Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

marketwatch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 298 posts

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

#101

Post by hedora »

BuckRogers wrote: post #83
hedora wrote: 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 G…

That sucks. Our GM dealer installed some counterfeit electrical parts (I bought it new!) and then it developed electrical issues — if you left it off for 8 hours it would sometimes drain the battery and fail to start.

At that point, other GM dealers refused to look at it without taking a large up-front deposit.

Corporate didn’t actually use the words “pound sand”. It would have saved me time if they had.

Eventually, I took it to a Chevy dealer, and they upgraded the radio firmware. The electical problems were caused by a CAM protocol bug that prevented the ABS from powering off sometimes.

This was all in the first 1000 miles.

It had unrelated issues due to the fake parts, but the dealer “honored” the warranty by switching them out for a different brand.

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

#102

Post by bogomipz »

I am curious how does one go about disposing of an electronic vehicle like this when the time comes - whether from an accident or just EOL'd? Is that included in this price? Or does one need to factor that into the TCO of the vehicle?

Given the batteries I'm guessing this requires special attention compared to a combustion engine car.

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

#103

Post by cptskippy »

abduhl wrote: post #40
hedora wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Case in point. I thought I read bolts (volts?) sometimes put themselves into reverse and accelerate while off+charging. I wanted to paste a link, but found this article instead. It looks like this safety issue is by design. (Also, CR says the handling is “choppy” on uneven pavement, which matches my old lemon): http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/#/topics/7778?page=1 “On this rainy morning while turning to park in a stall…

your case in point is that someone who wanted to park decided not to use his brakes? is removing your foot from the accelerator instead of using the brake a standard learned behavior amongst bolt/volt owners?

I can't speak for GM cars but the Leaf regenerative braking isn't enough to stop the car in this situation, only slow it.

To me regenerative braking feels like putting the car in D3 or turning off overdrive. As soon as you stop giving enough gas to accelerate or hold speed it just drags the car down.

I would never expect it to slow the car to a stop for me.

Also in the Leaf the amount of regenerative braking applied is diminished if the car is over 90-95% charged. It has 4 dots indicating level and they have halos indicating the max possible based on conditions.

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

#104

Post by hedora »

dpweb wrote: post #82
hedora wrote: 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

All the cars I mentioned have internal combustion engines, FWIW.

I wonder if the volt does so well because of limited range — I doubt typical owners clock many highway miles at speed, given that it is most useful in congested cities.

Anyway, here are lists of recalls across their lines. Glancing at it reveals shocking things (the GMC canyon hood can unexpectedly open, and it has killed people, to pick one at random).

I don’t know of a decent comparison of such things across makes, but from a qualitative perspective, I think GM’s recent track record is unacceptable.

https://www.edmunds.com/recalls/chevrolet.html

https://www.edmunds.com/recalls/gmc.html

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

#105

Post by iainmerrick »

bane wrote: post #97
greglindahl wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only problem with your analysis is that there appear to be 100s of thousands of US consumers who want a pure electric car and not a (Edit: plugin) hybrid, many more people than are interested in hybrids. So you've got a fine personal datapoint, but you don't appear to be typical of the market, or at least of a market big enough to launch a high-volume car.

A couple counterpoints, there's something like 11 million hybrids on the road today. I'm also somebody who would like to buy an all electric car for various reasons, but the cars just aren't there yet.

Right, I see Prius and other hybrids everywhere. If people don’t seem to be asking for hybrids that may just be because they’re totally mainstream now.

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

#106

Post by greglindahl »

bane wrote: post #97
greglindahl wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only problem with your analysis is that there appear to be 100s of thousands of US consumers who want a pure electric car and not a (Edit: plugin) hybrid, many more people than are interested in hybrids. So you've got a fine personal datapoint, but you don't appear to be typical of the market, or at least of a market big enough to launch a high-volume car.

A couple counterpoints, there's something like 11 million hybrids on the road today. I'm also somebody who would like to buy an all electric car for various reasons, but the cars just aren't there yet.

Sorry, I really meant to refer to plug-in hybrids, not mild hybrids: https://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/

I totally understand that there are people who would buy a pure EV if it was cheaper, and that's not here yet.

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

#108

Post by BuckRogers »

hedora wrote: post #101
BuckRogers wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 G…

That sucks. Our GM dealer installed some counterfeit electrical parts (I bought it new!) and then it developed electrical issues — if you left it off for 8 hours it would sometimes drain the battery and fail to start. At that point, other GM dealers refused to look at it without taking a large up-front deposit. Corporate didn’t actually use the words “pound sand”. It would have saved me time if they had. Eventually,…

1,000 miles, you're probably covered by the lemon law on that if you just want to return it. I can't say at 1,000 miles I'd not be fuming about a large up-front deposit being asked of me.

Amazing. Well, I wasn't going to hand GM any money again anyway, but my slight admiration I had of their Bolt is now gone, so thank you for that. GM is pulling their usual cheap Android vendor that wants Apple prices method I suppose, which I should've known. Yup GM corporate simply told me that the dealer is their eyes and ears and could do nothing other than side with them. Really helpful.

I certainly hope you don't have any further issues with it for the remainder of its lifespan because this stuff is a big waste of time. I've been at the point for years that I'll just pay more and get the Toyota or Honda even if it looks like I'm paying for nothing on the spec sheet.

GM really goes out of their way to charm all their loyal customers.

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

#109

Post by Aloha »

mach5 wrote: post #16
samcheng wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful, Tesla drivers discovered that never using the brake, particularly in areas that use salt on the roads, results in expensive corrosion. Automotive brakes haven't been designed with one-pedal driving in mind... https://cleantechnica.com/2016/05/24/8500-new-tesla-model-s-... Recommendation: consciously use the brakes in a firm deceleration once a week.

to say i don't use the brakes is a little bit of a misnomer, as i use them at stoplights in order to activate the rear brake lights for other drivers. two more bits of trivia: the brake lights activate during regen for more than .2g of deceleration, and the brake rotor metal is formulated not to rust.

It's made of metal, its going to corrode in some way - I don't think stainless steel has the properties you'd want in a brake rotor, either.

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

#110

Post by bobsil1 »

mach5 wrote: post #49
matt_wulfeck wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He knows his targets are ripe for takeover. The car industry is stuck in the past.

can't take over the car industry when you can barely deliver 14% of what you promised: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/20/jpmorgan-slashes-its-tesla-m...

can't take over the space industry when your rockets keep blowing up
Post reply on HN