Daily Driving...125-150 per day

[JonathanKendig]

Hello,

I don't currently own a Bolt, but am considering one. I am in outside sales in the Mid Atlantic region driving on average 125 miles per day. I was wondering if there are any Bolt owners who drive their cars this heavily, and how they are doing with this. My main concern is what the real world range is. On the face of it, it seems that the car's range should be sufficient to do this sort of daily driving. I keep my computer plugged in, and use the radio all day. My driving is a mix of highway and suburban miles...my Prius says that I average around 35 miles per hour. I would love to hear about other's experiences if they use their car in a similar manner.

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan Kendig

 

[SparkE]

You would have no problem driving 160 miles a day at an avg of 35 mph (you'd probably get over 240 miles of range, except in winter). Your driving/ownership costs should go way down (compared to a comparably priced ICE vehicle), and your maintenance would be near zero for the first 75K miles (wipers, tires). Driving 4-5 miles will use more electricity than an entire day's charging of your laptop in the car and radio use (together).

The key thing is to find "emergency charging" spots in your area (fast chargers) so that if you need a little extra, you can add 40-50 miles of range in 15 minutes. Just knowing where they are (or if there are none) would be very useful.

Also, if there are conveniently located public level-2 charging spots nearby then an hour stop (say, for lunch) should add an extra 25-35 miles of range.

Look at plugshare.com to find charging spots near where you live.

 

[WetEV]

I'm an engineer, and tend to try to look at the worst reasonable case. Sparke is likely correct, but I'd like to give a worst case sort of opinion.

Sparke is exactly correct on computer and radio energy useage. My laptop draws 45W maximum. The car has 60,000 kWh. So, ignoring losses, I could charge the laptop for a few months, at 24 hours per days and maximum usage. Radio is even less. No worries here.


The "No Worries Range" is a little less than half of the EPA range. You can drive the car the NWR when the car's battery is almost due to be replaced under warranty, on a cold day with sloppy roads. The NWR of the Bolt is about 100 miles. 150 miles per day is beyond that. So you might have worries, on cold days when the car's battery is getting close to being worn out. Are you OK with that?

The warranty limit on the battery is a 40% loss over 100k miles and 8 years. A 40% loss reduces your range from 240 EPA miles to 144 miles. Yes, lower speeds will help some, but cold weather, with snow/slush on the roads will hurt more. On a really really bad day, with the battery down 40%, you might make only 100 miles. Now in your climate, battery loss isn't likely to be that much, but it still could happen.

Sure, by finding and using public charging on bad days you can stretch out beyond the NWR, but public charging is scarce, often poorly placed, often expensive per kWh, often busy and sometimes broken. Relying on it isn't something I'd suggest.

Do you have 150 miles days in the winter when the roads are slushy?

 

[joe]

I drive 120 miles round trip on I95 in MD every day. I usually average 32-35 mph, 5+ mi/kWh in the summer 4.2 so far this winter. The kind of mileage you indicate would not a problem.

A sort of worst-case scenario was last year when the highs were around 5ºF for a few days. The maximum range was around 160-180 those days.

 

[WetEV]

Also see:

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8404#p32952

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8079#p31221

Worst case is when everything that can go wrong does. There is a large chance that all would go very well. There are forty thousand or so Bolts, and a handful with battery replacements/BMS problems. For most people, a battery replacement would be a hassle. For someone that is relying on 150 mile range for daily trips, this could be a disaster, especially in winter. Does the OP have a second car that would be usable in a pinch? Could the OP afford to rent a car if not? Or even buy a new car?

Oh, and one other wet blanket subject. A minority of people find the seats uncomfortable. The OP should spend enough time in the car before buying to make sure the seat works for him.

On the other hand, if the OP has a typical Bolt experience, the OP is likely to love the car.

 

[BoltEV]

A sort of worst-case scenario was last year when the highs were around 5ºF for a few days. The maximum range was around 160-180 those days.

Did you actually drive it for this mileage or are you relying on your G-O-M?

The reason I ask is that my G-O-M has dropped to the 170-180s now that temps are in the low 50s at night in Los Angeles.

But after charging to a G-O-M reading of 185 yesterday, I drove for 264 miles before recharging (105 miles at 68-74 temps during the day and the remainder at 48-54 temps in the evening).

Now my G-O-M this morning says 253 (as it should given the algorithm used for it)!