GetOffYourGas
Well-known member
Last week I took delivery of my new Bolt Premier. I immediately turned around and took it on a 687-mile road trip from Syracuse, NY to Newport, RI and back. Here are my thoughts and experiences from the perspective of a satisfied owner.
Background
I have been driving a Nissan Leaf for 5.5 years. When new, it provided about 75 miles of range. Over time, that has slowly decreased, and I was down to about 60 miles when I traded it. It had a maximum charge rate of 3.6kW (no QC port), so I was used to using it as a local-only vehicle. The point of all of this is that I am versed in the pros and cons of owning and driving an EV. I know how much speed and cold kills range. I am also used to the Leaf's horrid "Guess-O-Meter" which does more to instill range anxiety than to allay it. The Bolt's range meter is not deserving of that name, but more on that later.
All packed up and ready to roll
Seat Comfort
At the forefront of my mind was seat comfort, thanks to many voices on this forum and others. I found the seats to be a little too firm, but not uncomfortable. Having sat in them for several hours straight, I am no longer concerned about them. I know many feel differently, and I'm not trying to diminish their concerns. Just that they are not a problem for me.
Navigation
Another concern of mine was navigation. The Bolt does not have built-in nav but relies on a smart phone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. I admit, I was a loud complainer about this fact, and it still bothers me a little. I do have an iPhone, and the CarPlay worked seemlessly. However, I had to take the phone out of my pocket, and make sure that I had the lightning cable. Minor hassles. At one point in my trip, I did not need navigation, so I didn't plug in the phone. I am used to having a map on the center screen while driving, but even that is not available without the phone providing it. Another minor irritation. I also still have concerns about navigation in remote locations, like when I'm trying to find a trailhead in the Green Mountains, for example. I know that cell phone service goes dark up in the mountains, and I would lose one of the great advancements in modern travel. Overall, while I like it when it works, it fails to work in several regular situations in which a true built-in nav would not.
Range Prediction
This is one of the most eye-opening experiences of driving a Bolt. The range predictor is amazingly accurate. I used the min/max/expected view, and seemed to track the expected spot-on. There were times when I knew the range would drop (for instance, when I had been driving at 55MPH, and then got onto the highway at 65MPH). The range predictor showed me that I was clearly less efficient than I had been, and was trending towards the min. The opposite happened when I got off the highway. Whereas in the Leaf I learned to expect initial range to drop like a stone, in the Bolt the car upheld its initial promise, and delivered. If this experience holds up, I cannot ever excuse myself for refering to the range predictor as a Guess-O-Meter or GOM.
Charging Performance
I had read up on this mystical "quick" charging thing, but never experienced it first hand until I was 150 miles from home, deep into my journey towards the coast. All of the QC I used were nominally 50kW units. This means that they provide up to 500V and 100A. Of course, the Bolt never gets anywhere near 500V. What I observed was that the car would pin the current at 100A as the voltage would slowly rise to about 370V (37kW). At this point, the voltage would remain constant, but the current would step down to about 63A (~23kW). This is all what I had expected, thanks to threads like this one: http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/vi...0&sid=644aa34ad782d00e6f6ea6baaafd4db7#p22910. I don't understand why there is a huge step down in current rather than a more gradual ramp, but that's what I get. So thank you, Zoomit, for the incredibly helpful and informative graphs!
The end of a typical charge session. At this point, I had hit the first taper point and was pulling 62A at 387 V (24kW).
I stopped 6 time over my journey for charging. A typical stop for me was about 30-45 minutes. I spent the the time doing a variety of things - eating breakfast, eating lunch, reading a book, checking in on social media (to share my journey with my friends), and grocery shopping for the weekend. For the most part, the time flew by. Only once did I really notice the extra wait. Although one of my mistakes was stopping to charge too early. Being unfamiliar with the car and the chargers, I was playing it safe. As a result, every charge session hit the taper point, and I received less energy overall than if I had driven deeper into the battery.
Not normally a fan of DD, but they have a charger so I had breakfast.
Plenty to do at this charging stop
Charging Network
This is my biggest gripe, and it has nothing to do with the car. The QC worked very well. The locations were so-so. All had things to do, but only one had a cafe available! For a coffee drinker like myself, this was disappointing. All of them also had a single QC. The single point of failure led me to be more cautious, and I was charging much sooner than I could have, as noted above. Luckily, they all worked and I did not have to wait behind any other cars. All of the chargers were EVGo. I know that isn't the most favorable company on this forum, but beggers can't be choosers.
Every charger I used welcomed me with a screen announcing that Nissan Leafs with No-Charge-To-Charge charge there for free. In other words, Nissan is subisidizing what little infrastructure we have. BMW was mentioned on some (but not all) of them as well. GM has stated in the past that they have no plans to help subsidize the growth of the network. I think this is a big mistake and I hope they reconsider it. The Bolt is a huge step forward. When paired with a robust QC network, it could be revolutionary.
At Newport - no destination charging here!
Round-Trip stats
More Road-Trip stats
Energy Score. Certainly not hypermiling this trip!
Conclusion
So overall, I am blown away by this car. I started out the trip being a little nervous. Afterall, I was about to drive the number of miles in one weekend that I used to drive in a month with the Leaf. The Bolt has opened a whole new world of electric travel to me, and I cannot wait to stretch it even farther. Now I just need to start pushing on companies to consider installing DC chargers...
Background
I have been driving a Nissan Leaf for 5.5 years. When new, it provided about 75 miles of range. Over time, that has slowly decreased, and I was down to about 60 miles when I traded it. It had a maximum charge rate of 3.6kW (no QC port), so I was used to using it as a local-only vehicle. The point of all of this is that I am versed in the pros and cons of owning and driving an EV. I know how much speed and cold kills range. I am also used to the Leaf's horrid "Guess-O-Meter" which does more to instill range anxiety than to allay it. The Bolt's range meter is not deserving of that name, but more on that later.
All packed up and ready to roll
Seat Comfort
At the forefront of my mind was seat comfort, thanks to many voices on this forum and others. I found the seats to be a little too firm, but not uncomfortable. Having sat in them for several hours straight, I am no longer concerned about them. I know many feel differently, and I'm not trying to diminish their concerns. Just that they are not a problem for me.
Navigation
Another concern of mine was navigation. The Bolt does not have built-in nav but relies on a smart phone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. I admit, I was a loud complainer about this fact, and it still bothers me a little. I do have an iPhone, and the CarPlay worked seemlessly. However, I had to take the phone out of my pocket, and make sure that I had the lightning cable. Minor hassles. At one point in my trip, I did not need navigation, so I didn't plug in the phone. I am used to having a map on the center screen while driving, but even that is not available without the phone providing it. Another minor irritation. I also still have concerns about navigation in remote locations, like when I'm trying to find a trailhead in the Green Mountains, for example. I know that cell phone service goes dark up in the mountains, and I would lose one of the great advancements in modern travel. Overall, while I like it when it works, it fails to work in several regular situations in which a true built-in nav would not.
Range Prediction
This is one of the most eye-opening experiences of driving a Bolt. The range predictor is amazingly accurate. I used the min/max/expected view, and seemed to track the expected spot-on. There were times when I knew the range would drop (for instance, when I had been driving at 55MPH, and then got onto the highway at 65MPH). The range predictor showed me that I was clearly less efficient than I had been, and was trending towards the min. The opposite happened when I got off the highway. Whereas in the Leaf I learned to expect initial range to drop like a stone, in the Bolt the car upheld its initial promise, and delivered. If this experience holds up, I cannot ever excuse myself for refering to the range predictor as a Guess-O-Meter or GOM.
Charging Performance
I had read up on this mystical "quick" charging thing, but never experienced it first hand until I was 150 miles from home, deep into my journey towards the coast. All of the QC I used were nominally 50kW units. This means that they provide up to 500V and 100A. Of course, the Bolt never gets anywhere near 500V. What I observed was that the car would pin the current at 100A as the voltage would slowly rise to about 370V (37kW). At this point, the voltage would remain constant, but the current would step down to about 63A (~23kW). This is all what I had expected, thanks to threads like this one: http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/vi...0&sid=644aa34ad782d00e6f6ea6baaafd4db7#p22910. I don't understand why there is a huge step down in current rather than a more gradual ramp, but that's what I get. So thank you, Zoomit, for the incredibly helpful and informative graphs!
The end of a typical charge session. At this point, I had hit the first taper point and was pulling 62A at 387 V (24kW).
I stopped 6 time over my journey for charging. A typical stop for me was about 30-45 minutes. I spent the the time doing a variety of things - eating breakfast, eating lunch, reading a book, checking in on social media (to share my journey with my friends), and grocery shopping for the weekend. For the most part, the time flew by. Only once did I really notice the extra wait. Although one of my mistakes was stopping to charge too early. Being unfamiliar with the car and the chargers, I was playing it safe. As a result, every charge session hit the taper point, and I received less energy overall than if I had driven deeper into the battery.
Not normally a fan of DD, but they have a charger so I had breakfast.
Plenty to do at this charging stop
Charging Network
This is my biggest gripe, and it has nothing to do with the car. The QC worked very well. The locations were so-so. All had things to do, but only one had a cafe available! For a coffee drinker like myself, this was disappointing. All of them also had a single QC. The single point of failure led me to be more cautious, and I was charging much sooner than I could have, as noted above. Luckily, they all worked and I did not have to wait behind any other cars. All of the chargers were EVGo. I know that isn't the most favorable company on this forum, but beggers can't be choosers.
Every charger I used welcomed me with a screen announcing that Nissan Leafs with No-Charge-To-Charge charge there for free. In other words, Nissan is subisidizing what little infrastructure we have. BMW was mentioned on some (but not all) of them as well. GM has stated in the past that they have no plans to help subsidize the growth of the network. I think this is a big mistake and I hope they reconsider it. The Bolt is a huge step forward. When paired with a robust QC network, it could be revolutionary.
At Newport - no destination charging here!
Round-Trip stats
More Road-Trip stats
Energy Score. Certainly not hypermiling this trip!
Conclusion
So overall, I am blown away by this car. I started out the trip being a little nervous. Afterall, I was about to drive the number of miles in one weekend that I used to drive in a month with the Leaf. The Bolt has opened a whole new world of electric travel to me, and I cannot wait to stretch it even farther. Now I just need to start pushing on companies to consider installing DC chargers...
