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[michaellax]

Regarding efficiency at 65mph, I did a cruise control run on a long flat freeway on a day with no or minimal wind and saw 18kW consumption at 65mph with no heat or AC (and no roof racks or exterior cargo). The nominal 60kWh battery capacity would give 216 miles of range at that level of consumption.

Of course, roads are not perfectly flat for that long, and you may use the heat or AC. You may also drive at different speeds depending on traffic conditions.

That seems low to me.

The same question was asked on the gm-volt.com forum for 65 MPH and I am still tempted to drive up the 99 to do a complete 58 KW drive to see how many miles I can get on about as flat a drive as you can up in the Central Valley of California.

 

[Usain]

My second-ever drive in an EV was this past Saturday when I took delivery of my new Bolt 270 miles away from home.

I drove 90 miles to a free DC fast charger and spent an hour getting the battery to 97%.

Then I drove most of the way home at 55 MPH. Got home with "worst case" scenario of 67 miles left.

Hope that puts you at ease that even newbies can do it. I'd suggest going slower though. It was actually kind of relaxing to set the cruise control at 55 and never have to worry about getting on anyone's bumper.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Took delivery of my car yesterday. Already it is night-and-day with the Leaf.

When I picked up the car, it had about 45% charge due to an understandable mistake by the dealer*. This is fine - it still read 100 miles of range, which is more than I'd ever get from my Leaf. The process took a while. It seems to always take hours when I step foot in a dealership. But the car is now set up and ready for action. I have two days to familiarize myself with it before heading out of state on my 300+ mile journey.

In terms of driving, the Bolt is a blast. I haven't had this fun of a car since my old Honda S2000. The Bolt is no sports car, but it sure is sporty. I spun the tires pretty strongly at a stop light. Got a nasty look from the lady next to me :lol: The combination of high torque and LRR tires makes that easy to do. I will probably get much stickier tires come spring time. And the car is very firm. Unlike the Leaf, it doesn't roll much around tight corners. I love that. I feel like I can start to really enjoy driving again!

*The dealer did not realize that the Bolt stops charging when you turn the car on, even if it is plugged in. He picked it up from another dealer on Monday, and I went over to check it out. In doing so, we turned on the car while it was charging. Even though we turned the car off again when we were done, the Bolt did not resume charging until it was unplugged and re-plugged. Lesson learned. Don't mess around with the car while it is charging!

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Hmmm, so we can't sit in the car with the heat on while it QCs? I liked that in the Leaf. Is there no accessory mode? I should really read the manual.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Hmmm, so we can't sit in the car with the heat on while it QCs? I liked that in the Leaf. Is there no accessory mode? I should really read the manual.

You ask a great question - I don't know the answer either. Yes, there is accessory mode (press the power button without stepping on the brake). I don't know if that interrupts charging, I haven't tried it yet.

 

[joe]

Hmmm, so we can't sit in the car with the heat on while it QCs? I liked that in the Leaf. Is there no accessory mode? I should really read the manual.

Yes you can.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Thanks. Now I can ignore the manual again.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Thanks. Now I can ignore the manual again.

:lol:

Noone really reads those anyway, right? I think I'm going to read through mine while waiting at a charger this weekend. I'll have a few hours to kill, with a 700-mile round-trip with no overnight charging at the far end.

 

[michaellax]

I sat in the Bolt EV for 30 minutes in Moreno Valley last Sunday at an EVGo and had it on and the air conditioner going the whole time it was charging. I think there is a way to do this without turning it on (similar to using the key fob or MyChevy app from outside the car) but I do not know what the steps are.

I had to make the extra pit stop because I made a last minute decision to take this trip, did not have a full charge because I was influenced by the "don't fully charge your battery every night" crowd on this forum and was worried I would only make it home "on electrons."

So I had to charge up an extra 30 minutes just to be safe!

Now I am back to fully charging my battery every night!

After all I want a 238 mile range Bolt EV! Not a Nissan Leaf 2.0!

 

[joe]

*The dealer did not realize that the Bolt stops charging when you turn the car on, even if it is plugged in. He picked it up from another dealer on Monday, and I went over to check it out. In doing so, we turned on the car while it was charging. Even though we turned the car off again when we were done, the Bolt did not resume charging until it was unplugged and re-plugged. Lesson learned. Don't mess around with the car while it is charging!

The more I think about this, the more I think it's not right. I turn my car on and off when charging sometimes to see the charge rate indicated on the cluster. I did it the other day to run the rear washer. I've never encountered this issue.

Is it really in the manual?

 

[sgt1372]

*The dealer did not realize that the Bolt stops charging when you turn the car on, even if it is plugged in. He picked it up from another dealer on Monday, and I went over to check it out. In doing so, we turned on the car while it was charging. Even though we turned the car off again when we were done, the Bolt did not resume charging until it was unplugged and re-plugged. Lesson learned. Don't mess around with the car while it is charging!

The more I think about this, the more I think it's not right. I turn my car on and off when charging sometimes to see the charge rate indicated on the cluster. I did it the other day to run the rear washer. I've never encountered this issue.

Ditto.

I've turned the car on/off while charging to check the SOC and the charge was always completed w/o disconnecting/reconnecting the charge cord.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I started a new thread sharing my thoughts and experiences. I will also update the first post to point to that thread.

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7268