[jcanoe]

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/videos/chevrolet-bolt-vs-hyundai-ioniq-in-a-race-around-the-bay-part-1/

Two teams drive a 300 mile course around the Bay Area. For the purposes of this event the Bolt is handicapped by not being able to use DC Fast Charging, only Level II charging. The Ioniq's smaller battery limits it's range to 124 miles but it is equipped with a DC Fast Charging port and is allowed to use Level III DC Fast Charging stations to complete the course. The real story here is that even in the Bay Area the EV charging infrastructure for Level III charging is just not there yet. Not relevant but completely true, a Volt could complete the course using a fully charged battery and approx. 6 gallons of regular gas. (2/3 of a tank) without having to deal with the charging infrastructure.

 

[Steve_P]

Oh no, no GPS in the Bolt.


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[obermd]

At 8:40 in there was a Gen 1 Volt charging (Ionic's seconds L2 stop).

 

[obermd]

Oh no, no GPS in the Bolt.


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I don't think the guys in the Bolt would do any better with a GPS. The guy driving it should have the route memorized since he laid it out.

 

[bentbiker]

Am I correct that there is only a Part 1 so far and it ends 1/3 of the way through the trip? After watching for 11+ minutes they say, ". . . find out in Part 2." But there is no Part 2.

 

[Ladogaboy]

What an absurd and useless experiment. If it's not terrible winter weather, I'd just drive the route gently on a single charge.

It should be, drive from San Francisco to San Diego using whatever public infrastructure is available. If the person in the Ioniq EV knows that they are doing, and the Bolt EV driver doesn't, it should be a pretty close race.

 

[El Dobro]

I hear in part 2, the Volt's in the competition, but it's not allowed to have tires.

 

[obermd]

The real lesson here is that even with all the EV infrastructure that's supposedly been installed in California, you still need ICE if you don't want to spend your trip thinking about what to do while stopped. This is where the Volt shines - just drive it.

 

[Raymondjram]

Oh no, no GPS in the Bolt.


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I have no GPS in my car and never use the application in my smartphone. I learned to read maps as a Cub Scout over fifty years ago, and I can remember any road after travelling on it once. Due to this, I never get lost and I know shortcuts to shorten my traveling time and save on gasoline without spending money on a hybrid. I am saving for an EREV or a BEV when they arrive in my area.

That is smart traveling!

 

[alfon]

The Volt cost less money as well, with no range anxiety to worry about. With a Bolt or an Ioniq Electric you are range bound any time you want to drive somewhere. We don't plan on trading in our 2016 Volt anytime soon for a Bolt or an Ioniq Electric...

 

[Dutch]

That video sure isn't doing EV any favors

For starters, they are all about as disorganized as you can get which shouldn't reflect on EV as a whole, but makes the whole thing seem so uncertain and anxiety inducing.

Though they do mention that the BOLT EV can do fast DC charging, they blow over it so quick that people are probably going to think it's limited to just Lev II charging. I really don't see how this is much of a contest since the BOLT is being artificially limited by only using Lev II. Without that artificial limit it's pretty obvious that the BOLT is the superior vehicle

"you don't want to use A/C, you don't want to use...." is an instant turn off for the average Joe who -is- going to want to use those things.

 

[Sean Nelson]

...Not relevant but completely true, a Volt could complete the course using a fully charged battery and approx. 6 gallons of regular gas. (2/3 of a tank) without having to deal with the charging infrastructure.

If you have no problem burning up 6 gallons of gas then a fully electric vehicle probably isn't for you.

 

[jcanoe]

If you have no problem burning up 6 gallons of gas then a fully electric vehicle probably isn't for you.

I have a Volt and I rarely exceed the Volt's battery range. On the rare occasion when I do need to travel further than the Volt's battery can take me I have no qualms about burning gas. Last year, less than 20 gallons, this year I am on track to use less than 10 gallons.

 

[jcanoe]

I don't think the guys in the Bolt would do any better with a GPS. The guy driving it should have the route memorized since he laid it out.

I believe this was CNET's lame attempt to poke at the fact that the Bolt does not have a built in Nav system. They never connect their phone to the Bolt using either CarPlay or AA. While the phone GPS applications that work with CarPlay and AA won't guide you to the closest EV charging stations it will help keep you on course. The driver and navigator in the Bolt act as if they would get lost in a closet.

 

[ctiomico2003]

Ummm......maybe they were trying to portray normal people using EVs.......but I agree that this is almost a satire or parody.

I would love my Volt in this situation for this reason.

I feel like they are intentionally getting lost and choosing bad locations to charge. They should have used Plugshare or something better than just Chargepoint only and shown why they tried those locations.

Whatever though, I just watched it as a fun way to pass time. Lets see if Part 2 is just as dumb.

 

[llninja]

I hear in part 2, the Volt's in the competition, but it's not allowed to have tires.

nor gas.......

 

[obermd]

To beat that Bolt all you'd have to do is stay on course.

 

[jcanoe]

To beat that Bolt all you'd have to do is stay on course.

Here's to the further dumbing down of the species. Some day soon drivers will be unable to navigate or drive on their own, instead they will have rely on their autopilot overlords to take them places.

 

[wws]

To beat that Bolt all you'd have to do is stay on course.

If they even knew what the course was. It was never shown in its entirety.

If I were to make a 300-ish mile loop around the Bay Area, it would probably be something like: San Jose -> St Helena (Napa Valley) -> Santa Rosa -> U.S. 101 to San Francisco -> Highway 1 through Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz -> 17/880 to San Jose. According to evtripplanner, it is 294 miles and would take about 68 kWh (Leaf Beta mode.) CCS fast charging is available along most of the route. It'd be a nice drive!

 

[Qinsp]

I wanted to see them get lost in the wrong part of Oakland at night. Any car would do, doesn't have to be an EV.