We Ditch Gas Stations and Go Full Electric with Chevy Bolt
We ditch the gas station and go full electric with the Chevy Bolt, the new electric vehicle that just hit the roads. Our own Jeremy Williams picked up the Bolt as his first EV, and we go for a ride and test drive to learn about his experience driving it for a few weeks.
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Nice video, guys – really interesting observation about the rear-view video display; not something I had thought of previously. Looks like the first car that I would seriously consider besides the Model 3 I’ve been fantasizing about.
Question from professional interest: I assume there’s an owner’s portal website as well as an app for monitoring your battery status, charging settings, remote startup, that sort of thing… Any thoughts on the quality/usefulness of those features?
It’s funny how I’ve known about this car for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve felt convinced in any way that this could be a car I could own. Awesome video.
By the way, it’s not illegal to remove those dealer plates in California, as long as you have your temporary registration visible in a window. So, just FYI, in case you care. I have a weird thing against advertising for businesses or companies if they’re not paying me monthly to advertise for them.
at 15:50 : Wifi Network : UsainBolt
haha
I think the displays in vehicles might not be as high refresh rate / resolution due to needing to withstand greater variation in temperature & still keep costs down.
Not gonna lie, whenever I’ve heard this talked about on the podcast, I thought Jeremy was getting the Volt. I didn’t even know the Bolt was a thing. I thought Chevy only had the Spark EV and the Volt.
That heated steering wheel would be nice, getting into a car in -30 degree F weather and driving 25 miles, it takes quite a while for the steering wheel to warm up. I’m still curious about cold weather performance. How well do the batteries work in very cold weather, what is the cold weather range, how well does defrost work, how well does the heat work.
I really enjoyed the drone shots at the beginning and end, I don’t recall seeing those in tested vid.
Great video and great review. I’m a total gear head and heavy subscriber to automotive content including Motortrend on Demand, Petrolicious, and Drive. I’ll say that this holds up as well as and in some ways better than those discussions. The review is very ‘Tested’ brand and has none of the baggage of comparing this kind of car to their petrol based counterparts that drives the discussion elsewhere. Well done!
Are those buttons behind the steering wheel for adjusting the regen like in some other EVs?
This has to be one of my favorite videos you have done guys! Very seriously looking into trading a 2012 Rav4 for one.Tho in PA. supply is more limited. I wonder if you could go into depth on your install of your 240V Receptacle for charging. Whether you placed it inside(Garage) or outside? I have my 200 Amp service maxed out ….Not overloaded just all breakers filled….So I’ll have to put another 100 Amp service in. I’ll do mine myself, but what type of cost did it add, or was some of the charging equipment included.
Thanks again for the great vid! Great use of your drone and nice multiple camera shots inside.
Oh and what is the deal with the driver’s name appearing on screen(Norman Chan)? Do you sign in when you start to drive?
thanks Jeremy that was very cool.
This really got me to think about something i hadn’t before…. it’s a fundamental ‘lifestyle’ problem of oil industry. If oil is really about rugged individualism and ‘Murica, (which is what the oil and gas industry marketing says) then how come we gas-drivers are sitting in the line at the gas station, maybe paying $4/gallon thanks to global oil markets, pumping this highly taxed toxic liquid that has come from all 4 corners of the earth, spilling it all over our clothes in the freezing cold and snow… and here we see Jeremy driving by us waving to us, in his nice warm car with heated steering wheel, going home to his family, where he can just plug into his nice comfy house every night?
I dont think about how much I dislike gas stations because I have gotten so used to there being no alternative. But Jeremy is so right about this!
The biggest thing that wasn’t mentioned…..Is there any transmission? And there was only one motor mentioned. So is there any tranny, and how many motors? Is Regen on all wheels?
We bought, gutted, and remodeled a house in 2014/2015 and I had the 240V installed along side that. The whole house was rewired, and I never broke out the expense for the 240V specifically. I think the trend toward electric makes it a selling point if/when we ever sell the house, but things may be a little further in that direction here in CA.
Thanks, man. I’m glad it struck a chord!
I don’t think Chevy has disclosed any info about the gears. There is only one motor. No AWD option. Hadn’t thought about how many wheels do regen — does this differ from car to car among EVs?
There’s no owners portal site but the app does monitor several aspects of the car (current range, charging status, tire pressure, efficiency, odometer). You can change charge settings, lock/unlock doors, precondition the car (warm up the cabin and systems), honk the horn & flash the lights. It also can do this thing where the lights come on when your phone approaches the car without any interaction. I have that off because it will just keep turning the lights on when I’m at home.
does it shift? Or show your rpm at all? Like does it just spool up to max rpm, or use a CVT to make gear ratio changes. I assume only front wheels are driven then? I have no idea about the Regen. I assume it’s tied into driven wheels only though.
one of the many advantages of an ev is less moving parts. No need for transmission. 100% torque from zero which taperes of at higher speeds when need for torque decreases.
Maybe gears could be useful for heavy “work” vehicles.
Of course there is a transmission. How else would the power get to the wheels? The transmission is by definition the connection between the motor and the wheels. But, as Viktor points out, EVs seldom need multiple gear ratios. I believe the transmission in the Bolt has a single gear ratio.
Regeneration happens in the motor when the driver lets go of the accelerator, and the wheels drive the motor, turning the the motor into a generator. Hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius have more complicated drivetrains with multiple electric motor-generators connected to a single drive axle, but I guess that the Bolt has a single motor-generator.
(PS: I forgot that in American English, the word “transmission” usually refers to just the gearbox. My use of the word is different).
Hmm. Is youtube acting up, or is tested uploading interlaced video? Aaaanyway:
indeed nice video, both visually with the additional aerial footage, as well content-wise.
Wouldn’t have though about the focus problem with a display-based rear mirror when I just read about that feature on paper…
Does the rear mirror-camera have any night-vision capabilities? Or does it have any benefit when it rains and with regular display and cars behind you having badly adjusted headlights that make you look in a blob of light, not being able to make up contours?
That would be a case where it would be useful I guess, besides the obvious reason when you packed that small rear trunk with stuff all up, blocking the window 🙂
Also the light doors not closing unless you have them an extra swing you need to get used to was interesting to watch. That air cushion enough to stop it when you only give it a soft push..
And while no spare tire, does it also not come with a repair kit? i.e. sealing fluid with a compressor/airtank?
Also fully agree with that many buttons on the wheel being just crazy. Have one context switch control and have the buttons do stuff according to the mode you’re in would do the trick just as fine, and probably with better ergonomics.
Also interesting that it doesn’t come with mapping, but my understanding is that it has GPS nevertheless? Can the phone use that as data-source?
Does it also support Android Auto? If so I’d be interested in Tested doing a comparison between the two UIs/experiences.
I have the 2016 Leaf with all the options. Pretty much identical except much less range and no car play. I had exactly the same reaction to the heated steering wheel, made fun of it ’til I had it, then it was the best thing ever.
Leaf’s low mode is braking mode. It doesn’t appear to be quite as aggressive as the Bolt’s low mode but is great driving in snow for very fine speed control of the car. Leaf also has ECO mode when knocks down the acceleration rate and increases regen braking (less than in braking mode though), I use it to counteract my lead foot but turn it off to have the fun of the instant torque.
I charge off 110v at home 90% of the time. I’m working on getting a 220 charger installed. 110 is fine 80% of the time for me. There are 3 D.C. fast chargers within 10 miles of my house and 100’s of 220 chargers installed by the power company (all currently free even!).
Leaf uses a CVT for its transmission. I had one in my old Prius as well and never having that back/foward of shifting gears is nice.
Weather under freezing seems to shave about 25 miles off the range of the Leaf in order to run the defroaster and heated seats/steering wheel. the heated seats/steering wheel do allow me to turn off the climate control for awhile but usually have to kick in the defroster to clear the windows after awhile.
I was happy that Jer knew his voltages…and referred to his supply as 240V. Not sure why folks still refer to it as 110 and 220v …
If one uses Ohms law to figure what a circuit can handle, it is thrown off by using the WWII standards.
Not that it matters ….It surprises me more when folks get it right then when they get it wrong….and electricians always know what they mean.
I can imagine heating working faster than regular car, as no need to wait until the engine is up to temperature and heat up the water in the heating circuit to finally heat up the air…?
Would a powerwall enable DC fast charging at home?
The Leaf doesn’t have a CVT transmission but a single reducer gear which I imagine is the same in the Bolt.
If it’s anything like my Leaf the heater is already fully warm before I’ve even had chance to get out of the car park at work.
Off course if it’s really cold I turn the heating on using the app on my iphone a few minutes before leaving the office.
that was an interesting look into an electric car that seems to be not just for people who drive around cities. that’s been the big issue i’ve had so far: i have a substantial commute, and EVs don’t seem to be made for spending a lot of time on the road. from what you showed here, i think that still holds up.
jeremy’s annual driving distance gets me through roughly a quarter of a year of just work commute, not counting any driving i do beyond that. price wise, the bolt is just barely cheaper per km than my car, and my full charge (for ~600 km, as opposed to the bolt’s ~380 km) is in the tank & paid for in under 5 minutes.
however, sounds like electric cars for non-city-dwellers might be on the horizon. how to mitigate charging time for trips beyond one full charge’s range remains the elephant in the room.
Yeah, you’re right. I was using the word transmission as a substitute for gearbox but henceforth I will just use gearbox.