Week 1 review of the Bolt
Posted by
Reagen
Nov 6 '21, 05:27
|
first off, I'm never going back to an ICE car. You can't make me.
Now, range anxiety is real, if you have a long commute like I do. If there weren't a charger at my school, this wouldn't work for me, at least until I get the charger installed at my house (1-2 weeks). Charging off 120V AC is paaaainfully slow, and the DC charging isn't amazing, as it's 2 year old tech (about 12 hours from 0 to full). But it's a bit of a shift in mindset. You don't let it get to 25% before charging it, you charge it more frequently, and for shorter intervals. I've also had to top up with an expensive DC fast charger (though still cheaper than gas) a couple of times, although that'll be much less of a thing once the charger is in at my house.
The DC FC leaves a bit of room for improvement although I'm told that's a weakness specifically of the old Bolts, and newer ones/other EVs are much better at it.
What's great though is the efficiency gains that you can get from driving "right". Low gear/one-pedal mode is like a driving trainer, as it's pretty aggressive at stopping you when you let off at low speeds and earning back some of that kinetic energy. You pretty quickly learn how you can drive it to maximize that.
You do become extremely aware of how much heat you're using to warm up the cabin though, as the range drops pretty quickly once you do that. Seat/steering wheel warmers use almost nothing compared to that though so I will actually appreciate those for the first time.
And holy shit pep. The accelerator is the "make car go now" button and there's a couple of times I've caught myself going 130kph up a hill to make a pass like it's nothing. There's zero lag between hitting the gas and getting response from the motor. Not having a speed dial anymore is a bit odd.
Because the engine is so small in size and there's no transmission and a few other things gone, the cargo space is amazing. I just put four tires in the back to get them changed over and there's still room for a person. Also, no transmission = no transmission hump in the front seats so extra storage/fast food bag holder at your feet.
The touch screen panel isn't amazing - there's a bit of a delay, no haptic feedback, and it's kind of distracting, but it's got decent interaction with the phone and all the crucial stuff is manual buttons.
|
Responses:
|