Quote:
Originally Posted by ProDigit
The numbers don't compute,
...the car has a reported top speed of 91MPH,
...the battery pack is only providing energy for 60kW, which is equal to 80HP.
...Top speed of the bolt also indicates that the engine is closer to 80HP than to 200HP.
...Also, the more your battery wears out, the less efficient charging it is.
...Most people have their car for longer than 100k miles.
...they will need a battery change after the warranty is over at 100k miles.
...The Bolt has an 8 year warranty, 100k miles, but Chevrolet warns that the battery could lose as much as 40% of battery capacity over this time!
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The top speed is software limited, either because it's near the max RPM of the motor, or to prevent people from driving 120 MPH and claiming the car only has a range of 30 miles.
This was addressed above, but you misread 60 kWh as 60 kW. The first is an energy capacity (like the size of a fuel tank), the other is a power output (like horsepower).
Again, top speed is not drag limited, but software limited.
Battery wear should minimally affect charge efficiency. As charge capacity diminishes, the required amount of charging diminishes.
Most people do not keep a car for 100k miles. The accepted annual average is 12,000 miles, and average length of ownership is 6.5 years. That works out to 78,000 miles during lifetime of ownership.
Nearly nobody will consider the car to need a new battery immediately after the warranty runs out. Chevy accepts a 40% loss in capacity over the warranty timeframe to avoid paying warranty claims, not as a benchmark of typical battery wear. Chevy uses active thermal management and owners report much lower rates of wear than the warranty maximums. I would expect 80% remaining capacity at the end of the warranty.
The theme of your post is to consider the economics of owning a new EV. Financially, it never makes sense to own a new vehicle of any type. Used EVs are extremely affordable with the exception of Tesla. It makes the most financial sense in a multi-vehicle family for one of the vehicles to be an EV for local trips. Lack of maintenance expenses is not insignificant both from a financial standpoint, and a time savings standpoint.
Have you driven a Bolt? It's one thing to consider performance characteristics on paper, and another to actually experience it in person.