Really want a Bolt - Tell me about yours

[Porsche]

Hi All, not a Bolt owner but hope to be soon. About 7 months ago, I bought a 2015 Spark EV for my son. Now I'm hooked. The systems are just amazing. The efficiency is just amazing. The driving dynamics are just amazing. It's a pocket rocket. For myself, I need a car with greater range and the Bolt sounds perfect. With the current battery problems, I can't buy one or even test drive one at a dealer. I've read some reviews, but would love to hear from some owners. I have a ton of questions and comments, but for now, I'll just ask what your overall impressions are. Also, if anyone can compare the actual driving experience to that of a Spark, I'd love to hear. Thanks.

 

[theothertom]

The Bolt is a great car for the money. The electronics are great, better than Tesla IMO. Some people don't like the seats but I didn't have a problem. To me, suspension seems a little stiff. It's a great commuter car. It's a capable road trip car, but fast charging is not all that fast compared to today's standard, so if you take a road trip, you'll be spending more time at a charger than newer cars.

 

[Porsche]

The Bolt is a great car for the money. The electronics are great, better than Tesla IMO. Some people don't like the seats but I didn't have a problem. To me, suspension seems a little stiff. It's a great commuter car. It's a capable road trip car, but fast charging is not all that fast compared to today's standard, so if you take a road trip, you'll be spending more time at a charger than newer cars.

Thanks for the reply. What year and trim is your Bolt? What options? Funny you mention Tesla. OK, I don't really have much personal experience with Teslas, but from what I've read, I actually believe that my 2015 Spark's systems are considerably more sophisticated and better engineered, at least prior to Tesla's 2022 models. And, of course, for what I paid for my like-new, low mileage Spark, I could buy ten of them for the price of a Tesla.

When you say the suspension is a little stiff, do you mean, like a European performance/sports sedan? or like a 20 year old pickup truck with blown-out shocks? I am truly amazed by the sports-car-like performance of my Spark and was hoping for a similar experience from the Bolt.

 

[theothertom]

'19LT with confidence 1 and II packages. DCFC also.
Stiff suspension means you feel the bumps in the road...kinda like a harsh ride but not mushy like a 20 year old pickup with blown shocks. It's not all that bad but it's not a plush ride, at least to me. Hope this helps.
Edit: Tesla does not offer blind spot monitoring or cross traffic alert like the Bolt does.

 

[Porsche]

Do you ever use the lane assist? Does it work well? Does it allow you to take your hands off the wheel? I rented a Hyundai Sonata, and the combination of lane assist and adaptive cruise control really did "auto-drive". Well, sort of. It wasn't very reliable. With good lane markings and the gentlest of turns on the highway, it worked pretty well, but you couldn't trust it for long. Also, if you took your hands off the wheel for maybe 30 seconds, it would complain. Also, I understand the Bolt does not have adaptive cruise control at all? at least, not until the 2022 version. It's a shame that such a state of the art car would be missing something available for years now. I know the Chevy SuperCruise does a lot, but I'm curious about the capabilities of the confidence packages without it.

My Spark has very sophisticated battery temperature control compared to most other EVs. The driving experience in "drive" is very close to a conventional ICE car. The blended braking is near perfect. I imagine the Bolt is the same? And as for Tesla, one thing that I find, well, unbelievable: as I understand it, there is no conventional drive mode. You can only drive "one pedal" style in a Tesla. The brake pedal only actuates the friction brakes, period. Plus, with the rear wheel drive models, you can't really get much regenerative braking. Very inefficient.

 

[theothertom]

Never used lane assist or adaptive cruise...not even sure the car has it.
The Bolt has two drive modes, "D" and "L". To me, regen for D is practically non existent, but L is aggressive. There's also a regen paddle behind the left of the steering wheel that when pulled, makes regen even more aggressive. I like the aggressive regen on the Bolt...only used mechanical brakes for an emergency situation, like when an animal darted out in front of me.
i don't know about Tesla drive mode or regen settings.

 

[BoltEV]

OK: I am a BIG fan of the Chevy Bolt EV:

I was the first one off the lot at my local dealer in January, 2017 with a 3 year lease and I purchased a new one in August, 2019, both fully loaded. I turned in my leased one when the 45,000 mileage ran out in September 2019.

The Tesla 300 was much more expensive for a fully loaded one back then and I assume now, too.

I love "one-pedal" driving by always driving in L and using the paddle as necessary. When I drove full time Uber before the Pandemic it made driving much less stressful here in Los Angeles.

I do not have ACC (adaptive cruise control; was it implemented in 2020 or 2021?) and I do guess that it would be an improvement, but honestly I am not much of a cruise control type of driver except on long Interstate drives.

I have experimented with the lane assist and actually used it to drive hands free once or twice late at night (no traffic) on the freeway BUT it is not completely reliable for that purpose and it is NOT intended for hands free driving.

What it does is give you a bit of a jerk on the steering wheel when you slide across the lanes without a signal light blinking, to let you know to check your swerving.

Interestingly, my 2017 model supposedly had that feature but never really worked; I just did not realize what I was missing at that time.

Be sure to get the DCFC fast charging port, because some buyers made that mistake not realizing they are still (criminally) optional!

 

[summit]

we have a 2017 LT+DCFC and another 2017 Premier, also a 2016 Tesla 90D. The DCFC is a must in my opinion. One Bolt is approaching 90Kmiles and the other in the 80Kmiles. It's too bad there is no pre-owned Bolt for sale currently, awesome deals could be had. The Tesla is great for long distance travel, given the supercharge network at 100kw starting charge rate. The Bolt max charge rate is 50kw, more less the terminating rate for the Tesla. The Bolts are way easier to park and handles much better in a city.

The Bolt regen is better, especially with the paddle and L-mode. The lane-keeping and adaptive cruise in the Bolt are a joke, it ping-pongs between the lines. Telsa's implementation just works. The Bolt, having no tail pipe, and a hatch-back, can carry stuffs sticking out. We also can also power a few critical loads during power outage with the Bolt, it's a no-no on the Telsa.

Yeah, love our Bolts

 

[summit]

tried to attach some photos, not sure if it worked

 

[BoltEV]

tried to attach some photos, not sure if it worked

For some reason this Forum only allows linking to photos that are online and has no capability to allow us to upload photo(s) for posting.

 

[BoltEV]

We also can also power a few critical loads during power outage with the Bolt, it's a no-no on the Telsa.

Yes, check out EVExtend's kit for the Bolt EV:

https://www.evextend.com/Chevrolet-Bolt-Inverter-Kit.php

I have it but the power from LA's DWP is so stable that I have never actually used it for an emergency!

 

[Porsche]

Wow, thanks everyone. A few more things:

How is the performance, handling, acceleration? I've read mixed reviews. some quite good, others, just so so. I've seen the same thing with my Spark, some good reviews, others, tentative. I find my Spark an absolute blast. 0 - 60 like an older, entry level sports car, but 0 - 30 like a serious sportscar or even a supercar. The handling is actually pretty good, but a bit squirrelly at 70+. Yes, it doesn't have really grippy tires, and a strut brace and coilovers would tighten things up, but it's still a pleasure to drive. How is the Bolt? I'm hoping it's at least as good as the typical euro sport sedan. And a little faster than mine, so, nearly sports-car fast, especially at low speeds? How much fun factor?

How is the infotainment system? If anyone has reached the point, does everything still work if you don't renew OnStar? (aside from the OnStar services, of course) This is one of the few areas I find disappointing with my 2015 Spark. It has had virtually no upgrades or support. Most of the mylink features don't work, and the few things that do, are mostly useless without OnStar.

I do not have ACC (adaptive cruise control; was it implemented in 2020 or 2021?) and I do guess that it would be an improvement, but honestly I am not much of a cruise control type of driver except on long Interstate drives.

As I understand it, adaptive cruise control is only available on the new 2022 model. I was just doublechecking, as this seems surprising for a high tech vehicle.

I have experimented with the lane assist and actually used it to drive hands free once or twice late at night (no traffic) on the freeway BUT it is not completely reliable for that purpose and it is NOT intended for hands free driving.

What it does is give you a bit of a jerk on the steering wheel when you slide across the lanes without a signal light blinking, to let you know to check your swerving.

The lane-keeping and adaptive cruise in the Bolt are a joke, it ping-pongs between the lines.

Are you both describing the lane departure warning as well as the lane keeping assist? I would think that lane departure warning would ping-pong, like you described, but the lane keeping assist would keep the car comfortably centered. As I mentioned, I rented a Kia Sonata with lane keeping assist and adaptive cruise control. While you certainly couldn't depend on it, it actually did a reasonably good job of driving hands-off. Of course, it would complain if you took your hands off the wheel too long, and would frequently disengage, but still, it at least gave you a taste of hands-free driving. Sounds like maybe the Bolt is similar? Kinda works, but not to be depended on? If you take your hands off the wheel for a short time, do you get a warning or alert? What happens?

One Bolt is approaching 90Kmiles and the other in the 80Kmiles.

Have you seen any appreciable decline in range, battery capacity?

Any other comments positive or negative are appreciated. Unfortunately, with the battery recall, I can't test drive one. I was hoping that with the recall, I might be able to get a really good deal on a used one, but the prices have actually climbed considerably in the past six months. Also, if i get a new one, I might wait til 2022, to take advantage of whatever new rebates or credits may be available.

 

[BoltEV]

I am not much of a "performance" driver; not of the Bolt EV at least that is, but...

I DO enjoy going up Hiway 14 from Canyon Country to Palmdale in the HOV lane on a beautiful Sunday, where many of the EV drivers like to let it GO!

I will admit that with the GM 92 MPH governor installed in my Bolt EV, the Teslas zip by me like I am standing still! :lol: hahaha

I don't understand Summit's comment about ACC: as it is not meant to help between the lanes; it is meant to slow you down as the vehicle in front of you slows down.

But lane assist is ONLY good for jiggling my steering wheel which alerts me indeed that I am swerving between lanes and I DO appreciate that!

It is not meant to let you drive within your lane hands free.

That being said, I have experimented on the freeway at 2am with no traffic behind me. What happens is that as the road curves, I remain driving in a straight line until it comes up to the broken line on the road and then makes the adjustment until I am about to hit the other broken line and then makes the opposite adjustment.

So, yes, a zig-zag!

Also the feature is somewhat worthless on a non-highway road given the lack of clear lane markings.

Again, the feature was never implemented on my 2017 Bolt EV (unbeknownst to me) and I am grateful to have it on my 2019 Bolt EV.

My 2017 3 year 45,000 mile lease was plugged in every night to 100% and in the last 19,000 miles, I drove full time 6/7 days per week for Uber, and took it down to 20-40 miles GOM often before my home L2 recharged it to 100% in about 10-11 hours.

About 1 to 1.5 days per week, on average, I would add about 30 minutes of DCFC charging to it for days that took me 40+ miles from home, so that I was sure to be able to have enough juice to pickup more passengers on my way home.

Now I never made any measurements when it was brand new, buy my anecdotal feeling was that it had as much battery capacity when I turned it in 3-1/2 months early with 44,640 miles as it did when it was brand new!

Since the 2019 allows me to limit my charge up to 93% (the 2017 model would drop back to below 90%), I use that feature so that I will have one-pedal driving (regenerative braking) right from the start, which is not the case when I charged up to 100%.

I found with full time driving the one-pedal feature was much easier on my brain and hence I expected it and wanted it from the first minute out of the garage.

I did stop driving Uber in February 2020 due to the Pandemic and am considering starting up again in December.

I am glad I purchased this vehicle and look forward to years of enjoyable maintanence free driving.

BTW: I hear that gasoline prices are about to break the 2012 record.

If I didn't hear about it from my ICE driving friends, I would have NO idea!

PS: I drove up to a mountain top with my Bolt EV to do some "radio repeater hunting" for my Ham radio hobby and I will say that the Bolt EV is NO Jeep! hahahaha

I seem to remember a hands-off alert on my 2017, but don't remember one on my 2019.

Where do you live?

 

[Porsche]

Since the 2019 allows me to limit my charge up to 93% (the 2017 model would drop back to below 90%), I use that feature so that I will have one-pedal driving (regenerative braking) right from the start, which is not the case when I charged up to 100%.

I found with full time driving the one-pedal feature was much easier on my brain and hence I expected it and wanted it from the first minute out of the garage.

Wow, I have to thank you. You actually just answered another question for me about my Spark. A few times, inexplicably, when I first left the house, I popped it into L (one pedal driving mode), and it didn't work, just drove like normal, D mode. I thought this was some kind of system failure, but you've explained why. At 100% charge, there was no room for regenerative braking. I knew this was possible, but it just didn't occur to me at the time. I'm not in a hilly area and don't always use L, so it's only happened a few times. Thanks.

But lane assist is ONLY good for jiggling my steering wheel which alerts me indeed that I am swerving between lanes and I DO appreciate that! ... What happens is that as the road curves, I remain driving in a straight line until it comes up to the broken line on the road and then makes the adjustment until I am about to hit the other broken line and then makes the opposite adjustment.

So, yes, a zig-zag!

Oh, bummer. The lane assist on the Kias and Hyundais keeps the car pretty well centered and navigates curves (well, shallow curves only). I wonder if it's better in the latest model year or two.

PS: I drove up to a mountain top with my Bolt EV to do some "radio repeater hunting" for my Ham radio hobby and I will say that the Bolt EV is NO Jeep! hahahaha

Cool. Actually, I'm a ham radio hobbyist as well, but haven't been active in a while. Just a no-code technician, N2TUT

Where do you live?

I live in New York, in Nassau County, Long Island. We'll see how my Spark does in the winter

 

[BoltEV]

Check out the inexpensive Chinese VHF/UHF dual band Ham radio HTs. For $30-$150 depending on quality, function, and features, you can get back on the air and work through hill-top "repeaters" some of which are internet-linked and have lots of fun talking around your area.

And the newer digital mode HTs (I use DMR) allow you to talk around the world!

You will lose a substantial amount of battery capacity in the cold. I would recommend you keep on looking for a quality used Bolt EV!

 

[Porsche]

I do have an older dual band HT, if I can find it

 

[BarticusKastorianus]

I have a 2022 Bolt EV 2LT which I bought last June and already have over 10K miles on it.

Basically, I love the car. For a small car it has a great ride, good acceleration, solid handling, good interior, and the systems and engineering are - IMHO - impressive.

There are only a few things I don't like:
1. Black interior. In the EV it's the only option. I just don't like black interiors.
2. Lane Keeping Assist. I keep mine off. I found that without it the car has a solid road-hugging feel to the steering. With LKA on, especially above 50mph, going around a curve the steering feels too light and gives the impression that it might going into a skid at any minute.
3. Automatic climate control system. To be fair, I've never had one I liked (previously a 2001 VW Passat and a 2016 Subaru Legacy), but this one seems especially brain-dead. It never cools the car effectively in the summer, and in the cooler weather it just does strange things. For example, outside temp 50F, cloudy day so little greenhouse effect, and with the system in auto mode it runs the AC. It apparently can't ever just use outside air. It also almost always blows heater air through the top vents - anyone at Chevy ever hear that heat rises?

Yes, the Bolt charging rate is slow (I think I read somewhere it's the slowest), but with good trip planning this has not been a problem for me. We've done several road trips with it. I always plan a lunch stop someplace with a DCFC. Plug in, go eat, and it's done when I'm ready to go again. (I plan legs no more than 200 miles, more for my bladder than the car.) Also, I select hotels that either have L2 chargers or there's one nearby. I bought a J1772 to Tesla adapter just in case. Used it for the first time last weekend when an ICE car was blocking the Clipper Creek charger. Worked great.

 

[ckohl]

I have a bolt EUV LT (bought June 2021) and have 14k miles on it. My husband and I absolutely love it. We have three kids and a dog and the car offers plenty of space for everyone. The trunk storage is great. You wouldn't believe how much we can pack in there. Entertainment system is awesome, one pedal driving is too. We have used the lane assist a couple times just to try it out. Pretty cool technology. We don't use it that much though as it seems like an unnecessary draw of power (gotta be conscious about battery range ). We live in new england (massachusetts) and are in the middle of our first winter and are still learning about our new EV. Luckily we have been able to plan trips accordingly and find charging stations easy enough. In the summer we were getting over 280 mile range (even made a a 4.5 hour trip from boston to upstate NY on a single charge). However, it has been a different story in the cold weather. We are currently averaging about 170 mile max range (just reduced due to the software update for the battery recall) which is still okay for our normal travel but makes it a little tougher to plan day/weekend trips up north. However, we were fully anticipating a reduction in range based on what we read about other EVs (around 30/40% reduced range can be expected in cold climates). Overall still extremely happy with our purchase and I would recommend the bolt 100%. It's a comfortable car with good (though variable) range and lots of space.

 

[psm0]

I am considering a Bolt EUV. I am curious if anyone can tell me the height from the ground of the hatchback lid when its open. I have a Honda Insight now and the top of the hatch nearly touches the garage door when open.