I'm fortunate to be in part of country where you have choice between the Bolt and Kona/Niro so I cross shopped all three. Coming from a 2017 Bolt Premier I may have been a little biased but my decision to go with 2020 Bolt over the Kona/Niro was fairly easy. Kona/Niro both great vehicles but for me and my family the Bolt won out. Kona was just too cramped inside, especially lack of rear seat legroom, it did not offer rear passenger usb chargers and no heated rear seats. Niro was a more difficult pass though because it was much roomier inside and you could get power driver seat with memory settings, heated (and cooled) seats. However, more important to me was driving dynamics, the Bolt won hands down, better more precise handling and superior regenerative braking experience. At this moment in time, GM also offering many incentives that just works out as better deal compared to the $7500 tax credit still avialable on Kona/Niro. I suggest you sit in all 3 and compare for yourself, all fine vehicles and each has strength/weaknesses, but you can't go wrong going electric!
Decision for 2020 Bolt vs. Kona/Niro
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Thanks for this wrap up.
I, too
I, too, have a 2017 Bolt EV Premier, (LCTRCBLU). Is your 2020 a second Bolt, or did you trade in (up?)? If you traded your '17 for a '20, what made you make that leap? Did you not lose a great deal of money "selling" a 3-yr old EV?
It's a return of 3 year Bolt Lease, 2017 to 2020. Actually 3rd Bolt, we're a 2 Bolt household, second lease due in 2021.
The Niro EV has one redeeming trait, faster charging. Though, it peaks just above 75KW where EA would charge you 69 instead of 29 cents a min.
insideevs.com
How Fast Does The 2019 Kia Niro EV Charge? We Find Out
We drive 112 miles from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to test the fast charging capabilities of a 2019 Kia Niro EV on a 150 kW Electrify America DC fast charge station.
insideevs.com
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761 Posts
The Bolt has established an excellent history, while the other makes are much newer. We have two Bolts also, and bought the second one because we liked the original 2017 so much. Both have had zero problems. I don't particularly like the Chevrolet brand, but they really outdid themselves with the Bolt. I'm sticking with them until real self-driving cars are out, then re-evaluate....
Here in CA I also had the luxury of shopping and comparing all three, but I admit I did not consider the Niro. Frumpy looks and less range, so I did not test drive the car. I actually like the looks of the Kona, and It drives nicely, but the rear seats were just too cramped. The regenerative braking of the Kona was cool, though having paddles on both sides of the steering wheel would take some getting used to.
Of course I was interested in adaptive cruise control as well, but ultimately it came down to the ride, the interior passenger space, visibility, and the price. There was one more big factor:
The LGChem batteries have proven durability with the Spark, Volt, and Bolt. Hyundai/Konas, from what I read, come with CATL batteries from China. It was actually difficult to get solid info from the dealership so I did what the sales person did, I turned to the internet.
I hope the batteries are solid, but I'll take my chances with the tried and true drive train of the Bolt. Very happy with my decision.
Of course I was interested in adaptive cruise control as well, but ultimately it came down to the ride, the interior passenger space, visibility, and the price. There was one more big factor:
The LGChem batteries have proven durability with the Spark, Volt, and Bolt. Hyundai/Konas, from what I read, come with CATL batteries from China. It was actually difficult to get solid info from the dealership so I did what the sales person did, I turned to the internet.
I hope the batteries are solid, but I'll take my chances with the tried and true drive train of the Bolt. Very happy with my decision.
Even in the NE we can shop them. A lease for the Kona was 660 vs 260 for the Bolt. I guess the Kona has a low residual so you have to pay more. We did like the Kona.
we were putting $1000 down and 15k miles for three years. The $260 was crazy. Our 2017 Volt, awesome car we had 94 pct electric at 42k miles, was $327 with $2500 down 3 years ago.
we were putting $1000 down and 15k miles for three years. The $260 was crazy. Our 2017 Volt, awesome car we had 94 pct electric at 42k miles, was $327 with $2500 down 3 years ago.
The old video talks of the Kona EV using LG Chem batteries and the Niro EV using SK Innovation cells (both Korean companies)...
I've seen that, but then read they switched to CATL for subsidies reasons. Maybe that's just for cars sold in China/Asia? The problem is it is hard to get info on the batteries. While it's liquid cooled and the warranty is good, I feel more comfortable not being a first adopter (and I like knowing LGChem makes the Bolt batteries here in the US). Anyway, batteries being equal, I was still going with the Bolt. It sure is hard to get solid info on the Niro and Kona batteries though. I hope they are solid and last as good as the Bolts.
I also ended my 3yr lease early on a 2017 (lease was to end in sept) cause of the rebates GM has . My 2017 3yr lease was going to cost $20k by sept and new 3yr lease was $14,200 so i traded in . And I did not owe anything on old lease since I was sticking with Chevy Bolt the dealer picked up my old lease
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I was going to get the Nero but I was going to have to drive 250 miles to get one. I live in North Texas and they were only sold in South Texas, anyway I got the Bolt and am happy with it. I saved 16k getting the Bolt.
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I'm not saying you made the wrong decision. That said, I wouldn't let 500 (round-trip) miles get between me and the vehicle I intend to own for the next decade. If there were 2 vehicles I'd be equally happy to own, that would be a deciding factor, but there are never 2 vehicles I'd be equally happy with. My personality is such that I would research them both until one came out ahead.
Saving $16k would be a huge motivating factor for me to pick the Bolt over another EV, and is the reason why I'm on this forum and not the Tesla forum.
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That's nice! I was talking to a few dealerships about ending my 2017 lease early since discounts are so good right now on 2020s. None of them offered to pick up the rest of my lease!
I've seen videos of Bolts and e-Niros charging side by side at the same 150 kW EA charger at the same state of charge and the e-Niro was only charging a couple of % faster but was paying 3X as much. OTOH, I have seen videos of them charging at 74 kW. I think the difference was that the charge rate for the Niro drops much more in cold than the Bolt. I don't have any proof of this, just apocryphal instances.
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This depends on if you get the cold weather pkg. Which includes a heat pump and a battery heater and other things, I don't recall what they are.
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161 Posts
I did the same.
I got a 3 year lease on my 2017 Bolt because I assumed there would be something I liked better in 2020. Here we are, and there was nothing I liked better. And you could not beat the price. After six years I will have paid 85% of a single bolt, and had six years of carpool stickers and half price tolls. Something you can only do for three years with a single car.
I came home with a 2020 LT.
The three year lease on the 2017 was about $15,000 in total payments out of pocket. The three year lease on the 2020 was about $10,000! (12k miles on each)
$25k for 6 years of payments with two sets of incentives and 72,000 miles of bumper to bumper warranty, and look at it this way,free set of tires? This was a great deal. At 36,000 the Bolt needs new tires and I didn't have to pay for those on the old. They were "just" at the limit.
I got a 3 year lease on my 2017 Bolt because I assumed there would be something I liked better in 2020. Here we are, and there was nothing I liked better. And you could not beat the price. After six years I will have paid 85% of a single bolt, and had six years of carpool stickers and half price tolls. Something you can only do for three years with a single car.
I came home with a 2020 LT.
The three year lease on the 2017 was about $15,000 in total payments out of pocket. The three year lease on the 2020 was about $10,000! (12k miles on each)
$25k for 6 years of payments with two sets of incentives and 72,000 miles of bumper to bumper warranty, and look at it this way,free set of tires? This was a great deal. At 36,000 the Bolt needs new tires and I didn't have to pay for those on the old. They were "just" at the limit.
I too was excited about the 2020 Ioniq and would've held off on new 2020 Bolt until I learned that max fast charging speed dropped from earlier models and is no better than the Bolt. I could've lived with 170 miles of range if it also could do 75 kW charging up to ~80%SOC but sadly that's not the case, it's sad because I really like the form factor and interior of the Ioniq. If you don't need the faster charging for long trips than it's a great choice.
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I'm glad you love your Bolts, but I don't understand the bolded sentence.
I paid $33k in 2017 to buy a Bolt. After 6 years, you will have paid $25k. So you are ahead by $8k, but I still own my car. Maybe you could find a used Bolt for $8k at that time, but then we'd be back to even.
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