2022 Bolt EUV Initial impressions

Wow. Those screens look very different from my history screen.


I usually go back & forth between this history screen and the details screen in my previous post.

That seems like a pretty plausible theory.

 

Compared to the Prius, the front passenger space feels about the same. Being 5'-9" I can't speak to headroom for a six footer, but the reviews I've seen by testers who are six feet tall have no complaints. If you have to sit in the back, it's possible, but it's pretty close, but it actually has more leg room than the Prius in the back. I watched a ton of video reviews before I decided that the Bolt EUV was going to be a good fit for me and my wallet.

 

'Nuther impression or two after 15 days and with 936 miles on the clock. Or three or four impressions - however many it comes to. LOL!

It seems that there really is something to the "ABC" admonition I keep seeing on the chevybolt.org forum. What I've read is that the car will cool the battery even if not plugged, but it's much more aggressive about cooling if it is plugged in. Hot day today, Bolt parked in a very warm garage and not plugged in. We took a short drive to the drugstore. When we got home I didn't want to charge, but I wanted to plug it in to see what it would do. So I lowered the charge limit to 70% so I could wait till tomorrow to charge. (It's sitting at about 75% now.) Plugged it in and the battery cooling system fired right up along with the radiator fan. I popped the hood and got hit in the face with a blast of hot air. After 2-3 minutes it slowly wound down and finally stopped after maybe 5-10 minutes.

I guess there really is something to "always be connected." I can do that at home, but probably not while at work. Although I can charge at work, I can't leave it in that spot all day. And other destinations, I just can't plug in at all. But at least I can cool it quickly at home.

One very minor shortcoming is charging in the dark. The Prime has a little LED light in the charging port. If you plug in the Bolt in the dark, you might need to grab your cell phone or a flashlight. (But they do sell aftermarket lights for the charging port.)

Not so minor impression: I LOVE VENTILATED SEATS!!!!!

Longest trip so far - Yesterday we took it to a seafood place on the water about 60 miles north of here. Car did GREAT. It did take about 25 kWh to bring the battery back to 80%, which made me come up short on solar electricity production, but that's not an everyday kind of trip. The efficiency is surprisingly close to that of the Prime, but I'm doing a lot more EV miles now since I don't have that 25-30 mile limit anymore. It's incredibly freeing to be able to just jump in and go knowing that keeping it at 80% SOC keeps it ready to go anywhere I'm likely to go other than a vacation trip.

 

Yes, I mentioned that, but didn't include the fact that they are a little (lot?) expensive from what I've seen.

 

Looks like the website is up to its old duplicate post tricks again.

 

That's pretty handy. I'll probably just swipe up on the screen of my Apple watch and touch the flashlight icon if needed. I'm sure it doesn't take a lot of light.

 

That sure looks like a lot of work. I'll think I'll go this route and spend more time driving and less time hacking. https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/super-easy-charge-port-light.46109/post-767907

 

Now that I think about it, I doubt that I'll bother with a port light. I don't think it's likely I'll need to plug in in total darkness, and there's that bright orange DCFC cover there. I'll see how it goes.

Back to the evaluation. One thing I miss is the amazing data I got from the Prime combined with all the trip meters. The Bolt just has the one trip meter and then theres the "since last full charge" data. I like the Bolt's real time updates of kW being used, but it would be nice if it was shown in m/kW. The Prime showed the real time m/kWh, but only as a bouncing bar, not as numbers.

The efficiency has impressed me. Lifetime average shows 4.5 m/kWh. Friday we went down to Clearwater in the morning and then that afternoon I went over to Lutz. Total for the day was close to 90 miles on roads that are mostly 55 mph with lots and lots of stop lights. This thing got 5.1 m/kWh!! I don't think the Prime could have touched that under those driving conditions even if it had the EV range. It did help, though, that for almost the whole first half of the trip down, we didn't need air conditioning and just used the ventilated seats.

 

Coverage is great. Except for a couple inches on the seat and back where they meet, it goes top to bottom and front to back. And it's bolster to bolster. But, of course, there's no flow through the holes that I block with my bottom and back while sitting, but a nice little breeze passes around me and, if I lean ahead a little, the who back gets cooled.

Even so, I do find that I also tend to adapt and kind of wish for more, but it does seem to reduce the AC load. In a few months, maybe I'll get a chance to test the heated seats and steering wheel. OH! That reminds me. unlike my Prime, the outer rear seats are also heated. Mother-in-law will like that when she visits in January.

Lots of people opt for the L2 installation. It's not a blank check, so if you want it in a detached garage and your breaker panel is in the basement at the opposite end of the house, you'll probably have to chip in. I already had an L2 outlet, but it is only 30A. The L2 that comes with the EUV charges at 32A. So I put in my own 14-50 outlet and opted for the $500 worth of free EVgo charging. When I'll get to use it is anybody's guess. I did test it and it works.

I try to charge mostly in the daytime using the 16A EVSE since my solar panels can usually keep up with that and I use less of the utility's power. But if I need to charge in a hurry, or at night or when it's raining, I plug in the 32A EVSE and get it over with. That gives me roughly 25 miles per hour of range.