[Oldguy71]

New to the forum and EV's. My question regards stated range. Is it like city/highway combined for ICE cars? The reason I ask is I would like to be able to drive to my brothers without recharging and he lives 190 miles away over the Allegheny mountains in central PA. Any facts or opinions are welcome.
Thx in advance.

 

[DucRider]

New to the forum and EV's. My question regards stated range. Is it like city/highway combined for ICE cars? The reason I ask is I would like to be able to drive to my brothers without recharging and he lives 190 miles away over the Allegheny mountains in central PA. Any facts or opinions are welcome.
Thx in advance.

Very good question and common for those new to EV's
Yes, it is an EPA test that combines city and freeway conditions (plus AC & heat conditions since these effect EV range significantly)
Detailed info on the cycles can be found here:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml
*click on the different tabs on the chart to see the different cycles

As a rule of thumb:
You'll get the stated range at 55 mph in flat conditions at about 70 degrees with no wind. Deduct 25% if you go 75 mph. Using the heat or A/C will reduce range further (heat much more than A/C).
Climbing 1000 feet in altitude consumes about 1.5 kWh. You'll recapture about 80% of that on the way down.

So to answer your question about driving to your brothers. It might be possible under ideal conditions, but real world probably not something I'd try.

Plugshare is your friend:
. While possiblehttp://www.plugshare.com/
You can filter the results to only CCS DCFC (do NOT get the Bolt without this option), and even use the "trip planner" to show charging along your route.

With DCFC (Fast charging), you could make the trip with one 15 minute stop. Hopefully something is (or will become) available that will enable you to make the trip. While possible to charge on L2 240v (EV Plug J1772 on plugshare), your'e likely looking at stopping for an hour or more. 7.2 kW (often less on public chargers) vs 50 kW charge rate.

 

[Oldguy71]

Thank you Duckrider for the factual and info filled reply. Seems I've more research to do.

 

[eops]

Those are the reasons why I like only depending on real world mileage and getting an average number out of the numbers from a nice sample size. That way you get a number that reflects what the overall demographic gets not what some suits in a marketing department want to see.

 

[Bazinga]

That won't happen until the Bolt starts getting delivered to customers and they start driving. Once that happens, I'm sure someone will start a mileage thread here.

190 is quite a distance to drive in one go, take a short 1/2 and hour to one hour break to charge, grab a bite and then continue. Even I can't handle driving that long without a break.

 

[DucRider]

That won't happen until the Bolt starts getting delivered to customers and they start driving. Once that happens, I'm sure someone will start a mileage thread here.

190 is quite a distance to drive in one go, take a short 1/2 and hour to one hour break to charge, grab a bite and then continue. Even I can't handle driving that long without a break.

The issue isn't likely to be the time needed for a break, it's going to be finding CCS along his route.

 

[bukweet]

Perhaps a Volt is better suited to your travel needs.

 

[Oldguy71]

Thanks for all the good thoughts. The Volt would certainly work but I really like the size/space of the Bolt. I'm not generally an early adopter of new tech, but I really like the idea of an EV since the vast majority of my trips are around town. Guess I'll have to rely on my wife's Prius for longer trips.

 

[Richard Sewill]

The issue isn't likely to be the time needed for a break, it's going to be finding CCS along his route.

Speaking of CCS charging along a route, is there a third party that sells a mobile connector bundle like Tesla has?
http://shop.teslamotors.com/products/model-s-mobile-connector-bundle

If I understand the Tesla connector bundle, one can use it with an RV outlet or a normal wall outlet or a washing machine outlet.

It would be nice if something existed for the Bolt as well.

Could someone explain why the Tesla connector bundle is so expensive? I don't understand what it does or how it works.

Are the Tesla people buying a portable EVSE device when they buy this Tesla connector bundle?

I guess, when CCS combo charging is ubiquitous, one won't need to worry about charging from an RV outlet or other outlets.

Perhaps this question deserves a new thread?

 

[Zoomit]

The Tesla mobile connector comes with each Tesla (including all the accessories too, I think). It's just a portable EVSE with a Tesla plug. It can use normal household 120V (NEMA 5-15) and 240V/40A from a NEMA 14-50. (Note it's not compatible with residential dryer receptacles, which are NEMA 6-30 or more recently NEMA 14-30.)

There are many EVSE with J1772 plugs that could be considered portable and will work with the Bolt EV. Clipper Creek has a wide selection: https://store.clippercreek.com/residential. Most all are about $400-$600 so the Tesla unit is inline with other manufacturers.

 

[mailman13]

My EV experience

New to the forum and EV's. My question regards stated range. Is it like city/highway combined for ICE cars? The reason I ask is I would like to be able to drive to my brothers without recharging and he lives 190 miles away over the Allegheny mountains in central PA. Any facts or opinions are welcome.
Thx in advance.

Hello, I'm new here too. I can't wait to get my Bolt, especially coming from the free-for-two-years Leaf that I recently turned in.

I know that the Bolt will have almost three times the capacity that my Leaf had and it will be somewhat more technologically advanced, but don't expect the 200 miles range-wise.

Now I did drive fast on the Interstate and sometimes with the heater on, but I'd barely make it 50 miles round trip, with the low battery warning flashing each day when I got to my driveway.

When I first got my Leaf I only had the 110 volt, wall outlet plug in. I couldn't even get recharged back to 100% for the next work day. 20 hours to charge to 100% going the 110V route.
I had to buy the 240 volt, 30 amp power supply for $600. It would fully charge my Leaf in about five hours!
Good thing is that I'll be able to use my old setup with the Bolt, plus the State gave me a $250 rebate back on the $600 purchase.

Also, I would not have any EV for your first or second car, unless you're going to be doing city driving mostly. The regen from the brakes really helps out with in-town driving too.

Just my experience of course, but I sweated bullets many times when going off my regular commute and tried to make to an added destination.

 

[Cleaner]

https://www.facebook.com/chevroletvolt/videos/10153917225096009/

Range announcement coming tomorrow!