Chevy Bolt EV - 238 Mile Range $30K after incentives

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

In a couple of years I'll probably trade in my Volt for a Bolt if they don't start showing a lot of range reduction with age

I expect battery longevity to be very good on the Bolt since it has the best thermal management implementation. It has liquid cooling/heating depending on what it needs at the time.

[cowmeat]

Yeah my Volt's big battery also has the liquid cooling/heating with its own separate cooling system, it's pretty awesome

My Volt is going on 6 years old, I drive almost exclusively in EV mode around 40 miles a day, and I have yet to see any depletion of range. In fact it still blows away the EPA estimated range if I don't drive it with my foot on the floor in sport mode. If I baby it around I can squeeze fifty miles out of a charge and I think the EPA rating was 35 miles for a 2012 Volt

I'd say a new Bolt would have an even better cooling/heating technology wrapped around that battery, I'm expecting good things from that car!

[sendler]

Too bad the Leaf is still mired with air cooling for the battery. Tight temp control at both ends of the operating range even when parked (and conservative charge/ discharge voltage cut offs) has been proven by Chevy and Tesla to make their batteries last nearly forever in automotive time scales.

[NeilBlanchard]

I measured what the "hilltop reserve" is on the Bolt EV - about 8.1kWh or so. Which is about 1/3rd the total capacity of Leaf 24kWh and the e-Golf - which is pretty amazing.

I also learned that if you leave the charge port door open, the main screen in the car doesn't work.

[NeilBlanchard]

Yesterday, I upgraded the firmware on our Bolt EV - it only takes about 15 minutes. Here's the link to the download from the MyChevyBolt.com forum:

https://mega.nz/#!mgZyVZLY!tGpiKZFNU...q873JnRd0YpxWg

Here were the instructions:
"Unzip file to root of 16Gb USB flash drive Unplug anything from Bolt USB ports
Power up Bolt Insert flash drive with update on it Agree at "do you want to update" prompt on center display
Wait 12min- watch progress bar on center display "Done" will appear on display, display will shut off in 2-3min
Remove USB flash drive, turn Bolt off, wait 30sec or so, turn Bolt back on... display takes a bit longer to boot first time after update
Confirm you're on 14.4.2

[Daox]

Sounds pretty simple.

What do the updates do?

[Xist]

Oh, something like this:

[NeilBlanchard]

The update mainly improved the Android Auto home screen, and some additional options on some things. They enabled toggling on the front or rear cameras. It is supposed to have sped it up, and fixed a few bugs.

I am happy that I can do this, rather than take it to the dealer.

[UFO]

It's been 2 years since I logged in here, still driving my diesel VW. I am really looking towards switching to an EV this year, and the Bolt seems like a really good option, especially that range. It would be really nice to hear a software update that could give more coasting, or the option to tailor it.

[redpoint5]

You could put it in N, or feather the accelerator pedal. Lack of coast won't make much difference in efficiency, but I'm with you on being annoyed by the lack thereof.

I'm guessing you aren't making car payments, which is excellent. You might wait for used ones to hit the market next year to pick it up cheap. I'd have a hard time going from vehicles that are paid for and not really depreciating, to buying new and taking enormous hits on depreciation.