Monthly Update for February 2017 - 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
edited March 2017 in Chevrolet
imageMonthly Update for February 2017 - 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Long-Term Road Test

Initial reports from our new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV indicate that its astounding 238-mile range is readily achievable and utterly reassuring.

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Comments

  • gslippygslippy Member Posts: 514
    Good update. I would prefer you report miles/kWh, just like you have shown on the car's display. You could report the display reading, but better yet, you should do the math and report the actual value. In your case, this is 3.63 miles/kWh, vs the EPA rating of 3.57 miles/kWh, so you're beating the EPA by a hair.
    My former Leaf reported its fuel economy this way also, and it's a handy analog to the US convention of reporting MPG, in that higher is better.
    Except for the game of golf, Americans don't understand that lower is better in most metrics, particularly with fuel economy.
    I'm not suggesting you use MPGe if you don't want to, but the miles/kWh is easily convertible to $/mile if you know the cost of your electricity.
    EV makers do themselves a disservice to report fuel economy in an unconventional (to Americans, anyway) fashion. It only perpetuates the stereotype that EVs are weird science projects.
  • kirkhilles1kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863
    I don't understand the whole navigation complaint. Android Auto/Car Play ARE the answers. Period. If you don't like Apple Maps, then talk to Apple. If Google Maps isn't available on CarPlay (I use Android so I have no idea), then talk to Google or Apple. Waze is coming out (at least for AA) any day now. Paying for a Garmin/Tomtom navigation (you'll pay for it one way or another if its included in the car) only benefits about 5% of the drivers.
  • throwbackthrowback Member Posts: 445
    I would love to see how this handles with some grippier tires. Yes, I know it will impact range, but I'm a driver and I'm interested in the handling capabilities. C'mon Dan, you know you are too. make it happen! I would gladly give up 20-30 miles of range for a more engaging drive.
  • actualsizeactualsize Member Posts: 451
    @kirkhilles1 Has "call your cable company" ever worked? Has ten years of collective complaining about Apple Maps ever made a meaningful difference? Do rural areas have wall-to-wall data coverage? No, no and no. In theory, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are great, and in town they certainly are. I use Google Maps all the time. But any cloud-based solution is only as good as the availability of signal and the robustness of an individual's data plan. That's generally fine in the city, where other EVs have always been confined because of the range issue, but the Bolt has enough range to drive out of town.

    In addition to the range, the Bolt also has the domestic badge and attractive price that should put it on the radar of rural-based buyers such as my retired parents. The idea of never having to go to a gas station and never having to do much maintenance applies to this buyer group, too. My dad loves the idea of the Tesla and the Bolt, but he can barely work the apps on his phone and has a bare-minimum data plan and spotty data service. Even as I write this I'm visiting them in rural Gold Beach Oregon, and I've just seen a new Bolt bought by one of the locals here in town. They are starting to show up outside major metro areas.

    As for me, just outside of the LA basin there are many places I go where cellular data is non-existent, and in my experience these places tend to be those in which I need a working map the most. The entire "No Signal" weekend I describe is but one example. Ironically, a recent Chevy-organized Bolt drive in the SF Bay area included a 15-mile stretch in the mountains just above Palo Alto (and Google HQ) where there was no AT&T signal at all. For many, built-in navi is necessary and will continue to be so until everyone has a smartphone and every square inch of the USA has 5 bars of LTE service.

    These app-based nav solutions can only fully replace native navigation systems if: 1) you have a strong data signal on your provider's network where you are when you initiate or modify a route; 2) you have a good-sized data plan and are willing to use it, and; 3) you are willing to allow the car's CP/AA connection hijack your phone in a way that excludes the use of other apps, which is no trivial thing if the person with the connected phone is a non-driving passenger. The answer to 1) and to some extent 2) will vary in a given location depending on if you have Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.

    I, for one, depend on and use Google Maps on my iPhone. I don't think I'm close to being alone in this. (I have a Samsung S7, too, but for a variety of reasons, I keep defaulting back to the iPhone.) Anyway, Google Maps is not (and may never be) allowed a place on the CarPlay interface. And even if it does, I'll still want my car to have native navi so I can have navigation available everyplace I care to go. I know my dad certainly wouldn't have it any other way.

    Twitter: @Edmunds_Test

  • robert99robert99 Member Posts: 1
    Total range 3.63 miles/kwh x 60kwh battery pack = 217.8 miles of range. To get 238 miles of range you will need improve by about 8.5%.
  • philtopiaphiltopia Member Posts: 1
    Just leased one tonight and will pick it up tomorrow! It was a kick to drive compared to my 2014 Volt. That kicked me over from considering the 2017 Volt. Plus rear seat head room and a few other factors.
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