[Chevy Bolt News]

Chevy has finally revealed the Bolt EV’s EPA-estimated range and it has a whopping 238 miles combined.

That’s 238 miles per full charge, more than enough for the average 40 mile daily commute most people make and if you drive conservatively the Bolt may be able to go beyond the estimated 238 miles. Publications are already test driving pre-production Bolts and some drivers are exceeding the estimated range.

Green Car Reports managed to get 240 miles on a single charge and they said it was the lowest range achieved by four journalists who were also test driving the Bolt along the California coast. According to them, one journalist managed to cover the 235 miles from Monterey, California, south to Santa Barbara with 32 miles to spare. This route has a bit of everything to test the Bolt EV’s range; slow moving motor homes, country roads, speeds of 40 to 60 mph or 70 to 75, etc.

The Bolt’s 60-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack was up to the challenge and the AC was even turned on low for parts of the trip in order to combat the 90+ degree weather.

We also have the EPA estimated range for both city and highway thanks to forum member Zoomit:

More details are sure to be released closer to the Bolt’s release date and maybe we’ll even see the configuration page soon.

 

[Zoomit]

Yeah--there was a little debate going on in the Tesla forums about how to calculate the City and Highway ranges based on what we know. I've now convinced myself that first way I calculated these ranges was correct. The city range is 256 mi and the highway range is 220 mi. BTW, I had also accidentally swapped the incorrect city (254) and highway (218) numbers.

Sorry for the confusion!

 

[DucRider]

I think you have the city and highway range numbers transposed.

Edit: Nevermind

 

[DucRider]

It's very likely that the 238 was obtained using the 2 cycle test (and then derated by the generic 30%)
In the 2016 & 2017 data (as of 9/9/2016) only BMW, BYD and Nissan use the 5 cycle test (EV's)

It'll be interesting to see tha actual numbers (next week?)
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/download.shtml

 

[Bazinga]

I think I'll just take a look at the ranges those test drivers are getting instead. They're going to put the bolt through what we would actually drive in on a daily basis like stop and go traffic along with some highway driving. 240 miles sounds great and the person with 32 miles leftover sounds even better but, that guy seemed to be the best one out of four test drivers.

I'll still be very happy with 240 miles and that's with AC.

 

[astricklin]

Green Car Reports managed to get 240 miles on a single charge and they said it was the lowest range achieved by four journalists who were also test driving the Bolt along the California coast. According to them, one journalist managed to cover the 235 miles from Monterey, California, south to Santa Barbara with 32 miles to spare. This route has a bit of everything to test the Bolt EV’s range; slow moving motor homes, country roads, speeds of 40 to 60 mph or 70 to 75, etc.

The Bolt’s 60-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack was up to the challenge and the AC was even turned on low for parts of the trip in order to combat the 90+ degree weather.

I am certain that this route was very carefully planned by GM to ensure that the vehicle made the trip with some range to spare. It will be interesting to see how well the car does in the cold with the heat blasting or in the summer in Arizona or Texas. Also, how is this comparing to other cars in efficiency as far as miles per kWH?

 

[DucRider]

I am certain that this route was very carefully planned by GM to ensure that the vehicle made the trip with some range to spare. It will be interesting to see how well the car does in the cold with the heat blasting or in the summer in Arizona or Texas. Also, how is this comparing to other cars in efficiency as far as miles per kWH?

Umm, yes. Why would they plan a route that the car couldn't do?
As far as m/kWh, it falls in the range I would expect for the conditions. My Fit EV is rated at 118 MPGe (132/105) so very similar to the Bolt and I would expect a minimum of 4 m/kWh with most drivers exceeding that quite comfortably (4.2-4.5)

 

[Bazinga]

I found the drive test that managed to have miles leftover after the test drive! http://blog.caranddriver.com/how-i-drove-238-miles-in-the-chevy-bolt-ev-and-still-had-range-to-spare/

They used hypermiling techniques and drove spiritedly for a full test and still managed to have some juice left.

 

[eops]

hypermiling is the way to go, you really have to treat this as a game of getting the most range you can.
it's like being stuck out in the desert with maybe a bottle of water, you won't want to drink the whole thing right away but use it during times you really need to incrementally

 

[DucRider]

hypermiling is the way to go, you really have to treat this as a game of getting the most range you can.
...

I disagree. Super slow acceleration, avoid using the brakes at all costs, drive at or below the speed limit, no heat or AC. Who wants to do that on a daily basis?
Get in the car and drive! With the range of the Bolt, very few drivers will need to eek every mile out of it. Granted, sometimes you may push the limits of range and need to be aware and conserve your battery, but for the most part owners will find it unnecessary.

Yes, it's fun to hypermile on occasion, but I find it tedious. Those that take it to extreme can become a hazard to other traffic and even provoke road rage from other drivers. Ever been behind a Prius that takes a mile to get up to freeway speed? Creeps off the line when the light turns green?

 

[Zoomit]

I concur. Hypermiling is hobby. More power to you if that's your thing, just don't be an annoyance to the rest of us. Also, being a hazard is completely unacceptable.

 

[Breezy]

I don't think I've ever been inconvenienced by a hypermiler. Slow drivers in certain demographic groups, sure, but I doubt they were hypermiling.

I think hypermilers are among the safest drivers on the road. They drive more slowly, anticipate traffic conditions, and most importantly, actually pay attention to driving.

There are countless crashes attributable to speeding, following too closely and aggressive driving. I have yet to see evidence of a crash attributable to hypermiling, excluding extreme techniques like drafting.

 

[DucRider]

I don't think I've ever been inconvenienced by a hypermiler. Slow drivers in certain demographic groups, sure, but I doubt they were hypermiling.

I think hypermilers are among the safest drivers on the road. They drive more slowly, anticipate traffic conditions, and most importantly, actually pay attention to driving.

There are countless crashes attributable to speeding, following too closely and aggressive driving. I have yet to see evidence of a crash attributable to hypermiling, excluding extreme techniques like drafting.

Speed differential is often cited as a major cause of accidents. It's not always the slow driver that is involved or blamed, but a driver that merges onto a busy freeway at 35 mph when traffic is flowing at a steady 65 or 70 is definitely a hazard. The resulting accident will often involve other vehicles as sudden lane changes or the "accordion" braking effect results in rear-end or multi-vehicle accidents. I've witnessed 2 accidents just like this where a driver merged at a very slow speed. Neither I nor the slow vehicle were involved either time (and I have no idea if they were hypermiling), and the legal blame is indeed on those travelling "too fast for conditions" or "following too closely", but the hazard people were evading was an unexpectedly slow vehicle.
Should they have been paying more attention? Almost certainly, but you'll never convince me that someone driving radically outside the normal of traffic flow doesn't contribute to accidents. Sometimes it is speeding and aggressive driving, but also sometimes going too slow can be just as hazardous. Anything that creates a large speed differential between two vehicles travelling the same direction is hazardous.

 

[Electro]

I don't think I've ever been inconvenienced by a hypermiler. Slow drivers in certain demographic groups, sure, but I doubt they were hypermiling.

I think hypermilers are among the safest drivers on the road. They drive more slowly, anticipate traffic conditions, and most importantly, actually pay attention to driving.

There are countless crashes attributable to speeding, following too closely and aggressive driving. I have yet to see evidence of a crash attributable to hypermiling, excluding extreme techniques like drafting.

You sound like a "hypermiler".

 

[eops]

Fortunately with HOV lanes you do tend to run into people that are thinking the same as you, not wanting to race from bumper to bumper but hypermile, keeping it smooth and consistent. But of course that depends where you live. In a big city it can be a bit tough.

 

[Bazinga]

Hypermiling is great for drives around those one lane roads in the countrysides, roads that you can take your time on. Wouldn't try to merge with it but there's a time and place for hypermiling.

 

[Electro]

Hypermiling is great for drives around those one lane roads in the countrysides, roads that you can take your time on. Wouldn't try to merge with it but there's a time and place for hypermiling.

Exactly. Those times I really don't mind at all, especially because there's a broken line separating you and on-coming that drivers behind you can utilize to over-take.

The problem is when people get to hypermiling in places they really shouldn't and inconvenience/endanger everyone because of their inability to keep up with traffic and/or inability to merge properly.

 

[LightningBolt]

I found this mileage chart from inside evs, thinks it's accurate?

 

[Breezy]

You sound like a "hypermiler".

I do? Did you read the part where I spoke about encountering slow drivers myself?

 

[Zoomit]

I found this mileage chart from inside evs, thinks it's accurate?

Yes, it's a cut and paste from the downloadable EPA spreadsheet (aka "database")