[Breezy]

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chev...7-chevrolet-bolt-ev-vs-2016-tesla-model-s-60/

It’ll do 0 to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, and the Chevy will motor through the quarter mile in 14.9 seconds at 93.1 mph. Those are serious “hot hatch” numbers, on par with the VW GTI or Ford Focus ST.

Although it apparently took 2 hours and 34 minutes (?) for a full fast charge at a 50 kW charger. Seems odd. That's really long. I'd expect about 1.5 hours for a full charge. Either there was something wrong with the charger they used, or the Bolt must taper very aggressively at the end and take a long time to charge the last few percent.

 

[Joe67]

That's no slouch!

 

[llninja]

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chev...7-chevrolet-bolt-ev-vs-2016-tesla-model-s-60/

It’ll do 0 to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, and the Chevy will motor through the quarter mile in 14.9 seconds at 93.1 mph. Those are serious “hot hatch” numbers, on par with the VW GTI or Ford Focus ST.

Although it apparently took 2 hours and 34 minutes (?) for a full fast charge at a 50 kW charger. Seems odd. That's really long. I'd expect about 1.5 hours for a full charge. Either there was something wrong with the charger they used, or the Bolt must taper very aggressively at the end and take a long time to charge the last few percent.

I wonder if charging in a cold wintery garage might allow it to charge faster? It's all about dissipating heat without frying the chemistry.

 

[DonC]

This is one very detailed report. Most surprising is they found driving the Bolt EV to be similar to the Model S. Those are very different sized cars at totally different price points.

I wouldn't worry about one charging event. Lots of variables when charging, including the state of the charger and the SOC of the pack. Also note the Model S 60 they tested had the battery of the Model S 75. Since the battery capacity sets a limit on the charging rates, the comparison is not exactly apples to apples.

 

[Breezy]

I wonder if charging in a cold wintery garage might allow it to charge faster? It's all about dissipating heat without frying the chemistry.

I'm sure it would help. The charger is this instance may have been throttling itself if the cooling system couldn't keep up.

2:34 is about what I'd expect for a 24 kW charger.

 

[Raymondjram]

I saw that video, and the reviewer mentioned that the factory speed limiter in the Bolt EV is set at 93 MPH, so it cannot go faster. Anyway, the Bolt EV is NOT a race car, but for the torque it delivers, I see someone buying one and modifying it to be a racer, maybe reducing the battery to the capacity it needs just for one race and lightening it up a bit.

 

[Ziv]

0-60 in 6.3 is sweet! The charging is a bit of surprise. I think it may be an outlier. The article really shows the excellent value of the Bolt.

 

[BAZINGA]

"Toss the Bolt’s puppy-dog driving dynamics into the mix with its stellar efficiency and family-friendly packaging, and the choice becomes pretty clear: the Chevrolet Bolt EV wins. More than any EV that’s come before it, the Bolt makes emissions-free, environmentally friendly transportation a realistic proposition for millions of Americans. It has made the current crop of pricey, short-range electric cars from BMW, Nissan, and others utterly irrelevant."

MT just said this about the Bolt. Hell has frozen over.

 

[Barry]

Interesting that the top speed is set to 93 mph. One of the lowest I am aware of (EV-1 was 80). Hopefully that will not be a turn-off to buyers. It would not be a negative for me since that speed is in “lose your license” territory for me anywhere I would ever drive it. I would actually consider it a plus since it would eliminate the possibility that my teenage boys could drive it at dangerous triple digit speeds. I guess if MT didn’t criticize it, it should not be a problem.

 

[Shivetya]

One reason the Bolt has a good chance at success is because four door sedans are not that popular in the lower pricing points and keep losing ground to CUVs all the time.

 

[Kraven]

Motor Trend - 2017 Bolt vs 2016 Tesla Model S 60

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/bolt-ev/2017/2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev-vs-2016-tesla-model-s-60/?wc_mid=4035:3979&wc_rid=4035:455115&_wcsid=7DA9A15BCC2C7A7CA26E45B307E8A9B212CF6E9B95C3A2D1

 

[Loboc]

Coolness. I love that the Bolt 'wins', but, that is highly subjective depending on your use case.

 

[Norton]

Once again the gushing about Tesla...

"The ultra-efficient motor is good for ..." Really? Is this motor any more efficient than all the other EV's out there?
They all turn kW into mechanical power at very high efficiency compared to burning gas.

"Aided by regenerative braking and arguably the best-feeling brakes ever fit to an electric car..."
No, they are not 'aided by'. They are simply hydraulic friction brakes. Exactly like any non-hybrid gasser car.
The regen comes from the driver's use of the Go Pedal. Tesla demands you drive it the '1 Pedal Style'.
Or you can config regen to Low and have the brakes turn kenetic energy into heat, exactly like any old gasser.

With the Bolt you get the engineering marvel of a 'Blended Brake Pedal' !! And it's not an expensive option....

"Drive isn’t necessarily the most efficient way to drive an electric car, ..."
Says who? This has never been proven. Regen is regen. Period.
Some geeks love driving in L. Good, enjoy! With the Bolt you are given the choice!

"The Bolt engineers I’ve spoken to expect that most owners will spend the majority of their time in Low,.."
Really? Find some engineers that are not geeks.
There is no engineering reason to assimilate. Over the same route, at the same speeds there is no difference.
It's smoother and less work to drive in D, just like a normal person.

edit:
One more example, only it's not about the Amazing, Tremendous, Superlatives that authors use when talking about Tesla's, (kind of like that political guy).
"After draining the Bolt’s battery, we plugged it into the fastest available Bolt-compatible charger, a 50 kW-hr Level 3 DC Fast Charger, with 6 miles of range left. Compared to the Tesla, the Bolt took a painfully slow two hours and 34 minutes to be good to go."
Here they talk about Topping Up completely at a DCFC. This is bad EV Etiquette. It charges at 50kW to 80%, then it tapers that rate several times before 100%. The idea is to Sit and Git at a DCFC. You don't walk off to dinner and a movie.

 

[Bacardi]

6.3 is actually great...I really thought it would have been closer to 6.8-6.9...

One reason the Bolt has a good chance at success is because four door sedans are not that popular in the lower pricing points and keep losing ground to CUVs all the time.

Multiple ways to look at it, the top 3 selling vehicles are pickup trucks, #4 and #5 are the Camry and Accord yet the CUV/crossover segment which includes over 100 vehicles is red hot...The problem though is many will not consider the Bolt EV a CUV; Chevy doesn't even consider it's own Sonic hatchback a CUV...The Bolt EV is often compared to the Honda Fit, which it calls a hatchback, but they do offer a CUV on the Fit platform, it's a HR-V with even includes an AWD option...But all things being equal, the segment isn't going to make a huge difference...If you could the get the same Bolt EV stats/price into say a Silverado it wouldn't magically jump to 375K orders and in fact...In fact, even if you offer 1000 miles of range for $19,995 there are some that just do not desire EVs...But if gas prices do go up it could force people to EVs...

 

[SSonnentag]

It’ll do 0 to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds, and the Chevy will motor through the quarter mile in 14.9 seconds at 93.1 mph.

Nice! Quicker than a 1984 Chevrolet Corvette! Compare at 0-60 mph 6.6 | Quarter mile 14.9 sec

 

[hvacman]

This appears to be an unsupervised test drive by MT. I bet this is the next phase in GM's publicity plan - turn Bolts over to a dozen or so auto journalists to "have at it". No pre-determined test drive route. NO GM staff handler. Charge it yourself. Play with it. See what happens. Embargo releasing published articles until 10/31. We may see a bunch of similar articles released in the next day or so. Keep your eyes peeled.

Re: 0-60 times - Motor Trend subtracts the roll-out time between the staging lights in their 0-60 time, which tends to subtract about 0.3 seconds from a "true" 0-60 time. So corrected time would be about 6.6 seconds. They do use the same testing technique for every car, so it is good for comparison purposes if you only use MT times. But you can't directly compare factory-measured times with MT times.

How MT tests cars

My favorite quote:

[The Bolt EV] has made the current crop of pricey, short-range electric cars from BMW, Nissan, and others utterly irrelevant.

Wow.

 

[phil0909]

Coolness. I love that the Bolt 'wins', but, that is highly subjective depending on your use case.

Yes, very subjective. And Motor Trend even seems a little confused - they say the Bolt wins, but give the Tesla 4 stars, compared to only 3.5 stars they give the Bolt. For me, I think the Bolt looks better.

- Bolt performance sounds quite good
- Wind noise is louder than Tesla, I hope it's not too bad
- Braking distance is a bit longer than I'd prefer
- Turning circle is not great for such a small car (I know this is not new information)
- 93.1 mph top speed is a little better than the 91 previously advertised (not a big deal, but I do sometimes exceed 91...)

Seems like a pretty good review.

 

[Joe67]

This appears to be an unsupervised test drive by MT. I bet this is the next phase in GM's publicity plan - turn Bolts over to a dozen or so auto journalists to "have at it". No pre-determined test drive route. NO GM staff handler. Charge it yourself. Play with it. See what happens. Embargo releasing published articles until 10/31. We may see a bunch of similar articles released in the next day or so. Keep your eyes peeled.

*snip*

It's actually how things have been done for some time now

 

[hvacman]

Update: I was right about a lifted embargo. At the end of today's feature article, Jeff Cobb attached a link to a new Car and Drive review. They got 0-60 in 6.5 seconds. Lots of other interesting information, too.

C&D Bolt EV test drive and review.

 

[SSonnentag]

That's awesome news!!! This means that I should have no trouble at all setting my cruise at 65 for my twice-weekly 185-mile trip.

"With the cruise control set to 75 mph and the climate system set to 72 degrees, we drove the battery to exhaustion in 190 miles."