DC FAST CHARGING

[WOODYDEL]

Man, I'm mad as heck. Where we live,, getting a Bolt meant take whatever showed up at the dealer. Nobody at the dealership said we could order a new Bolt. They all have just 2 versions, the LT and the Premier. They handed us chargepoint cards with the 30,000 plus sites all over the United States. We're thinking, heck if we decide to travel outside of the Bolt's range at least we can map out all the DC fast charge sites and make do. Like heck!!!!! What do they expect us to do? Wait 9.5 hours to charge the depleted battery?

So after taking delivery of the Bolt I purchased the Level2 Juicebox charger. It comes with 40 amps available, more than most of the others and a nice long 24' cord. It can even be taken with us in the motorhome we use to tow the Bolt. Except the Bolt doesn't even have an option change to take advantage of the increased charger's power!!!

Seems like I can't even retrofit the DC Fast Charge either!!

I thought I had everything reasonably thought out and I did except just how was I supposed to think of the unthinkable? They sure as heck talk up the DC Fast Charge feature. Nowhere do they flat out clearly state it was being left out.

I'm pissed off about this situation. It's not fair. I view this as a deception, intentionally perpetrated by Chevy.

Thank God I leased this car. I'll suffer with it and not have to worry about dumping it later.

My world has shrunk down to a 234 mile radius. Sucks.

 

[BarfOMatic]

You simply didn't do enough research before spending 1000s of dollars. Caveat Emptor.

And it sounds like your issue is with your (independently owned) dealer, not Chevrolet.

 

[DucRider]

Chevy has always been clear that DCFC is an option.

And, BTW, the "charger" is in the car. The JuiceBox is an EVSE. The car is indeed limited to 32 A charging on AC, but the time difference between 32 and 40 A is negligible at 240 V. This is even more evident if the charge is started at a high initial SOC and continued until fully charged (charge rate tapers as the battery "fills").

It's too bad you didn't do the research necessary to get exactly what you wanted. While the dealer could have pointed out the option to special order, they are focused on moving existing inventory. Always have been, always will be. Most car buyers are aware of this.

It's not always somebody else's fault.

 

[WOODYDEL]

Around here you don't order Bolts. Whatever shows up is what you get. NONE of the Bolts around here, at any dealer, have the DC Fast Charge.

Chevy's own site DOES NOT CLEARLY STATE YOU MUST ORDER THE DC FAST CHARGE. Not until you dig down into an options page.
'
What the hell is an options page there for? WE CANNOT ORDER BOLTS, PERIOD.

Stop the bull about my researching capabilities.

The proper saying goes like this: Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice shame on me.

Circle your wagons on someone else.

 

[WOODYDEL]

Go here: http://www.chevrolet.com/bolt-ev-electric-vehicle-2

Scroll down to picture of blue car with DC Fast Charge port covered over in orange.

Why are they showing an orange cover over something they don't include with the car?

Read the info columns below the picture. Where does it say a purchase of an option is required? NOWHERE. Shove the semantics Chevy. I didn't bring a lawyer with me to interpret what the liars were really saying. That's right a lie. When you leave out important details. This is worded to make it sound like this is part of the standard car.

DC FAST CHARGING

ABOUT 90 MILES IN AROUND 30 MINUTES OF CHARGE TIME
•Bolt EV offers DC Fast Charging capability

•Provides up to 90 miles of range in about 30 minutes of charge time
•DC Fast Charging stations are available for public use

Another thing about those video links. They weren't available, missing, when I viewed this page.

This is a real joke:


Get going with ChargePoint®†


Every Bolt EV comes with a ChargePoint®† card in your glove box, which allows access to thousands of public charging stations. Just activate your card, scan, swipe and go.

Why would you need THOUSANDS of public charging stations if charging takes too long to use them?

How do you use these stations to travel? Book a room at the local hotel while it charges for 9.5 hours? They had to know DC Fast Charging is a necessity not an option. Were they worried about the cost of the vehicle so they left the DC Fast Charge out? I don't think so.

I'm stuck within a 234 mile radius. This is stupidity in spades. NOBODY wants to take longer to charge their car. EVERYONE needs DC Fast Charge to use their car past the 234 mile range.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I was rolling my eyes at the first post too, but looking at the linked ad, GM really is obscuring the fact that DCFC is an option, as opposed to standard. All they had to do was add the word "optional" or "available" and the OP would have no real case. As it is, if the dealership also obscured the lack of fast charge ports on the cars in stock, the OP really did get screwed. Those of us familiar with EVs tend to read more into the ads than is actually there, at times.

 

[astroboy]

I was rolling my eyes at the first post too, but looking at the linked ad, GM really is obscuring the fact that DCFC is an option, as opposed to standard. All they had to do was add the word "optional" or "available" and the OP would have no real case. As it is, if the dealership also obscured the lack of fast charge ports on the cars in stock, the OP really did get screwed. Those of us familiar with EVs tend to read more into the ads than is actually there, at times.

somehow i knew the DCQC was an option, but i think that's because i expected it to be (on the leaf it was a $700 option). you are right though, that page really does not make it at all clear that the QC port is optional.

a related question is... is there really a chargepoint card in my glove box? i had no idea about that. are they implying that there's free charging at chargepoint stations, or just that they are very helpfully providing you with a chargepoint card that you then have to tie to your credit card?

 

[DucRider]

Around here you don't order Bolts. Whatever shows up is what you get. NONE of the Bolts around here, at any dealer, have the DC Fast Charge.

Chevy's own site DOES NOT CLEARLY STATE YOU MUST ORDER THE DC FAST CHARGE. Not until you dig down into an options page.
'
What the hell is an options page there for? WE CANNOT ORDER BOLTS, PERIOD.

Stop the bull about my researching capabilities.

The proper saying goes like this: Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice shame on me.

Circle your wagons on someone else.

Did you look at the specs for the car?
Basic research.

On the page you linked to, hit the "Specs" tab (right next to "overview") and you get this:
http://www.chevrolet.com/byo-vc/cli...&engineOne=EN0&bodyTypeOne=1&driveTypeOne=FWD

Did you explore any forums? Ask any questions?
Basic research.

Finding out what options are available on a vehicle ("Build and Price")?
Basic research.

Are you actually surprised they show fully optioned vehicels on their website (Fast Charge Port, etc.)?
STARTING AT: $37,495**
$29,995 AFTER FEDERAL TAX CREDIT†
AS SHOWN: $42,720**

Where are you located that all the dealers have conspired to prevent customers from ordering cars? You talked to ALL the dealers? Possible, but I doubt it.....
If you are in Delaware, it looks like most of the Bolts at Williams are equipped with DCFC

The Bolt web page does seem to change from time to time. And it has been clearer in the past that DCFC was an option. But the information is readily available to anyone that does any amount of research.

If you didn't get the Bolt equipped the way you wanted it... Own your mistake. Nothing was hidden from you, you just didn't look.

 

[devbolt]

To me, when they say "offers <some feature> capability" it means that it's an optional feature. Otherwise they would say it's a standard feature.

I get why the OP is upset, but it sounds like they didn't do enough research ahead of time, and ran into a crappy dealer who misled them.

 

[LeftieBiker]

This is in the same league as Nissan salescreatures telling customers that the (24kwh) Leaf "has a 100 mile range" without mentioning that you had to drive 45MPH with no climate control to get that far. My guess is that GM is trying to unload a bunch of non-DCFC-equipped Bolts, and/or doesn't want people to know, before they reach a showroom, that it's a $750 option.

 

[dandrewk]

So it's Chevy's fault that the OP didn't do the most basic of research. Do we really expect a car manufacturer to handhold us through every basic detail?

To the OP: I know you will get all defensive, going on about circling the wagons. However, I'd grade your "researching capabilities" at about zero. The responsibility here is 100% yours. You didn't pay for DCFC (regardless of you awareness of its inclusion), you didn't get DCFC, and now you are blaming somebody else for your lack of basic thoroughness.

I feel you pain, and I'd be mad as heck too... AT MYSELF. The lack of options at your local dealerships is hardly an excuse, as others here have gone to great lengths to get exactly what they wanted... and succeeded. If this option is something you wanted, and it wasn't available anywhere, then the course of action is obvious. Don't buy it.

 

[mikegrb]

Isn't the Bolt supposed to be the first 200+ mile range EV for the masses? The average person doesn't research every option available on a vehicle before purchasing it. A non-EV enthusiast is unlikely to be aware of things unique to an EV. Seems like the OP did do some research as he was aware of DC fast charging existing and that it made the car work for his situation.

 

[SeanNelson]

The average person doesn't research every option available on a vehicle before purchasing it.

I keep hearing this, but for a purchase of multiple $10s of thousands of dollars I still have a hard time believing it, especially for a vehicle as obviously different from mainstream as an electric one.

 

[sparkyps]

While OP didn't do sufficient research he does correctly point out that EVs are new technology cars and both dealers and Chevy need to do a better job selling them.

I remember going into a dealer to purchase my first Chevy Spark EV, I had already done the research, but I'm not the average person. The salespeople knew almost nothing about EVs and were making up stuff.

Blaming OP is an enthusiast's response. Recognizing that OP's complaint reflects an unhappy customer who is the very type of customer GM needs to attract to make EVs successful is important.

DCFC is not like a heated steering wheel as an option, it needs to be carefully explained as something that is really critical to take trips longer than 200 miles R/T that don't involve an overnight stay where a L2 charger is available. Sales people need to help their customers understand whether the particular car they are selling will meet their customer's needs or they make a sale but lose a customer long term.

More importantly, GM needs to think hard about whether making the DCFC standard equipment isn't a better choice than slightly reducing the base price of the vehicle if lack of a DCFC leads to customer unhappiness with EVs down the road.

 

[Zoomit]

Most dealer websites I've seen do a VERY poor job differentiating which cars have DCFC and which do not. That feature is not part of the normal set of features they highlight about their cars. Usually I have to "view full specs" or something similar to see if the DCFC option is on any particular vehicle. A bonus is when they have a picture of the open chagring port, but that is rare. And I'm a well educated EV consumer.

The OP scenario is going to play out many many more times with poorly informed or motivated Chevy dealers.

 

[DucRider]

Dealerships have always been, and always will be, a very poor place to learn about vehicles of any type. ICE, electric, hybrid, wind up. Doesn't matter. Salespeople are trained on feature/benefit. If the vehicle you are looking at is not equipped with a particular feature/option, the benefit will not be explained.

When cars were transitioning from carburetors to fuel injection, do you think salespeople interrupted the sale of a carbureted car to explain the benefits of fuel injection?

What about buying a pick-up truck, then later complaining they couldn't tow their boat without the optional tow package? And NONE of the pickups on the lot had it!

Yes, dealers SHOULD know more about EV's and be prepared to help with the education. But, anyone who relies on any salesperson to have their best interest as a top priority is a fool. Yes, a good salesperson will do their best to find out steer a customer in the right direction. But relying on a random salesperson to do it every time?

If the OP walked in to the dealership and stated: "I want to lease the white Bolt EV you show in stock."
The response should be" "Great! I just have a quiz you need to take about EV's to see if this is the best vehicle for you. "?

A good salesperson would have some sort of conversation about some basics - winter range, where will you charge, how did you here about the Bolt, etc. But at some point their job is to close the deal. If the customer wants to buy, who are they to argue?

If the dealers don't provide the info then who?
Look in the mirror.
Those that participate on forums provide a great deal of info. Many (most?) visitors looking for info never join/post, but learn from the conversations.
Some even take it a step further. Some of the things I personally do:
Join the Electric Auto Association.

http://www.electricauto.org/

Become active the local chapter of the EAA. For me that is the OEVA.

http://www.oeva.org/
We were able to put together an EV Showcase at the Portland International Auto Show. We had ~5000 sq feet, 25 EV's (we even were able to bring a Tesla to show put on the the Auto Dealers Association)

Participate in outreach events.
July 1st is EV Fest in Pioneer Courthouse Square. This is the 13th year of the event (formerly EV Awareness Day). A chance to expose people to EV's and answer questions.

Participate in National Drive Electric Week

https://driveelectricweek.org/
Don't see an event near you? Start one!
I've run an event for 4 years. A fantastic way to expose the public to EV's and get straight answers from actual owners. I've been able to wrangle pretty good dealer participation and many provide test drives. Dealer salespeople probably learn more in a few hours at the event than any amount of training will ever provide. I've heard this from other event organizers as well (one had to tell them how to charge the e-Golf to get it back to the dealership).
Last year we did ~120 test drives. On a cold rainy day.
Getting people to drive an EV is the best way to get them to appreciate it.

Join Plug In America

https://org.salsalabs.com/o/2711/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=14126

Shop at Amazon?
Sign up for Amazon Smile and pick an EV related charity (the EAA, local chapter, Plug In America, etc.). A small percentage of elegible purchases go to your designated charity. No cost to you.

Turned into quite a ramble. Maybe should split to a new topic?

 

[dandrewk]

Well said Gary, thank you. A purchase this large and complex demands diligence and research. Failure to do so will often result in the OP's buyer's remorse.

Dealers and salesmen should never be relied upon for accurate, thorough information. This has been the case since cars were first sold by commission based salesmen, and often applies to ALL products that are sold by commission based salesmen.

I have read a lot of PR announcements from GM and lots of print ads regarding the Bolt. I see nothing there that is remotely deceptive.

Regarding the inclusion of DCFC as an option - yeah, a bit confusing. With the Leaf, its inclusion is based on the trim level. In order to get DCFC, you have to get the top line trim. I understand GM's idea of making it an option across all trim levels - it's an important and expensive choice. Again, it's up to the buyer to understand all options and act/buy accordingly.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

With the Leaf, its inclusion is based on the trim level. In order to get DCFC, you have to get the top line trim.

Actually, that's not true. The 2017 Leaf comes with DCFC standard on the mid- and top-line trim. It is optional on the entry level trim, as part of the "charge package".

Granted, you probably haven't researched the Leaf because you probably aren't interested in buying one. But your statement is a perfect example of how confusing it can be to the casual observer (to the OP's point).

 

[Anonymous]

In Canada we get fast charger included. So no issue here.

 

[SeanNelson]

Salespeople are trained on feature/benefit. If the vehicle you are looking at is not equipped with a particular feature/option, the benefit will not be explained.

When cars were transitioning from carburetors to fuel injection, do you think salespeople interrupted the sale of a carbureted car to explain the benefits of fuel injection?

What about buying a pick-up truck, then later complaining they couldn't tow their boat without the optional tow package?

Are you trying to tell me that car dealers don't know about the upsell?