[Palouser]

I live 1 mile off pavement, and though it's been a very wet spring I'm having problems with the dust collecting on the back window to the point of complete obscurity. And it's going to be a lot worse when things dry out. I understand the reason and it's related to the aerodynamics of making a car slippery and sloughing the air stream at the rear for efficiency. The Volt wasn't good but the Bolt is really bad.

Yes, there's a wiper back there but it has NO water back there to lubricate the wiping action. That means if I use the wiper to knock the dust off then I eventually wind up with a fog of scratches arced in the pattern of the wiper motion! And the blade is at rest in such a way it catches all the dust that slides off and piles up on it so the first swipe it's pushing quite a load of it. Been there , done that. Why oh why is there no water reservoir and nozzle back there? Yeah, I know why but, quite short sighted IMO. Presently I keep a pail of water with a top on outside the garage door and wash the rear window after almost every out and back trip. And a wipe to the camera, though it hasn't deteriorated quite as fast.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to design/install an adjustable blade or air foil across the rear overhang that will direct a flow of air from that coming over the roof and directing it down to keep the dust settling on the window. What would be ideal is if I could cut a vent hole in that cheap plastic overhang and install the air diverter in it. Two positions would be enough. Closed and open. In my dreams I'd have a switch.

Yes, I know it would cut efficiency a little but the situation usually involves lower speeds for a minimum amount of time.

 

[llninja]

Instead of the air foil, I'd just carry a windex bottle and a roll of paper towels. I wouldn't want to drill anything into the sheetmetal of the volt or bolt.

Better yet, pull up to a gas station and use their washer fluid and towels. It would really confuse the heck out of EV fans to see your bolt parked there. Open up the charge door, pull the gas nozzle out, and scratch your head with a confused look on your face.

 

[Palouser]

Wouldn't work like that man! Hard to explain if you don't live where there is fine dust that floats all over and hangs in the vortex at the rear of the car after coming up from underneath and from each tire. Not only, but if I cleaned up at a gas station (not everywhere in a rather rural area), by the time I got home I'd have to redo it anyway before I left again.

It is a very good sign the engineers did a great job on the aerodynamics of the Bolt.

 

[llninja]

Wouldn't work like that man! Hard to explain if you don't live where there is fine dust that floats all over and hangs in the vortex at the rear of the car after coming up from underneath and from each tire. Not only, but if I cleaned up at a gas station (not everywhere in a rather rural area), by the time I got home I'd have to redo it anyway before I left again.

It is a very good sign the engineers did a great job on the aerodynamics of the Bolt.

I live in the country, with a 1400 foot long gravel driveway. I use a rainX branded window cleaner that seems to be very slippery. It's not perfect, but good enough except when it gets really dry and dusty. So far this year, we've had plenty of rain.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Yes, there's a wiper back there but it has NO water back there to lubricate the wiping action. .... Why oh why is there no water reservoir and nozzle back there?

OK, so I don't have a Bolt but I'm almost certain that you can squirt water on the rear window while you wipe, since it says you can on page 107 of the owners manual. You just push forward on the stalk at the right side of the steering wheel - and it not only squirts the rear window but it also squirts the rear view "mirror" camera as well.

There's no separate reservoir for the rear window - my understanding is that the water comes from the same reservoir as the front window, just as it does on my Prius C.

 

[Palouser]

You're right! That's what it says!!! I do have a complaint though!!! It's not MANLY to look in the owners manual!!!

I did know about pulling the stalk towards me for the front washer and didn't not even THINK to push the other way!!! I couldn't feel a tube under the blade cover. Should have used a mirror!

THAT'LL teach me!!!

My apologies to the design team.

 

[BAZINGA]

My in-laws live off a two lane rural road (paved) in Mountian View Ark, but to get to their property Inhave to drive on a single lane gravel road for about 1/2 a mile. Three years ago we drive our 2014 Lime Rock Green Stingray for a visit. It was our first road trip in our new Stingray and had a great time and drive until we got to the turn off. I froze. My wife asked what was wrong, all I could do is point. I drove at idle speed (4 MPH) and the could of dust I was kicking up made me want to cry. During our two visit I made that drive 3 times. The car was a disaster. When we got home on a Sunday, I called my boss at home and told him I wouldn't be in on Monday. I spent 8 hours detailing it. So I feel your pain.

 

[Norton]

Also, you and the neighbors could pool your $$ and pay-to-pave that 1 mile of backwoods gravel.

 

[kentlucas]

Can it be blown off with a leaf blower?

 

[Palouser]

What neighbors?

 

[Sean Nelson]

You're right! That's what it says!!! I do have a complaint though!!! It's not MANLY to look in the owners manual!!!

Yep, you look like a girly-man if you look at the manual and you look like an idiot if you don't. It's a Catch-22.

I have the PDF version of the manual, which I like because I can easily search for stuff like "windshield wiper".

 

[Mister Dave]

It's not MANLY to look in the owners manual!!!

Very funny. Here's one for you: Real men don't nav.

 

[llninja]

Very funny. Here's one for you: Real men don't nav.

It's time for the man song

 

[Sean Nelson]

It's time for the man song...

You call that a man song? This is a man song!