I should add that I intend to buy a Model 3 with the extended battery pack sometime around 2020 to replace my 2nd car which is a 2004 Prius. That will give my family a Bolt CUV/hatchback with flexible storage and excellent urban driving and parkability along with long distance capability and also a Model 3 with good storage and urban driving together with excellent long distance capability and autonomous driving features — Bolt EV and Model 3 together in one garage. Best of both.
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GM Bolt Test Drive Experience
- Thread starter MDR SEA
- Start date
Plugsuvohio
Member
I've had Model X AP1 for 12000 miles now here in Cleveland. Love it. I've really wanted an upclose and personal with the Bolt, and until the past week or so it was not possible anywhere around here. Today I got a chance to look it over (quickly) and do a little drive. Unfortunately it was heavily raining, the dealer is in a very heavy traffic area, and a recently trained young sales associate was with me. There was one on-ramp opportunity and 1-2 miles on freeway. I was very cautious. This was an LT model without the extra camera / rear view thingy.
Overall, I was impressed with what they put together. The cheap looking plastic on the dash was a downer compared to a bright clear graphics screen in center and another in front of the wheel. I did not like that I could not get rear view image unless I was backing up.
Their screens spend too much effort in showing energy issues for trivial things. Cool for a day or two and then it won't be used. No nav system, but it links with smartphone in a way that you basically screencast the phone to the dash. So your nav apps will work since you already have it; but show on a useful driver display. (I did not try this).
The seats felt comfortable; solid door close and steering; but I didnt have a testing kind of road. When I did accelerate hard briefly the response was fine, but the wheels easily spin on the wet pavement. (It is certainly not 4wd + traction control like my Tesla).
Their standard regen felt close to driving automatic ICE. In "Low" or with the paddle held in at the wheel, it had very similar 1 pedal driving to my car. I could hear motor whine, but it was no worse then my 90D was initially in the 45 mph troublesome zone. (Mine is much better now a year later and 5-6 software revs.)
Is it worth $38,000. No. With $7,500 tax credit maybe ok, Now I wish to get at least a brief opportunity in a Model 3, but likely not for another + Months around here. Of course we all have very high hopes for Model 3. From reading and looking via internet I do like it. Probably not wise around here without 4WD for Winter in particular.
Overall, I was impressed with what they put together. The cheap looking plastic on the dash was a downer compared to a bright clear graphics screen in center and another in front of the wheel. I did not like that I could not get rear view image unless I was backing up.
Their screens spend too much effort in showing energy issues for trivial things. Cool for a day or two and then it won't be used. No nav system, but it links with smartphone in a way that you basically screencast the phone to the dash. So your nav apps will work since you already have it; but show on a useful driver display. (I did not try this).
The seats felt comfortable; solid door close and steering; but I didnt have a testing kind of road. When I did accelerate hard briefly the response was fine, but the wheels easily spin on the wet pavement. (It is certainly not 4wd + traction control like my Tesla).
Their standard regen felt close to driving automatic ICE. In "Low" or with the paddle held in at the wheel, it had very similar 1 pedal driving to my car. I could hear motor whine, but it was no worse then my 90D was initially in the 45 mph troublesome zone. (Mine is much better now a year later and 5-6 software revs.)
Is it worth $38,000. No. With $7,500 tax credit maybe ok, Now I wish to get at least a brief opportunity in a Model 3, but likely not for another + Months around here. Of course we all have very high hopes for Model 3. From reading and looking via internet I do like it. Probably not wise around here without 4WD for Winter in particular.
AustinPowers
Total Smeghead
I saw the Bolt review by Doug DeMuro on YouTube yesterday. I enjoy his channel. He might not be a professional car reviewer (which sometimes is better anyway), but his reviews are fun to watch, at least to me.
He said that in his opinion the Bolt was quite a good EV. Not the best around obviously, but certainly one of those with the best value for your money. Don't be misled by the title of the video though. He often has tongue-in-cheek titles - or content. After all, he once did a Model X "review"*, calling it the "pidgeon-wing minivan" at the start of the (mock) review, only to do a complete 180 in the end after he switched to a real review of it.
*
He said that in his opinion the Bolt was quite a good EV. Not the best around obviously, but certainly one of those with the best value for your money. Don't be misled by the title of the video though. He often has tongue-in-cheek titles - or content. After all, he once did a Model X "review"*, calling it the "pidgeon-wing minivan" at the start of the (mock) review, only to do a complete 180 in the end after he switched to a real review of it.
*
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Dan Neil’s new very positive review of the Bolt in the WSJ:
Chevy Bolt: Meet the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle
A few snippets:
Obviously, these machines have very different pedigrees—Tesla the disrupter, GM the disrupted—and hold out contrasting owner narratives. The Bolt doesn’t reinvent GM’s wheel entirely. My butt could tell those seats blindfolded. Also, in our $43,905 Premier test car, the driver’s door’s inner seam wasn’t quite plumb. They do that to make me crazy.
But the Bolt is a hell of a car, the quickest soulless appliance you could ask for, an absolute hoot in the sack. It dominates the BMW i3 and the Nissan Leaf, with more room, more power and more range....
....Did somebody say acceleration? The Bolt is as good as its name. From a standstill, and hampered by its low-rolling-resistance tires, the Bolt hits 60 mph in less than 6.5 seconds, officially. But once it’s rolling, say, between 20 and 60 mph, the Bolt is outrageously, throw-your-head-back quick, stealthy and spontaneous. With 266 lb-ft of torque on hair-trigger alert, this little family car squirts past slower cars like a Subaru WRX STI, except nobody thinks it’s an air raid. The Bolt should come with a traffic attorney on retainer.
Chevy Bolt: Meet the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle
A few snippets:
Obviously, these machines have very different pedigrees—Tesla the disrupter, GM the disrupted—and hold out contrasting owner narratives. The Bolt doesn’t reinvent GM’s wheel entirely. My butt could tell those seats blindfolded. Also, in our $43,905 Premier test car, the driver’s door’s inner seam wasn’t quite plumb. They do that to make me crazy.
But the Bolt is a hell of a car, the quickest soulless appliance you could ask for, an absolute hoot in the sack. It dominates the BMW i3 and the Nissan Leaf, with more room, more power and more range....
....Did somebody say acceleration? The Bolt is as good as its name. From a standstill, and hampered by its low-rolling-resistance tires, the Bolt hits 60 mph in less than 6.5 seconds, officially. But once it’s rolling, say, between 20 and 60 mph, the Bolt is outrageously, throw-your-head-back quick, stealthy and spontaneous. With 266 lb-ft of torque on hair-trigger alert, this little family car squirts past slower cars like a Subaru WRX STI, except nobody thinks it’s an air raid. The Bolt should come with a traffic attorney on retainer.
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And... FAIL. The 2018 Bolt EV specs are out now and Adaptive Cruise Control (AKA TACC) is still missing.
Idiots.
They got so many things right on the Bolt that I still love mine and will continue to recommend it as a strong competitor in the BEV market but I think leaving ACC out when it is now a common feature on many cars is a blunder.
I've read my share of bolt threads on TMC. I was very surprised to hear on one of Sandy Munro's video, (which I can not listen to if it's not at 2.0 speed) that the bolt was actually contracted out to LG and Samsung. I did come across some information here.
Should The Chevy Bolt Really Be Called The LG Bolt? | CleanTechnica
So, if I understand this, GM didn't really make the Bolt? Any truth to this?
Should The Chevy Bolt Really Be Called The LG Bolt? | CleanTechnica
So, if I understand this, GM didn't really make the Bolt? Any truth to this?
seattlite2004
Active Member
From this article...LG and LG Chem are major suppliers for the Bolt:
Bolt EV Powertrain: How Did GM And LG Collaborate On Design, Production?
Bolt EV Powertrain: How Did GM And LG Collaborate On Design, Production?
Specifically, according to GM , LG Chem will manufacture and supply all of the following systems:
Kinda like how Panasonic and I think Samsung supplied batteries for various Tesla models.- Lithium-ion Battery Cells and Battery Pack
- Battery Heater
- Electric Drive Motor (GM design)
- Power Inverter Module for DC-to-AC conversion (GM design)
- Onboard Battery Charger
- Electric Compressor for Climate-Control System
- High-Power Distribution Module
- Accessory Low-Power Module
- Power Line Communication Module (for communication with DC quick-charging station)
- Instrument Cluster
- Infotainment System
pilotSteve
Active Member
I have a brother that owns a Bolt, and his wife an e-golf for the past year, while I have been a Tesla guy (2012 S85 sig, 2017 S90D, 2018 TM3). He reluctantly drove my 3 and was BLOWN AWYAY by how much he liked the 3. He also is a race driving instructor and took us on a "hot lap" around the twisty roads where he lives in the outskirts of town. Afterward he couldn't stop grinning about how fun the 3 was to drive and how exemplary the handing was.
He drive home in his Bolt, his lease is up in 1 more year and I bet he will be driving a 3 then!
He drive home in his Bolt, his lease is up in 1 more year and I bet he will be driving a 3 then!
I think I heard Munro say something to the effect that most auto manufacturers are really auto assemblers, meaning very little of their own goes into their cars. Even believe he said that includes some of the designs.
seattlite2004
Active Member
Right....wasn't the original Tesla Roadster a Lotus design ( Lotus Position) and the S/X battery packs made by Panasonic (maybe joint design), and the Mod 3 packs are also a joint collaboration with Panasonic.
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Technically true, perhaps, but I think that Munro is missing the point. He's been around the auto industry long enough to observe what the Tesla founders also discovered. The auto industry has been hollowing themselves out over the years, keeping only the narrow technologies that gave them what they saw as their competitive advantage, and farming out all the other bits to others. In a mature industry this is probably the right strategy, at least from a "being fiscally responsible to the shareholders" angle.
But then, along comes Tesla. Largely, what the legacy automakers kept had been their engines. What has them freaked out right now is that very little of that competitive-advantage technology applies when you switch the car from ICE to EV, so they're all scrambling, putting something (anything) on the market by cobbling bits together from others in order to stay somewhat relevant. The proper question that Munro and others missed is - what are they going to do next?
Tesla created the Roadster by licensing the Lotus Elise design and modifying it extensively to create the car they wanted. But the Roadster had two objectives besides being for sale to make some money. One was to change the public mindset on what an electric car could be. But the other objective was to create a platform where they could develop and refine the base technologies - chassis, electronics, battery, motor, etc - they needed to create the Model S and future cars. The Roadster has sensors throughout, and lots of it gets to the car's logs which were accessible to Tesla via the cellular modem. I spoke with an early owner some years ago. She noted that she was driving around earlier that week and got a phone call from Tesla saying that they'd noticed something odd in her car's operation, and could she please stop by the service center for a patch? (This was before the Model S and its OTA ability.) Fun fact, those logs are also accessible to owners via a simple USB stick, which they even supplied with the car. Lots of really interesting stuff in there...
Tesla, in all this, was doing what they needed to do to build the core set of technologies they needed to be ultimately competitive in the new EV market they were creating, and they continue to do so. What they don't own themselves they partner with others for, but appear to never simply outsource any bit of the core. They, more than the others, are trending towards vertical integration, bringing in-house parts and assemblies that others seem to be outsourcing.
GM, and perhaps others... What are they doing? We know GM has a relationship with LG, but not the terms of that relationship nor their individual intents. How will it evolve? Is GM running their own secret R&D program in parallel to replace LG, or will they continue to depend on outside suppliers for even the core technologies of their EVs? There were reports that the motor, for example, is largely a GM design, so I expect they recognize the challenge they face, but what about the battery and drive electronics?
Then there are the seats... {sigh}
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