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The Bolt's estimated range is shown by the numbers on the lefthand-side display of the dash, often referred to by longtime Bolt fans as the GOM, or Guess-O-Meter. The car uses your recent driving to guess how far you might be able to drive given your recent driving efficiency.
New Bolt owners often take some time adjusting to the estimated range being displayed so prominently and the guesses about the range varying over time. There are often threads like “I used to be able to charge my care to 238 miles and now it only can charge to 178 miles! Is there a problem with my battery?!?” (due to efficiency dropping). Strangely, perhaps, few people post about the opposite, where the range increases due to efficient driving. In contrast, gasoline cars don't tend to display their range so prominently, and probably most owners wouldn't think their gas-tank had suddenly shrunk if the estimated range dropped after hard driving.
A while ago, I wrote a parody thread (where I pretended I was super concerned that my range kept going up), and a few people worried that someone might see that thread and not realize it was utterly absurd. (They recommended all absurd humor be banned from the forum!) So, in the interest in drawing eyes to the right thread, I've given this a good title to attract those newbies who think they have issues and curious onlookers, but kept it serious and informative.
Now let me share a bit of real data showing GOM fluctuations.
I went for a little expedition, leaving home and heading up mountain roads, ten miles at an average of 6% grade (some parts much more than 6%, some less). I left with 87% charge (“hill-top reserve”), and arrived with the green battery state-of-charge bars showing less than 75%. The car went from thinking it had 241 miles at 87% charge (GOM thus expecting 4.8 miles/kWh efficiency) to reading 161 miles at an estimated 74% charge (GOM thus expecting 3.75 miles/kWh efficiency). So I drove 10 miles but appeared to “use up” 80 miles of range. Of course, in reality I'd just made the car more pessimistic about life by driving it hard. When I was done on the mountain, I drove back down again. Returning home, regenerative braking had taken the battery back to 79% and the GOM was back to reading 218 miles. Adding in the 20 miles I'd driven, I was at 238 miles of range from a hill-top reserve charge, which I always like, but still less than what the car had been thinking when I set out.
I hope this story shows how much the GOM can fluctuate, even with just ten miles of driving. The guesses are based both on recent driving and some significant amount of history. If it was based just on very recent driving, the drop in estimated range from driving up a 6% grade would be even worse.
One other thing, driving up the mountain at 50 mph, I came up behind someone who as going at a reasonable speed, but just enough slower for me to catch up. As I got to them, there was a short two lane section and they pulled to the side to let me past (staying at the same speed). To avoid making them slow down because the two lane part would end very soon, I powered past them. The Bolt accelerated smoothly and easily, even though this was one of the steepest parts of the climb. I love this car (although perhaps it almost takes some of the fun out of mountain roads since it is utterly relaxed the entire time).
- If your efficiency is about 4 miles/kWh, the 100%-charge range will be 238 miles for a 2017–2019 Bolt, and 259 miles for a 2020 Bolt.
- If your efficiency is about 3 miles/kWh, the 100%-charge range will be 178 miles for a 2017–2019 Bolt, and 194 miles for a 2020 Bolt
- If your efficiency is about 5 miles/kWh, the 100%-charge range will be 298 miles for a 2017–2019 Bolt, and 324 miles for a 2020 Bolt
New Bolt owners often take some time adjusting to the estimated range being displayed so prominently and the guesses about the range varying over time. There are often threads like “I used to be able to charge my care to 238 miles and now it only can charge to 178 miles! Is there a problem with my battery?!?” (due to efficiency dropping). Strangely, perhaps, few people post about the opposite, where the range increases due to efficient driving. In contrast, gasoline cars don't tend to display their range so prominently, and probably most owners wouldn't think their gas-tank had suddenly shrunk if the estimated range dropped after hard driving.
A while ago, I wrote a parody thread (where I pretended I was super concerned that my range kept going up), and a few people worried that someone might see that thread and not realize it was utterly absurd. (They recommended all absurd humor be banned from the forum!) So, in the interest in drawing eyes to the right thread, I've given this a good title to attract those newbies who think they have issues and curious onlookers, but kept it serious and informative.
Now let me share a bit of real data showing GOM fluctuations.
I went for a little expedition, leaving home and heading up mountain roads, ten miles at an average of 6% grade (some parts much more than 6%, some less). I left with 87% charge (“hill-top reserve”), and arrived with the green battery state-of-charge bars showing less than 75%. The car went from thinking it had 241 miles at 87% charge (GOM thus expecting 4.8 miles/kWh efficiency) to reading 161 miles at an estimated 74% charge (GOM thus expecting 3.75 miles/kWh efficiency). So I drove 10 miles but appeared to “use up” 80 miles of range. Of course, in reality I'd just made the car more pessimistic about life by driving it hard. When I was done on the mountain, I drove back down again. Returning home, regenerative braking had taken the battery back to 79% and the GOM was back to reading 218 miles. Adding in the 20 miles I'd driven, I was at 238 miles of range from a hill-top reserve charge, which I always like, but still less than what the car had been thinking when I set out.
I hope this story shows how much the GOM can fluctuate, even with just ten miles of driving. The guesses are based both on recent driving and some significant amount of history. If it was based just on very recent driving, the drop in estimated range from driving up a 6% grade would be even worse.
One other thing, driving up the mountain at 50 mph, I came up behind someone who as going at a reasonable speed, but just enough slower for me to catch up. As I got to them, there was a short two lane section and they pulled to the side to let me past (staying at the same speed). To avoid making them slow down because the two lane part would end very soon, I powered past them. The Bolt accelerated smoothly and easily, even though this was one of the steepest parts of the climb. I love this car (although perhaps it almost takes some of the fun out of mountain roads since it is utterly relaxed the entire time).
