The Chevy Bolt Requires Little Maintenance

[GetOffYourGas]

Excellent question, I live in California and I do all the work myself. The math is much simpler than you think, I just take the difference in cost between filling my tank with gas and charging the Bolt's 60 Kw battery extrapolated for one year. This come to roughly $1000 a year and voila you get a ROI of 2-3 years.

Ah, so you do compare to gas rather than electricity. I could go into why I believe this is wrong/misleading, but that's just my opinion. In a nutshell, without the solar panels, the Bolt will still cost less to charge than filling your tank with gas. The benefit of going from gas to electricity is essentially being counted twice.

What matters is that you are happy with your purchase. It will save you money for sure.

 

[leodoggie]

I am intrigued and always know there are other ways of looking at things. I have not bought my Bolt or built my new system yet, only designed it.

So if my math is in error I would like to find about it sooner rather than later. Please explain my mistake, I will not be offended, I assure you.

 

[wwhitney]

So if my math is in error I would like to find about it sooner rather than later. Please explain my mistake, I will not be offended, I assure you.

I believe the point is that there are 3 situations you are contemplating: (A) your current gas car (B) getting a Bolt and no new solar panels and (C) getting a Bolt and new solar panels.

To decide which is the most economic thing to do, evaluate the cost of each of the three situations and pick the cheapest. But to get the ROI on the solar panels, once you already own a Bolt, you need to compare (C) to (B), not (C) to (A).

Cheers, Wayne

P.S. Could someone fix the title of this thread?

 

[SparkE]

P.S. Could someone fix the posts to this thread, so they match the topic? :mrgreen:

 

[leodoggie]

All excellent points. What I am essentially doing is taking the savings I get from having a Bolt and paying for my solar panels so that in three years I can charge my EV for free.

I agree we have digressed from the thread.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Why do EV people insist on writing this kind of nonsense? It's just ruins the credibility of EV people. Then the public views EV people as "nuts".

There is no such thing as a zero maintenance car. Low maintenance. Yes. Zero. No.

Things that need to be maintained:
tire balance
tire rotation
tire replacement
windshield wipers
wiper fluid level
door, hood, and trunk hinge lubrication
light bulbs
shock absorbers
brake pads (inspection as a minimum)
paint finish polish
interior and exterior cleaning
passenger compartment air filter
brake fluid change
wheel alignment

and the list goes on.

Um - ALL of those things are true for any car - and they are NOT "regular maintenance". Those are wear and tear, and they may or may not be required.

That is what regular maintenance means.

 

[SeanNelson]

Um - ALL of those things are true for any car - and they are NOT "regular maintenance". Those are wear and tear, and they may or may not be required.

That is what regular maintenance means.

Exactly. Which is why the thread title "They (sic) Chevy Bolt Requires Zero Maintenance" is misleading. It does in fact require some maintenance, just not as much as an ICE vehicle.

 

[oilerlord]

P.S. Could someone fix the posts to this thread, so they match the topic? :mrgreen:

RE: Using Solar to charge your Bolt for free.

Yup needs it's own thread, please post one. I'm sure it will get a lot of attention. The 2-3 year ROI could possibly be your reality in SoCal, but not mine in Alberta.

 

[Michael1]

Why do EV people insist on writing this kind of nonsense? It's just ruins the credibility of EV people. Then the public views EV people as "nuts".

There is no such thing as a zero maintenance car. Low maintenance. Yes. Zero. No.

Things that need to be maintained:
tire balance
tire rotation
tire replacement
windshield wipers
wiper fluid level
door, hood, and trunk hinge lubrication
light bulbs
shock absorbers
brake pads (inspection as a minimum)
paint finish polish
interior and exterior cleaning
passenger compartment air filter
brake fluid change
wheel alignment

and the list goes on.

Um - ALL of those things are true for any car - and they are NOT "regular maintenance". Those are wear and tear, and they may or may not be required.

That is what regular maintenance means.

You're full of it.

Go to page 310 of the Owner's Manual.

 

[SeanNelson]

There is no such thing as a zero maintenance car. Low maintenance. Yes. Zero. No.

Um - ALL of those things are true for any car - and they are NOT "regular maintenance". Those are wear and tear, and they may or may not be required.
That is what regular maintenance means.

Go to page 310 of the Owner's Manual.

...where it says "With trained technicians, the dealer is the place for routine maintenance such as tire rotations and additional maintenance items like tires, brakes, batteries, and wiper blades."

So you guys are having a semantic argument over the meaning of "maintenance", specifically "routine" vs. "additional" as described in the manual.

The problem is, the thread title simply says "Zero Maintenance". It doesn't say "Zero routine maintenance" (which also isn't true). So the title is misleading, hence the debate.

 

[user 387]

Um - ALL of those things are true for any car - and they are NOT "regular maintenance". Those are wear and tear, and they may or may not be required.
That is what regular maintenance means.

Go to page 310 of the Owner's Manual.

The problem is, the thread title simply says "Zero Maintenance". It doesn't say "Zero routine maintenance" (which also isn't true). So the title is misleading, hence the debate.

Exactly. There has never been nor will there ever be a car with "zero maintenance". It is a ridiculous thread title (not to mention the mis-spelling of 'The') and a silly argument.

However, this car will have way, way less maintenance required than virtually any ICE car.

 

[Tessy]

I'm not sold on all the praising of electric vehicles and the Chevy Bolt for that matter in regards to no or low maintenance. I couldn't really care about a typo in the main article heading. IMO give it a few years we will see what is good what is not good about electric vehicle maintenance. I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for.

 

[EldRick]

In this case, you get a lot fewer mechanical parts to degrade and break. Should result in fewer problems.

 

[oilerlord]

I'm not sold on all the praising of electric vehicles and the Chevy Bolt for that matter in regards to no or low maintenance. I couldn't really care about a typo in the main article heading. IMO give it a few years we will see what is good what is not good about electric vehicle maintenance. I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for.

I'm guessing the majority of buyers will lease the $40,000 Bolt (or any other new EV), so low or zero maintenance is a moot point for them. The only people that need be concerned with maintenance are buyers (like me) that might grab a Bolt in 2-3 years when it becomes an obsolete, and unloved $16,000 used car.

 

[michael]

My Focus Electric had it's first scheduled maintenance at 120,000 miles...coolant replacement. I turned it in long before then and I feel there was zero maintenance.

The fact that I had to replace the tires did not, in my view, change this. They wore out. If something had broken and needed replacement, I would also not call this maintenance...that would have been a repair.

 

[JupiterMoon]

I'm not sold on all the praising of electric vehicles and the Chevy Bolt for that matter in regards to no or low maintenance. I couldn't really care about a typo in the main article heading. IMO give it a few years we will see what is good what is not good about electric vehicle maintenance. I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for.

Electric vehicle maintenance is going to be less no matter what. Even if the entire battery pack needs replacing, it's still a far less messier, cleaner, and simpler operation than replacing an ICE engine, etc.

Granted, there are parts in an EV that also require lubrication, etc...but the main propulsion components are simpler, easier, to maintain/replace, and wear less overall. All things being equal.

 

[stevewa]

Agreed, 5 years of Nissan Leaf ownership we've only had to replace tires (plus wheel alignment) and I did have the brake fluid replaced twice. Otherwise it was the annual battery check which was more about Nissan collecting performance data than about any real maintenance.

ICE powertrains are inherently more complicated to maintain, and with the exception of the battery pack, more costly (I bet some of the 8 and 9 speed auto transmissions will give a Leaf battery a run for its money, cost wise).

 

[CGameProgrammer]

Why do EV people insist on writing this kind of nonsense? It's just ruins the credibility of EV people. Then the public views EV people as "nuts".

There is no such thing as a zero maintenance car. Low maintenance. Yes. Zero. No.

Things that need to be maintained:
tire balance

That is not maintenance, just something done when installing new tires.

tire rotation

True of all cars and extremely fast and cheap to do at any tire shop or instant oil change place.

tire replacement

Yeah every 40,000 miles, depending on the particular tires and the driving conditions. Also very quick to do (5 minutes).

windshield wipers

I have only ever replaced wipers once, after putting 130,000 miles on a car.

wiper fluid level

Mix soap and water and fill it. Cost is nearly zero.

door, hood, and trunk hinge lubrication

Um, no. That is not a thing.

light bulbs

That's not maintenance, that's repair. Very rare too.

shock absorbers

What about them?

brake pads (inspection as a minimum)

I have over 130,000 miles on my Golf and am still on the original pads. On a hybrid or electric car with regeneration, there's virtually no chance you will ever replace them.

paint finish polish

Uh, what?

interior and exterior cleaning

That's not maintenance.

passenger compartment air filter

Trivial to replace and probably done every ~60,000 miles.

brake fluid change

Not necessary.

wheel alignment

Only when installing new tires or if they somehow get misaligned, but not strictly necessary.

Not only are electric cars essentially zero-maintenance but there is also very little that can possibly fail. On my current diesel I've had the O2 sensor fail a few times, a glow plug fail twice, a turbocharger component failed, and I had to do a $400 maintenance every 40,000 miles, and replaced the timing belt at 100,000 miles costing me $700. And obviously oil changes every 10,000 miles costing about $80 each, although that's not a big deal.

 

[oilerlord]

Not only are electric cars essentially zero-maintenance but there is also very little that can possibly fail.

Let's not get carried away. There is plenty that can fail. There are still pumps, sensors, relays, and a whole lot of electronics that aren't immune to failure. These are cars, not iPhones. I just replaced a $300 part that delivers washer fluid to the rear window on my B250e. Technically, it wasn't a "maintenance" issue but nevertheless, S-happens. Of course, I don't have to do oil & filter changes, but I still have to replace a $140 desiccant cartridge in the battery compartment as part of the car's annual battery check.

 

[Michael1]

Why do EV people insist on writing this kind of nonsense? It's just ruins the credibility of EV people. Then the public views EV people as "nuts".

There is no such thing as a zero maintenance car. Low maintenance. Yes. Zero. No.

Things that need to be maintained:
tire balance

That is not maintenance, just something done when installing new tires.

tire rotation

True of all cars and extremely fast and cheap to do at any tire shop or instant oil change place.

tire replacement

Yeah every 40,000 miles, depending on the particular tires and the driving conditions. Also very quick to do (5 minutes).

windshield wipers

I have only ever replaced wipers once, after putting 130,000 miles on a car.

wiper fluid level

Mix soap and water and fill it. Cost is nearly zero.

door, hood, and trunk hinge lubrication

Um, no. That is not a thing.

light bulbs

That's not maintenance, that's repair. Very rare too.

shock absorbers

What about them?

brake pads (inspection as a minimum)

I have over 130,000 miles on my Golf and am still on the original pads. On a hybrid or electric car with regeneration, there's virtually no chance you will ever replace them.

paint finish polish

Uh, what?

interior and exterior cleaning

That's not maintenance.

passenger compartment air filter

Trivial to replace and probably done every ~60,000 miles.

brake fluid change

Not necessary.

wheel alignment

Only when installing new tires or if they somehow get misaligned, but not strictly necessary.

Not only are electric cars essentially zero-maintenance but there is also very little that can possibly fail. On my current diesel I've had the O2 sensor fail a few times, a glow plug fail twice, a turbocharger component failed, and I had to do a $400 maintenance every 40,000 miles, and replaced the timing belt at 100,000 miles costing me $700. And obviously oil changes every 10,000 miles costing about $80 each, although that's not a big deal.

Brake fluid change, not necessary? Tires only need balancing when installed? Hinges and other body parts don't need lubrication? Windshield washer fluid filled with "soap and water"? This is why you never get your car information from a website. In fact, the worst I have seen are the electric car forums. It's also why I never buy used cars.

Just go to page 310 of the owner's manual. It's all right there.