[Sailfast]

I'm 30 days in with my new Bolt. I still have a month on my Nissan Leaf lease. I loved that ugly Nissan Leaf until my girlfriend commandeered it. The battery capacity after 3 years and about 25K miles is still 89% capacity according to my Leaf Spy app.

The reason I titled my first message with the dealers name is that when I visited they had 6 Bolts with more coming in. I cannot recommend this dealership any higher, they where wonderful! The price was unbeatable, yes unbeatable the first round of negotiations. I compared to other dealers and some thought I made up the numbers, others didn't know what a Bolt was or thought it wasn't available for sale in CT.

Yes, this is a shameless plug for Blasius Chevy.

As to the Bolt compared to the Leaf...well, lets just say three years is a long time in the EV world. Three years ago I thought the Leaf was like driving the space shuttle, now it's like driving an 85 Malibu compared to the Bolt.

I wanted to wait for the new Nissan Leaf, but I drove the Bolt and that was that.

Zero problem in 30 days (knock on lithium ion)

If you are not sure, DRIVE ONE, you will be sold.

Anyway, thanks for listening. Any questions from new EV drivers, flag me down. If you have range anxiety with the Bolt, come borrow my Leaf for a week >

 

[Electro]

knock on lithium ion, now that was funny haha

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on the Bolt. Your reference of the Leaf feeling like an 85 Malibu after 3 years is definitely something I always think about which is why I would want to lease the Bolt as well.

 

[NY-Rob]

^ For some of us, it's been a long road to arriving at the Bolt!

I started with a Prius, then a Plug-in-Prius, then the Volt and finally the Bolt.

I'm happier with the Bolt then I was with any of the above vehicles.

 

[Sailfast]

^ For some of us, it's been a long road to arriving at the Bolt!

I started with a Prius, then a Plug-in-Prius, then the Volt and finally the Bolt.

I'm happier with the Bolt then I was with any of the above vehicles.

I spent the last three years trying to explain to people that 100 mile range was actually workable... I for into my Leaf for the 199.00 lease special, with the upgraded Chademo charger (that I used like 8 times in 36 months) my payment was 235.00 Still less than a lot of people pay for gas. The general public just can't work around that feeling that 100 miles is not enough for them. It worked for me very well. There was maybe 3-4 times when I wanted to go someplace far away on the spur of the moment that I could not. There was a couple times when I drove far that I rented from Enterprise for $30 with unlimited mileage, at that rate it's cheaper to rent then put wear and tear on your ICE.

Granted all this goes away with the BOLT but I definitely get the long winding road bit.

A used Leaf will be very cheap in the near future. Will make for a great second car for some smart folks who have a place to charge.

 

[NY-Rob]

100 mi EV range may or may not be acceptable for a daily driver/commuter vehicle, it depends on a lot of things....

My weekday commute is 51 mi round trip- with a L2 charger at both ends. Under fair weather conditions, with both L2 chargers available- 100 mi EV range would be fine for me.

But, during a winter nor-easter where you're fighting a headwind in both directions (yes- that has happened!), must have the cabin heat on full the whole time to keep the glass clear, wipers on, headlights on , etc... you're quite literally down to half your nominal EV range. Now, even that 50mi EV range would be enough for my 25mi one way commute as long as I had access to the L2 public charger at work...but, if I get ICE'd that day (which has occasionally happened- or they plow the snow into that particular parking stall as it's an end stall)... I'd literally be driving home on ion vapors. It would make for a very stressful commute.

I had previously considered the Kia Soul before the Bolt was available, but with it's 100mi EV range and the above scenario in mind I just couldn't pull the trigger on that vehicle. At least with the Bolt, even if I lose 50% range due to conditions and I get ICE'd at work... I'll still have no problem making it back home after work stress free.

 

[Sailfast]

100 mi EV range may or may not be acceptable for a daily driver/commuter vehicle, it depends on a lot of things....

My weekday commute is 51 mi round trip- with a L2 charger at both ends. Under fair weather conditions, with both L2 chargers available- 100 mi EV range would be fine for me.

But, during a winter nor-easter where you're fighting a headwind in both directions (yes- that has happened!), must have the cabin heat on full the whole time to keep the glass clear, wipers on, headlights on , etc... you're quite literally down to half your nominal EV range. Now, even that 50mi EV range would be enough for my 25mi one way commute as long as I had access to the L2 public charger at work...but, if I get ICE'd that day (which has occasionally happened- or they plow the snow into that particular parking stall as it's an end stall)... I'd literally be driving home on ion vapors. It would make for a very stressful commute.

I had previously considered the Kia Soul before the Bolt was available, but with it's 100mi EV range and the above scenario in mind I just couldn't pull the trigger on that vehicle. At least with the Bolt, even if I lose 50% range due to conditions and I get ICE'd at work... I'll still have no problem making it back home after work stress free.

Agreed. 51 miles is a stretch. Did you own a Lear? I think 50% reduction with heat on the highway is a stretch

My G/F commutes with my 2013Leaf. 35 miles, mostly highway, with heat and doing 75 could get her down to about 50% of the remaining 89% capacity. But remember the EPA on the Leaf and Soul was only 84 miles

 

[NY-Rob]

^ maybe the 50% range hit is a bit high, but what generally happens during a bad snowstorm is the 25mi commute home is no longer a 40 min trip... it turns in to 1.5hrs long ordeal... and all that time the heat is blasting with the headlights and wipers working. Under those conditions... the EV rage loss is substantial. My 2014 Volt got as low as 20mi range during snow events, I saw 48-50mi EV range during summer.