I've had my heart set on a new Bolt EV for a few months now, and have been really looking forward to being able to buy one here in Arizona. I make a 190-mile each way every weekend, so I was excited to see that the Bolt was rated at 238 miles, plenty to make my trips. But over the past few weeks, with cooling temperatures, I've had serious doubts as to whether I could make the drive on a single charge. The drive involves a total elevation gain of 6841 ft, with an elevation loss of 2470 ft over the entire uphill drive. Road speeds are 55 mph for the first 15 miles, then 10 miles of 75 mph freeway, and the remainder is 65 mph 2-lane highway. Under ideal temperatures, Spring and Fall, I could probably make the drive if I kept my speed down to 60 mph, but in the Summer and Winter, with AC and heating/defrosting requirements, it doesn't seem likely.
So, rather than deal with weekly range anxiety and having to hold up traffic, I have decided to purchase a 2017 Volt Premier. It should arrive either today or tomorrow. I'm looking forward to having the adaptive cruise control too, one feature that isn't currently an option on the Bolt EV.
Below is an elevation profile of my weekly trip. Once uphill and then downhill a couple of days later.
Is that Phoenix to Flagstaff? That's quite a climb. Regardless you probably made the right decision unless you had a place to stop and charge on the way up. Coming back down would for sure not be a problem.
Wanting a BEV is mostly emotional. An electric range of 53 miles is quite good and should cover most daily driving. So with your Volt you likely won't use much gas anyway. It's just the principle of the thing.
You'll probably save a boatload of money, too...Appears dealers are willing to knock $4k-$5k off the sales price for Volts; the Bolt isn't even available in AZ yet and odds are, when it is, you won't be getting that much off the sticker for a long time...
Is that Phoenix to Flagstaff? That's quite a climb. Regardless you probably made the right decision unless you had a place to stop and charge on the way up. Coming back down would for sure not be a problem.
I agree, downhill shouldn't be an issue at all, but I'd be making the uphill trip after dark in the winter, and it gets pretty chilly, even in Arizona.
You'll probably save a boatload of money, too...Appears dealers are willing to knock $4k-$5k off the sales price for Volts; the Bolt isn't even available in AZ yet and odds are, when it is, you won't be getting that much off the sticker for a long time...
Yep. My dealer located the Volt I wanted, color (red) and both safety packages, along with ACC and Nav. I'm not very good at getting good car deals, but signed for $37,861 cash.
Be sure to double check that the sticker says adaptive cruise control. The front grill is also a little different if it is equipped with ACC. Some forum members have driven home in their new Volt only to discover ACC was not included.
Yep, I verified the build sheet with the manager. They had a Premier on the lot, but it didn't have any additional packages, but I did get to sit in it for awhile and drive it a couple of miles. I was impressed that it actually had 12 miles of range on the battery. Every other Volt I've looked at when I was looking to buy my 2013 had 0 miles of range.
For fun you can go to evtripplanner.com and configure a Tesla MS70 and run it. It will show you how well a car with about a 230 mile range will fare over your route. You can play with all the settings (speed, load, OAT, Cabin Temp etc)
It can be a eye opener for many. The guy that designed this site says he plans on adding the BOLT as soon as he gets some data from real world owners.
For fun you can go to evtripplanner.com and configure a Tesla MS70 and run it. It will show you how well a car with about a 230 mile range will fare over your route. You can play with all the settings (speed, load, OAT, Cabin Temp etc)
It can be a eye opener for many. The guy that designed this site says he plans on adding the BOLT as soon as he gets some data from real world owners.
Thanks! Great site. Using realistic January values, the calculator comes up with 73 kWh of power needed to make the trip. I'm glad I chose the Volt even more now.
As good as 238 miles range is, there are clearly a LOT of situations out there, mine included, where BEV simply won't work until it reaches the range of a typical gas tank (350-400 miles). Until that can be done in a BEV, with a $35k sticker price, and recharge in the time it takes to eat lunch, there will be a place in the world for EREV's.
It's obvious that GM and other car companies don't give a rat's a** about EVs and were only doing it for Compliance. With the MPG/CAFE standards likely going away, there's no incentive for them to do anything but sell trucks and SUVs.
Too bad. Typical GM shortsightedness. They really could have had a major victory here. I wish Elon Musk would buy GM's EV division.
Tesla Volts and Bolts for the masses, with the other models being the high end luxury cars.
It's obvious that GM and other car companies don't give a rat's a** about EVs and were only doing it for Compliance. With the MPG/CAFE standards likely going away, there's no incentive for them to do anything but sell trucks and SUVs.
Too bad. Typical GM shortsightedness. They really could have had a major victory here. I wish Elon Musk would buy GM's EV division.
Tesla Volts and Bolts for the masses, with the other models being the high end luxury cars.
Please, this is pure BS (due to election or otherwise)
FYI GM has changed NOTHING about their rollout plans for the Bolt.
"The plan" has always been to essentially emulate the rollout for the Volt, starting in Cali and Oregon for initial deliveries in 2016 then stage them throughout the rest of the 46-states (beginning with CARB states and other stronger sales markets) throughout 2017.
Nothing's changed.
Typical anti-GM BS from electrek (a Tesla shill site) is all you are propogating
FYI GM has changed NOTHING about their rollout plans for the Bolt.
"The plan" was to essentially emulate the rollout for the Volt, starting in Cali and Oregon for initial deliveries in 2016 then stage them throughout the rest of the states through 2017. Nothings changed.
Curious to know, though, why GM doesn't push the Volt more. With the BOLT, they really have a Tesla killer. Will they ever get more aggressive with the advertising?
Our 2016 Volt when in electric mode uses quite a lot of electricity when leaving at sea level to 1642 feet elevation on the Oregon Coast Mt. Range on Highway 26. Usually after 30 miles when in mountain mode the gas engine kicks in with about 9 miles or so of electric range left. This is with fall/winter with temps at low to mid 40's and climate control on 74 degrees as my wife likes a warm car. I would have to believe the same fate would be with the Chevy Bolt as it is pure electric and no gas engine option. Now on level road conditions 55 miles or more on electric is the norm. So terrain, temp. etc makes a big difference.
You made a wise choice going with the Volt as there is no range anxiety. Also when running just on gas the engine is quite fuel efficient. Our trips to Portland Oregon, about 170 miles round trip, consistently gives us over 45+ mpg just on gas. Last trip yesterday was 47.5 mpg just on gas with fall / winter temps.
I don't believe you could make the trip with a Bolt especially during winter on a full charge without being stranded on the roadway.
I didn't realize this was only 190 miles. Maybe because the Yuma-Phoenix route always seems so freaking long! LOL If this were only an occasional trip I'd think it might work since there will be CCS chargers in Phoenix, which is about half way. But every week would be a big hassle. Plus you'd want to charge in Prescott.
This is a problem for GM which I identified when the letter went out about changing CAFE. You have 95 million Millennials and the number one concern for this group is Climate Change. In fact I was just talking to a very nice young woman today and she made clear that, at last in her case, this was definitely true. Given this will be the largest consumer demographic in US history, that these folks will be tomorrow's customers for many years to come, and given that GM has the technology to meet or exceed CAFE, you have to wonder why in the world GM would allow itself to get roped into an effort to compromise CAFE, which of course will be viewed as an effort to accelerate climate change. I simply don't get it.
What you've just written is a good example of how this will work. Even though GM isn't changing anything, the stories are surfacing that it will. I can see it now over at the Telsla/InsideEVs websites. The best way to avoid being tarred would be to distance itself from the whole repeal CAFE movement. GM needs leadership on this issue and it will be better off not listening to the bean counters.
You have chosen well. I just spent Thanksgiving at Mammoth in CA. 333 mi. one way from Anaheim, via Angeles Crest Hwy./Rte.14. (Sea level--7000+ ft.) With a full charge at each end, the trip can be done without stopping (try that, Tesla-or Bolt..) and the return leg, much of it downhill yields some astounding gas consumption and range figures. The Volt is perfect for this application, with its quiet, comfort... and XM Sirius service.
note:Gen 2 engine noise on long uphills is muffled & half the engine ruckus that my Gen 1 displayed on the same route. (65 mph)
Well done, Chevy.
I didn't realize this was only 190 miles. Maybe because the Yuma-Phoenix route always seems so freaking long! LOL If this were only an occasional trip I'd think it might work since there will be CCS chargers in Phoenix, which is about half way. But every week would be a big hassle. Plus you'd want to charge in Prescott.
I go up highway 95 from Yuma to Quartzsite, and then cut north through Brenda, Salome, Wenden, Aguila and Congress. Phoenix is farther east and would add a lot to the distance. There is a set of Tesla superchargers in Quartzsite, roughly half way to my destination. I have never seen a single car charging there. If the Model 3 were actually available and Tesla didn't have such a lousy reliability record, I'd be sorely tempted.
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