[Bazinga]

A Green Car Reports reader just had to have the Bolt, so instead of waiting until September to get one in St. Louis, Missouri, he bought one on the West Coast and drove more than 800 miles back home in the Bolt. Pretty good read if you have the time.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1111019_driving-a-chevy-bolt-ev-electric-car-halfway-across-the-u-s-what-it-takes

 

[Electro]

Now that is a road trip if I've ever seen one. The determination for a Bolt is real and I can't blame him at all! If there's any way to get yourself acquainted with a new vehicle, this is how you do it.

 

[SparkE]

1) 800 miles is NOT "halfway across the U.S." !! A true testament to the crappy school system in this country that a person whose job is writing doesn't realize that it is ~2500-3000 miles from coast to coast (depending on a N or S route), and/or that 800 is NOT anywhere close to half of 3000.

2) The trip was from Richmond to St Louis, not from the West Coast.

3) The writer of the article also doesn't understand that St Louis is on the Mississippi and is nowhere near the middle of the country.

 

[Dimitrij]

1) 800 miles is NOT "halfway across the U.S." !! A true testament to the crappy school system in this country that a person whose job is writing doesn't realize that it is ~2500-3000 miles from coast to coast (depending on a N or S route), and/or that 800 is NOT anywhere close to half of 3000.

2) The trip was from Richmond to St Louis, not from the West Coast.

3) The writer of the article also doesn't understand that St Louis is on the Mississippi and is nowhere near the middle of the country.

Well, 800 miles would be halfway North to South in the contiguous 48

Also, halfway across the US may be interpreted from a cultural, or geographic prospective ... as in from Piedmont across Appalachia to the Midwest prairies.

 

[Bazinga]

Geographic prospective aside, I'm impressed by how much they managed to regen going downhill. A 9-percent downhill grade for 3 miles netted them a full 50 miles of range.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Geographic prospective aside, I'm impressed by how much they managed to regen going downhill. A 9-percent downhill grade for 3 miles netted them a full 50 miles of range.

That's a two-edged sword, of course. Imagine how many miles of range it would consume to drive for 3 miles UP a 9% grade.

 

[JoeMap]

1) 800 miles is NOT "halfway across the U.S." !! A true testament to the crappy school system in this country that a person whose job is writing doesn't realize that it is ~2500-3000 miles from coast to coast (depending on a N or S route), and/or that 800 is NOT anywhere close to half of 3000.

2) The trip was from Richmond to St Louis, not from the West Coast.

3) The writer of the article also doesn't understand that St Louis is on the Mississippi and is nowhere near the middle of the country.

There's no need for the vitriol. You seem to have missed the entire point.
1. A little planning can get you halfway across the country in the Bolt EV, and, had the purchaser needed to drive well into Kansas, which would be "halfway across the U.S." he could have done so quite easily.

2. You do realize, I hope, that it is possible to drive halfway across the United States and neither start nor end on the west coast. You almost seem angry that the DCFC infrastructure is better developed from the east coast inward, than it is from the west coast inward. Frankly, you could show some enthusiasm that another EV is on the road.


Several of us in flyover country are looking forward to seeing and driving the Bolt EV. Remember, we're all on the same "EV" team.

Lastly, I can do without your snide comments on the educational system in this country. There's always a need for teachers if you feel it needs improvement.

Joe

 

[Electro]

I feel like there's way too much focus on this one statement. It isn't the first time nor the last time we'll see a statement with a bit of exaggeration especially as a headline. It's what draws traffic to the article and quite frankly, it works, which is why they do it. Call it a bit of click bait, call it blatantly lying, point is, everyone does it, and it's really not that big of a deal.

 

[SparkE]

There's no need for the vitriol. You seem to have missed the entire point.
1. A little planning can get you halfway across the country in the Bolt EV, and, had the purchaser needed to drive well into Kansas, which would be "halfway across the U.S." he could have done so quite easily.

2. You do realize, I hope, that it is possible to drive halfway across the United States and neither start nor end on the west coast. You almost seem angry that the DCFC infrastructure is better developed from the east coast inward, than it is from the west coast inward. Frankly, you could show some enthusiasm that another EV is on the road.


Several of us in flyover country are looking forward to seeing and driving the Bolt EV. Remember, we're all on the same "EV" team.

Lastly, I can do without your snide comments on the educational system in this country. There's always a need for teachers if you feel it needs improvement.

Joe

No, I really didn't miss anything. The story wasn't about what he could have done, it was about what he did.

1) He didn't drive halfway across the US - he drove about HALF of halfway across the US. That's my point.
What I'm pissed about is sloppy reporting. Or sensationalism (or grand standing, or ...)

2) I don't care where he started (which coast, or in mountains, or at the great lakes). 800 miles still isn't "halfway across the US". If he drove from St Louis to Denver (850 miles) it *still* wouldn't be halfway across the US (although it would be across a halfway point of the US ).

3) I pointed out that he didn't drive from the West coast only because the OP said that - it was wrong. "he bought one on the West Coast and drove more than 800 miles back home in the Bolt" (West coast to St Louis is MORE than 1/2way across the US, as is Virginia to Denver.)

The story, OTOH, does confirm what I already suspected : that I will NOT be driving an EV on a 800 mile trip anytime soon - it simply takes too long to recharge. In a couple of years, with more chargers and faster charging speeds, sure. (Well, if I were planning on driving just 200-300 miles a day anyway and spending a night at a location where there were L2 chargers, sure, why not.) I'm not going to jump through hoops and make my life difficult just to say "I did it". Well, I guess I would do it for the same reason the guy in the story did - to get my new car home.

My next car will probably be a plug-in hybrid, to replace my old ICE vehicle. My wife and I currently share the EV and when both of us have to be out of the house at the same time, one of us takes the ICE. Or if we have to drive over 70 miles to get somewhere, we take the ICE (my current EV isn't a Bolt). Having a PHEV would mean we'd have two electric vehicles for most intents and purposes, except when one of us needs to drive more than 80 miles away (or both of us needed to drive more than 25-30 miles, the all-electric range I am shooting for on the PHEV). The gas vehicle is generally only driven 3-4 times a month (by the person who has to drive on a freeway).