[DucRider]

All mention of Fast Charging has been removed from the Bolt website.

It used to show (as optional):
SAE Combo DC Fast Charge:
90 miles in 30 minutes

Are they rethinking the rate and looking to bump it to 100 kW like the upcoming Hyundai IONIQ? Feedback from the drivers testing on the West Coast would certainly have included the fact that 50 kW is still too slow for convenient long distance travel. Drive for an hour to an hour and a half, then stop for 30-45 minutes to charge?

Are they dropping fast charging completely? That would give credence to those that think GM really doesn't want to sell the car, but I think that very unlikely.

I think they may be getting ready to include it as standard. Anyone who winds up with a 60 kWh battery and no DCFC is going to regret it at some point. Certainly at resale time when the CCS network has expanded (in both locations and charge rate).

 

[Zoomit]

Good catch Gary.

Another possibility is that they weren't seeing 90 mi in 30 min in the testing. Not sure why that would be the case, but who knows?

 

[LightningBolt]

I assume fast charging will still be part of the equation as those who travel long distances will need to make use of them. But, if Chevy were to improve the rate of charging, would they not modify the wording to something along the lines of "at least 90 miles in 30 minutes"? Outright removing any mention of it leads me to think that fast charging will give us less than 90 miles per half an hour.

 

[Bazinga]

I think Inside EVs may have read your thread because they released this little number: A 9 Hour Tale

Without SAE Combo DC Fast Charge, taking the Bolt on road trips will be harder than ever, maybe even deter people from getting and EV until the Model 3 comes out. I'm still hoping that they'll at least have it as an option, something I'm sure people will be willing to pay for.

 

[Breezy]

The Bolt will have DC fast charging available. Pam Fletcher from GM mentioned this again on Tuesday at the Citi 2016 Global Technology Conference, reiterating the 90 miles in 30 minutes. I'm still unsure whether it will be standard or optional.

 

[LightningBolt]

That may be why it was removed. Doesn't Tesla have fast charging as an option too? Makes sense for Chevy financially to do the same and make people pay a bit extra for it.

 

[Breezy]

All new Teslas have Supercharging capability built into the car. You pay to access it. Originally it was a flat rate ($2500 to unlock unlimited Supercharging), then for a while it was included in the price of the car. Now they're taking the price out again and adding a "Supercharger Credit" system which is pay-as-you-go. Unclear at this point whether there will still be a flat rate option for new buyers, or whether it will still be included for higher-end models.

 

[Bazinga]

Chevy updated the Bolt's page and now it lists 240-volt charging and DC fast charging. Also, you can program the Bolt to charge at certain times, so I guess even if it's plugged in it won't charge until the preset time if that's what you want.

 

[Zoomit]

Yes--that's how the Spark EV charging works. If you're curious for more details, you can download the manual.

 

[DrZip]

Bolt Dealers Required to install DC Fast Chargers

At the 2017 Bolt EV press conference from Loews SMB Hotel before the LAautoshow,
Chevy announced about 8 minutes into the press conference that all Bolt dealers are required to install DC fast chargers support stations in the service bay.
See

 

[Michael1]

Taking a Bolt on a long distance driving trip is only for enthusiasts. This is a pipe dream for BEV cheerleaders. Let's be realistic. The public is not going to go for that. Why should they? They can put 90 miles in their gas tank in less than 30 seconds, literally. The fast charger makes sense for those who came up a little short, and want to get to their destination as quickly as possible, without waiting for a slow L2 charge.


Michael

 

[geo]

Taking a Bolt on a long distance driving trip is only for enthusiasts. This is a pipe dream for BEV cheerleaders. Let's be realistic. The public is not going to go for that. Why should they? They can put 90 miles in their gas tank in less than 30 seconds, literally. The fast charger makes sense for those who came up a little short, and want to get to their destination as quickly as possible, without waiting for a slow L2 charge.
Michael

I think the public only knows their current habits. When people drive electric, those habits tend to evolve. Tesla drivers have totally proven this. It still takes an hour or so to fully Supercharge a Tesla. Yet, I don't see too many Tesla drivers going back to gas just because they want a 3 minute fill up.

The Bolt will follow a similar evolution. Many people will buy it as a city car, then once they've fast charged a few times, they'll realize the time penalty isn't that bad and they'll evolve to doing longer and longer distances. An expanding CCS network will help to accelerate this.

 

[Michael1]

I think the public only knows their current habits. When people drive electric, those habits tend to evolve. Tesla drivers have totally proven this. It still takes an hour or so to fully Supercharge a Tesla. Yet, I don't see too many Tesla drivers going back to gas just because they want a 3 minute fill up.

The Bolt will follow a similar evolution. Many people will buy it as a city car, then once they've fast charged a few times, they'll realize the time penalty isn't that bad and they'll evolve to doing longer and longer distances. An expanding CCS network will help to accelerate this.

I could see this if it took a 10 minute charge to finish their trip.


I don't think we can make too many judgements by Tesla drivers. They are a small group, brand devoted (like Apple people), early adopters and BEV enthusiasts.



It's night, it's late, you're tired, you want to get home, and get to bed after a long business trip. I don't know anyone who wants to sit around a charging station for 45 minutes charging their car, or worse, two, three or four times in one day.


I've driven over 1200 miles in one day. You can't do that in an electric car. People don't evolve much if they don't have to. They don't have to because we have gasoline cars, and now some FCEVs coming online.

 

[Bazinga]

It depends on what kind of driver you are, most will just use the Bolt as their daily driver and not for long distances, some will have the time and patience to wait while it charges on a trip.

I'd be fine waiting at a diner of some kind while my Bolt charges on a road trip, but I wouldn't want to deal with it late at night after a long day of work. Really based on the situation and the owner. At least we now know chevy dealerships will have at least one fast charger for us.

 

[DucRider]

I've driven over 1200 miles in one day. You can't do that in an electric car. People don't evolve much if they don't have to. They don't have to because we have gasoline cars, and now some FCEVs coming online.

Probably less than 1% of Bolt (or Tesla) drivers would do that even once a year (if ever). Not something that is on most car makers radar when designing an EV.

 

[bro1999]

1,200 miles in a day......if you were traveling 75 mph the whole time, that's 16 freaking hours of driving! I think 99.9% of humans would not drive that much in a day, gas car or EV.

 

[Bazinga]

I start going nuts after driving for 4 hours, let alone 16 and that's in my gas car. I guess you could always rent a prius or something along those lines for a 1,200 mile drive, but how often do you really do that?