Tesla ModeModel 3 vs. Chevy Bolt

[ℬête Noire]

The overall feel of the Bolt is that it is a cheap econo-box — not acceptable in a $40,000 plus vehicle (with the optional safety packages).

This. The Bolt is not a bad car, it is a good car if what it does and is shaped like is what you're looking for (and your butt fits it's seats, if they don't then it'll be hell until you get an aftermarket seat pad to fix that). However the Model 3 is ready to stand on it's own without the Federal Tax Credit, the Bolt is decidedly not. GM needs to get on this or the future is dim for them.

 

[ewoodrick]

The model 3 can do pretty close to one pedal driving if you can get away with California stops at stop signs lol.

But the 2018 Leaf CAN do one pedal driving. And also has TACC and lane guidance. And lists starts at $5k below the cheapest Tesla Model 3.

 

[Krugerrand]

I actually timed waiting for my Tesla to go from 5MPH to 0MPH by regenerative braking alone. It took 10 seconds. To me, that's a long time to coast up to a stop sign. Especially block after block. But, you know, if it works for you, it works.

The question was about stop light not stop sign - I’ll assume the answer is: there is no advantage.

Yes, depending on terrain, how fast you were going before allowing regen to kick in, and your general timing, it can take that long. Or it can be much faster.

I don’t drive to annoy other drivers, so if I find someone behind me, who clearly is in a hurry to arrive at their destination a few seconds sooner, I pull over and let them pass. You never know, they might be on their way to pick up their new Tesla.

 

[Don TLR]

You just had your morning coffee, you're all excited to start your day, you open the door to walk out to to garage, what do you want to see sitting there... Saturday morning comes around, do you just hose off the roller skate commuter or polish your dream car in plans of a fun drive later on with the family.

 

[TI Sailor]

Additionally the Bolt...is made by a company I don’t support for a lot of reasons.

When GM went out of its way to write, lobby, and/or testify at state legislative meetings to prohibit Tesla from selling and sometimes even servicing its vehicles in those states, I vowed to never ever own a GM product, EV or otherwise. Compete in an open market or go home.

 

[rachelhikes]

But the 2018 Leaf CAN do one pedal driving. And also has TACC and lane guidance. And lists starts at $5k below the cheapest Tesla Model 3.

How is the lane guidance on the Leaf? The Bolt has it, and it is truly terrible. If you try to let the Bolt do lane keeping, it ping-pongs back and forth from right to left and back again in the lane, and is highly prone to going way over a line before it decides that something is amiss and starts to correct. (And this is how it behaves when the dash display shows that it sees the line.)

 

[rachelhikes]

Yes, depending on terrain, how fast you were going before allowing regen to kick in, and your general timing, it can take that long. Or it can be much faster.

If on level ground, you can get your Model 3 to go from 5MPH to 0MPH in much under 10 seconds on regenerative braking alone, let me know. Mine can't. I dunno, maybe yours is set up differently, and better, than mine.

FYI - On level ground, our Bolt can go from 5MPH to 0MPH in about 1 second. There is a big difference between the two cars in how regenerative braking works at low speeds.

 

[rachelhikes]

You just had your morning coffee, you're all excited to start your day, you open the door to walk out to to garage, what do you want to see sitting there... Saturday morning comes around, do you just hose off the roller skate commuter or polish your dream car in plans of a fun drive later on with the family.

Without in any way wanting to claim that the Bolt is equal to the Model 3 driving experience, I've driven our Bolt a lot, and, prior to the Model 3, it was my favorite car to drive of all the cars I've owned. It is the car that sold me on the electric car experience. When I started to drive the Bolt, my Mini Countryman, the car that the Model 3 is replacing, suddenly seemed like an obsolete relic from another era. And if our family day is going to be in San Francisco, even now I'll take the Bolt and leave the Model 3 at home.

 

[ℬête Noire]

If on level ground, you can get your Model 3 to go from 5MPH to 0MPH in much under 10 seconds on regenerative braking alone, let me know. Mine can't. I dunno, maybe yours is set up differently, and better, than mine.

FYI - On level ground, our Bolt can go from 5MPH to 0MPH in about 1 second. There is a big difference between the two cars in how regenerative braking works at low speeds.

You still use the Bolt brake pedal occasionally though, right? I find it to be a 1.5 pedal driving (1.25 if you don't count the handle paddle as a "pedal"). I actually over time started putting my foot on the brake pedal anyway, even if not "needed". It was odd I went backwards like that but I did.

Now with Model 3 AWD ( I expect is much closer to the Bolt "L" experience than RWD), the difference is less choppy regen onset and then that stronger need to use brake pedal right at the very end of a full stop (when you're either first to stop at he red light or don't have TACC on).

 

[rachelhikes]

You still used the brake pedal occasionally though, right? I find it to be a 1.5 pedal driving (1.25 if you don't count the handle paddle as a "pedal")..

I don't really use the brake pedal in the Bolt except for unexpected sudden stops, and stops on steep downward slopes. On a typical short errand (which is the Bolt's main job as a car), the brake never gets touched.

 

[Chancellor32]

You just had your morning coffee, you're all excited to start your day, you open the door to walk out to to garage, what do you want to see sitting there... Saturday morning comes around, do you just hose off the roller skate commuter or polish your dream car in plans of a fun drive later on with the family.

I was getting excited you were going to say you walk into the garage and see a bolt or a leaf and decide to just go back inside haha. You see a M3 and you leave with it and never come back.

 

[seattlite2004]

I don't really use the brake pedal in the Bolt except for unexpected sudden stops, and stops on steep downward slopes. On a typical short errand (which is the Bolt's main job as a car), the brake never gets touched.

I also hardly use my brakes. I'm used to using the paddle in L mode to add the most aggressive regen....like in turns or approaching slow/stopped traffic...so I only really use the press the break pedal for sudden/emergency stops.

 

[Don TLR]

I was getting excited you were going to say you walk into the garage and see a bolt or a leaf and decide to just go back inside haha. You see a M3 and you leave with it and never come back.

or Something like Groundhog Day,, wake up and see a Bolt so you go back to bed hoping the next day will be much better..

 

[ℬête Noire]

I don't really use the brake pedal in the Bolt except for unexpected sudden stops, and stops on steep downward slopes. On a typical short errand (which is the Bolt's main job as a car), the brake never gets touched.

"Using the brake" and putting your foot on the pedal are two different things. I move it towards there "just in case".

I also hardly use my brakes. I'm used to using the paddle in L mode to add the most aggressive regen....like in turns or approaching slow/stopped traffic...so I only really use the press the break pedal for sudden/emergency stops.

Yup, where-as I'm finding so far that Model 3 regen in fine for any corner without a need for the equivalent to "paddle cheat". Pretty sure this is chalked up to far superior cornering.

 

[drawfour]

"Using the brake" and putting your foot on the pedal are two different things.

Even what I have TACC on, I put my foot on the pedal so I am ready to use it in case I need it. Once I realize the car is properly slowing down for the car in front of me, then I'll relax my foot off. So really, it's about when the Model 3 doesn't see the other cars ahead but they are stopped or slowed down, and I'm still shooting along at a decent speed - I want to make sure TACC will take effect when the cars ahead come into sensor range, but I'm always at the ready in case it's a stopped fire truck.

 

[Sparrow]

From what I can tell, the brake light in the Bolt stays on only when actively braking. If I am already stopped in my Bolt, I like to put my foot on the brake just so I know my brake light is on for the guy coming up behind me.

 

[Gavyne]

And if our family day is going to be in San Francisco, even now I'll take the Bolt and leave the Model 3 at home.

I wouldn't advise that, seeing how the Bolt only has 4 star crash ratings for frontal and side impact. For your family's sake, if you have access to a Model 3, please drive them around in a Model 3.

People are getting caught up in small talk discussions about how great and wonderful Bolt is, such as how much of a one-pedal driving the Bolt is over the Model 3. I mean really? Please drive your families in a Model 3 if you have access to one. It only takes 1 accident for you to regret all the small talks.

 

[ℬête Noire]

From what I can tell, the brake light in the Bolt stays on only when actively braking. If I am already stopped in my Bolt, I like to put my foot on the brake just so I know my brake light is on for the guy coming up behind me.

This is probably the root of why I started doing it. My wife *cough* urging me to, because of that fact, the times that she was riding with me. It's kinda weird how it was an organically emerging habit from there.

 

[seattlite2004]

You just had your morning coffee, you're all excited to start your day, you open the door to walk out to to garage, what do you want to see sitting there... Saturday morning comes around, do you just hose off the roller skate commuter or polish your dream car in plans of a fun drive later on with the family.

I'll probably be seeing the Bolt and a manual tranny V8 (hoping for mid engine). or a mid engine flat 6 or turbo 4. If the 35K model 3 is ever sold...I'll probably also see that in the garage.

Not responding to "Don TLR"...but the Bolt has ZERO "Vampire Drain". My from the wall electricity inputs into the Bolt are about 8% more than what the Bolt is using...so that is inline with charging losses.

 

[rachelhikes]

The question was about stop light not stop sign - I’ll assume the answer is: there is no advantage.

I seldom choose to respond to every point someone else makes in a discussion. Doing so tends to create expanding posts where each reply is longer than the one that precedes it. Generally, I pick a point to which I think I have the most interesting thing to say and just reply to that one. And I think lots of people do that sort of thing. So, in general, assuming that when someone doesn't reply to a point, that the reason is because they don't have an answer is ill-advised.

Stopping on regenerative braking alone isn't just about time and distance, it's about control. With a Bolt at low speeds, I can modulate the regenerative braking force across a wide range of strengths. I can stop slower or faster as desired. With the Model 3, I don't have that option. It is going to be slow. If I don't start stopping in time, or misjudge where a car in front of me is going to stop, my only means of correction is the friction brakes. That's just the way the Model 3 works. With the Model 3, a regenerative stop isn't just a slow stop, it is an uncontrolled stop: it's gonna do what it's gonna do. If you've taught yourself to (mostly) stop that way, that's fine. I got no beef with you.