[ChaosMageX]

How much does this car's battery typically degrade when its warranty expires at 100,000 miles? I'd like to know because buying one with over 100,000 miles on it is probably the only way someone as poor as me would ever be able to afford one.

 

[XJ12]

How much does this car's battery typically degrade when its warranty expires at 100,000 miles? I'd like to know because buying one with over 100,000 miles on it is probably the only way someone as poor as me would ever be able to afford one.

check out this thread: https://www.chevybolt.org/forum/9-2...rum/32119-first-customer-bolt-100k-miles.html

doesn't appear to be a problem

 

[NewsCoulomb]

It really depends on use. Unfortunately, I don't know whether there is an easy (and accurate) way to measure battery capacity at the time of sale.

I've been very hard on my Bolt EV, cycling the battery near 100% (from 100% to near 0% back to 100%) on numerous occasions. As far as I could tell, after 70,000 miles, I had 6% to 8% degradation, and in the last 18,000 miles since, it doesn't appear to have gotten significantly worse.

Some Bolt EV owners who have not been so hard on the battery appear to still have nearly 95% of original capacity, even over 100,000 miles.

 

[discodanman45]

It really depends on use. Unfortunately, I don't know whether there is an easy (and accurate) way to measure battery capacity at the time of sale.

I've been very hard on my Bolt EV, cycling the battery near 100% (from 100% to near 0% back to 100%) on numerous occasions. As far as I could tell, after 70,000 miles, I had 6% to 8% degradation, and in the last 18,000 miles since, it doesn't appear to have gotten significantly worse.

Some Bolt EV owners who have not been so hard on the battery appear to still have nearly 95% of original capacity, even over 100,000 miles.

With a Tesla you can see the mileage on the display on a full charge and easily know your degradation based on that. The Bolt is very difficult to estimate. Even people here that try to measure it seem to have a 5% differences even on a daily basis.

I doubt that you have had 6 to 8% degradation NewsCoulomb. I think the battery update us early adopters had to do took away about 2 kWh in capacity. You also probably torture your battery more than anyone on this forum. Saying at max 8% degradation for 88,000 miles should comfort people.

I would be pretty confident buying a 100,000 mile Bolt, but I would make the owner do a test for me. Make them charge to 100% and drive for a bit before you test drive it. You should be able to figure out capacity once they get under 50% by how many kWh they used and take it for a test drive to see how the green bars drop according to kWh. In case there is a battery failure, the 100,000 mile mark makes the car extremely expensive to fix. It may not even be worth replacing the battery... It would probably be cheaper selling the car at that point and then buying a new one.

 

[ChaosMageX]

check out this thread: -snip-

doesn't appear to be a problem

Well, that thread didn't have very much information in it, but the thread linked within it did. Apparently I can't link that thread because my post count isn't high enough yet.

Even though it is reassuring to know that the battery doesn't degrade that much with high mileage, I now know that it's a moot point because apparently higher mileage doesn't mean lower price.

There was a link to a Cars.com listing in that thread that had a Bolt with 106k miles on it still selling for nearly $24k. That's still far too expensive for me. $15k is my current limit and even that's pushing it. Heck, even getting a used Chevy Spark EV for $10k is probably pushing it. I have to be careful with those because apparently the cells in their batteries start dying around 30k miles, and every bit lost really counts in a car with a max range of 80 miles (100 miles if you drive it well enough). My father keeps telling me to just give up and get a junker ICEV for $3k or less to replace my now destroyed 2002 PT Cruiser, but I really want to go electric.

I'm now wondering what it would take for a used Chevy Bolt to sell for $15k or less, since mileage doesn't seem to be a factor. I guess I just don't know how car prices work.

Still, there are some interesting things in that thread from what I've read so far, like how DCFC helps balance cells and rejuvenate the battery, and how regen braking might actually be bad on the battery and it's better to coast to a stop when possible.

 

[cwerdna]

With a Tesla you can see the mileage on the display on a full charge and easily know your degradation based on that. The Bolt is very difficult to estimate.

I'm not sure that's correct on Tesla. A long-time Model S driver on another forum years ago said Tesla messes with (changes) the algorithm sometimes, so if it's not the same as when you bought the car, all bets are off.

Fast forward years after he said that and there's this: https://electrek.co/2019/03/13/tesla-model-3-range-increase-software-update/, for example.

 

[Nook]

I would be pretty confident buying a 100,000 mile Bolt, but I would make the owner do a test for me. Make them charge to 100% and drive for a bit before you test drive it. You should be able to figure out capacity once they get under 50% by how many kWh they used and take it for a test drive to see how the green bars drop according to kWh. In case there is a battery failure, the 100,000 mile mark makes the car extremely expensive to fix. It may not even be worth replacing the battery... It would probably be cheaper selling the car at that point and then buying a new one.

^A strong approach.
I too would be confident buying one w/100k. I also expect I would be confident buying at 200k, perhaps even 300k. There's lots of Prius and pickup trucks for sale w/200k+ miles still for decent money (ie not cheap and not worn out).

I would start my test drive with a full charge, note the range and other numbers, drive it hard (for several handfuls of miles, not just a couple of miles) and note the numbers after, then do the math.
Use an obd reader and an app.
I might even ask if I could rent it from the seller overnight for a full day's drive to and from work. Note I said rent.

 

[No_mo_gas]

I bought a used Bolt with over 100K miles. I don't know the history except that it was a lease return. Can we trust the Torque pro battery capacity?

 

[No_mo_gas]

Here is the mileage on the dash.

 

[redpoint5]

I can't speak to the accuracy of Torque, but others have noted that the value varies. I'd say it's probably good for a ballpark, or if you average the values over the year.

If you're at 57 kWh at 100k miles, I'd say that is fantastic. Hopefully others can replicate your results.

 

[Dyefrog]

I bought a used Bolt with over 100K miles. I don't know the history except that it was a lease return. Can we trust the Torque pro battery capacity?

That's an impressive state of health for that many miles. What's even more impressive is someone leased a car that puts 50k miles a year on it. I don't lease but my understanding is you pay a premium if you go over your miles and you don't typically see a lease deal for over 15k/year.

 

[No_mo_gas]

I charged it on level 2 to full today and it's showing 210 miles. It's about 70 degrees today in Socal.

 

[Cataract2]

That's an impressive state of health for that many miles. What's even more impressive is someone leased a car that puts 50k miles a year on it. I don't lease but my understanding is you pay a premium if you go over your miles and you don't typically see a lease deal for over 15k/year.

Long commutes will do that. I have a 130 mile round trip commute currently. Trying to find a position closer to home right now to cut that down as I just can't see doing that commute for a job I am luke warm (at best) about.

 

[Franks2017]

My 2017 Bolt EV Premiere just passed 100,000 miles (mostly highway) so it is out of warranty now completely.

GOM is still showing a range of 237 miles.
Interior is in good shape, no rips in the seats, body is in decent shape except a small dent on the roof when I dropped my bike on it, so it has held up well.

 

[Like2bike]

I would say the GOM is showing 201 miles, the typical use estimate. That seems to be on the high side of what others are seeing at 100K miles. I would have more faith in the Torque OBD-II reading than the GOM though.

 

[Franks2017]

I would say the GOM is showing 201 miles, the typical use estimate. That seems to be on the high side of what others are seeing at 100K miles. I would have more faith in the Torque OBD-II reading than the GOM though.

I would rather believe my actual range on the odometer which was 211 at 4.1 mi/kWh.