[Andreas Avdoulos]

Hi there,
Last winter was our first with our 2017 Bolt. We have winter tires on the car, but on a few occasions, trying to drive up a slight hill I noticed that the car simply stopped dead in it's tracks. The tires wouldn't rotate and I had no option but to reverse and find another way home!

So, anyone else having this issue? Is this perhaps a software update? I don't remember if I was in L mode or regular Drive mode.

Andreas

 

[NewsCoulomb]

I have not heard of anything even similar to what you are describing. Were you on ice with no traction? Was traction control on?

If the car is rolling on its own under certain circumstances, it will apply the parking brake to stop the vehicle, but that doesn't sound like what you are talking about.

This sounds more like you have something physically wrong with your vehicle, and it would require some sort of servicing. Of course, you'd need to be able to reproduce the behavior in order to figure out what was actually wrong.

 

[stanwagon]

I live at 9500 feet and winters are very snowy. I bot my Bolt last November. I did not want to put snow tires on (which I did on my Prius, and they made a huge difference) since the ones that came with the car seemed reasonable. And indeed, the tires did find on my winter driving here, which is very very hilly. I would avoid using the car in the middle of storms.

 

[Toyotiac]

Hi there,
Last winter was our first with our 2017 Bolt. We have winter tires on the car, but on a few occasions, trying to drive up a slight hill I noticed that the car simply stopped dead in it's tracks. The tires wouldn't rotate and I had no option but to reverse and find another way home!

So, anyone else having this issue? Is this perhaps a software update? I don't remember if I was in L mode or regular Drive mode.

Andreas

I have seen ICE vehicles stopped by traction control on slippery hills as the t/c limits wheel spin and you increasingly lose forward momentum. Maybe...?

 

[Motoarzan]

I've noticed that unlike an ICE car where you hear the clicking and feels like the engine is mechanically engaging/disengaging from the drive axle as the wheels slip in snow upon acceleration. With the bolt that engaging/disengaging is done electronically so you get no kicking at all.
Perhaps on your incline you were down to zero traction and the wheels were in an instant sleep without feeling any mechanical feedback like you would in an ICE car. If you turned off traction control then I imagine your wheels would turn...and obviously at that point just slip and go nowhere as well.

 

[wonderbolt]

Interesting speculation on what might have happened. Just as a data point, we have pretty bad winters here in Upstate NY and I never had an issue with the Bolt and the stock tires. When we had an Ice storm I was able to ascend hills that traffic was stuck on and rolling backwards. No if I had stopped I am not sure I could restart but as long as I kept moving I was OK...

 

[p7wang]

Just curious of people's experience in the snow.

BTW, a pretty good video of 2WD winter tires vs 4WD summer tires.

 

[Packard V8]

Just curious of people's experience in the snow.

With the OEM Michelins, the Bolt is a mediocre winter driver.

With Nokian Hakkapiilitta snows, the Bolt is better in snow, but still not as good as Saabs were fifty years ago.

jack vines