Owners Manual

[DucRider]

Here is a link to the owners manual:
https://my.chevrolet.com/content/da...als/2017/Chevrolet/BOLT EV/Owner's Manual.pdf

Some questions people have had are answered, others not......

 

[roundpeg]

Cool, thanks!

What questions did the manual not answer?

 

[michael]

This manual contains a few tasty morsels:

Page 231: Full charge requires 9.5 hours at 240 V and 32 A. If this full power were delivered the whole time, and assuming 80% charging efficiency, this would at first appear to suggest 58 kWh useful capacity. However, since we know the later stages of charging will be at a reduced rate, this number would have to be smaller. So I'd say this shows the battery is 60 kWh total, maybe something like 50 kWh useful.

Page 232 refers to a DCFC charging system of at least 80 kW capacity for full speed charging. So I'd conclude the DCFC can handle up to this rate

Page 322 says the propulsion battery has an 8 year, 100K mile warranty, but says that it may degrade up to 40% during this warranty period. It further states that the replacement battery could be as much as 10% degraded if replacement is necessary.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Page 231: Full charge requires 9.5 hours at 240 V and 32 A. If this full power were delivered the whole time, and assuming 80% charging efficiency, this would at first appear to suggest 58 kWh useful capacity. However, since we know the later stages of charging will be at a reduced rate, this number would have to be smaller. So I'd say this shows the battery is 60 kWh total, maybe something like 50 kWh useful.

Interesting. The 80% efficiency is a complete W.A.G. of course, so I don't think this really adds much evidence to the 60kWh usable-versus-total debate.

Page 232 refers to a DCFC charging system of at least 80 kW capacity for full speed charging. So I'd conclude the DCFC can handle up to this rate

I've heard rumors (maybe on this forum) of 80kW charge capability before. It's nice to see it in the manual. This is far more palpable to me than the 90 miles / 30 minutes they've been touting.

Page 322 says the propulsion battery has an 8 year, 100K mile warranty, but says that it may degrade up to 40% during this warranty period. It further states that the replacement battery could be as much as 10% degraded if replacement is necessary.

40% degradation is a lot. I wish the industry would standardize on something. It used to be 80% capacity was end-of-life. Then Nissan set it at "about 70%". Now Chevy says 60%.

60% of 190 miles (highway range at 70MPH) is 114.

60% of 60kWh is 36kWh, or about the same as a new 2017 VW eGolf.

 

[leodoggie]

I don't know how many 80 Kw chargers are out there, but to be able to get 200 miles of range in 40 minutes would make long distance travel very accessible.

 

[roundpeg]

In jumping around through the manual I find some oddly inconsistent and archaic uses of nomenclature. Park, forward and reverse are referred to as "gears," when of course they aren't in an EV. It's unclear what is meant when they say the vehicle should not be parked while the car is "running." Remote Keyless Entry is also said to be capable of initiating a "remote start" but other than running the climate control while it's plugged in, what does it mean to remotely "start" the car? Maybe this will become abundantly obvious at some point, but the manual does contain some real head-scratchers for the uninitiated.

 

[DucRider]

Page 231: Full charge requires 9.5 hours at 240 V and 32 A. If this full power were delivered the whole time, and assuming 80% charging efficiency, this would at first appear to suggest 58 kWh useful capacity. However, since we know the later stages of charging will be at a reduced rate, this number would have to be smaller. So I'd say this shows the battery is 60 kWh total, maybe something like 50 kWh useful.

80% is way low. The EVSE and charging losses combined will be <10%.
There are multiple trip reports with 58.xx kWh used and range remaining. 60 kWh is usable with no word on actual pack size (but very likely 70.2 kWh if they are indeed using the LG 65 Ah prismatic cell as some reports indicate).

 

[SeanNelson]

Page 231: Full charge requires 9.5 hours at 240 V and 32 A. If this full power were delivered the whole time, and assuming 80% charging efficiency, this would at first appear to suggest 58 kWh useful capacity.

80% is way low. The EVSE and charging losses combined will be <10%.

I believe I recall reading that the integrated charger in the Gen 2 Volt had an efficiency of something like 94% or 96% - it was one of the notable improvements over the Gen 1 Volt.

 

[michael]

No. that's way to high. I'm on iPhone now and and will supply references when on a real computer. But no way that high

The charger efficiency could be in the mid 90s but charging efficiency includes the efficiency of charging and discharging the battery as well as energy used to cool the battery and electronics.

In effect energy available out of the battery divided by energy out of the wall. I'm pretty sure 85% is a typical number

I'll give references later

 

[Zoomit]

Page 231: Full charge requires 9.5 hours at 240 V and 32 A. If this full power were delivered the whole time, and assuming 80% charging efficiency, this would at first appear to suggest 58 kWh useful capacity. However, since we know the later stages of charging will be at a reduced rate, this number would have to be smaller. So I'd say this shows the battery is 60 kWh total, maybe something like 50 kWh useful.

Level 2 charging doesn't appreciably taper. It doesn't need to when it's only ~7 kW.

The total energy added in 9.5 hours is ~73kW. The Spark EV has a Level 2 charging efficiency around 83%.http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=12700#p12700

73 * 0.83 = 60.6 kWh

Which is inline with our usable battery capacity expectations.

 

[michael]

If it turns out to be correct that at L2 there is no taper, then I would agree with your numbers. However, at least with Leaf and Focus sized batteries, approximately 1/2 hour of the 3 1/2 hour charge cycle is spent tapering down.

See, for example

https://avt.inl.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/fsev/2013NissanLeafElectricChargingReport.pdf
https://avt.inl.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/fsev/2013FordFocusElectricChargingReport.pdf

Now, it may be true that Bolt's battery, more than twice that size, exhibits negligible taper at L2, but we don't know that until someone measures it.

So let's defer speculation on battery size for a week or so, and someone can report whether it delivers 60-ish or 50-ish kWh

 

[devbolt]

In jumping around through the manual I find some oddly inconsistent and archaic uses of nomenclature. Park, forward and reverse are referred to as "gears," when of course they aren't in an EV. It's unclear what is meant when they say the vehicle should not be parked while the car is "running." Remote Keyless Entry is also said to be capable of initiating a "remote start" but other than running the climate control while it's plugged in, what does it mean to remotely "start" the car? Maybe this will become abundantly obvious at some point, but the manual does contain some real head-scratchers for the uninitiated.

Continuing to describe Park, Forward, and Reverse as "gears" in the Bolt is basically a way of bridging the gap between the old and the new. We all know what it means to be in those different gears, especially if you learned on a manual transmission. In the Bolt the gears are now all virtual. There's no physical transmission that is selecting a different set of individual sprockets with a different set of teeth to keep the engine efficiently running in a somewhat narrow band to deliver power to the wheels and a clutch to switch gearing ratios. The same issue came up with hybrids with their continuously variable transmissions. You still had a set of sprockets (gears) that connected to the wheels, but the sprockets were permanently tied to eachother. No clutch, and no manually (or semi-manually) selectable gear ratios.

A remote start basically allows you to remotely turn on the climate control system and prepare the car's interior for the driver/passenger's comfort. The difference between leaving the car "running" while parked, and the remote start is that when the car is left running it's presumably been previously driven and then parked, but not turned off. Whereas a remote start only turns on the climate control system and leaves the car locked. After 20 minutes, the car shuts itself off. But in the first scenario, it would be possible to leave the vehicle and forget to turn it off, and the climate control system could easily drain all of the charge in the battery leaving you with no motive power when you come back to the car. Much like running out of gas.

 

[roundpeg]

Continuing to describe Park, Forward, and Reverse as "gears" in the Bolt is basically a way of bridging the gap between the old and the new. We all know what it means to be in those different gears, especially if you learned on a manual transmission. In the Bolt the gears are now all virtual. There's no physical transmission that is selecting a different set of individual sprockets with a different set of teeth to keep the engine efficiently running in a somewhat narrow band to deliver power to the wheels and a clutch to switch gearing ratios. The same issue came up with hybrids with their continuously variable transmissions. You still had a set of sprockets (gears) that connected to the wheels, but the sprockets were permanently tied to eachother. No clutch, and no manually (or semi-manually) selectable gear ratios.

A remote start basically allows you to remotely turn on the climate control system and prepare the car's interior for the driver/passenger's comfort. The difference between leaving the car "running" while parked, and the remote start is that when the car is left running it's presumably been previously driven and then parked, but not turned off. Whereas a remote start only turns on the climate control system and leaves the car locked. After 20 minutes, the car shuts itself off. But in the first scenario, it would be possible to leave the vehicle and forget to turn it off, and the climate control system could easily drain all of the charge in the battery leaving you with no motive power when you come back to the car. Much like running out of gas.

I figured the reference to gears might be deliberate, but I wonder how necessary, especially since it is logically inconsistent with how the car actually works.

Remote start can be sort of understood by reading the manual, but again I have to wonder why they don't call it something else less ambiguous. Remote starting on an ICE car actually starts the engine. I might not find that too confusing myself, understanding that the motor in an EV doesn't run when the car isn't in motion, but someone less up the differences might be misled. In fact I recently read a story on the Bolt on a network TV web site that pondered how much energy the car used while it was "idling" in traffic.

 

[devbolt]

Continuing to describe Park, Forward, and Reverse as "gears" in the Bolt is basically a way of bridging the gap between the old and the new. We all know what it means to be in those different gears, especially if you learned on a manual transmission. In the Bolt the gears are now all virtual. There's no physical transmission that is selecting a different set of individual sprockets with a different set of teeth to keep the engine efficiently running in a somewhat narrow band to deliver power to the wheels and a clutch to switch gearing ratios. The same issue came up with hybrids with their continuously variable transmissions. You still had a set of sprockets (gears) that connected to the wheels, but the sprockets were permanently tied to eachother. No clutch, and no manually (or semi-manually) selectable gear ratios.

A remote start basically allows you to remotely turn on the climate control system and prepare the car's interior for the driver/passenger's comfort. The difference between leaving the car "running" while parked, and the remote start is that when the car is left running it's presumably been previously driven and then parked, but not turned off. Whereas a remote start only turns on the climate control system and leaves the car locked. After 20 minutes, the car shuts itself off. But in the first scenario, it would be possible to leave the vehicle and forget to turn it off, and the climate control system could easily drain all of the charge in the battery leaving you with no motive power when you come back to the car. Much like running out of gas.

I figured the reference to gears might be deliberate, but I wonder how necessary, especially since it is logically inconsistent with how the car actually works.

Remote start can be sort of understood by reading the manual, but again I have to wonder why they don't call it something else less ambiguous. Remote starting on an ICE car actually starts the engine. I might not find that too confusing myself, understanding that the motor in an EV doesn't run when the car isn't in motion, but someone less up the differences might be misled. In fact I recently read a story on the Bolt on a network TV web site that pondered how much energy the car used while it was "idling" in traffic.

In order for the Bolt to succeed, GM has had to broaden it's appeal to non-EV enthiasists. This means describing functions of the car in traditional ICE terms like using gears for reverse and drive. Or remote start to really describe cabin climate conditioning. However, remote start while plugged in may accomplish a secondary function: condition the battery so that it functions better at low temps, increasing range. The analogous ICE function is to warm up the engine so that the car runs better (more efficiently) which in turn generates heat to warm the cabin.

A Bolt will use some energy while "idling" in traffic. There is some draw running all the electronics, displays, radio, and most importantly, the HVAC system.

 

[roundpeg]

In order for the Bolt to succeed, GM has had to broaden it's appeal to non-EV enthiasists. This means describing functions of the car in traditional ICE terms like using gears for reverse and drive. Or remote start to really describe cabin climate conditioning. However, remote start while plugged in may accomplish a secondary function: condition the battery so that it functions better at low temps, increasing range. The analogous ICE function is to warm up the engine so that the car runs better (more efficiently) which in turn generates heat to warm the cabin.

A Bolt will use some energy while "idling" in traffic. There is some draw running all the electronics, displays, radio, and most importantly, the HVAC system.

I get that, but then, I am in their target market: not an EV enthusiast but a first-time EV buyer, and I think they may be smudging the differences of an EV to the point where they don't show up as advantages. So sure, the car will use some energy will "idling" but not nearly as much as an ICE car. They are going to get clueless reviews like that if they aren't actively pointing where and how an EV beats a conventional car. Not sure how much of this is deliberate or just plain corporate myopia. Time will tell, but I get the distinct feeling that once GM marketing got hold of this car they weren't too sure about what they were trying to sell.

 

[DucRider]

So let's defer speculation on battery size for a week or so, and someone can report whether it delivers 60-ish or 50-ish kWh

From one of the Monterey to Santa Barbara test drives:

236.6 miles @ 4.6 mi/kWh = 51.4 kWh

Add in remainng range:

Minimum 31 miles
267.6 miles @ 4.6 mi/kWh = 58.2 kWh

Expected 38 mi
274.6 miles @ 4.6 mi/kWh = 59.7 kWh

Max 44 mi
280.6 miles @ 4.6 mi/kWh = 61.0 kWh

 

[michael]

I would agree. Looks like 60 usable. That is truly outstanding.

 

[Fulmine]

I find the owners' manual terrible. For example, it didn't explain how I could program my Bolt to charge 9pm to noon so as to take advantage of my time of use electric meter rates. Also, the parking brake functions were not explained. I have called Chevrolet two or three times to get answers. I have gotten a lot of useful information from other Bolt owners on this website (example, my empty trunk, save for the 110 charger and a metal device for towing?, Is all you get).

 

[devbolt]

I find the owners' manual terrible. For example, it didn't explain how I could program my Bolt to charge 9pm to noon so as to take advantage of my time of use electric meter rates.

Pages 128 and 129 of the manual.

Also, the parking brake functions were not explained.

Pages 210 and 211.

I have called Chevrolet two or three times to get answers. I have gotten a lot of useful information from other Bolt owners on this website (example, my empty trunk, save for the 110 charger and a metal device for towing?, Is all you get).

That's pretty much all you get. The extra space is for optional equipment that GM doesn't supply in the US: tire inflator and sealant goo, plus some sort of multi-tool screwdriver.

 

[Fulmine]

Thank you for the references to the manual. I couldn't follow the manual's instructions on how to program the car to charge during off-peak hours. I called Chevrolet and the person I spoke to had difficulty in instructing me, although she finally was able to explain it to me.

Regarding the "electric parking brake", I looked in the index of the manual for "parking brake" and found nothing. There is a listing for "electric parking brake", but I didn't think to look there, as the whole car is "electric". The manual is 360 pages only, and I don't want to have to read the whole thing every time I have a question. Again, thanks for this forum and Bolt owners willing to help others like me out.