Surprised there were no Twin Cities Bolt users registered.
so anyway, below are some comments based on my experience to-date
I have a bit over 3000 miles on my Bolt EV that I got in Sep.
I installed a 14-50 plug in the garage - it is just an electric dryer plug after all plus I had the foresight to have a 50A 240VAC subpanel installed in the garage when we had some electrical work done on the house which meant a 15' run with conduit was all I needed. 6-3 wire was maybe overkill but seems to work.
I like the connection to Android but having to plug in my phone rather than just connecting via WiFi is poor. Music plays just fine without plugging it it but you can't change playlists much without stopping the car. Would like to find a hack for that! Would also like Android Auto to work over WiFi and NOT take over my phone display. Still having google maps on the car display when the phone is plugged in is nice and the voice commands work well.
The dog jumps into the hatchback by herself which is why I got a Bolt rather than a Tesla and I got an extra piece of protective film on the back bumper where her claws sometimes hit the bumper.
I was getting 4+ mi/Kwh in Sep and early Oct but now that the weather is colder, I am getting about 3 mi/Kwh. (I am using heat and cold batteries are less efficient?). Hope it doesn't drop even more when it is below zero. In the recent warm spell (~50F), the efficiency did creep back up to 3.5 mi/Kwh so I am optimistic for next summer when I need to drive 208 miles to the cabin.
For the month of Oct my Xcel bill was 870 Kwh vs 417 Kwh from 2016. We signed up for Xcel Renewable*Connect program so our cost has increased more than just the increase in usage.
So what about efficiency?
According to Xcel my average electric usage/cost/day in Oct was 30 Kwh (vs 14.4 in 2016) at a cost of $4.66/day (vs $2.33 in 2016). Or an increase of about $2.30 per day or roughly *30 = $70 per month. Consider my wife's Toyota Prius V which was about the same price as a Bolt EV. Her gas bill in Nov was $103.
As a check, look at Bolt "mileage" vs Prius mileage in terms of $ per mile.
Again, in Oct/Nov I was getting 3 mi/Kwh on the Bolt. From my Xcel bill I come up with a net rate of $0.155/Kwh delivered and taxed to my house or $0.052 per mile using the 3 mi/Kwh efficiency I get when it is colder.
The Prius gets 44 mpg in the summer which drops to at most 40 mpg as it gets cold.
So estimating the Prius $/mile for $2.50/gal gas works out to be $0.0625 per mile.
So while the Bolt is a little cheaper it is not that much cheaper to run than a hybrid. It definitely has more acceleration than the Prius (which is anemic) but if you use the acceleration, "mileage" will suffer. Still nice to have the acceleration option and I like the Renewable*Connect energy that I am using rather than carbon from 200 million years ago.
Comments? Other's experiences?
so anyway, below are some comments based on my experience to-date
I have a bit over 3000 miles on my Bolt EV that I got in Sep.
I installed a 14-50 plug in the garage - it is just an electric dryer plug after all plus I had the foresight to have a 50A 240VAC subpanel installed in the garage when we had some electrical work done on the house which meant a 15' run with conduit was all I needed. 6-3 wire was maybe overkill but seems to work.
I like the connection to Android but having to plug in my phone rather than just connecting via WiFi is poor. Music plays just fine without plugging it it but you can't change playlists much without stopping the car. Would like to find a hack for that! Would also like Android Auto to work over WiFi and NOT take over my phone display. Still having google maps on the car display when the phone is plugged in is nice and the voice commands work well.
The dog jumps into the hatchback by herself which is why I got a Bolt rather than a Tesla and I got an extra piece of protective film on the back bumper where her claws sometimes hit the bumper.
I was getting 4+ mi/Kwh in Sep and early Oct but now that the weather is colder, I am getting about 3 mi/Kwh. (I am using heat and cold batteries are less efficient?). Hope it doesn't drop even more when it is below zero. In the recent warm spell (~50F), the efficiency did creep back up to 3.5 mi/Kwh so I am optimistic for next summer when I need to drive 208 miles to the cabin.
For the month of Oct my Xcel bill was 870 Kwh vs 417 Kwh from 2016. We signed up for Xcel Renewable*Connect program so our cost has increased more than just the increase in usage.
So what about efficiency?
According to Xcel my average electric usage/cost/day in Oct was 30 Kwh (vs 14.4 in 2016) at a cost of $4.66/day (vs $2.33 in 2016). Or an increase of about $2.30 per day or roughly *30 = $70 per month. Consider my wife's Toyota Prius V which was about the same price as a Bolt EV. Her gas bill in Nov was $103.
As a check, look at Bolt "mileage" vs Prius mileage in terms of $ per mile.
Again, in Oct/Nov I was getting 3 mi/Kwh on the Bolt. From my Xcel bill I come up with a net rate of $0.155/Kwh delivered and taxed to my house or $0.052 per mile using the 3 mi/Kwh efficiency I get when it is colder.
The Prius gets 44 mpg in the summer which drops to at most 40 mpg as it gets cold.
So estimating the Prius $/mile for $2.50/gal gas works out to be $0.0625 per mile.
So while the Bolt is a little cheaper it is not that much cheaper to run than a hybrid. It definitely has more acceleration than the Prius (which is anemic) but if you use the acceleration, "mileage" will suffer. Still nice to have the acceleration option and I like the Renewable*Connect energy that I am using rather than carbon from 200 million years ago.
Comments? Other's experiences?
