It works.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Yeah, on the Bolt forums, all I hear is the Bolt exceeding range, never the other way. Quite a change from Tesla.

Tesla doesn't know how to make conservative estimates. They do know their hyperbole, though.

Presumably this is talking EPA (then that's not hyperbole, just the testing procedure)? If that's the case, how many people have stretched the Bolt's range so far on long highway trips? For local driving, the drastically lower weight of the Bolt obviously will help it a lot.

 

[dhanson865]

Tesla uses an inductive motor. They need to apply a current to create the magnetic field. This takes energy.

Other brands use (rare earth) permanent magnets in their motors, thus the motor can bring the car to a complete stop.

The benefit of the Tesla system is that they don't need to mine the rare earth metals for the permanent magnets, and they have more control over the magnetic field.

More details can be found here: https://www.tesla.com/blog/induction-versus-dc-brushless-motors

While all true and possibly more significant I'd like to point out another difference

A Leaf or Prius weighs way less than a Tesla Model S or X.

Take 30KW or 60KW regen and apply it to 3000 pounds and it'll stop quicker than if you apply the same KW of brake force to 5000 pounds.

I didn't bother to put the exact weights because it varies quite a bit but I think the concept is worth mentioning.

Maybe the Model 3 with 20% or so less weight will feel like it regens better because of that weight difference.

edit: oops, I see now that others have covered this above.

 

[xyeahtony]

i've driven toyota and lexus hyrbids and the tesla definitely has stronger regen. it slows the car and grabs the brakes a lot harder. In the hybrids you have to depress the brake to actually start any sort of meaningful regen.

The bolt looks cool as a city/daily commuter car, but the lack of an integrated entertainment/navigation console is disconcerting for me (not everyone likes carplay/android auto) as well as the lack of autonomous driving features is why i chose a tesla instead (nevermind the supercharging network). if i owned a bolt i wouldn't be able to easily take long distance roadtrips. You can basically drive a tesla anywhere in the country on the other hand.

 

[brucet999]

Hardcore hypermilers would want the car in "sail" mode where foot off is a full glide. Braking is for noobs.

Your "sail" mode would actually reduce range compared to regen. In that mode, when slowing to a stop, all of the kinetic energy must be wasted as heat from the brake rotors. Slowing to a near stop with regen, you get most of that energy put back into the battery. To get the equivalent of free wheeling, you can hold the accelerator pedal at the neutral point between acceleration and regen, neither consuming power nor regenerating.

 

[brucet999]

As I recall, there's also some friction brake action being electronically blended in to provide a consistent experience when the vehicle isn't capable of full regen (or, at least, I recall this being the case for the i3).

I read somewhere that Bolt regen actually applies reverse torque to the motor instead of friction brakes to bring the car to a full stop once the speed is too low to generate useable regenerative braking. Perhaps someone can confirm or deny?

 

[AndY1]

My 2008 Vectrix all electric maxi-scooter lets me stop the bike with regen only.

 

[bro1999]

I currently own a Bolt and a Tesla Model S, Prior cars are Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf. Bolt in my opinion has the best regen, followed by Tesla, Volt and Leaf is last. The range on the Bolt is exceeding my expectations. I think that is because the EPA rating was done in D mode and I drive in L mode. I'm currently getting about 200w/mile on the Bolt compared to 290w/mile on the model S. I also think the Chevy battery maybe larger than the 60KW the say. Bolt kicks the 75D butt in range

Us Bolt owners have done some testing via Torque Pro, and we figure the Bolt's actual battery size is around 64/65 kWh, with 60 usable.

Edit: whoops, see Jeff N already posted this.