Life with Chevy Bolt EV

[PV1]

So, charged my Bolt up last night, but since I didn't drive it today, I haven't unplugged it yet. The car is parked in the driveway, and with summer kicking in with full force yesterday, it's been rather hot here the last two days. As we were cleaning up from the day's activities, the Bolt started making a racket. Turns out, that even after it has finished charging and the EVSE is in standby mode (plugged in, but contactor off), if the battery gets too warm or cold, the car will engage thermal management. The racket it was making was the battery cooling system running (car was off, locked, and key inside the house, but was plugged in).

So, I have a new recommendation for Bolt owners where the car is parked in extreme weather (although I'm sure I'm not the first to figure this out, and it's likely in the owner's manual). If the car is going to sit exposed to extreme heat, enable hilltop reserve (or set a low charge limit on newer Bolts) and leave it plugged in. Hilltop reserve limits max charge to 90% of usable, but newer Bolts have a slider to limit max charge even lower, I believe down to 70%. Given that we can limit charge and the battery won't sit at full, we can gain from active thermal management in hot weather, as the car cools the battery once it gets to about 90 F.

On another note, I'm not so sure about towing trailers. The rear springs are a bit soft and the back end of the car squatted a good bit with a 1,000 lb. trailer hooked to it, more so than my friend's LEAF with the same trailer.

 

[PV1]

PSA. If you live in an area with wild rodents, it might be a good idea to ensure you either turn off the HVAC system or leave the recirculator enabled when you park your Bolt. I left my Bolt parked for 2 weeks and apparently the recirculator was open, as a mouse made his way in, soiled, and chewed up my cabin air filter.

Drove the car yesterday and noticed quite a smell from the vents. I pulled the glovebox and air filter today and found a nest on top of what was left of the filter, and the whole thing was wet. Apparently, the air channel coming into the cabin is wide open to the underside of the car. The channel is shared by cabin air intake and windshield water drains, but the duct into the cabin has no screen whatsoever (the plastic trim under the hood does, but not the opening in the firewall). I'm hoping that the mouse crawled back out and escaped the car after I moved it.

Fortunately, it appears that when the HVAC system is turned off, the recirculator valve automatically closes the intake duct and seals it. However, it will stay open if the air system is on, set to fresh air, and you turn the car off. It will also open with the car on and air system off if you tap the recirculator button, but will give no indication that this happened.

 

[ed5000]

We usually leave our Bolt on "recirculate" so hopefully no problems down the road. It's good to know about this. Ed

 

[JoeS]

PV1, thanks for this and I'll pass it on to my Bolt-owning friends (yes, I'm to blame for all of them buying an EV - just hope the Bolts don't let the smoke out in their garages, but I've brainwashed them sufficiently so they normally keep the SoC ~60%-70%). Sounds like maybe you could use a barn cat or two...

 

[JoeS]

From the ID.4 thread on this forum regarding long distance travel in an EV -

:lol: is there any EV that can really be considered useful for long-distance travel, other than T with the SC network?

From our companion mychevybolt forum, here was an anxiety-producing experience -

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8551&start=10

Those liquid-cooled CCS connectors are evidently really heavy and can prevent proper latching of the Bolt's CCS connector.

The three attempts I've tried to use Electrify America all failed, one being the Tesla with CHAdeMO adapter whereby I couldn't activate the station even though I was an EA member with their app (they finally activated the station remotely after I called), one with my i-MiEV with the only CCS/CHAdeMO station being broken (the other CCS stations were all working), and the last time with the i-MiEV I was blocked as of the six charging stations available only one was taken - the one with the CHAdeMO connector! Electrify America has already announced that they will be discontinuing CHAdeMO support, thus screwing us i-MiEV, Leaf, and Kia Soul owners.

OTOH, my 600-mile round-trip to Lake Tahoe from the SF Bay Area in my i-MiEV was completely painless, primarily using the EVgo network. They were all available (midweek travel during the day) and easily activated with a swipe of their card.

Having criss-crossed the US and Canada in my Tesla, I can attest that long distance travel in the Tesla is now almost indistinguishable from travel in an ICE vehicle, but it does help to plan ahead.

 

[PV1]

Electrify America has already announced that they will be discontinuing CHAdeMO support, thus screwing us i-MiEV, Leaf, and Kia Soul owners.

That's not right. When is someone going to make a CCS-CHAdeMO adapter?

OTOH, my 600-mile round-trip to Lake Tahoe from the SF Bay Area in my i-MiEV was completely painless, primarily using the EVgo network. They were all available (midweek travel during the day) and easily activated with a swipe of their card.

I don't know if I'd be gutsy enough to try that. Then again, when I was out there a few years ago, there was a Honda Clarity FCEV at Lake Tahoe. Don't know which one is more of a challenge.

Having criss-crossed the US and Canada in my Tesla, I can attest that long distance travel in the Tesla is now almost indistinguishable from travel in an ICE vehicle, but it does help to plan ahead.

Yeah. Every time a high-spec EV is announced, the magazines all yell, "Tesla killer!". Problem is, nobody is going to beat Tesla by building a better car. Tesla has the best charging network, hands-down. Tons of chargers at each location, well spaced and located, and rock-solid reliable. The worst I've seen on Plugshare is that some chargers were down at one location, but at least one worked and let people charge.

I've been turned away from enough DC quick chargers to largely not rely on them, though my two 500+ mile treks in the Bolt had no issues on ChargePoint equipment.

My friends that drive Teslas have been having a rough time. On a family trip, one friend's Model X had all the coolant leak out from the rear drive unit. It's currently on a flat-bed waiting to go to Tesla tomorrow. My other friend's Model S decided that it was going to fill the screen with error codes and currently is hit or miss on Park working correctly, has no regen, no power steering, no traction control, and no cruise control/Autopilot. We were going to try to drive it to the service center, but decided to have it towed instead. My Bolt may or may not spontaneously combust :roll: . Yet, the i-MiEV and my friend's LEAF (the one with the X) keep on rolling.

 

[PV1]

So, if anyone even knows about this, the LG batteries used by Chevy and Hyundai have two manufacturing defects in them, that (apparently) when both are in the same cell, the cell can internally short out and cause a thermal runaway event after charging. Originally, the recall only affected 2017-early 2019 Bolts with Korean-made cells, but that has since expanded to cover ALL Bolt EV and Bolt EUV models since a few of the US-made LG packs have burned.

So far, there have been 18 confirmed battery-caused fires, mostly in the 2017 and 2019 model years. My one contact that drives a 2019 just emailed me this morning that he is pursuing a buyback. I'm curious to see how that goes, because at the moment (officially), I have a car that:

1. I can't charge above 90%.
2. I can't discharge below 30% (70 miles)
3. I can't park inside while charging or immediately after charging.
4. I can't charge unattended.
5. (new one) I can't park within 50' of other vehicles.

Given that my Bolt has a 238-mile range, the 90% limitation drops me to 214 miles. Subtract the 70 mile minimum, and I'm left with 144 miles of range.

 

[pbui19]

We have 2 2017-Bolts, one approaching 90kmiles, the other over 80kmiles. Haven't been taking these warnings seriously, though may be I should. I think i've charged to 100% may be 3x in the last 4-yrs; usually daily charge and stay within 35-75%. Looking forward to a new pack

We have been getting so many outages with PGE (local electric company) happy-triggered-circuit breakers; these Bolts have been well utilized to keep the house powered. Though still yet to figure out how to keep it on beyond the 90-min auto shut-down.

My iMiev is now non-opt and am trying to come up with a design to use the iMiev pack as a house battery. It would be nice not having to go through the 12-v dc-dc converter

 

[PV1]

I was not expecting to see this news this year, let alone this week:

https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2021/sep/0920-bolt.html

Cautiously optimistic, though I can’t say I’ll rush right out and get the new cells.

 

[wmcbrine]

I just hope they've got it right this time. These recalls have been kind of damaging the whole EV project (not that they should, but the naysayers are really jumping on the story).

I will sat the Bolt is still probably my top choice for my next car after the i-MiEV (but that could be a while).

 

[PV1]

Let’s hope so. This is maybe also a good lesson on battery manufacturers to not cut corners. This recall is costing the joint venture almost $2 Billion, so there’s hoping that LG is doing it right this time.

 

[beespeckled]

The 2022 Bolt EUV was at the top of our list for the family car replacement. I had put my name on one that was supposed to be coming from the factory once the chips were available. That afternoon, the announcement that all models thru 2022 were recalled. We hadn't put any money down because they didn't know when they would receive due to the chip shortage. Sigh...maybe in 2023 or 2024 we will revisit as a replacement for my 2012 MiEV.

I'm glad that Chevy is being proactive on this.

It is only right that owners get first priority.

 

[PV1]

My local dealers actually have a fair number of EUVs on the lot, but can’t currently sell them because of the recall. Once batteries come in, they’ll be able to. The chip shortage affects Super Cruise vehicles (I’ve yet to see a Super Cruise EUV).

Keep us posted on your experiences with the Outlander. I might be recommending it to some friends looking to upgrade from their LEAFs at low cost.

 

[acensor]

We purchased a new 2021 Chevy Bolt 4 months ago.


What with Chevy's $10,000 end-of-model-year discount and Oregon plus my local city incentive cash rebates, our net cost was only $19,500.
The longer we drive it the more impressed I am.
In every respect including fine details such as windshield wipers that, unlike most, sweep close to 100% .. nary a missed square inch of glass.
There are some engineers at GM justly proud …

The battery fire issue risk… requiring us owners to err on the side of caution and not charge above 90% or drain below about 10%, etc,, until such time as GM gives us all new traction batteries, is just a minor nuisense.
And it means that two(?) years from now when GM gets around to replacing the battery I get two years more free longevity.

We sold our MiEV (had it 8 years, 45,00 miles) for $4500 to a very happy buyer who only needs 50 mile range.
So our net upgrade cost was $15,000.

If not that right now it's hard to find a new or used Bolt, I'd say it's well worth a really close look if considering getting an EV with a legit 250+ mile range.
Alex

 

[JoeS]

Um, Alex, I think they don't want you to go below ~28% SoC (71 miles). You got a terrific deal, as right now used Bolts are selling for more than that! Used EV prices have skyrocketed around here.

 

[PV1]

The longer we drive it the more impressed I am.
In every respect including fine details such as windshield wipers that, unlike most, sweep close to 100% .. nary a missed square inch of glass.
There are some engineers at GM justly proud …

The battery fire issue risk… requiring us owners to err on the side of caution and not charge above 90% or drain below about 10%, etc,, until such time as GM gives us all new traction batteries, is just a minor nuisense.
And it means that two(?) years from now when GM gets around to replacing the battery I get two years more free longevity.
Alex

Right? The windshield wiper system is actually impressive. Two separate motors that manage to never collide with each other while simultaneously covering a very large percentage of the windshield. Even if you mess up the wipers by hand (they do move easily), they sort themselves out when you power up the car. Even the swipe time for the front and rear wipers is the same. Also, the automatic lights are on-point. I almost never have to override them. A fine job they did, indeed.

On the battery, GM wants you to actually stay above 30%. I am looking forward to having 30 miles more range.

 

[PV1]

It sounds like new packs are arriving. As I suspected, when GM says “Module”, they mean the entire battery pack. I saw two reports on chevybolt.org of pack replacements. Not that I want to rush into a new pack, but I think I might stop by my local dealer and see what the timeline is.

 

[PV1]

Apparently, the owner of the 2020 Bolt that burned is auctioning off the keys and owners manual.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203656765453

 

[ed5000]

I'm not too far from the guy. I should have bid on it. :roll: :lol:

 

[PV1]

I stopped by my local dealer this morning to see where I’m at on the list. Looks like I’ll have a good wait. He said check in a few weeks. I’m anticipating Spring at the earliest, which is fine as I’m not in a big hurry for the new packs.

While I was there, FedEx showed up with two new packs, so replacements will be starting soon, which should be a big relief to my friend that has a 2019 Bolt, the most fire prone model year.