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Potential Bolt Owner with questions

5K views 22 replies 10 participants last post by  Marriott574 
My questions are:

For charging, at L2 what does the EVSE do? from my reading it goes between the wall socket and the car, does this replace the charging cable the car comes with?

The metro station and my office have EV chargers, do people feel concerned about the EVSE/cable being stolen, as it does not Lock into the car.

The EVSE is basically a smart extension cord that communicates with the car's charger to ensure safe(r) transfer of electrons. The one that comes with the car plugs into a standard outlet and is considered L1. L2 operates at 240 volts. You can buy one for yourself, but whether you need to depends on how much you drive and how quickly you need to recharge. The ones you see at places like your office or parking lots will be hard-wired and can't be stolen, although it is possible for someone to unplug you without your consent. That's a big breach of charging etiquette and should be quite rare, but it can happen. If you're somewhere that just provides an outlet, it is possible for someone to actually steal the EVSE. At this point the demand is low so there's not much theft, but as EVs get more common it could become more of a problem. Some people park on their cords or run them through the window and steering wheel to prevent theft.

We love to kayak, can the roof take the weight of 2 kayaks, (100 Lbs total with the bars.) There was some discussion on this.
The roof of the car can certainly handle more than 100 pounds - it's tested for supporting the car in a rollover accident. Thule and Yakima provide weight ratings for their roof racks, which I'm too lazy to look up right now but I seem to recall are below 100 pounds. There is certainly some engineering safety margin in there and I personally wouldn't worry much about 100 pounds, but you need to determine your own comfort level with this. And of course you need to be aware that you'll take a big range hit (just like you'll get much lower mpg in your Fiesta) with two kayaks on the roof.

Does anyone have any information on battery degradation. I know the leaf lost a lot of battery capacity pretty fast?
The Bolt is too new to have good data on degradation, but GM's other EVs generally have a very good reputation in this regard. If you're concerned it's likely a better option for you to lease rather than buy, as degradation won't be much in 3 years. And in 3 years there should be other options out there in the <$50k, >200 mile segment, but for now it's only the Bolt and a used Model S.
 
I have no space for a trailer so I would get some bars, but this is not an issue as we don't go far with them. I am also looking at the LT as i don't see the benefit justifying the cost of the Premier. Just weighing up the different packages. There seems to be a lot of inventory left on dealers lots around here, so I am hoping for a year end bargain! The one I want is the LT + DCFC + Driver confidence and the convince package. The lowest I have seen so far is $33,500 for this, not sure how much lower they can go, just wished VA still had state incentives, CA have some sweet rebates/credits available.
I opted for the LT + DCFC + confidence + convenience. I think it's a good level of options and I doubt you'll be disappointed.

On etrailer.com they list the Thule options for both the LT and premier for the same price, but the LT is listed as 88 pounds capacity while the premier gets 110 pounds. I looked into the roof rack but decided that I can rent a truck for a lot less than $500 for the few times I'll actually need to haul something that won't fit inside.
 
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