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Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

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81–90 of 298 posts

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#81

If you buy an EV, you should be happy with its range when you buy it. Like laptops and cellphones, that will degrade as all batteries do. But also like laptops and cellphones, when you replace that battery down the road, it is unlikely you'll get an upgrade. You'll get the same range. At least that was the case with my 2013 Leaf with its 85 mile range. I had it in mind that when it came for a new battery I'd get mayb…

I'm wary of comparing with laptops and cell phones, because a proper EV drivetrain will suffer much less degradation. Consumer electronics batteries are poorly cooled and prioritize daily capacity over long-term life, so they degrade much more quickly. I'm sure you know this, but I see a lot of people thinking their car battery will only last 2-3 years because that's how their cell phone is.

For what it's worth, I appear to have an outlier, but my Tesla's battery has degraded well under 1% after 2.5 years and 40,000 miles.

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#82
post #20

We just managed to sell another flagship GM vehicle, and the software was so bad, it was nearly a deal-breaker. (Most years of this model had software bugs that were so bad, they could literally kill you — for example, the exhaust system could overheat, and burn the car down). Also, basic electro-mechanical things, like seat belts and the FM radio started to die after 3-4 years. This is with light use in CA. Even whe…

"Kill you"? Sorry but this is fud unless you can cite death rates.

This site here lists the Volt as lowest death rate listed among small 4-dr cars.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/driver-death-rates

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#83
post #20

We just managed to sell another flagship GM vehicle, and the software was so bad, it was nearly a deal-breaker. (Most years of this model had software bugs that were so bad, they could literally kill you — for example, the exhaust system could overheat, and burn the car down). Also, basic electro-mechanical things, like seat belts and the FM radio started to die after 3-4 years. This is with light use in CA. Even whe…

That's very interesting, thanks for sharing. I really like the Bolt (or did) but won't allow myself to buy another GM vehicle for other reasons. My dad is an old 60s car guy, GM diehard and a collector. Has a lot of six figure originals from their heyday. His favorite is definitely his 1970 Buick GSX SS Stage 1 that they only made 1,000 of or so. He's the original owner and it's all original. My brother has a Buick Grand National which is a pretty cool car too.

I never cared much about car brands but usually leaned towards GM as a result, Pontiac always caught my eye. GM's lineup seemed as good as anything. Once I had to take my car in for a recall I found how wrong I was. Both the dealer screwed me (expected) and GM corporate did as well (unexpected).

Long story short, they did an ignition console swap and after they were done they gave me 2 sets of keys and told me that one was for the door and one was for the new ignition. GM's CEO even stated on her blog that this was not to be the case. I wasn't the only person complaining about being told to have two sets of keys either. I filed a corporate complaint and they told me to pound sand. I did file a BBB report on the dealer and they never replied so I guess it just went on their record uncontested.

As well, GM later denied payment for a faulty gas tank issue that they sent me a mailer about for reimbursement but never paid me. The fix had already been done at the tune of $550. I followed their instructions exactly, quite time consuming tracking down receipts I no longer had and so forth. They still said I had something wrong with my application. Don't know what it was, at that point I was done hassling with them and had made my final decision on GM.

The verdict is no more GM for me or my family for the rest of our lives. There's plenty of alternatives. My wife now has a Subaru Crosstrek and I'm buying a Tesla Model 3. The new Honda Civic hatchback is pretty neat. Ultimately I believe I'm going electric from here on out, but never GM.

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#84
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I live in Palo Alto (near you) and I convinced my apartment complex to install an EV charger: 2 chargers, and conduit for 4 more. I'm mystified why you aren't counting the 2 chargers that your apartment complex does provide. For all I know we live at the same place. I'm happy, you're unhappy. Given the large battery in a Bolt, do you really need to charge every day?!

“Happy you’re unhappy”. 2 charging spaces that are first come first serve are probably impossible to use.

In my case, the 2 spaces are not impossible to use, I've used them. (The complex has 280 bedrooms.)

Also, when they become more contended, the capacity can be tripled. (They're waiting until it becomes needed.)

Sounds like you didn't even try.

Edit: I don't think I've ever gotten 4 downvotes on HN for anything before, but it's fair to say that this is hardly the most arguable thing I've said!

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leaf is very short range isn’t it?

Yes and range decreases drastically with battery age and cold temp compared to other EVs. However, as mentioned, they are a steal if you have a short commute.

I strongly considered one as a second car. You won't be driving to Disney World with it (unless you live in Orlando...) but as a supplemental car for stuff around town when my wife and I want to be in different places at the same time, it would be just fine.

We ultimately decided that we weren't in a big hurry and we'd rather go all-out and get a Tesla Model 3, but for someone wanting to spend less, it could be a great choice.

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#87

Hours per week charging is better than hours per day, but still only practical for people who can run heavy wiring to a private garage. I keep wishing gas station battery swaps were happening.

As long as you can replace your daily needs overnight, the number of hours of charging per day doesn't matter. If you drive less than about 50 miles per day, you can do that on a standard 120V outlet. If you need more than that, you can double your charging rate with the same gauge of wiring by switching to a 240V/15A circuit, and maxing out the Bolt's 32A charger only requires a 40A circuit which isn't too bad to install for most people.

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#88
post #81

If you buy an EV, you should be happy with its range when you buy it. Like laptops and cellphones, that will degrade as all batteries do. But also like laptops and cellphones, when you replace that battery down the road, it is unlikely you'll get an upgrade. You'll get the same range. At least that was the case with my 2013 Leaf with its 85 mile range. I had it in mind that when it came for a new battery I'd get mayb…

I'm wary of comparing with laptops and cell phones, because a proper EV drivetrain will suffer much less degradation. Consumer electronics batteries are poorly cooled and prioritize daily capacity over long-term life, so they degrade much more quickly. I'm sure you know this, but I see a lot of people thinking their car battery will only last 2-3 years because that's how their cell phone is. For what it's worth, I ap…

I thought I read, perhaps here, that Tesla over-provisions its batteries and uses software to optimize the battery "working set" to minimize perceptible range degradation.

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#89
post #68
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because that’s how regenerative braking works. This was discussed at length in the linked article.

That sounds dangerous. By comparison the Prius uses regenerative braking when you hit the brake, but if that isn't enough it will switch to normal (friction) braking. Having something that switches from braking to no brake without warning seems like ... terrible design.

A Prius performs light regenerative braking whenever you're not depressing the accelerator; it primarily uses regenerative braking when using the brake pedal, but will switch to the friction brakes if you brake harder than the power train can move energy back into the battery or the battery state of charge is at the upper limit.

Re: Chevy Bolt: the First Practical, Mass-Market Electric Vehicle

#90

If you buy an EV, you should be happy with its range when you buy it. Like laptops and cellphones, that will degrade as all batteries do. But also like laptops and cellphones, when you replace that battery down the road, it is unlikely you'll get an upgrade. You'll get the same range. At least that was the case with my 2013 Leaf with its 85 mile range. I had it in mind that when it came for a new battery I'd get mayb…

I wouldn't compare the Leaf, which has no thermal management system with a Bolt, which does.

The Leafs are basically designed to degrade. Tesla's and Bolts are designed to last.

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