[wroyster]

I love my Bolt which I have driven 700 miles so far. But I can see it will not be great for long distance driving. Almost all my driving is within 100 miles of my home but I do go on long trips occasionally. Ontario is about 600 miles and takes 10 hours in my Prius. When I mapped out the route for the Bolt it would take 23 hours!. Not happening. So my next car will be the absolutely beautiful 2023 Prius Prime. I know some people will go on long trips with the Bolt but I do not think it worth the hassle. Great car for daily driving. So you need 2 cars. Most people have that.

This past summer I along with my wife and granddaughter took an 1100 mile trip from S Carolina to Chattanooga, Nashville, Knoxville and home. I used Plugshare to plan the trip for charging stations every 130 miles or so, we had no problems. Stops were either at a restaurant or mall so we had something to do for the hour.

Planning is the key. I would also suggest you get accounts with Charge Point or Electrify America and don’t be in a hurry.

 

[Peter131]

This past summer I along with my wife and granddaughter took an 1100 mile trip from S Carolina to Chattanooga, Nashville, Knoxville and home. I used Plugshare to plan the trip for charging stations every 130 miles or so, we had no problems. Stops were either at a restaurant or mall so we had something to do for the hour.

Planning is the key. I would also suggest you get accounts with Charge Point or Electrify America and don’t be in a hurry.

That's good to know. The only thing is that we like to explore on long trips and go to out of the way places. If I had to go from one charge station to the next it would not feel very free. So I think we will go with the Bolt for daily driving and a Prius Prime plug in for long trips.

 

[nelsonxm]

I purchased a 2017 Bolt LT July 2021 w\ 9k miles. It's fun to drive but it did not come with L3 charging for longer distance driving. I have driven 217 miles from Canton MI to Roscommon MI on a single charge - I installed a L2 charger at the cottage in Roscommon so i could drive back home on one charge as well. And, until EV's come with an average of 400+ mile battery and charging stations are more prevalent, we'll keep one ICE car a a backup.

But, I've got my eye on the new Chevy Equinox EV w/ hopefully AWD if its not too much, to replace the Bolt. The Blazer would be better but no way i'm going to pay 50k+ for a car ICE or EV.

 

[Jervin]

It's my understanding that charging more often and only charging to 60 or 80% makes for a quicker trip. If you were having it charge to 100%, that would be a mistake unless you can't avoid it.

I love my Bolt which I have driven 700 miles so far. But I can see it will not be great for long distance driving. Almost all my driving is within 100 miles of my home but I do go on long trips occasionally. Ontario is about 600 miles and takes 10 hours in my Prius. When I mapped out the route for the Bolt it would take 23 hours!. Not happening. So my next car will be the absolutely beautiful 2023 Prius Prime. I know some people will go on long trips with the Bolt but I do not think it worth the hassle. Great car for daily driving. So you need 2 cars. Most people have that.

 

[pretbek]

Next car after the Bolt? Well, my Bolt will arrive around March 2023 and I expect to keep it quite a long time, so probably the "next car besides the Bolt" to replace another vehicle in our household: Battery electric. I'm done buying combustion engines. I would like a reasonably priced EV that can DCFS charge quickly (better than 52 kW 😄 ) and is capable of V2G. Whatever can do that in 3-5 years.

 

[EV Powertrain Engineer]

Responding to the header, "Next Car After Bolt?", in our family there will be no next car after the Bolt.

I’m seriously thinking about the Equinox EV. It has faster DC Fastcharging.

 

[JAMES MUELLER SR]

We bought this Bolt for one specific purpose: to slow down the odometer on the Sienna, which had accrued almost 60,000 miles in 18 months. Since we already had a bolt in 2017-2019 we know what to expect. So we use it whenever we do not need AWD, ultra long range, or the capability to haul 6+ people or loads of stuff.

However recently I have been kind of salivating over the 2023 Prius prime, because it will be able to substitute for the Sienna in many more driving scenarios, with the presumed total cost of ownership closer to that of the bolt. And it is a Prius, which means we could probably expect 150k miles without unscheduled maintenance. It would certainly be worth a look

I HAVE A 2017 BOLT---65000 CARE FREE MILES---ONLY TIME IN DEALERSHIP WAS NEW RECALL BATTERY NO COST---ONLY EXPENSE WAS SET OF TIRES

 

[nelsonxm]

I’m seriously thinking about the Equinox EV. It has faster DC Fastcharging.

The new Equinox is also supposed to have faster L2 charging at 11.5kw. That should translate into about 34 miles per hour of charging as apposed to the 25 miles per hour of charging for the Bolt. And that jumps to 51 miles per hour on the range-topping Equinox EV 3RS, which supports a L2 charging capacity of 19.2 kW.

 

[NoMoPetrol]

I’m seriously thinking about the Equinox EV. It has faster DC Fastcharging.

Faster charging would be an issue for our family if we did more out-of-town travel, but 98% of our charging is done in the garage overnight. That includes my 2013 Model S which doesn't charge much faster than the Bolt at Superchargers.

 

[fitzer]

I echo the response of using ABRP, and also recommend using Plugshare as a second source for finding good EVSEs.
We’ve driven between DC and Boston in an Etron, and use the Bolt for more local trips. I have two kids, so stopping for potty breaks, food, etc isn’t that big of a deal. I’ d say those say those trips added at most two hours to the drive. My biggest complaint with the Bolt is the comfort of the seats. The Bolt also will not charge as fast.
One thing ABRP will do is allow you to optimize the time charging. Don’t charge above 80% at any given stop, but stop more frequently, as that last 20% takes longer than the first 80%.

We have a trip planned to Florida soon, not really sweating it. Just plan in advance.

 

[Gizmodo]

I should take delivery of my Bolt EUV in January, the automotive gods willing. It will be my third EV (2013 and 2018 Leafs), and it will continue our "hybrid household" pattern -- my car is 100% electric, my wife's is a relatively efficient ICE (Kia Seltos). We make semi-frequent trips from central NY State to central PA, a route that definitely qualifies as a charger desert. On those trips we use my wife's car, but otherwise we push as many miles as possible toward our EV.

I expect our next household car purchase to be an EV to replace my wife's car, as chargers finally build out near us. The replacement for my car won't happen for some time, obviously, so I'm assuming a jet pack will be involved.

 

[lchen1001]

I use plugshare to locate charging stations along the way. Install semaconnect, electrify america and chargepoint apps too.
It seems Chevy app partners with chargepoint.

I love my Bolt which I have driven 700 miles so far. But I can see it will not be great for long distance driving. Almost all my driving is within 100 miles of my home but I do go on long trips occasionally. Ontario is about 600 miles and takes 10 hours in my Prius. When I mapped out the route for the Bolt it would take 23 hours!. Not happening. So my next car will be the absolutely beautiful 2023 Prius Prime. I know some people will go on long trips with the Bolt but I do not think it worth the hassle. Great car for daily driving. So you need 2 cars. Most people have that.

 

[Pvillerob]

ABRP

abetterrouteplanner.com

Shows 9'50" driving and 3'45" charging, all at Electrify America.

Cheaper than a Prius.

But how reliable are those EA chargers??
Every one I've ever come across is non functional. Thanks for nuthin, Volkswagen!

 

[Pvillerob]

I use plugshare to locate charging stations along the way. Install semaconnect, electrify america and chargepoint apps too.
It seems Chevy app partners with chargepoint.

Kinda depends on what chargers are predominate in your particular area, doesn't it? I live in Northern California. EVgo L3 chargers are predominate here. Never even SEEN a Semaconnect, nor a Chargepoint. The few times I've come across the EA public charging stations, they're either L2, or non functional, or both!

 

[Godscar5]

We need another one soon. The Prius is 18 years old and the AC has stopped and the mirrors are now "hand adjusted"

I learned from a Chevy salesman who has a Chevy truck and a Tesla that he takes on trips from MI to DC. I love the Bolt especially the 2023 EUV Premier, but if I had to go on long trips I would choose a Tesla because the car and charging network allows you to charge at 1000 miles per hour. In fifteen minutes a Tesla can have 200 plus miles, in the Bolt 200 miles would take almost an hour.

 

[Boltmobile]

Not set on anything yet. But if i were to go for something after the Bolt that could be:
No car and public transit, no car and moving and using my feet, some electric bicycle.
Cars: chevrolet trailblazer EV, cadillac XT4 EV, jeep electric SUV, fisker ocean

 

[sasunde]

It likely threw in some L2 chargers for some reason.

You need to disable using L2 chargers in the app. But even so, ABRP sometimes does weird things like backtracking to a station you just left an hour before and charging up to the same level as before, then proceeding on past the point where it turned you around.

I've done a lot of long-distance travel in the Bolt and if you carefully plan your meals, bathroom stops and hotels around charging stops , travel in the Bolt isn't much slower than in an ICE most of the time. IF you are the type who swoops into a gas station, fills up and goes, pees in a bottle and eats a burger while driving, long-distance EV travel may not be for you.

My next car was a 2023 VW ID.4 AWD Pro S. It doesn't have as much range as the Bolt (255 miles vice 259 miles), but it has AWD, higher ground clearance (8.3" as measured by me vice 5.5") and faster DC charging (170 kW max vs. 55 kW max.) Because it has a 77 kWh usable battery vs. 65 kWh to get nearly the same range, that faster charging is cut down a bit. Also, if the chargers you need to go to are 50 kW or 62.5 kW anyway, that charging advantage is really cut down unless you have to go to a really high state of charge. I bought the VW to be my long distance car, but it did not arrive in time, so my big 3711-mile trip this summer was done in the Bolt. I've only done a 1400-mile trip in the VW so far. The VW is very comfortable, quiet, smooth riding and has a very finished look inside. But, the software is still glitchy and hard to navigate and the developers made a lot of bad decisions. The Bolt's software, by contrast, was very well-thought-out to give you the relevant info up front and not have to dig through a bunch of sub-menus to find it. I like the VW, but I love the Bolt. If the Chevy Blazer and Equinox have the same displays as the Bolt, they will be great cars.

 

[LarryO]

You need to disable using L2 chargers in the app. But even so, ABRP sometimes does weird things like backtracking to a station you just left an hour before and charging up to the same level as before, then proceeding on past the point where it turned you around.

Certainly, that would do it but often times ABRP cannot find a route without using at least some L2 chargers. Well, to be fair, in some cases a bit of L2 may just be required period. The DCFC deserts sometimes require a bit of L2 to traverse them. The trick is to minimize that option.

 

[OneEV]

It's my understanding that charging more often and only charging to 60 or 80% makes for a quicker trip. If you were having it charge to 100%, that would be a mistake unless you can't avoid it.

True ..you charge faster in the 30%t070% of the pack..if you live otr traveling with lots of chargers the whole way you're good to go. If Not many chargers you may actually need to spend an extra 45minutesafter 70% to get to %100 IF .IF along your route there is only 1 charger ...you just never know until you arrive whether it is working or not (even with plugshare...working an hour ago..down now)..so you may want to be %100 if you need enough to make it to an actual working charger thats maybe 40 more miles down te road

 

[vicenac]

We did LA to Sacramento (450 mile trip) in about 6,5 hours... a few times. It resembles our trips in a gas car with kids that need to pee and eat, etc.
Yes the Bolt needs to spend time charging. We usually charge for 25 to 40 minutes and driving for 2 hours. In a Tesla that charging time is 15 to 20 minutes. If you can afford it, go for it! My next car will be some form of a Bolt.
We also took 2 trips from LA to San Francisco on 5 and then back down via 1 with bikes hangin out the back and a car full. The total cost of "fuel" was 80 bucks.