Featured Teardown of Chevy Bolt

Absolutely!

Love the Bolt... it's exceeded my expectations at every turn. I have a little over 4K mi on it now.

I'm getting up to 300mi per charge currently... and that's with occasional AC use.

I avoid driving our ICE (two BMW's and a Honda Pilot) vehicles now unless absolutely necessary.

 

Saw one at NAIAS. Just like a regular CT6 for the most part. Sports-luxury cars (especially American ones, which often seem to built for NFL linebackers rather than average joes like me) aren't really my thing, but they have a really nice (e.g. not Fisher-Price-esque super-padded) steering wheel and alcantra interior. I'd swap the steering wheel in our Model S with the one in the ATS-V in a heartbeat.

That might be because the 2016 Cadillac CT6 3.6 AWD (335hp) has a 0-60 of 5.9s. The hybrid version is faster.

Maybe if you're talking about car guys at a dealer in the nice person-end of nowhere or those retirement-age sales guys who go on and on (and on) about how their '72 Nova (back in '72, mind you) was the apex of automotive engineering. I'd argue that any "car guy" who has an insight from this century would at the very least know how a Bolt could beat the lower-end versions of said '72 Nova to 60.

 

congratulations! That almost seems too incredible, until I did the back of the napkin math. You achieved about 22% above EPA - which is mid-to-high 60 MPG in a prius. My best tank in the prius being over 70MPG (although I'm sure I was quite annoying & it was rather tedious). So yep - do-able. What will be fun to see is when those Frosty January temperatures role in ..... to see what happens then. Moral of the story - if one is willing to drive in the most efficient manner - under ideal weather & terrain - absurb results can be achieved


That's great that someone for example can get 40% above EPA in a model S, but when it's 90° ? no thanks.
.

 

Just for grins, I checked out my local gm dealers website for the bolt. They don't appear to be discounting at all in austin texas, probably because we are hot as f*, and there are no zev rebates here. The grin part, the website poped up "similar cars" below trying to sell the camaro or impala for those looking at the bolt. I believe there is a $2500 state incentive here if you buy a large battery plug-in from a dealer - language in legislation that a Southwest Toyota billionaire put in to not include tesla. Houston we have a problem, and it has a lot to do with the dealer network.

Seriously though if the model 3 reveal tonight does not go well, I may look at other cars, but I don't think the bolt would be on my list.

 

Car guys aren't what they used to be.

Mike

 

most car salespeople are not car people, they're just people who smoke and own one suit, and couldn't find another line of work.

 

300mi of range from the Bolt is getting 5mi/kWh out of the 60kWh battery ... EPA drive cycle is 4mi/kWh.
I wish I could take credit, but It's not difficult to get 5mi/kWh out of the Bolt, especially when 100% of your braking is regen vs. brake pads. I go days at a time without ever touching the brake pedal.

During the summer I used to get 5mi/kWh out of my 2014 Volt, it was EPA rated for 38mi, I used to get 50-52mi out of it occasionally... and that had way less regen than the Bolt.

Others are getting much more than I am out of their Bolt's:

Single Charge, 370 Highway Miles (400mi/charge in town!)

300+ Miles Range (post #13)

309 Miles Range

Winter will tell a much different tale if the Volt was any indication (25-30% EV range loss).

 

Good luck ! Does the bolt have any type of winter traction pack plugged in pre-warming capability?

 

Yep. same as the Volt and Spark EV.

 

I saw a Bolt here in Austin for the first time last week, although with out-of-state plates. I hope we have one on display at the Drive Electric week in September since it looks pretty sharp and I would like to get a good up close look. I am still amazed that Toyota has not done more... I really hope they have a magic card up their sleeve for early 2020s...

 

i saw a bolt with a nut behind the wheel.

 

as the spark may be just a flash in the pan . . .

 

Driver was torqued.

 

How are you measuring that?

It's difficult to imagine an owner driving for several days without recharging or pushing the pack to almost empty, and we all know how estimates are often very optimistic.

At what point do you plug back in?

 

5.6/miles per/kWh has been my best in the leaf - sub 40mph round trips only ... with >80° temps 50'Lbs/psi tires. The Gauntlet has been thrown down ... go Bob !!

.

 

You wouldn't want him to get bored in retirement...

 

We got our Leaf up to 6.0 miles/kWh in our Leaf over 300+ miles driving around town.

 

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