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I have a friend who lives in Chapel Hill N.C. He is interested in a Bolt or Volt, but is concerned with how the Bolt will handle the ice storms they seem to get every winter. He is in the medical field, and has to travel to several different hospitals in the Chapel Hill/Raleigh area to assist with surgeries, which need to be performed without rescheduling for an ice storm. He currently has an old Honda CRV which does a great job on ice, according to him; but he does not have room to keep it as a third car (their main car currently is a Prius V). I know the Bolt has not been on the market long, but has anyone from the mountain ranges in California or anywhere up north done any snow/ice driving in the Bolt? I would like to hear from you. I have owned a 2017 Volt since last December, but no snow or ice in East Texas, where I live.

 

[telveer]

If they get significant snow, they should consider getting snow tires for winter. If not, it should handle just as well as any other front wheel drive hatch ... and because of its extra weight, it may perform better even.

 

[Steverino]

With snow tires, the Volt is awesome in the winter. On the other hand, ice is ice. As telveer, said, it will handle as well as any other FWD car.

 

[Norton]

Actually the new 'Winter Tires' are an advanced technology from old school 'snow tires'.
Look at some of the info at Tire Rack as a primer on Winter Tires.
They are really good at ice and snow compared to the stock All-Season tires.

Or just stay home and have a Snow Day !!

Yep, it's a FWD car. Maybe 80-90 % as good as AWD.

 

[dannycamps]

As others have said, every car slides on ice - the only difference is how the car responds. While the Volt (and Bolt) is not AWD, it is heavy with a low center of gravity so it shouldn't handle any worse than other cars assuming the right tires are used.

We actually had a pretty mild winter in our region so I did not really get to see how the Volt performs on heavy ice but the few times I did take it with snow on the ground, it was fine.

 

[Sean Nelson]

As others have said, every car slides on ice...

If it's cold enough out and if you have tires that retain their suppleness in those kinds of conditions then ice can actually give you surprisingly decent traction. It's only when the ice is getting near to the melting point where you have problems, because the pressure on the ice can cause liquid water to form on the top, and that's what causes the loss in grip.

 

[Ladogaboy]

In light snow, ice, slush, mud mix, it was fine. I was actually surprised with how well it handled, but I didn't have a chance to drive through anything more than about 2" of snow. Of course, I hit a large rock a few miles later... the tire didn't handle that as well. :'(

 

[TheBlueFlash]

We got 7" in Asheville, NC last year and both Volts did fine. They're on all season tires to boot. Haven't experienced ice yet, but I generally stay off the roads if icing is a concern. I don't know where the Bolt fits in weight wise, but the gen 1 Volt is as heavy as a tank which bodes well for snowy conditions.

 

[Ladogaboy]

We got 7" in Asheville, NC last year and both Volts did fine. They're on all season tires to boot. Haven't experienced ice yet, but I generally stay off the roads if icing is a concern. I don't know where the Bolt fits in weight wise, but the gen 1 Volt is as heavy as a tank which bodes well for snowy conditions.

The Bolt EV's curb weight is 3,580 lbs, so it's a bit of a porker. As I said above, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it handled itself on snow, ice, and slush.

 

[gbobman]

The Bolt seemed fairly well footed through ice and snow with the standard tires. Much better than my old front-wheel drive Monte Carlo (and that did pretty well).

This was in March in Colorado.

Be sure to stay away from that "Sport" button though and be light on the accelerator. This thing LOVES to kick out when you put too much in to it (due to the torque).

 

[Ladogaboy]

The Bolt seemed fairly well footed through ice and snow with the standard tires. Much better than my old front-wheel drive Monte Carlo (and that did pretty well).

This was in March in Colorado.

Be sure to stay away from that "Sport" button though and be light on the accelerator. This thing LOVES to kick out when you put too much in to it (due to the torque).

Those were my impressions as well. It's not going to win a snow rally, but I felt perfectly safe in stock tires on the snow.

 

[summit]

any one put on snow chain or snow cables ? the manual says no chain. Thanks

 

[PilotAlan]

I went from a Mercedes GLK to the Volt and was worried about snow and ice, but it was a non-issue.

I drove my Volt in some pretty horrific ice, and it was a tank. AWD only helps you get started. Once you're moving, stopping and cornering is a function of tires, not drivetrain.
Also, because it's electrically driven, the traction control can vary power several times per second, unlike gas-powered drivetrains which respond much slower.
I used DWS06 high-performance all-season tires, which was a night-and-day difference from stock tires. After the change, I never worried about weather conditions.

 

[summit]

went ahead and tried out snow cable on Boltev. The tightest clerance is on top between wheel+cable and part of the shock. Pushing down on vehicle's corner doesn't narrow this gap, as this part of the shock is attached to the suspension arm directly.

So it looks doable, but pickep up snow will be scraping against the shock at this narrow gap.

Because the weather was dicey, we decided not to chance it; so it's untested.

just FYI

 

[Slotracer577]

The bolt seems to do fine for a front wheel drive hatch in the snow. I do drive in D instead of my usual L as the regen gets a bit dicey if it's really slick. I really wish gm would get rid of the creep in D. It freaks me out after driving in L all the time. I also drove manuals for most of my life, so having a car creep is not normal.

 

[css28]

View attachment 149410 View attachment 149418

went ahead and tried out snow cable on Boltev. The tightest clerance is on top between wheel+cable and part of the shock. Pushing down on vehicle's corner doesn't narrow this gap, as this part of the shock is attached to the suspension arm directly.

So it looks doable, but pickep up snow will be scraping against the shock at this narrow gap.

Because the weather was dicey, we decided not to chance it; so it's untested.

just FYI

How tight was that clearance? I'd worry about the cables contacting the strut feature as centrifugal force acts on them.

 

[summit]

well, it's tight; looked about 1/2". But the gap doesn't narrow upon pushing down on the vehicle. If centrifugal force loosen the cables then it is not on tight enough. I would definite want to use the rubber band to keep the cable tough and to take up any slack.

The tires as shown were inflated to 42psi, am now wondering if reduced pressure would give a wee bit more clearance. Too bad I didn't get a chance to test out.