[Voldar]

Hello everyone ! Last night I got my 2019 Bolt EV I - Comfort, Confidence I, Fast Charging - and I can't be happier ! I traded in for it my Volt 2014, a flawless car that I really enjoyed.
I am Canadian, from Quebec and I found out of this forum last night... I can’t wait to read you all and share with you the new experience of a Bolt EV in the land of 6 months of snow.

 

[Terry Hancock]

All of us listen to the Canadian drivers of Bolt EVs closely. We expect "YOU" to tell us about how the Bolt does in extreme cold.

I know that you know how to dress warmly, ala snow mobiles, then just use the steering wheel and seat heaters!!! If you do highway, you will get to test the claims that highway speed, in the extreme cold, is best...in that the battery provides its own warmth, and does not then need the external heating system as much. And so on.

Happy trails.

 

[Voldar]

Hi Terry, thank you for the kind words. Well, I am not that Canadian who dresses up warmly and doesn’t use heating at all 0
In fact I drove my Volt like a normal car, I will do the same with the Bolt EV. For now, it’s the first day of driving the Bolt EV and in temps below -3 C it does great. I use my heater at +21 C on Auto and all was perfect. One session of preconditioning this morning was enough to make the car warm enough so that neither the heated seats nor the heated steering wheel came on, even though it was -9 C outside. I do have a stretch of about 14 km of freeway in my commute, where I punch it from 100 km/h to 135 km/h, depending on the traffic. I’ll gladly let you know how all works out.

 

[NY-Rob]

Congrats and welcome Voldar!


I also had a 2014 Volt before moving to the Bolt.


You have proper winter tires on your Bolt right?

 

[Terry Hancock]

I tried my own test of battery warming, in less than 35 F, on I25 in NM. I have a route that I have to take quite frequently. Noted all the fall offs from 70 F to 50 F, etc. earlier this year.

Then when colder, and told that I should cruise at regular highway speed, I did get about the same mileage...going 75 to 77 MPH...with internal cab heat off, using only the steering wheel and seat heat. Went 160 miles, in that cold, with that speed, and arrived home with 43 remaining on the guessometer.

I now believe that heating the battery at lower speeds in winter, ...35 to 50 MPH, as in inner city, does drain a lot with the Bolt, because that heater for the battery is going, whether the cab heat is on or off. Sustained higher speeds, super highway, appear to drain less than the heated speeds, while providing the battery's own heat.

NONE of these things will be noticed on short commutes that are only fractions of the Bolt's range. In those cases, you just have a super dependable car with blasting heat, all lights on, blasting stereo, etc. Have fun!

 

[Voldar]

Congrats and welcome Voldar!


I also had a 2014 Volt before moving to the Bolt.


You have proper winter tires on your Bolt right?

Thank you Rob ! I loved my Volt !
And yes, I have winter tires. Here they are mandatory starting 15th of December until March I think.