Headline Self-Sealing Tire Saga - 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Headline Self-Sealing Tire Saga - 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Long-Term Road Test

Our monthly update for July 2017 on the Edmunds 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV includes energy use statistics and comments on what it's like to drive every day.

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yellowbal

At least the replacement tire prices aren't too high. Self-sealing tire vs run-flat? I rather have neither but the self-sealing might ride closer to a normal tire. Personal preference is to have a spare and a emergency plug kit.

moparbad

Appreciate the information and education.
I'm still of the opinion that a spare tire and wheel are a necessity for long distance travel and highly recommended for all other vehicles. I do own a sports car w/o a spare.

agentorange

Yet another reminder of why I won't buy a car without a spare.

tim023

Just had a similar experience with my Bolt. TPMS indicated a leak in one tire. I was near the dealership, so brought it in. There were a good number of people there ahead of me for service. So it took 2 hours for a tech to even look at the tire. When he did, he didn't know what he was looking at. What was this adhesive all along the inside of the tire? At first, the tech said it couldn't be patched with that adhesive and that it wouldn't be able to be balanced. Estimated cost to replace the tire was $275. Wow! So both my service rep and myself started in our hunt for answers. He tried Michelin's on-line chat. Pretty useless. I called Michelin and spoke with someone who was able to relay the repair procedure to my service rep. It CAN be patched. Two and a half hours later I was back on the road. Needless to say, not a fun experience. The frustrating thing was that this tire was made specifically for GM and the Chevrolet Bolt yet service techs at the dealership were not familiar with it nor with how to repair it.

Hshebz_2955

I too had a real problem, as the screw that punctured my tire held pressure for a while and then didn’t, catastrophically. I was able to pull over, AAA pumped my tire up and I was able to get it to a tire store, Les Schwab in Willits California. They scratched their heads about the sealant inside as well. Said the tire couldn’t be repaired, although it could be if a conventional tire, bought a non-self sealing tire and then started dealing with Michelin and Chevrolet. Neither of them wanted to take responsibility. The Chevy manual said yes the tire was under their warranty and then they said no wasn’t. So Michelin finally took responsibility by replacing the tire under warranty, only reimbursing me for the cost of the tire and not for installation or balancing. So now I have a self sealing tire with a hole in it that I guess can be repaired ultimately, a brand new non-self sealing tire which I took off once I received the Michelin self sealing tire to replace it. All this to try to save carbon by driving an electric vehicle. I wonder how much carbon two tires are worth? The extra weight of a spare and Jack set in terms of energy costs over time is probably somewhat significant but not worth the hassle and resource waste of two tires sitting in a pile not being used, and the time spent dealing with all the stuff.

skyisthelimit

Never tried buying one.

Andrew_hd

Estimated cost to replace the tire was $275

GL1974

Yep, my wife and I have / had of yesterday a 2021 Chevy Bolt premium and let's just say it was far from premium. From the cheap interior materials used, noisy lacking cabin insulation for sound as well as heat from the sun, to the significantly reduced range when using the heater or AC, to the no spare tire issue and inability to rotate them yourself, to the glitchy internal electrical system what would require a reset on occasion to the entire battery recall issue I am glad to have sold our bolt to Carmax yesterday. This vehicle should never have come to market and is not at all comparable to other EV's in it's range. We are getting a PHEV which will be by far superior then this piece of junk...