Life with Chevy Bolt EV

[jray3]

Calling around to different dealers, the price of one factory wheel ranged from $395 to $800. I ended up buying a full set of aftermarket wheels for $700, which gives me a full spare and two winter rims from the remaining 3 OEM wheels.

After hitting a big block of wood, one busted wheel/tire, a re-alignment and a possible wheel bearing as the only casualties speak well of the car's durable suspension. I guess the only fault besides the trucker who lost that block would lie with GM dealer parts pricing! It is absurd that you can buy an aftermarket set of new wheels for less than the price of a single replacement.

Was there ever a resolution to the 'ice trough' that kept windshield wipers frozen up in winter?

 

[PV1]

I agree. I think that if the outside edge of the wheel hit the wood, it would've been worse. The wheel splitting absorbed a lot of energy.

As for the ice trough, my solution has been to turn the wipers on delay (which parks the upper wiper slightly above the dashboard), shut the car off, and leave my Litecoin miner running in the car all night. It keeps the windows clear, the interior heat-soaked, and actually transmits a bit of heat into the battery through conduction (the back seat sits right on top of the battery).

A couple rounds of pre-heating with the wipers left on also does the trick, but having a small heat source in the car all night allows the whole windshield to warm up and prevent snow from accumulating in the first place. Plus, the litecoin miner is more economical than a resistance heater :ugeek: .

 

[PV1]

It's been a while, but the Bolt is now fully repaired. Two new tires (one necessary, the other due to front right wheel/tire becoming a full spare), 4 new, aftermarket wheels, an alignment, and a new wheel bearing. Total cost - $1,400, though I gained a full spare tire, two winter rims, and a 6" X 6" X 12" wood block.

For my Birthday, I got the false floor kit, which the spare tire, jack, and charging cords all fit under neatly. This kit covers the rear cargo well and gives the Bolt near-flat floor cargo capacity with the rear seats folded down.

 

[rmay635703]

4. It would be wrong to believe that a company like Toyota will not have been working very hard behind the scenes to perfect BEV technology.

They have been quite anti-EV.
Their leadership has been quite vocal about this.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/insideevs.com/lexus-ceo-presents-his-anti-ev-case/amp/

Must be a reason.


Though I agree proper self driving in 2 years is a joke, maybe 20 or more.

 

[PV1]

Toyota is anti-EV because they believe in Hydrogen more, and they don't consider Hydrogen cars to be EVs (however, the only difference is they have a fuel cell instead of a lithium ion battery, though FCVs still have a smaller battery pack). They were the ones to introduce Hydrogen cars back in the early 2000's to justify ending the RAV4-EV, and recently they ditched the RAV4-EV effort for the Mirai.

 

[JoeS]

I'm presently visiting in Medford, Oregon, where my brother-in-law lives, as does my wife's mom. A year ago I talked him into getting a Bolt which he and his wife love and he's made a successful 800-mile round-trip down to the SF Bay Area to visit his daughter in it - but what a hassle fraught with unknowns and and a few slower (25kW) chargers, compared to the Tesla. The good news is that the higher-power DCFC infrastructure is expanding and including both CCS and CHAdeMO, although still not enough to allow the i-MiEV to traverse California up/down the major north-south Interstate 5. I am soooo envious of the Bolt's regen paddle and one-pedal driving being able to completely stop the car, and sure wish we could hack the i-MiEV controller to do that.

 

[PV1]

So, just a quick warning to Bolt owners. After watching this teardown video, it appears that because of an apparent bad decision in firmware, actual damage to the drive unit can occur if one coasts too long in Neutral. This is because the entire drive unit is lubricated and cooled internally by a 12 volt oil pump. When the car is in Park or Neutral, this pump apparently shuts off and removes lubrication from the bearings. Most bearings and the gears can be splash lubricated with the gears spinning even without the pump, but there is one bearing on the backside of the electric motor that loses its lubrication. I'm trying to find a good way to confirm if the pump shuts off in Neutral or not.

https://youtu.be/APhRPSdmdmk

On a happier note, this channel has some really insightful videos on the Bolt's systems.

 

[JoeS]

So, just a quick warning to Bolt owners. After watching this teardown video, it appears that because of an apparent bad decision in firmware, actual damage to the drive unit can occur if one coasts too long in Neutral. This is because the entire drive unit is lubricated and cooled internally by a 12 volt oil pump. When the car is in Park or Neutral, this pump apparently shuts off and removes lubrication from the bearings. Most bearings and the gears can be splash lubricated with the gears spinning even without the pump, but there is one bearing on the backside of the electric motor that loses its lubrication. I'm trying to find a good way to confirm if the pump shuts off in Neutral or not...

Even though they're painfully lengthy, I always enjoy watching this expert's videos. In this case, he complimented the Bolt design ingenuity in a number of areas.

The possible bearing damage resulting from coasting in neutral in the Bolt is frightening to those of us who do this all the time. PV1, please update this when you find something more definitive - almost worth sending an email to prof. John Kelly at Weber State U. for his opinion.

 

[ChrisEV]

Toyota is anti-EV because they believe in Hydrogen more, and they don't consider Hydrogen cars to be EVs (however, the only difference is they have a fuel cell instead of a lithium ion battery, though FCVs still have a smaller battery pack). They were the ones to introduce Hydrogen cars back in the early 2000's to justify ending the RAV4-EV, and recently they ditched the RAV4-EV effort for the Mirai.

I think the Japanese government is very big with incentives toward hydrogen to promote energy independence in Japan.

I don't think it's anything personal, they're just going after the money.

Honda is the same way.

 

[Don]

Honda sold CNG cars for several years, but I think only on the West Coast. That seemed like the ideal solution to me at the time (still does, actually) because you could refuel in your own garage and have 250 miles of range or more and no road use taxes on the fuel

Don

 

[tigger19687]

I wanted to post on this about the BOLT. I must have gotten the 1 Bolt that who ever was doing the QC and Build made this the problem child.
I have had all sorts of things replaced and a constant noise they can't find.
I am trying to get GM to buy back the car
There are so many things I live about it -- EV 240+ miles and no gas lol


I wish I had never sold the ' i '
I am now looking for used ' i ' again. A 2016 , today that is 2 towns over.

In case you are wondering if that will be a shocker for me, NO. I really liked the little tin can of an 'i' before. And I will use this for all my local driving (which is all I really do) and go back to buying a pick up for the Farm... unless the F150 BEV comes out before I have to buy it

 

[PV1]

What kind of noise is it making? What all issues are there?

 

[tigger19687]

I've had the stabilizer links, stabilizer bar, rear axle, traction battery replaced and other small issues.
But the noise that is killing me is something that sounds lose when in stop and go bumper traffic. You would think it is the torque but it isn't.
It is a Tink noise like as if something is bolted tight and moves when going forward and then back when letting off the pedal.

I just had so many things wrong with this one car that I am done.
Plus the driver seat sucks

 

[PV1]

I've had the stabilizer links, stabilizer bar, rear axle, traction battery replaced and other small issues.
But the noise that is killing me is something that sounds lose when in stop and go bumper traffic. You would think it is the torque but it isn't.
It is a Tink noise like as if something is bolted tight and moves when going forward and then back when letting off the pedal.

I just had so many things wrong with this one car that I am done.
Plus the driver seat sucks

Yeah, at some point I think the Lemon Law should kick in. No reason a new car would need that much work. The front seats were a common complaint on the 2017 models, but more so with leather. I have the cloth seats and find them very comfortable.

My only true complaint about the Bolt is that the stock tires suck in the go department. From what I’ve heard, Bolts made before the plant shutdown in 2017 had issues, but once production restarted, Chevy had fixed most of the issues. If you can get a replacement car, any Bolt made after June 2017 should be good.

 

[tigger19687]

)

Yeah, at some point I think the Lemon Law should kick in. No reason a new car would need that much work. The front seats were a common complaint on the 2017 models, but more so with leather. I have the cloth seats and find them very comfortable.

My only true complaint about the Bolt is that the stock tires suck in the go department. From what I’ve heard, Bolts made before the plant shutdown in 2017 had issues, but once production restarted, Chevy had fixed most of the issues. If you can get a replacement car, any Bolt made after June 2017 should be good.

In MA I am beyond the lemon law.
Your 2nd part is not true from what I found. Many of the issues are happening regardless of the year model., many of the 18 19 are having similar issues and a few new ones on the 20's
Are you on this forum? https://www.chevybolt.org/
You should pop on and see what others are having issues on.

I had my test drive with the other Dealer that GM sent me to. He heard the noises and others. Said that this car should not have had ALL these issues and GM should have taken it back a while ago lol. I get to leave it with him March 2nd with the LIST of all the issues I am having, he has all the others that have been done (8 others, 6 major components).
Le Sigh I just want them to take this one back.

 

[PV1]

I’m not on any Bolt forums. I tried using the sister forum to this one, but it was nothing but two guys arguing back and forth and I got tired of sorting through their posts.

I guess I got lucky and bought one that was put together right. That’s sad to hear so many Bolts are having issues.

A guy stopped by my work the other day with a Hyundai Kona EV. Goes further than the Bolt with similar power. I wonder how their build quality is. But I still think you can’t go wrong with the i-MiEV outside of these charger issues. Hope you find one.

 

[JoeS]

Anecdotally, in the last couple of years I've talked six friends into purchasing Bolts instead of PHEVs (one bought a Bolt after his i-MiEV was totaled), and none have experienced any issues. They all love the car!

Even though the Hyundai Kona EV would be my "today's" vehicle of choice, I'm waiting to see how the drivetrain noise issues get resolved on both it and the Kia Niro EV before recommending them. The local dealerships are beginning to relax on their up-to $9000 markups over MSRP on the Kona EV.

That said, still love my two daily-driving i-MiEVs and the 2013 MS85 (odo now > 106K miles) for long trips.

 

[pbui19]

We have 2x 2017-Boltev and have been quite happy with them...knock-on-wood. In fact, it's the 2016 Volt that is giving us grief, the center screen display has gone dark and at >60kmiles, it's out of warranty. Stealer wants ~$1500 to "try" replacing the HMI (Human Machine Interface). I failed to convince them to treat it as part of the battery pack, since the display is needed to control charging set up and selection, such as 8A/12A level 1 option. And of course, the crappy back up visibility was designed with the back-up camera display working. Fortunately the Volt is operate fine.

In fact, am in the market for a 3rd Bolt, pre-owned of course. The $/range-mile is just so cost effective, ~$20K/250 miles (~$80/mile). A 75D/85D would be preferable, but at $35K/300-mile (~$117/mile).

 

[JoeS]

...In fact, am in the market for a 3rd Bolt, pre-owned of course. The $/range-mile is just so cost effective, ~$20K/250 miles (~$80/mile). A 75D/85D would be preferable, but at $35K/300-mile (~$117/mile).

Hey, a $5K i-MiEV matches your cost-effective Bolt metric! ($5K/62=~$80/mile)

 

[tigger19687]

...In fact, am in the market for a 3rd Bolt, pre-owned of course. The $/range-mile is just so cost effective, ~$20K/250 miles (~$80/mile). A 75D/85D would be preferable, but at $35K/300-mile (~$117/mile).

Hey, a $5K i-MiEV matches your cost-effective Bolt metric! ($5K/62=~$80/mile)

:lol:
I do miss my ' i '