[davioh2001]

I am prepared to stir up some upset with my post here. I made a road trip this winter to get away from Texas to Florida. Keep in mind that I didn't drive the whole way but only drove from one city in Texas to another around 350 miles one way so I could take a non stop flight from Dallas.
..... On the way to Dallas it was not a great trip I had less than 5 miles range left when I pulled into the level 2 truck stop. On the way back it was not a great trip - a much worse trip. I will describe what happened and also my conclusion. On the way back it was exceptionally cold in the low 30's (basically below freezing). 3 problems; #1 . Due to lack of charging network I had to literally sit at a truck stop on a level 2 charger for 10 hours to get it to 100%. #2 . Due to the Bolt's 60Kwh battery I was BARELY able to make it the 215 miles home (in fact the screen showed I did 215.5 miles since last charge and used up a total of 58.3Kwh!!!) My interpretation of that was it was like using 9.9 of a 10.0 gallon tank. In other words I could have easily been stranded on the side of the highway at 9 pm at night. That would not have been good! #3 . because of the situation at the end of the trip I had to have emergency flashers on the last 50 miles and was going around 45 mph on a 75 mph highway. Again that's not good!
.....My conclusion. I agree with what other people have mentioned at work that the current batteries and chargers are not good enough and that the car is only really good for in town use! I'm still satisfied with my purchase but am unlikely to make another trip until more chargers are put in place. If there was a newer version of the Bolt or other car that has significantly higher range / battery capacity I would likely trade my car in. Finally in an ideal world the battery packs would still need to be much larger to satisfy real world consumers for comfortable road trips. Ideal world; Smaller cars like bolt = 100-125 Kwh packs. larger cars and trucks=200-250 Kwh packs. RV's=300-400 Kwh packs.

 

[TimBolt]

I would not recommend attempting a 350 mile one-way trip in the Bolt unless there was at least one reliable DCFC charging station along the route. Level-2 charging is simply way too slow as an alternative, unless you enjoy hours long breaks as you travel, or have an overnight stay.

The Bolt doesn’t really need more range, but in many areas of the country we need a better charging infrastructure, as your experience illustrates.

Glad you made it.

 

[gern_blanston]

Wow.

 

[GJETSON]

davioh2001,

It sounds like you had some idea of the basics of the Bolt before you left. Given the EPA range, and no DC fast chargers along your route, did anything happen that you did not anticipate before you left home?

 

[Dyefrog]

I would not recommend attempting a 350 mile one-way trip in the Bolt unless there was at least one reliable DCFC charging station along the route. Level-2 charging is simply way too slow as an alternative, unless you enjoy hours long breaks as you travel, or have an overnight stay.

The Bolt doesn’t really need more range, but in many areas of the country we need a better charging infrastructure, as your experience illustrates.

Glad you made it.

I agree that range is not as big an issue as charger density. Having done a fair number of long distance trips, it's more comforting knowing that I have choices along the way, I don't have to stop at every fast charger along the way just in case the next one is out of commission for one reason or another.
If you have 300 mile range and 200kW chargers (multiple) and cars that can accept that, every 75 miles, you can road trip worry free.

 

[Bolterado]

Years ago I used to ride annually from LA to Monterey (Laguna Seca Raceway) for the motorcycle grand prix races with a group of buddies. Every year I'd pack up my BMW sport tourer, which could easily go 300 miles on a tank, and we'd head off. One fateful year I went out to the garage to find the rear tire flat as a pankcake. These were the days of tube tires, so not a quick fix. My only choices were to cancel or jump on my city bike, a Yamaha RD400. The RD could go maybe 100 miles on a tank, if it was downhill and you had tailwind, but around town it was a hoot. Even in the heyday of gasoline vehicles there were still many places on the coastal route between LA and Monterey where gas stations were pretty far apart. Instead of being the normal fun filled weekend, my ride turned into a marathon, including laying down on the tank and cruising along in the breakdown lane as slow as I dared, hoping to make it to the next gas station. On the trip back I strapped a gallon gas tank on the seat behind me which relieved a lot of the stress and almost made it a normal trip. It's too bad you can't do the same thing with a BEV.

 

[davioh2001]

davioh2001,

It sounds like you had some idea of the basics of the Bolt before you left. Given the EPA range, and no DC fast chargers along your route, did anything happen that you did not anticipate before you left home?

Electrify America has 2 stations on this route that are essentially complete per plugshare (Sweetwater, Tx and Eastland, Tx) but unfortunately not yet activated. Unfortunately for me my trip timing was off by probably a month or 2. I'm sure it would have been a better trip with both better charging available and warmer weather.

 

[Terry Hancock]

My family is asking the Bolt to do a round trip of just under 170 miles total...in the dead of winter. Many times the starting temp is below 15 degrees fahrenheit, in the thirties coming home. It is all high speed interstate. The car does it, each and every time...with preconditioning on during the L2, its cabin heat off, tires at 42 pounds. It is more dependable than the ICE car that it replaced. This particular round trip is critical...taking my wife to and from infusion treatments.

I would never ever choose a more distant route that did not have L3 charging. Just would not. Judging this car's open road performance by using L2, is like comparing an old two wire internet connection at rotary dial speed of 14K to the G4 connections of today (I realize 5G is coming...but that requires a cell every couple of hundred feet).

If L3 chargers were where they should be, it would be little more than topping off the tank, just like an ICE.

 

[tomw]

Poor preparation. Sounds like you haven't driven electric much, so just took off without much thought about charging on the way. Seems you knew the Bolt range was less than the distance to your destination so you would have to stop and charge to get there. Also sounds like you knew it has a 60kWh pack so if you use L2 charging at around 7kW it will take around 60/7 ~ 9 hrs to recharge fully. Sounds like the one you used was 208V rather than 240V so even slower charging. You didn't use Plugshare or similar to see if there was a DCFC to charge at along the route.

Yeah, this is still early days for electric (even though I've been driving electric for over 9 years) so you don't have the infrastructure in place like you do for ice vehicles, not a DCFC on every other block like there are gas stations, so you have to plan. That said, it's quite easy to do, only takes a bit of thought and checking. You can also carry a portable EVSE with NEMA 14-50 plug and 30A adapter so you can camp and charge at an RV park to access areas with no public charging infrastructure. L2 is slow so best to just camp there and charge overnight even though some campgrounds will let you charge for some smaller fee than the cost of a campsite. Most charge you for a site.

If you want more widespread and faster charging, buy a Tesla to get access to the far better supercharger network. Otherwise you have to wait for the DCFC infrastructure to be further built out by EA, EVgo, and others.

 

[cyaopec]

I am prepared to stir up some upset with my post here. I made a road trip this winter to get away from Texas to Florida. Keep in mind that I didn't drive the whole way but only drove from one city in Texas to another around 350 miles one way so I could take a non stop flight from Dallas.
..... On the way to Dallas it was not a great trip I had less than 5 miles range left when I pulled into the level 2 truck stop. On the way back it was not a great trip - a much worse trip. I will describe what happened and also my conclusion. On the way back it was exceptionally cold in the low 30's (basically below freezing). 3 problems; #1 . Due to lack of charging network I had to literally sit at a truck stop on a level 2 charger for 10 hours to get it to 100%. #2 . Due to the Bolt's 60Kwh battery I was BARELY able to make it the 215 miles home (in fact the screen showed I did 215.5 miles since last charge and used up a total of 58.3Kwh!!!) My interpretation of that was it was like using 9.9 of a 10.0 gallon tank. In other words I could have easily been stranded on the side of the highway at 9 pm at night. That would not have been good! #3 . because of the situation at the end of the trip I had to have emergency flashers on the last 50 miles and was going around 45 mph on a 75 mph highway. Again that's not good!
.....My conclusion. I agree with what other people have mentioned at work that the current batteries and chargers are not good enough and that the car is only really good for in town use! I'm still satisfied with my purchase but am unlikely to make another trip until more chargers are put in place. If there was a newer version of the Bolt or other car that has significantly higher range / battery capacity I would likely trade my car in. Finally in an ideal world the battery packs would still need to be much larger to satisfy real world consumers for comfortable road trips. Ideal world; Smaller cars like bolt = 100-125 Kwh packs. larger cars and trucks=200-250 Kwh packs. RV's=300-400 Kwh packs.

Your experience is due to user error. L3 is the best primary way to travel long distance. Before I bought my Bolt I made sure there were enough L3 chargers (as there are in Southern California) to allow me to go to where I want to go. You have to SELF SELECT for any technology, as the strengths and weaknesses of a technology have to mesh with what you need. Cold HAMMERS your battery as do increases in elevation gain. EVs are currently only for nerds. I like estimating how elevation gain, cold, speed and weight impact my range--just like a pilot does when calculating fuel load. Most normal people don't. Even if you have a lot of L3 chargers, the Bolt fast charging is pretty slow compared to Tesla. So my advice is don't feel guilty about taking a gas car on a long trip. The gas you save by using your Bolt more than makes up for the occasional long distance trip in a gas car.

 

[NewsCoulomb]

Electrify America has 2 stations on this route that are essentially complete per plugshare (Sweetwater, Tx and Eastland, Tx) but unfortunately not yet activated. Unfortunately for me my trip timing was off by probably a month or 2. I'm sure it would have been a better trip with both better charging available and warmer weather.

You've answered your own questions, and you might want to reframe your statement as:

"Traveling long distances in the Bolt EV using only Level 2 AC charging is inconvenient."

I can guarantee that, even in the conditions you described, access to DCFC along your route would have resulted in a far more convenient experience, even with the Bolt EV as is.

 

[Dimitrij]

If I were to take kEVin a 350-mi interstate trip (presuming 65-75 mph) and in winter I would look for at least 2 recharging stops.

 

[Packard V8]

An Inconvenient Bolt I am prepared to stir up some upset with my post here.

The members of this forum continue to amaze with the general level of education, knowledge and restraint. They should be congratulated for the many measured and humane responses. Just imagine if the OP was over on a hot rod forum such as "Yellow Bullet - Trash Or Be Trashed- Where the weak are killed and eaten!!!! Vulgar language and nudity may be enclosed!! NWS".

jack vines

 

[davioh2001]

If I were to take kEVin a 350-mi interstate trip (presuming 65-75 mph) and in winter I would look for at least 2 recharging stops.

Yes, much of the pain of my road trip was self inflicted. I was well aware before I left it wouldn't necessarily be a fun trip. I could have spent hundreds of more dollars to fly directly out of Lubbock. I could also have spent hundreds of more dollars to rent a gas car to drive the approximate 800 total miles. I ultimately chose not to do that but take the risk to make a long highway trip with essentially only 1 level 2 charger on my way! I don't regret the decision because I knew enough to be prepared for low driving speeds and low charging speeds too. Obviously I did make it back with a whopping 58.3 kWh used!
.....My point of the posting was to put out my two cents worth that in my opinion both charging and Bev battery packs could use a lot of improvement! I still am happy with my car purchase but yet still feel justifed in having an opinion that I wish for future improvement in both battery packs , charging speeds and more DCFC's just as soon quickly as EVGO , EA, Chargepoint or whoever wants to build them. Finally, I may be stating the obvious to those on this forum. I thank You all for Your patience.

 

[RecessionProofDriver]

.....My conclusion. I agree with what other people have mentioned at work that the current batteries and chargers are not good enough and that the car is only really good for in town use!

Counter-point:

"Its findings remind us, for example, that Americans make a lot of short trips by car. More than 35 percent of vehicle trips are under 2 miles, up from 2009, when 33 percent of trips met that qualification."-Slate.com

"Study: 60% Of Trips Were Less Than 6 Miles, Range Anxiety Overblown"- Insideevs.com

"The data goes further to show that long trips are much more uncommon. Some 75 percent of the travels were under the 10-mile mark. Additionally, 8.4 percent were 11 to 15 miles long, while 95 percent of trips were less than 30 miles"

I don't understand the logic of this post in suggesting that a Bolt isn't an extremely long-range car (350 miles+) in winter when no EV is, nor do the vast majority of people seem to need a Bolt to be capable of that.

 

[davioh2001]

.....My conclusion. I agree with what other people have mentioned at work that the current batteries and chargers are not good enough and that the car is only really good for in town use!

Counter-point:

"Its findings remind us, for example, that Americans make a lot of short trips by car. More than 35 percent of vehicle trips are under 2 miles, up from 2009, when 33 percent of trips met that qualification."-Slate.com

"Study: 60% Of Trips Were Less Than 6 Miles, Range Anxiety Overblown"- Insideevs.com

"The data goes further to show that long trips are much more uncommon. Some 75 percent of the travels were under the 10-mile mark. Additionally, 8.4 percent were 11 to 15 miles long, while 95 percent of trips were less than 30 miles"

I don't understand the logic of this post in suggesting that a Bolt isn't an extremely long-range car (350 miles+) in winter when no EV is, nor do the vast majority of people seem to need a Bolt to be capable of that.

Well I don't necessarily agree. If I would have purchased a model 3 Long range my range anxiety would have essentially been eliminated. I would be a complete liar if I said I wasn't jealous of the Tesla drivers moving in and out of the superchargers right next to my free level 2 there in Cisco Texas. Also, round trip time would have been reduced by almost 20 hours on this trip if I had a Tesla.
.....One of my jobs I work from home so I was able to do work from my laptop and make the situation work for me personally. Also, I was personally unwilling to pay 30k more for a Tesla just to have a better experience 1-2 times a year. The guy at work who is in his 50's is the guy I'm talking about. He has the money to buy a new vehicle but has been driving so long he will probably never want to change. He keeps moving the target from 300 miles is what You need to 400,then 500 lol. The point of my post was that it still can be very inconvenient to make long road trips. The trip can be boarder line doable but not enjoyable or very time efficient. I am not against EV's because I bought one with my own cash! I just wish what I had purchased was a bit better. I wish a better version was available when I had to make a car purchase decision in Jan 2018... For example if there would have been a 75kwh version for $4-5k more than what I paid I would have jumped on that version without a second thought.

 

[Vertiformed]

Hi @davioh2001, allow me to rewrite your tale for you.

An Adventure in Slow-Charging.

There are many dicussions on this forum where people talk about the long-trips as if they are the Achilles heel of the Bolt (or even all EVs!), especially when winter temperatures sap the battery, but that is in a world where there are DCFC chargers along the route.

Let me report on some true EV owner commitment to long-distance travel in a Bolt in circumstances where other drivers would just give up on the idea. For reasons of cost and preference, I decided to drive my Bolt through freezing temperatures on a 350-mile route with no DC fast charging at all!!

I knew it would be tough. After all, Level-2 charging is between 5× and 8.5× slower than DC fast charging. Chevy claims it takes 9.5 hours to fully charge a Bolt from empty on a Level-2 charger, but that is in ideal conditions, the highest rated level-2 charger, no running of the heat, etc. I knew there would be some long stops, but I prepared for that.

Rather than stop more often, I decided to stretch the range as much as I could. On the outbound leg, I really ran the Bolt down to nothing, pulling into the level 2 truck stop with only five miles of range left (some white knuckles there, I can tell you!). On the way back, I knew it was going to be enough tougher. It was exceptionally cold in the low 30's (basically below freezing), which I knew would hammer the range, so I needed to charge to 100% when I stopped for my only charging session on the route. That took 10 hours, rather more than 7 hours I'd too-optimistically hoped for, but quite understandable given charger variability and the cold conditions. Despite the cold, I was able to travel 215 miles home (in fact the screen showed I did 215.5 miles since last charge and used up a total of 58.3 kWh). To avoid stopping to charge again, I put emergency flashers on the last 50 miles and was going around 45 mph on a 75 mph highway. Still, I'm impressed at the Bolt's winter range. People say you can't drive a Bolt more than about 190 miles at freeway speeds in summer (they drive 75 mph the whole way), and I managed to get 215 miles in frozen conditions. I declare that the Bolt's winter range is much better than some of the nay-sayers on this forum!

All in all, this trip wouldn't be for everyone. Most people would wait until there were DCFC chargers on the route, but I think I've shown that you can do it if you have enough determination. When people say a 350 mile trip is impossible in a Bolt without DCFC charging, they need to know, this is the car that can (if the driver is mad enough to do it).

Hope this helps!

 

[NewsCoulomb]

.....My point of the posting was to put out my two cents worth that in my opinion both charging and Bev battery packs could use a lot of improvement!

And most of us here are making the point: How would you know?

By your own admission, you are completely ignorant of how the Bolt EV would handle that trip with DC fast charging available. You're eating at a hot dog stand on a sidewalk outside a Michelin Star restaurant saying that the restaurant's chefs and kitchen staff could use a lot of improvement.

Recreate that trip when you are able to charge at an average rate of 53 kW up to 55% battery and an average rate of over 45 kW to 70% battery for the one or two <40 minute stops that it would take to make that trip. Then compare it to your experiences with L2 AC charging in freezing weather.

In my experience, the Bolt EV is more capable than the current public charging infrastructure. To hold the Bolt EV as a car responsible for the shortcomings of the public charging infrastructure is not fair or realistic. Improvements to the Bolt EV won't do anything until the public charging infrastructure also improves.

Now, sure, if the Bolt EV had a 120 kWh battery pack, your trip would have been fine. But it doesn't, and as far as we know, that battery technology could be decades away.

 

[RecessionProofDriver]

Well I don't necessarily agree. If I would have purchased a model 3 Long range my range anxiety would have essentially been eliminated. I would be a complete liar if I said I wasn't jealous of the Tesla drivers moving in and out of the superchargers right next to my free level 2 there in Cisco Texas. Also, round trip time would have been reduced by almost 20 hours on this trip if I had a Tesla..

It seems you have a problem with infrastructure rather than vehicle though, without understanding that's what it is.

Remember, Tesla had no choice but to build a network of chargers. No chargers, no sales. This is a 10 year advantage they have enjoyed and it was built specifically for an upper-crust clientele that expected it for the enormous prices they were paying, now upwards up to $120K for a Model X.

The Chevy Bolt was the first EV since 2017 that could match a Tesla in nearly range and/or all other statistics including liquid cooling. GM didn't have to build out a network because most of the drivers (regardless of you specifically) driving short distances, data proves that. Most drivers simply use what's available, which was the equivalent of what a Tesla driver would have experienced perhaps 5-7 years ago (slower times, less chargers) but the added feature of L2 home chargers eliminated most of that worry.

As time goes on, you'll find that you'll have a lot less of a problem with a Bolt's charging as more CCS is in place to meet the growing demand and that the car itself is just as capable a "long-range" vehicle as a Tesla. (it's not really long-range; it's the network)

Even long road trips with ICE vehicles weren't totally foolproof in the US, which is why you had so many "Last Gas in XX miles" on many highways, I'm sure there's still places like today.

The only difference is Tesla has more "gas" stations to make long trips possible now or easier than the Bolt currently because they had that decade-long headstart, but that's only going to lessen as more legacy makers produce more EVs that need a faster, larger network and battery tech improves. Basically you're an early adopter as a Bolt owner just as a few years ago people were early adopters with the early Teslas, which always comes with a price.

 

[RecessionProofDriver]

Related, recent and timely.

Portland, OR to Las Vegas, NV in a Chevy Bolt (970 miles). Kind of dispels the notion that a Bolt isn't a "long-range" car.