The seats are a deal killer.

[stevewa]

Good for you, Steve. I don't want to see anyone hate their Bolt's seats - I want to see better seats offered.

Perhaps I just have enough extra cushioning built in that I don't notice it :lol:

 

[gpsman]

OK, so we took delivery on our Kinetic Blue LT today.

After all I'd read here I was prepared to sit in the car, drive it around and decide (or be told) that the seats were terrible and unacceptable.

It didn't happen. I'm a pretty bulky guy and the seats seemed fine to me. I did spend some time playing around with the adjustments....

I'm a "bulky" guy too. 5-9 and 210 lbs.

I sat in one for 15 minutes at an auto show and didn't feel anything that unusual. Went on a 20 minute test drive weeks later and didn't feel they were overly uncomfortable. Narrow yes.

Maybe a bit of weight is better" :lol:
Probably not.

What I have a feeling is happening is:
Those of us already driving low end "economy" cars see the Bolt seats as typical, because it is what we are used to. Those people already driving more expensive, more luxurious cars are viewing the Bolt as a downgrade. It's all about your frame of reference. Einstein made a famous therory about relativity.

I think the Bolt seats are relatively thin, narrow, and relatively equal to other economy class cars.

What? You say the Bolt is not an economy class car?
Um... Ya... it is.

It is a $16,000 class car with $16,000 of under the hood and chassis modifications to make it a nearly 250 mile EV. And the sooner people understand this the better.

I tried to build a 25 mile electric scooter a few years ago and it was both expensive, and very difficult to pack enough electrons into a 200 pound scooter to go just 25 miles.

YOU ARE PAYING FOR THE BATTERIES AND ELECTRONICS IN THE BOLT - NOT A LUXURY INTERIOR.

 

[michael]

I've noticed that airline seats are also changing. Thinner, less padding, less comfortable. It's a move to save weight and space. There nothin' for nothin'

That said, while I can detect what people seem to be talking about, at least in "test sits" I haven't felt it would be an issue. In the past, when considering a car I have tried to rent one for a few days first. This doesn't seem to be an option with the Bolt.

 

[marshallinwa]

It is a $16,000 class car with $16,000 of under the hood and chassis modifications to make it a nearly 250 mile EV. And the sooner people understand this the better.


YOU ARE PAYING FOR THE BATTERIES AND ELECTRONICS IN THE BOLT - NOT A LUXURY INTERIOR.

While I agree that the car is an economy car on a very expensive electrical platform, spending a few bucks on some additional foam to prevent the seat from digging into your butt, as one Bolt owner paid a seat upholster do, won't break the bank.

 

[gpsman]

And you, like me, are able to spend a few bucks and make those improvements post-purchase.

I'm not happy with this.
It's just not a deal breaker for me.

 

[marshallinwa]

And you, like me, are able to spend a few bucks and make those improvements post-purchase.

I'm not happy with this.
It's just not a deal breaker for me.

Unfortunately, the upholster said he wouldn't do another one. Apparently, they are pain in the butt to fix, too.

So that really just leaves an after market seat cushion as a work around. Hopefully, we will see more reviews as to which aftermarket seat cushion works the best.

 

[JupiterMoon]

Guys posting this stuff here is pointless.

If you want to get GM's attention, create a separate thread, post your vehicle information, when you got it, and write a small description of how you feel in the seats. Rate it as positive or negative. Honestly all this back and forth is utterly pointless. Even if GM is monitoring this blog, all this complaining in this fashion isn't going to get you anywhere because no one can make heads or tails out of it.

Here I'll start a thread....you guys do the rest.

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5756

 

[CopperRoad]

Maybe a bit of weight is better" :lol:
Probably not.

I'm a pretty bulky guy and the seats seemed fine to me. I did spend some time playing around with the adjustments....

I believe you're correct, and I've said this much on this forum. I have a 32" waist, and many people who find the front seats uncomfortable have my similar frame. These damn ballerina hips of mine!

What I have a feeling is happening is:
Those of us already driving low end "economy" cars see the Bolt seats as typical, because it is what we are used to.

I think the Bolt seats are relatively thin, narrow, and relatively equal to other economy class cars.

What? You say the Bolt is not an economy class car?
Um... Ya... it is.

YOU ARE PAYING FOR THE BATTERIES AND ELECTRONICS IN THE BOLT - NOT A LUXURY INTERIOR.

I don't buy into the theory that Bolt seats are fine for people who have gotten used to lower end cars, or that the seats were (had to be) compromised because the Bolt is basically an economy car and cost went batteries, or that anyone having issues with the seat is asking for a luxury interior. A comfortable seat should not be a luxury.

The Bolt seats are simply poorly designed. You can have a narrow seat that is comfortable. And you should definitely have one that doesn't wedge one in between a hard plastic frame. No one should ever be able to feel the frame of any seat through cushioning. Chevy just dropped the ball.

As I said before, the Spark EV is a sub-compact economy car and their seats are fine... there is no 19-page thread deriding the comfort of its front seats.

 

[EldRick]

The Spark EV seats are also quite soft and spongy, have almost no lateral support, are very short fore-and-aft, are too close to the pedals, and the front half of your thigh is basically unsupported by the seat.
I had the seat-back bolsters build up on mine for enthusiastic driving with a bad back.

 

[JupiterMoon]

YOU ARE PAYING FOR THE BATTERIES AND ELECTRONICS IN THE BOLT - NOT A LUXURY INTERIOR.

It doesn't do anyone any good to have a product that is cutting edge in a very specific area and the rest is considered crap or budget rental, price it at $40K_ and then turn around and say - "Hey too bad we only invested in the battery and motor so deal with the rest of it being below par."

If anything, it'll create a bad reputation, a poor image, etc. Yeah we can make a golf cart go 238 miles as well but are you going to accept that too because it can?

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the seats - maybe there are maybe there are not I don't know - but I can say taking that view about a product and expecting it to be a success long-term is going to be a big end fail.

 

[flamaest]

Guys posting this stuff here is pointless.

If you want to get GM's attention, create a separate thread, post your vehicle information, when you got it, and write a small description of how you feel in the seats. Rate it as positive or negative. Honestly all this back and forth is utterly pointless. Even if GM is monitoring this blog, all this complaining in this fashion isn't going to get you anywhere because no one can make heads or tails out of it.

Here I'll start a thread....you guys do the rest.

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5756

Done.

 

[JupiterMoon]

Guys posting this stuff here is pointless.

If you want to get GM's attention, create a separate thread, post your vehicle information, when you got it, and write a small description of how you feel in the seats. Rate it as positive or negative. Honestly all this back and forth is utterly pointless. Even if GM is monitoring this blog, all this complaining in this fashion isn't going to get you anywhere because no one can make heads or tails out of it.

Here I'll start a thread....you guys do the rest.

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5756

Done.

Excellent we are on our way to figuring this out!

 

[oilerlord]

you just don't car design seats from scratch, with new construction techniques, to save money. You choose a seat you already build that doesn't cost much, and make sure the car will accept it. Hopefully it will be found that Cruze seats will fit, with minimal adaptation.

And perhaps, that's what happened...the Cruze seats didn't fit, and these seats were the solution. I measured the seat width in my other cars. Exactly 19". The Bolt seats are 17" wide. Big difference. The Bolt's interior is somewhat narrow and making the seats narrow was likely a solution to mitigate that. I'm guessing that engineers were popping champagne corks with the new seat design as it saved width, leg room, weight, and of course - came in at or under budget.

You're guess is as good as mine to what metrics were the most important in the seat design but looking around at the interior of the car, it's obvious that the materials used were chosen to save cost. The Bolt's project objective was a 200 mile car at $30K after incentives. Again, this is what a car built toward that singular project goal looks like. Not sure why people can't just accept the car for what it is. It looks and feels inexpensive because it is.

Project Bolt: Mission Accomplished.

 

[phil0909]

The Bolt's interior is somewhat narrow and making the seats narrow was likely a solution to mitigate that.

This is what I don't understand. The Bolt's exterior width is 69.5", which is only 2.5" narrower than my full-size sedan. But the Bolt feels at least a foot narrower inside than the big sedan. Why is that?

 

[Anonymous]

Hey I found this 20 page thread after a google search for 'Bolt uncomfortable seats'. I test drove the LT and found the seat digging into my legs and I was fidgeting within 10 minutes of the test drive. I'm glad that I'm not the only one to have detected discomfort. We didn't buy the car.

I'm 6"2 and 210lbs but I do have an i3 and that also has thin lightweight seats that have given me no discomfort at all. The seat is badly designed.

 

[LeftieBiker]

You're guess is as good as mine to what metrics were the most important in the seat design but looking around at the interior of the car, it's obvious that the materials used were chosen to save cost. The Bolt's project objective was a 200 mile car at $30K after incentives. Again, this is what a car built toward that singular project goal looks like. Not sure why people can't just accept the car for what it is. It looks and feels inexpensive because it is.

And the only way that makes sense is if they don't really care to sell a lot of them - just win awards based on the specs and test drives by enthusiast magazines, and get ZEV credits. Because you don't sacrifice the driver's seat comfort in a car that costs over $30k if you want it to be a sales success.

 

[devbolt]

You're guess is as good as mine to what metrics were the most important in the seat design but looking around at the interior of the car, it's obvious that the materials used were chosen to save cost. The Bolt's project objective was a 200 mile car at $30K after incentives. Again, this is what a car built toward that singular project goal looks like. Not sure why people can't just accept the car for what it is. It looks and feels inexpensive because it is.

And the only way that makes sense is if they don't really care to sell a lot of them - just win awards based on the specs and test drives by enthusiast magazines, and get ZEV credits. Because you don't sacrifice the driver's seat comfort in a car that costs over $30k if you want it to be a sales success.

You don't spend upwards of a billion dollars on a new car platform to avoid paying $25M in potential fines. If GM just needed to earn ZEV credits, they could've kept selling the Spark EV in low volumes, or bought excess credits from Tesla for much less than what the fines were.

 

[oilerlord]

You don't spend upwards of a billion dollars on a new car platform to avoid paying $25M in potential fines. If GM just needed to earn ZEV credits, they could've kept selling the Spark EV in low volumes, or bought excess credits from Tesla for much less than what the fines were.

Or perhaps, GM is taking a cue from BMW - and writing off the spend as R&D in adapting electrification into other platforms, and hedging their bets that in the unlikely event we see $5.00 gasoline - Joe Public might take another look at EV's. Given that GM sells 3+ million vehicles every year, I think they could care less if 1% of them are Bolts.

 

[kdh]

My Chevy bolt lease story

a week ago I drove off the lot happy with my new Bolt. The following day, like a lot of people here, drove all over town only to realize how uncomfortable and painful these seat are.

Called the dealer the next day and wanted to return the car (and I even offered to lease a volt off their lot in exchange)
The dealer said they couldn't take it back because the once the DMV info is sent, the first owner is THE only one eligible for the $2500 CA Rebate, and they would then have to sell the car as USED, not eligible for any subsidy, fed or state (even though GMAC took 5000 of the fed rebate, -which in my opinion could be its own post in the this chevy bolt forum). So the dealer would then have to sell a used Bolt for 40K with no subsidy. This just pissed me off.

My wife called chevy to complain about all this, to see if they would let us out of our lease, and to make things easier for them, lease another chevy. The gentleman on the phone from chevy was very nice. They sent her some official form to fill out , and they said they would get back to us with a week, We should be hearing back in a few days. Although I'm not expecting much...

Those of you in my shoes, PLEASE call chevy and complain

BTW - I bought a memory foam pad at walmart for $25 and it definitely helps, Now i just feel the bar, its no longer painful, just tolerable.

 

[LeftieBiker]

You may be able to help yourself and others, by seeing if you can find a seat that will fit the Bolt's mounting holes. (I'm assuming it uses mounting bolts. but maybe this Great New Design glues the seats in...)