Chevy Bolt Review - 5 Impressions After Renting
I rented a Chevy Bolt to find out what it’s like to drive.
The Chevy Bolt is one of the top choices if you are looking for an electric car with over 200 miles of range for less than 40k. Indeed I can’t really think of any other options that fit those criteria other than the Bolt or a Nissan Leaf. So I took the opportunity to rent one of the Hertz Bolts for 3 days.
This Bolt was NOT the EUV, which is pretty popular too since it is a bit bigger. Always a sucker for performance and hoping for the light car to wow me, I went with the standard small hatchback with 260 mile range.
The 0-60 is slower than my Tesla, but even at 6.5 seconds or so the EV torque delivery makes it fun nonetheless. Highway driving was tame and it had plenty of power to pass or get to safety.
At the end of the trip while I topped off the electrons, I reflected on the five things that stood out most, and here they are:
1 - High end interior for the price point.
The cheapest economy cars are filled with hard plastic these days - the type that flex and show gaps with the slightest pressure from your thumb. I was kind of expecting that with the little Chevy but instead found a neatly trimmed and plush interior!
The dashboard and infotainment system was well laid out and easy to use, and even the seats were comfortable. If I had to pick on something it would have to be the parking brake button and the regen paddle on the steering wheel, but that is really a complaint around the driving dynamics as opposed to the interior fit and finish.
2 - For a small car, it was pretty big inside!
I am big enough that I feel the crunch in smaller cars. I’m sorry to say that at 6 feet tall sitting in a Kia EV6 with the seat all the way down my head still hit the ceiling if I sat up straight. The Bolt however had plenty of room for me!
In the front seat I had no problems driving and had plenty of head and leg room. In the back seat my knees just missed hitting the front seats. Of course it doesn’t have the same amount of room as a larger SUV, but for the size of the Bolt I was pleasantly surprised with the roomy interior.
3 - Rear cargo room was very small.
The first time I opened the rear hatch I wondered if I had! Okay it wasn’t quite that small but not too far off. I spend a good amount of time in a 2013 Honda Fit and the rear hatch of that is downright roomy. The Bolt had room for two small boxes or bags and that’s it.
I think it is clear where the room in the back seats comes from at the end of the day. But if you don’t need the back seats then you can fold them down and treat yourself to a decent sized space for moving stuff around.
4 - The range and efficiency was surprisingly good!
For context, the average mile/kwh in my Tesla Model 3 Performance is about 3.33 (that does include quite a few miles on the track). In my mighty rental Bolt I hit about 5 miles per kwh which was great!
I think it is reasonable for most to assume somewhere between 4 - 5 miles per kwh in good weather and mixed driving. Most of my 100 mile trip was at about 55 mph and 70 degrees so was definitely ideal.
Because the car doesn’t have sentry mode like a Tesla, that further makes it seem efficient over several days if you are used to losing that energy.
5 - How long does it take to charge a Chevy Bolt? Slow…
My biggest disappointment with the Bolt was that it took a very long time to DC fast charge. The absolute max rate with the perfect charger and conditions is 55kw, but in the real world people more often report getting in the 30-40kw range.
For me, I plugged it into a 350kw fast charger after driving 50 miles on the highway and it was able to charge 20 kw in an hour. This slow rate is simply due to the Bolt not being built to accommodate faster charge speeds.
Because it hasn’t been reengineered since release (Chevy is putting development into the new Ultium platform cars) they Bolt also doesn’t have any battery preconditioning which is another consideration if you expect to fast charge often.
Should you get a Chevy Bolt?
If I was looking for an EV I would absolutely buy the Chevy Bolt, as long as I rarely needed to DC fast charge.
Because EV ownership is still so new to people there is a lot of misinformation about battery degradation which has led to some serious deals on the used market. It isn’t that big of a deal, but until people realize it isn’t the used EV market will have an extra discount. Because of that market discount, a Chevy Bolt can be had in decent condition in the 10k-15k range. Some folks have even gotten rebates and walked away with a 5 year old car for 5k, where else can you find deals like this? Add to that the lack of maintenance for EVs and the value becomes even better. So if I was looking for a cheap commuter car, a used Chevy Bolt is a compelling choice.
If your budget is higher, you need to regularly DC fast charge, you want to get into tracking your car regularly, or you nee more room for people and cargo than this little hatch then I’d suggest you continue the search. But hey, isn’t figuring out the right car for the right uses all part of the fun?
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