[elasticmedia]

My leased 2017 Bolt would typically charge up with 268 miles, sometimes a bit more and sometimes a bit less. I live in San Francisco with a lot of city driving, so I get more range than the listed 238 spec. Now I have passed 13,000 miles and the last 3 charges have given me about 230 miles after a full night of charging at my level 2 station at home. This seems like a substantial drop: is there something wrong and if so, what could it be? What ought I do about it? This is about a 15% drop for a pretty new car.

 

[Packard V8]

What was the outside temperature at 268 and what is it at 230?

With below freezing temps, our hilltop range has dropped from 230 to 175.

jack vines

 

[Sean Nelson]

My leased 2017 Bolt would typically charge up with 268 miles.... the last 3 charges have given me about 230 miles...

The range indicator does NOT indicate battery capacity - it is an ESTIMATE of how far you'll be able to go based on DRIVING CONDITIONS. It's popularly called the "GOM" (Guess O'Meter) for good reason. Your range will vary based on conditions such as temperature, use of the car's HVAC system, speed, winds, etc.etc. etc.

 

[Vertiformed]

My leased 2017 Bolt would typically charge up with 268 miles, sometimes a bit more and sometimes a bit less. I live in San Francisco with a lot of city driving, so I get more range than the listed 238 spec. Now I have passed 13,000 miles and the last 3 charges have given me about 230 miles after a full night of charging at my level 2 station at home. This seems like a substantial drop: is there something wrong and if so, what could it be? What ought I do about it? This is about a 15% drop for a pretty new car.

Range is based the car's efficiency for recent driving. If the previous day you drove at high speed on the freeway, drove in rain, ran the heat a lot, or experienced cold temperatures, the range will be lower than days when these things aren't true.

Your car is fine.

 

[elasticmedia]

I live in a very moderate climate in San Francisco, here the temperature gets down to the 50's max, so it is not the cold. I believe my driving habits are pretty consistent - I'm cheap and like to maximize my range.

 

[GJETSON]

My leased 2017 Bolt would typically charge up with 268 miles, sometimes a bit more and sometimes a bit less. I live in San Francisco with a lot of city driving, so I get more range than the listed 238 spec. Now I have passed 13,000 miles and the last 3 charges have given me about 230 miles after a full night of charging at my level 2 station at home. This seems like a substantial drop: is there something wrong and if so, what could it be? What ought I do about it? This is about a 15% drop for a pretty new car.

You will hear folks on here tell you that Bolts don't lose capacity. Any decrease in range must be something you did. Eventually this myth will be put to bed, but not yet.

 

[Vertiformed]

You will hear folks on here tell you that Bolts don't lose capacity. Any decrease in range must be something you did. Eventually this myth will be put to bed, but not yet.

Do you seriously think there is lost capacity in this case — suddenly over a few weeks as the weather turns colder?

To the original poster — and also, on this forum you will hear folks with bizarre battery-babying rituals, from rushing into their garage to unplug the car mid-charge “to save it from itself”, to being worried about plugging it in in the first place (in case plugging it in “too much” hurts it). They hope that these superstitious behaviors will cast a protective spell over their battery. Eventually this myth will be put to bed, but not yet.

 

[Sean Nelson]

You will hear folks on here tell you that Bolts don't lose capacity. Any decrease in range must be something you did. Eventually this myth will be put to bed, but not yet.

I don't think anyone has told the OP that Bolt don't loose battery capacity, just that a relatively small change in the range estimate says nothing useful about the state of the battery.

 

[Sean Nelson]

...on this forum you will hear folks with bizarre battery-babying rituals, from rushing into their garage to unplug the car mid-charge “to save it from itself”, to being worried about plugging it in in the first place (in case plugging it in “too much” hurts it).

I don't have much doubt that babying your battery will help to extend its life. I just personally think that the amount of life extension is likely to pretty minor and therefore not be worth the bother - so I don't worry about anything much beyond basic steps like charging in "Hilltop Reserve" mode most of the time and leaving the car plugged in during extreme weather so that battery conditioning can do its thing.

 

[GJETSON]

My leased 2017 Bolt would typically charge up with 268 miles, sometimes a bit more and sometimes a bit less. I live in San Francisco with a lot of city driving, so I get more range than the listed 238 spec. Now I have passed 13,000 miles and the last 3 charges have given me about 230 miles after a full night of charging at my level 2 station at home. This seems like a substantial drop: is there something wrong and if so, what could it be? What ought I do about it? This is about a 15% drop for a pretty new car.

OK. You have now heard the whole range of comments. Here is my free advice. It is worth every bit of it too.

I never look at my estimated range. I look at the mi/kWh on the DIC, and the percentage to driving on the center energy screen. If the DIC says I am getting 4 mi/kWh in the fall, and the energy screen says I used 100% for driving, I make a mental note of that. In the winter, if the DIC says I am getting 3.2 mi/kWh, and the energy screen says I used 80% for driving...nothing has changed. If the energy screen says I used 94% for driving I'd check my tire pressure. If I run from 100% charge to 2% charge in fall, and the energy screen says I used 58.2 kWh, and I do the same thing in the winter, and it says I used 57.0 kWh, I'd chalk it up to a cold battery. If the energy had said I used 49.3 kWh, THEN I'd worry about battery degradation.

 

[ga2500ev]

My leased 2017 Bolt would typically charge up with 268 miles, sometimes a bit more and sometimes a bit less. I live in San Francisco with a lot of city driving, so I get more range than the listed 238 spec. Now I have passed 13,000 miles and the last 3 charges have given me about 230 miles after a full night of charging at my level 2 station at home. This seems like a substantial drop: is there something wrong and if so, what could it be? What ought I do about it? This is about a 15% drop for a pretty new car.

As others have already pointed out, everything is fine. The range meter drives folks crazy because of the expectations of it being accurate and consistent. It's neither. The Bolt's battery holds the equivalent of a bit less than 2 gallons of gas. So even small changes in efficiency has big impacts on the estimated range.

I have a Fiat 500e, with a battery that's a third of the size of the Bolt. There are days now where full range is under 80 miles when in the summer it shows 110. The two items I actually pay attention to is the actual battery percentage and the trip efficiency. There are very good days starting with a warmed battery with nice conditions and no HVAC where the efficiency is 4.8 miles/kWh. On colder days with the heat on and a cold soaked battery where a short trip will show as low as 2.1 miles/kWh. Nothing has changed with the battery. Only the conditions has changed.

This efficiency issue is true of both EV and ICE vehicles. But ICE can carry 8 to 10 times the amount of fuel, so the efficiency deficits has much smaller impacts on range estimation.

So as others have pointed out, nothing is wrong with the battery or the range meter. As long as you can get to where you are going driving the way you normally drive, then there is nothing to do. However, if you really want to test the theory, simply drive 5 MPH slower than you normally do, and precondition your Bolt while it's on the charger. Watch the GOM then.

ga2500ev

 

[Packard V8]

In the religion of Ancient Rome, a haruspex was a person trained to practice a form of divination, the inspection of the entrails from sacrificed sheep and poultry. The reading of omens specifically from the liver is also known by the Greek term hepatoscopy.

We early adapters/forum members who stir the chicken entrails and pore over the meaning therein are not the ultimate target audience for EVs.

Again, straight from a GM engineer/product manager - "All our market research shows that it is the kiss of death for an EV buying decision that it should require anything new, different or thoughtful in the way of daily use and charging. All our battery and software design is aimed at 'Drive it, plug it in, drive it.' The owner should never have to think about anything beyond that."


jack vines

 

[GJETSON]

"that it should [never] require anything new, different or thoughtful...never have to think about anything"

Isn't that the definition of citizenship here?