The Bolt EUV: One-Year and 30,000 Miles Later
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- čas přidán 1. 03. 2024
- I have owned the 2023 Bolt EUV, Premier, Redline Edition in Summit White for the past 366 days (1 Leap Year). I can HONESTLY say, without anyone bribing or paying me a single dime, that this is the BEST car I have ever owned. That is something, considering I have owned 16 vehicles over the past 40+ years, including Datsun, Ford, Mazda, Pontiac, Honda, and Chevrolet. The last Chevrolet I owned before moving to the Bolt platform was a 1984 Chevrolet Cavalier. Chevy has come a LONG way, baby! A long way from the Cavalier.
In this video, we will talk about:
- Total Cost of Ownership
- Notable Road Trips
- Aftermarket Additions
- Battery Management and Recalibration of the BMS
- The Rear Bumper Revival
- and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Here are the links to the videos that I mentioned in this episode. So, go back and watch them if you want to know more:
The 1,200 Mile Road Trip:
• Bolt EUV Charging Cost...
Rear Bumper Revival:
• Rear Bumper Revival
Battery Management System:
• Bolt EUV Battery Capac...
Starting with this video, I will no longer respond to negative comments. I will delete them and, if the user is abusive or will not stop making comments, I will block them from this channel. Sorry...I just don't have enough time to waste on people who cannot think and reason on their own anymore!
I will be doing a second video on the Bolt and the 30,000-mile threshold shortly. I am still pulling together information and updates. Sometimes it takes days to analyze the mountains of data that I have on hand.
Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to seeing out there, or somewhere along the route from Point A to Point B. Take it easy!
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I have a 2023 Bolt EUV Redline Black, I charge at work, the only time I pay to charge is one day a week on my days off plus an occasional $16 DCfast charge at the dealer. Just recently updated my home electric service to TXUEnergy Free EV miles 2 year plan. So far my electricity bill is $16 per month using 205kwh for charging the Bolt EUV. Received the car March 4, 2023, and only had one no start condition on an extremely hot 110°F day, solved by disconnecting 12v battery under the hood and reconnecting with a 10mm wrench. Car currently has 35,500 miles with one tire rotation and about 5 to 10,000 miles left on the original flat free self healing tires. Plus I received $7405.00 back after filing my taxes.
I am looking at a 2022 Bolt EUV with 5,280 miles on it. Loaded up LT that had a $37,080.00 MSRP. With the $4,000.00 tax credit at the time of purchase, I have a quote of $16,500.00 out the door. It is flawless, was a GM buy back due to the timeframe and availability of the battery recall. This buyback not only does not bother me, but also brings a 12/12,000 warranty back on top of the remaining factory warranty. This is a hard deal to pass up given we drive mainly less than 20 miles per day town. This is exactly why I am here, to find real world info WITH the good/bad & ugly. Thank you
Good deal!
@@MyBoltEUV I bought it, out the door including DOC fee ($499) $15,950.00
In the 3 months I've had the car, I haven't had a "road trip" yet. Been charging at work, so I haven't spent a dime on charging. I only have 525 miles on the car.
My work location has several chargers, but none of them close enough to my actual office to use! :)
I love my EUV. The Bolt does charge slowly on CCS but I feel like the real problem that needs to be solved with all non-Tesla EVs is simplicity of charging. My wife and many other non-nerds, would be fine waiting for the Bolt to charge for an extra 20-30 minutes on a road trip but I could never recommend she take it because of all the complication with station apps, broken chargers, etc. I hope that opening the Tesla network will fix that but GM needs to find a way to implement plug and charge at super chargers like Ford and Rivian. That way people can just plug in without dealing with the app.
We also did a trip from near Atlanta to the smoky mountains and it was our first EV road trip. I learned really quickly how much weight the word “guess” carries in guess-o-meter when we were climbing up the mountain. 😂. It was about 10pm, we had 60 miles of range on the GOM with 25 miles to go. Then there was 50 miles of estimated range with 20 miles to go etc. I started to get pretty nervous. The good news is that worst case, I could have turned around and use regen to power up the pack to get to a charger. It didn’t come to that. Once we crested the mountain, the GOM went back up and we ended with 62 miles predicted range.
Anyway, thanks for the video!
I used a TON of energy going up to the Gap ... 1.8 to 2.0 mi/kWh going up. Went from 140 miles to 92 miles in about 15 miles traveled. Coming DOWN, I actually saw 16 mi/kWh and wound up with 132 miles range...adding 40 miles back to the range. Talk about a confused GOM.
6k miles on our Chevy Bolt EUV / Ice Blue today. I love it. it's zippy and fast and really have to watch as it easy to speed :). 33 bucks a month to charge for driving for the ENTIRE month. The center console isn't easy to use when you are sitting in the car. But good to have the storage. Wish it wasn't only a black interior. It will get hot in the summer. No spare tire isn't great but need to get a spare off ebay. Otherwise, it's a keeper. Oh, AWD would be great, so only drive on non-snowy days.
Coming up on 3 years of my Bolt EUV. Best car ive ever owned as well. Plus free charging at work. I have added a 2 inch trailer hitch to mine and its rated to tow 3000 lbs. I mostly use the hitch for my bike rack but it would probably pull a small trailer just fine with all that torque on tap. We have 2 other ICE vehicles and they just never get driven. Our 2019 Mazda now has 5000 miles on it total. My 2016 F150 only has 26,000 miles. All because this little workhorse is the one we always use.
Thanks for the update. Minimal maintenance costs to report on my EUV so far. Dealer comped the 7,500 and 15,000 mile tire rotations. Only had to buy wiper blades
Thanks for sharing
This was a good comparison to show a one-year savings that is typical for your situation. One thing that limits the comparison to a more general EV vs ICE situation is that you mentioned a brake job on the 7 year old Accord. That is a periodic maintenance item for both EV and ICE vehicles. Comparison between a new EUV and a new Accord wouldn't have included a brake job. But, overall, it was a nice video showing real-world savings. I have the same 3D mats in my 2023 Bolt EV and also highly recommend them.
our family just bought 2023 bolt euv premier fully loaded.
has 21k km on it, but it cost the same as a lower equipped model new.
we bought it knowing it isn't a great long distance vehicle.
after the battery problem, they seem to be good reliable ev.
we live in a small town, within easy return distance of a few major surrounding centres.
if i go to the biggest center, there is charging there.
but it's the furthest.
look forward to finding it's range in the summer.
my wife likes all the advanced driving features, including super cruise, which works on the highway just outside town to go anywhere.
Not the best at long distance - but it is NOT impossible.
Awesome video glad I found your channel. Thanks for posting and I’m expecting my EUV on Friday.
Welcome aboard!
Thanks Jim. On your 750 mile trip how much time did you spend charging?
You sure rack up- the miles, our EUV is just a year old too and we only have about 1/3 of your mileage but we're retired.
On the 750 mile trip - I charged 2 times on the way there. 35 minutes and 45 minutes. On the way back, I took my time. 3 times charging - 45 minutes and two 30 minute stops. One of the 30 minute stops was not needed, but I needed food and a break. The final 30 minute charge was needed because I didn't have enough time to do a full overnight charge because I didn't get home until midnight and I was back on the road at 5AM.
I love watching these honest videos makes it easier for the public to make informed decisions
My pleasure.
Thanks for the video. Which app did you find handy with you veepeak reader. Thanks.
Good comparison. Thanks for including the metric measurement. I’m very very happy with my Polestar.
Glad you like it!
Thanks for the Maxpeder 3d mats recommendation. I just bought a front and rear set for my 2020 Bolt EV. Best mats I've ever owned!
They fit well...
Great video. I just turned over 29,000 miles in one year, about to do my 1 year video as well. Keep up the good work.
Thanks...will do!
I owned this car for an year and a nice car I have to say except with the Level 3 charging which take 1 hour and 30 minutes. I have 17000 miles on this car so far.
Great video again Jim. Something to consider for comparison purposes and TCO is insurance cost. While costs used to be slightly higher for EVs, I've read that they are now very close, especially for the Bolt. Tesla may be slightly higher than a comparable ICE. Just want to head off all that misinformation!
i was actually surprised how cheap my insurance was for full coverage.
all the safety features built into vehicles nowadays.
big accidents still happen, but there are less back into thing type accidents with all the corner warnings.
mirrors light up with warnings about blind spot traffic.
adaptive cruise will follow traffic, with lane keep assist to help keep you from wandering.
ev or fossil is no difference.
it's the tech that makes your insurance cheaper or not.
a higher appointed vehicle may actually be cheaper because of safety features.
i drive a 2023 bolt euv fully loaded with super cruise.
I've been wondering about this as well. Jim, if you're willing, could you possibly share your experience with the insurance of the two cars in the video? Maybe as a percentage of each other? Of course vehicle insurance costs are highly variable, and a lot of factors determine a person's rates. I've heard some EV's have comparable rates to ICE's, while others not so much. For example, I've heard Tesla's insurance can be high. I'd appreciate anybody else's experience with EV ownership and insurance costs. I fully expect my next vehicle purchase will be an EV. I'll certainly check with my ins agent before buying, but I'd love all the real world data I can get.
Also thank you Jim for your clear and open representation about your experience. There's seems to be a lot of noise and misinformation out there about EV's, but the presentation in your videos is refreshing.
My insurance with Progressive went up $30 a month after getting the 23 EUV. You would think it would be lower. Oh well...
@stand.6008 if that's vs an older car, that would explain the higher cost
By the end of 2025, the delta between an EV and a comparably sized ICE vehicle will not be noticeable. That will be one more nail in the coffin for ICE technology. But hey...what do I know? For all we know, the electrical grid will overload tomorrow and the EV will be dead...but then again, so will the ICE car! They cannot refine their fuel, deliver it to storage, or pump it in a car without electricity!
Thanks for your commentary. We just bought one a month ago and I will be coming back to your channel. To post how we like it or not.
Awesome! Thank you!
I just stumbled across this site and quickly subbed after that Intro music!
Nice video currently drive a volt, but hope to get the next gen bolt in the nest year or 2
Thanks for the entertaining content Jim :)
My pleasure!
Great job thanks for the detailed information. I love the EVs far more than ICE. The first time I got ine within 6 months my wife said that it was her car. And I would have to drive the ICE. That lasted 2 weeks and I found a very nice 2020 Bolt LT. Not as fancy as yours. But was a great car. It now belongs to my daughter. I hav had for the past 19 months a 2022 ID.4 Pro S RWD. And have put on 62,300 miles in that time. Only things done to it is 2 sets of wiper blades, 2 Cabin air filters, and at 49k new tires. My wife still drives the Leaf.
Wow. I thought I was racking up the miles! 👍
Hi Jim, Nice review, We have a 2023 EUV Premier and are just loving it. I wanted to know where, and when, that car show was held. Right after we bought our Bolt, we displayed our EUV at the Brandon, Drive Electric show in September.
That car show was in Winter Park back in September 2023. Electrify Expo in Orlando is next week...I will be there COVERING the expo...
@@MyBoltEUV enjoy the Electrify Expo, we traveled out to Austin in November. They held the show at the Circuit of the America's race track. My wife and I were able to test drive the Tesla Model Y on the Formula One race track, what an experience!!!!
I’ll be driving about 33,000 miles a year which if I kept driving my gas car I would have spent about $5,000 dollars and with the Chevy bolt ev will be more like 1800 dollars in a year this will be savings of about $3,000 a year.
It is a savings, I can tell you. And the price of gasoline is not coming down anytime soon!
thanks for the video very honest
Always...
Nice state-of-the-Bolt summary! Thanks. Our gasoline price is higher than yours and our kWh price is lower so our savings is a bit better ($0.15/mi for our 23 mpg Outback and about $0.018/mi for our 2022 Bolt EUV Premier (~12% of the ICE cost). However, we don't drive quite as much as you. We've had our Bolt for almost 15 months and have about 5,100 miles to show for it .😂
Of course, ugly is subjective. My vote goes to the Cybertruck.
I know this sounds incredible, but I plan on having 100,000 miles on this beast by late 2026 and I will be documenting every single mile of that, as best I can.
Thanks for the great video. We've had ours for 5 months but 2 were spent out of action as the driver assist crapped out. Chevy and the dealer were really good in fairness, it was just a question of parts availability. Here's a quick question, I noticed your car has super cruise, do you use it, and if so, do you think it's a more or less efficient way to drive (or not drive as the case may be!)? Also do you use an app or the car infotainment system to locate DC fast chargers on road trips, if an app, which one. (apologies if you've covered this in a different vid) Thanks again.
Supercruise? I use it every day - 50 mile commute to work one way. It relieves the stress for about 60 percent of the trip!
DCFC Locator? I use PlugShare to plan my trips. I always make sure I have a Primary charger and an Alternate charger located within a reasonable distance.
Wow, that car is TINY! I used to own the Malibu hybrid (with the Voltec system) and was so looking forward to the Bolt. When it showed up, I was astonished at how small it was. The EUV isn't much better. I ended up getting a Ford Mach-e about 18 months ago, and am thrilled with it.
I hope you're liking the mach-e. I really like the size of the Bolt euv; I would't want it any bigger. I don't drive a kid around anymore, either.
@@davidrandall2742 i also like the price of the bolt euv over any other long range ev.
@@davidrandall2742 I absolutely love the Mach-e after 18 months and 27000 miles. Zero issues. I'm 6'4" so needed a larger car. My "kid" is 21 and 6'2" so when I need to drive him around we have room. :)
Big = good?
@@rp9674 When you are 6'4" with 36" inseam, yes.
How are the seats? They seemed improved over the Bolt, but still very flat and narrow.
Better than the first generation. By a country mile!
Does any of your videos cover the insurance cost or proposed higher licence and registration costs that recoup lost gas tax revenue.
Yes…I’ve covered insurance in two of the videos. Myths…
I was expecting the “ugly” to be the slow fast charging.
That’s not ugly. It’s aggravating!
what's the difference of insurance between bolt and accord?
Surprise - the Accord costs more for the same coverage. Could be the carrier OR it could be the fact that the Bolt is a safer car in a crash? Who knows...insurance companies don't reveal their secrets!
2023 EUV owner here, previously owned a 2019 EV that was totalled - IMO you left out the biggest of the WORST changes to the EUV - the damned tail lights! Not only did they move the brake lights from the big up high tail lights where everyone behind you expects to see brake lights down to the skinny bar in the bumper... they also reverted to stupid US-only combined red brake/turn lights in the skinny bumper fixture. Previously the Bolt had the brake lights where you expect them to be, AND they had proper separate amber turn signals. The next change that bugs me to no end, is that for the EUV they decided to change the rear camera washer to wash the wrong gorram camera! Instead of cleaning the backup camera like they used to, they instead spray the separate rear-view mirror camera that a lot of people probably don't ever use. We love the Bolt for all our around-town driving needs, but with cheap midwest gas, stupid expensive DCFC fees, and the slowest "fast" charge curve on the market, it's still cheaper to take our 2013 RAV4 on any long distance drive.
Alrighty then…have a great day!
How has the battery degradation been? Has it been really noticeable?
Barely noticeable. I’m still at 62.5-63 kWh after 34,000 miles. I’m going to do a very deep measurement on my upcoming road trip in May-stay tuned.
I was trying to buy the EUV Premier but none of them come with Supercruise
Add CommaAI. It’s aftermarket and cheaper.
You probably underestimated the Honda’s maintenance costs. You didn’t include oil changes. Even if you did it yourself, there are costs for the oil and disposal.
I do have a question about tire wear. I did see a news show about how tires wear out faster with EVs. They were saying tire companies were excited at how EVs burned through tires at about 30K miles versus 50K with ICE vehicles. Do you find that to be the case? They said it was the added weight from batteries that caused it.
I included the oil changes. As for tire wear…I don’t know who started the lie that EVs eat tires more. That’s not the case. Same tire on an EV and ICE car side-by-side will wear the same. As for weight…I’ve covered that FUD in several other videos. The delta between the BOLT and TRAX is under 600 lbs. Fill the tank on the TRAX and it’s closer to 500 lbs. Pick ANY car in the same size class as the Bolt and the diff in weight will be minimal.
How are your tires holding up? They typically wear a bit faster in EVs. I’ll probably have to replace mine on my 2023 EUV at 30000 miles. I’m at 18K now.
I’m slightly over 1/2 useful tread gone. They start with 8/32nd. I’m down to 5/32nds. I’ll replace at 3/32nds or 2/32nds depending on handling. I like more tread during rainy season. I got 47500 on my 2017 Bolt on the original tires-same Michelins.
My factory set were done at 30K. I put on a set of 80k tires and they were gone in 30k miles. The tire store warrantied them, and I just put on a new set. Not sure if that was a fluke or if that is the norm.
I think it might ALSO be dependent on road materials. I tend to put the majority of my miles on concrete and paved highways. The secondary roads take a bigger toll...more potholes and coarser aggregate, to I think those will wear your tires quicker. Snow and ice will ALSO reduce life. When I lived in New York, the most I ever got on a set of tires was about 30,000 miles. Not much snow here in Florida! :)
Expect no more than 40k on the original self healing tires, with proper tire rotations. Expensive OE tires($250 a piece), but they are self healing, will be buying OE tires again.
Question for everyone here after the 240 outlet install the electrician recommended a surge protector to protect the car in case there is a current surge? Has anyone done this ? Or is the electrician just trying to get extra money.
Mine was installed by a friend and he didn't mention a surge protector. I guess I dont think it would hurt anything if you did go ahead and have it installed.
Your 240Vac is protected by a 30amp fuse in your fuse box at home. When I charge my EV, I program the EV to a limit of 24amps of charging. No need for surge protectors.
I have a "whole house" surge device, and most houses do already. There really is no need for an for anything other than the EVSE that will deliver the power to your car's charger!
EV insurance cost is similar to comparable gassers. Insurance cost factors: Driving record

Credit

Coverage

Gender

Marital status

Deductible

Mileage

Car

History

Discount options

Cost of parts

Safety
Age
Location
Vehicle
Insurance history
Vehicle type
Driving history
Other stuff
Mostly the driver. Tickets? Wrecks? Comprehensive Claims? That all means HIGHER insurance rates...no matter the type of car!
@@MyBoltEUV I believe that
How much is the insurance?
For me, it is less than it was on my previous ICE car. That is all I can tell you. Your rates will be based on your age, your driving habits (wrecks, tickets) and you insurance company.
Jim, have you heard of Chevy will provide a Tesla adapters, Similar to what FORD
Still investigating that -- will do a video once I have the answer.
I spoke to the Chevy concierge service and the indicted they will have a Tesla adapter within a few months. She did not say whether it would be provided free. I hope it is, or at least reasonably priced for new owners.
30k miles without new tires? What about tires, insurance, and registration cost comparisons?
I am at 36,000 miles now with plenty of tread left. Insurance is less than my wife's 8 year old ICE card. Registration costs (at least for now) are the same as they are for ICE cars here in FL. Legislation to collect extra fees to offset the gas tax failed to pass. But it is only a matter of time...
@@MyBoltEUV Do you think it's because maybe the car weighs less than most EV's and with less HP it doesn't chew up tires?
Wait what about the car wash????
Drive up…pay..wash!? I’ll do a video on that shortly.
I think your comparison could have been more fair to the Bolt if you had taken fewer road trips and charged more at home. You paid 4 cents per mile at home and almost 8 cents per mile on the road. The average person would do way less than 1000 miles on road trips per year and charge mostly at home. The ICE vehicle had one average cost of gasoline which you compared to two average prices on your EV, and you drove four times as much at the LOWER price, and averaged the two prices without any bias. You had over 6000 miles of non-home charging, probably six times more than most people would have. But even with the advantage of having only one wavering price for gasoline in that year, your wife paid 13 cents per mile, while at the most, you paid 8 cents per mile with fast charging and 4 cents per mile charging at home. And honestly, if you took advantage of charging only at night with cooperation with your utility, you would have even more savings.
But, if you really want to make heads explode, get a solar roof on your house or lawn solar, and offset with that. I know of two people with solar roofs that actually don't pay to drive their EVs.
BTW, I drive about 7200 miles per year, factoring in 2000 for a 1000-mile road trip, which I don't do every year. That would be $208 per year charging at home and $160 for the road trip. The 30 miles per weekday that I factored in was very liberal. It's 7 miles back and forth to work.
Heads are going to explode no matter what because some people don’t have the capacity to increase their knowledge or expand their database…this, adding a certain truth sets them into meltdown and eventual explosion. 🤣
Keep in mind that both platforms, ICE or electric have a cost to manufacture in terms of carbon footprint and toxicity caused to environment. Both require digging into the earth to extract minerals. Yes an electric will come out ahead after X number of years of ownership. Each model has a different X value but often 4 to 7 years. Also there is the recycling cost to the environment. A bicycle is the most efficient, even an electric one. It is still hard to beat my old Suzuki Swift at 62 mpg. However if Chevy or Tesla lower their prices I will not mind trying electric. For now, I save by riding my bike. Wouldn’t it be great if the Bolt was a mini truck under 3,000 lbs? And wouldn’t it make sense to have swappable battery packs? I could leave one at home charging while using the other. (yes in modular form to make their removal easy)
I remember the Swift. I remember the great mileage. But 62 mpg? Not on a gas-only model. As for manufacturing. Carbon footprint disappears when manufacturing with renewable energy. That’s the ultimate goal. You should watch a few of my other videos about carbon efficiency. The x number of years is incorrect. It is based on mileage and MOST BEVS will become net-zero in less than 25,000 miles when compared to their equivalent ICE brothers. Especially when the charging is done during off-peak, base-load waste periods or from wind/solar. 25 percent of my electric is solar. 80 percent of my charging is off-peak. So comparing the operating carbon footprint of a BEV to an ICE vehicle … the BEV is orders of magnitude less carbon intrusive and 2-3 times cheaper.
Fuelly.com/car/suzuki/swift
OK, X miles then not years. I guess I only put on a couple of thousand miles per year. I know others who put on much more. And yes, other Suzuki Swift owners i knew cited much higher mpg than mine. I got the lemon. But mine was a manual shift and I always timed the shifting for conservation. It only had 3 cylinders. I could not use the a/c otherwise I would feel it. Still a great car which is not available anymore. Electric cars will happen but the infrastructure is lagging. I am waiting for a lighter weight electric. The Bolt ev with a smaller battery would do it.
I show ICE owners a twenty dollar bill and tell them that it is representative of $100 of gas....... $80 is lost out the tail pipe and shed from the radiator as heat. Only $20 is left to move you down the road.......It is funny how many just don't get the concept that the internal combustion engine is terribly inefficient. Love the ones who believe that Hydrogen will save the ICE industry despite the fact that Hydrogen is less energy dense than gasoline and subject to the same inefficiencies. 🤣
I liken it to - you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. No matter how many facts, figures, testimonies, or tons of proof you present to SOME ICE enthusiasts, they always have an answer as to why EV's will not survive. The problem with this mentality isn't that they're dumb, they just know so much that is not so!
Ugliest EV is definitely the Cybertruck now lol
I don't know ... I still have to lean into the Mitsubishi!
Do the math after a non warranty battery swap.
I have already DONE the math...just take the time to watch the videos before you post a comment!