If you do a search on “spare tire” you will find numerous threads on what folks have put together. Bolts have self-sealing tires, and like most new cars do not come with or even have an option for a spare tire. I put together my kit for less than $60 using used parts and it includes a full-size spare, jack, and lug wrench.
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2023 Bolt EUV does not have spare tire and jack kit
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Your dealer is most likely lying to you about needing the tire replaced. They want to sell you tire. We put over 40K miles on one of our original tires after just this situation. Had an internal patch put on by the local tire shop. It took ten minutes, per the Michelin instructions.
There are two schools of thinking:
School A teaches that tires are a lot stronger these days, and that most drivers will never have a puncture, and that 90% of punctures can be fixed using the sealing kit with an inflator. All three statements are statistically true.
School B voices the opinion of those who have had at least one tire blowdout in their recent history
I have a donut and a full-size spare. I carry the latter with me all the time.
Do keep in mind, though, that if/since you don't have a TPMS sensor in the donut or spare tire the Bolt will think you are riding on the rim and will make steering less sensitive, and bombard you with the Low Pressure warnings.
The Bolt doesn't have an OEM donut, but you can get one from 3rd party suppliers. Mine is, I think, intended for the Cruze, but it works with the Bolt .... I tested it over 50 miles
. But, it will not fit into the well. Unless you deflate it, but I didn't do that.BTW, looking under the belly there is absolutely no geometric reason for this well to be 1" larger, which is all you need to squeeze the donut into. There is a huge gap between that well and the rear end of the battery, and no suspension elements protrude into that gap.
While spare tires are becoming less common, I wouldn't agree that most cars do not have them. We have gone through quite a few new vehicles in the past few years, namely:
2014 Prius - donut ✔
2017 CX3 AWD - donut ✔
2017 Bolt EV - nothing
2019 F-150 RWD- full size spare (IIRC) ✔
2021 Sienna e-AWD - donut option ✔
2022 EUV - nothing
We also looked at a 2018 RAV4, 2020 RAV4, and 2021 RAV4 Prime and all had full size spares (IIRC).
That's exactly where I keep my full size spare. Actually, it's probably the only place you can keep a full size spare - discreetly - in the Bolt
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