[jefro]

I'd be careful until you find the limits. As almost everyone notes, the OEM tires are not Eagle's or Pilots.

I'd switch to some better tire but I'm still worried about flats. I can bring goop and compressor I know but it feels better to have self sealing. I continue to leave tire pressure screen on dash. I'm obsessed with the pressure maybe.

 

[OkieBolt]

Driving on the highway in the rain is not the problem. It is making 90 degree turns into traffic. Just like any car, understand and learn the limitations and you will have no problems.

That said, 40mph on dry asphalt and spin away!

 

[EggRock]

How are the OEM tires in light snow? Has anyone put winter tires on their Bolts?

I used new OEM tires in a snowy Minnesota winter and they handled / performed very well. However, I jumped on a chance to buy a set of lightly-used winter wheels/tires for only $250 and used those this last winter. They were even better. The winter tires save wear/tear on the OEMs — at that price, I consider them free.

 

[EV Engineering]

I have embarrassed many awd on interstate traveling across Midwest on stock tires with 4 inches of snow. It is small but quite heavy and if you know how to drive it, it will preform like much bigger vehicle. And with snow tires it is one of the best small vehicle's i have ever experienced in bad weather. Factory tires have tendency to have less grip with a lot of water on the road and you have to use hard stopping. If you keep this on mind and keep more distance and do more defensive driving you will be just fine with Bolt and stock tires.

 

[old dog new tricks]

I have had my Bolt EUV for just over a month now. I live in central florida, so I have done heavy rain interstate driving already and it's fine.

 

[Voldar]

He says the EV is "all torque" and a small car, so according to him it slips and hydroplanes easily. He says he drives on side-roads and stays off the highway when it's raining hard.

The person who said the above is just an idiot who has no idea what he’s talking about. The EV are about 300 lb heavier than their counterpart ICEV. So, more pressure applied to the road, more grip even if the tires are LLR rated. If he works for a dealership, if I'd be you, I'd avoid that one.

 

[shrox]

I live in the Pacific northwest, we get rain. When it rains, I drive accordingly. The Bolt is a fine car, wet or dry.

 

[M1A4ME]

The OEM Michelins on my Bolt when I bought it used (about 35K miles) were nearly worn out, and would lose traction all the time even on dry roads. California wet roads (nothing like a Florida thunderstorm) were sort of like 4-wheel ice skating, though not as bad as the Dunlops that came with the Mazda I had before the Bolt. The replacement Bridgestone run-flats, while not really performance tires, have immensely more grip especially in the wet. So consider the tires. Then, there's the right foot, as others noted. The Bolt takes some learning because of the quick torque. Consider using Drive rather than L or one-pedal - in my '17 that seems to be easier to ease into at a start.

That's it. Right there. Anything will hydroplane if you drive faster than the tires can part the water. Tire design, vehicle weight, water depth and speed.

Yeah, the little car will spin the tires on dry pavement. Just don't push the pedal down so hard/fast.

 

[BobBolt]

I have a question for Bolt EUV owners.

I'm thinking about buying a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV, but one thing's giving me and my loved ones pause. When I spoke with a Bolt EV owner who works at one of the car dealerships I went to, he said that he doesn't drive his Bolt EV on highways when it rains hard (thunderstorms) here in Florida. He says the EV is "all torque" and a small car, so according to him it slips and hydroplanes easily. He says he drives on side-roads and stays off the highway when it's raining hard.

Is that your experience too with the EUV? Or is the EUV safe to ride in a rainstorm on highways? If not, what precautionary measures would I need to take?

This is an issue that is far more dependant on the driver's skill level than the vehicle or tires etc. and knowing what boundaries to operate within given the conditions.
In other words, after reading all the posts about tires slipping etc I purposely laid into it on some wet roads one morning to try it out and yes they will slip but I was driving far too aggressively for the conditions when they finally let loose and I would never normally drive the car that hard.
It could be a combination of nearly 40 years driving experience and holding commercial licenses which has also given me the opportunity to take part in several driving classes. Bottom line is that I don't think the folks having trouble are driving for the conditions and perhaps they aren't choosing the right vehicle for the way they want to drive.

 

[obsoperator]

No particular problem. I will agree that both my two previous Prius cars and my 2021 Bolt tend to spin the wheels when STARTING on an UP HILL, especially if it is wet. But this can easily be adjusted for by learning to use a lighter foot on the accelerator pedal. Because of my Prius experience, I had zero adjustment to make when I switched to a Bolt.

Many drivers have unrealistic beliefs about how their superb driving skills compensate for predictable driving hazards. They are, generally, wrong. If you continue driving at high speeds in savage rain, your car will hydroplane, whatever manly tires you buy.

 

[Boltsport]

No problems in my '19 EV and '22 EUV Bolts the past 3 years. Michelin OE tires are excellent.

 

[iwatson]

I saw one poster that said "it's not the car, it's the tires". I don't think that's quite right. It's a lot of things. It's a front wheel drive car, but it doesn't carry most of it's weight on the front axle, like an ICE car would with a heavy engine over the front wheels. Chevy packages the electronics and other components up front to provide that weight over the front front axle (That's why no frunk) but The battery pack has a lot of weight which is spread out between the front and rear axles. Secondly the car has a lot of power (torque) for the size car. Great for surprising people at the stoplight, but in reduced traction weather, it's easy to get those front wheels spinning if you hammer the throttle on take off. I especially notice this slip if I'm taking off uphill. The traction control will try to compensate, but just let off the throttle and it's easy to settle it quickly. Then there's the tires. To get maximum fuel economy, Chevy uses LRR tires which are not as sticky. So it's a trade off. Do you need range or better traction? Having said all that, I drive my Bolt year round in 4 season weather, on city streets or the highway. When it snows in my area (which is somewhat rare) I'm one of those that still has to go to work. You just have to know the capabilities of your vehicle, understand that it's a torque monster and that you can't use all that torque when the roads are slippery. For more confidence, some may want to have a set of winter tires, although I don't use them.

 

[KyleBrightman]

I'll agree the owner's statement in absolutes in the original post is incorrect, but there is no doubt that the OE tires favor efficiency over traction (especially in non-ideal weather). The Bolt is not inherently worse than other cars with regards to wet handling (when you control for other variables - FWD, hp, dimensions, etc). Better tires can be bought, but like other have said the onus is on the driver to ensure they are not driving beyond the capability of the car, tires, visibility and weather conditions. Better tires will raise that threshold, but nothing can eliminate it. Remember the only part of your vehicle in contact with the ground is the handful of square inches of rubber.

 

[Voldar]

I saw one poster that said "it's not the car, it's the tires".

All the text above doesn't explain why someone like the one cited by the OP, when raining, doesn't drive on highway. Aqua planation has nothing to do with wheel spinning on wet road while under hard acceleration. You talk about stop and go traffic. He talks about constant speed driving that has nothing to do with the spinning wheels. It's all about the speed and the tires. So yeah, although your text could be interesting to follow, it doesn't address the problem decrypted. Which is a self-induced one. Idiots drive like idiots, any time of the day and twice during the night.

 

[usedBolt]

Bottom line, really, is: don't drive it like an old diesel (i.e., binary throttle). Despite the road hugging weight it has more than enough power and torque for normal driving. Especially, don't floor it at low speed; ease into the "throttle" and it'll work fine. Well, maybe floor it once, so you can learn how the traction control (doesn't) work when overwhelmed - be ready for it to jump around and display torque steer. Beyond that, like with any car, it's a matter of learning its characteristics, so work up to it.

As for the tires, yes, the OEM Michelins are underwhelming in most ways other than rolling resistance, but they work OK in the rain if they're not worn out. Not great, but OK. I got through one California winter, even starting with 35K already on them, before replacement. Consider something else when the time comes to replace them, and if you live in snow country definitely consider winter tires - all-seasons will work in light snow, but something that's designed for the conditions works a lot better.

 

[avery_larry]

Have you specifically ever felt unsafe driving in a thunderstorm? If yes, then you might feel the same in any front-wheel-drive-vehicle-that's-not-particularly-heavy. I have driven for 30 years in rain, snow, wind, etc. in all kinds of vehicles. I've never been tempted to get snow tires. I've never hydroplaned (at least not enough to really notice).

From a dead stop, my Bolt will definitely slip/spin easier on wet pavement than dry (and it's not that difficult on dry pavement). But I rarely try to accelerate that hard. I've never felt remotely unsafe driving the speed limit in any and all kinds of rain. Well, except for flash flooding.

I have a '20 Bolt, 45,000 miles, OEM tires.

 

[mkt3000]

I have a question for Bolt EUV owners.

I'm thinking about buying a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV, but one thing's giving me and my loved ones pause. When I spoke with a Bolt EV owner who works at one of the car dealerships I went to, he said that he doesn't drive his Bolt EV on highways when it rains hard (thunderstorms) here in Florida. He says the EV is "all torque" and a small car, so according to him it slips and hydroplanes easily. He says he drives on side-roads and stays off the highway when it's raining hard.

Is that your experience too with the EUV? Or is the EUV safe to ride in a rainstorm on highways? If not, what precautionary measures would I need to take?

Hello fellow Floridian.

The car itself is fine in the rain, with its weak point being the tires. I swapped them out for a set of Nokian One (that's the tire model), and they are night and day when it comes to rain. There may be a hit in range, but in the limited driving I've done since replacing the tires, it's been minimal if it all.

 

[skimask]

It's not the tires.
It's the driver.

 

[OkieBolt]

It's not the tires.
It's the driver.

Well, it can be the tires. If they have low tread depth or are bald then driving in any kind of rain is iffy. Driving on competition street tires that when new were at minimum tread depth is a real nail biter in the rain.

I have also driven high performance summer tires in the rain at well over 100mph and never felt the least bit unsafe.

Also I have noticed that many many people drive very slow in the rain mainly because they can't see. I never really understood that until I drove rentals in the rain that were not treated with RainX on the windshields. So from that point forward whenever I traveled I always carried RainX wipes in my bag to treat the windshield on my rental car if there was even a hint of rain.

 

[skimask]

And if you're smart enough to know your tires are worn to crap, then you won't drive like an idiot, and expect them to pull 2.8 lateral around the bend...so it's still the driver and not the tires. Never has been the tires.