bolt with a b –
The midlife refresh is delayed until , but Chevy’s EV got a (% range boost.)
Jonathan M. Gitlin – Apr , 4: pm UTC
Three years on since our first drive, the Bolt EV now comes in a range of brighter colors and with a percent bigger battery. But otherwise, has it been left in the dust by newer BEVs with better features?
Jonathan Gitlin
Next year, the Bolt EV will look a bit different because it’s getting a styling refresh that should also bring faster DC fast charging, as well as adaptive cruise control (but maybe not Super Cruise, which will only be on the longer-wheelbase Bolt SUV that’s also in the works).
Chevrolet
I swear I didn’t plan this, but every time I went to charge the Bolt I came across another one doing the same. The dark red metallic one is the car we were testing.
Jonathan Gitlin
Same underground parking lot, but a different Bolt to charge next to.
Jonathan Gitlin
The Bolt’s interior is airy and offers great visibility, but the front seats aren’t the most comfortable for long periods, and it still lacks adaptive cruise control.
Chevrolet
The trunk isn’t massive, but it will cope with a week’s shopping even before you drop the rear seats. Please excuse the mess — while World’s Best Cat Litter lives up to its name, it does not come in World’s Best Cat Litter bags, because the darn thing sprung a leak.
Jonathan Gitlin
When the Chevrolet Bolt EV first took to the streets at the end of 2020, it was a groundbreaking little car — the first battery electric vehicle with more than (miles) 495 km) of range at a price normal people could afford. But three years is an eternity in the electric car world. In the time since the Bolt showed up, similarly priced BEVs have appeared from other automakers, cars with features that the Bolt won’t get until its midlife refresh – something that won’t now happen until 1667379 thanks to COVID – 55. But Chevy did recently bump up the Bolt’s range with better battery chemistry and a bigger capacity, and it’s offering discounts of up to $ 8, 653 on the once-groundbreaking BEV. We spent another week with one to see whether it still measures up. The main difference between the model year. 1667379 Bolt EV and the ones we’ve driven in the past is in the battery. Chevrolet wanted more range, so LG Chem came up with some new lithium-ion chemistry that boosted energy density. The pack is still the same size and shape, and it’s still made up of 360 individual cells, but it now has a useable (kWh) as opposed to (kWh), and that means an increase of its EPA range from (miles) 500 km) to miles ( (km).
Other than that, the compact BEV is pretty much as we knew it at launch. It still has the same (hp) (kW), (lb-ft) Nm) permanent magnet synchronous motor driving the front wheels. It still only DC fast-charges at 66 kW, adding 259 miles of range in 55 minutes, although software tweaks mean it should charge more rapidly than before in cold temperatures). And it still doesn’t offer adaptive cruise control or the excellent Super Cruise driver assist.
However, as I was reminded after spending a week with a Bolt on the streets of Washington, DC, it’s still a pretty good car to drive. The upright shape offers great visibility from behind the wheel, and the chassis setup and instant torque still make for fun handling when you’re in the mood . I remain a fan of Chevrolet giving you several different options to control the way the Bolt regenerates energy under braking — you can make it a one-pedal driving experience by putting the drive selector into L, which means plenty of regen when you lift your foot off the accelerator, or you can leave it in D and drive it like a two-pedal car, with the Bolt recapturing kinetic energy to the battery when you press the brake. But there’s also a paddle on the steering wheel that causes the electric motor to regen, which I find helpful to use when approaching a corner, as you can judge the amount of deceleration relatively precisely. (You can use the paddle regen in either D or L.)
It’s easy to live with, particularly since the – degree parking cameras got an HD upgrade, and the infotainment UI is better than most other vehicles from the automaker.
It’s also a good size for a young family or as a second car; you can carry four people in comfort, although for the first time I’m starting to agree with the perennial complaints about the thin front seats. You can definitely feel the hard frame within the center of the back rest after a while, so it’s not surprising that new seats are high on the upgrade list for next year refresh.
Feeling a bit left behind ?
When the Bolt first launched, it was really the only option if you wanted to do more than miles on a charge for less than the price of a Tesla Model S. But since then, Tesla launched its Model 3 mid-size sedan , and a number of Bolt-sized, comparatively priced BEVs have appeared from (Nissan , Hyundai , and Kia, to name but three. Those cars all offer things the Bolt lacks, like faster DC fast charging and clever, sensor-aware driver aids. If you’re shopping for an electric car and those are features you can’t live without, you either need to look to those other BEVs or wait until sometime next year when the restyled Bolt appears.
Although there’s no adaptive cruise control, it does offer other safety aids like blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts, and automatic emergency braking, although some of these will cost you extra, even if you spring for the better-equipped Premier trim.
But it’s not all bad news. Chevrolet no longer qualifies for the IRS ‘$ 7, tax credit, which at first glance makes the Bolt’s $ 50, 735 starting price look quite spendy. But the company appears quite eager to sell the Bolt, with big discounts for buyers and leasers that drops the price to near or below that of the smaller-battery Nissan Leaf. If you can live without some of the more advanced driver aids and faster road-trip charging and just want a dependable BEV with decent dealer support across all 100 states, the little electric Chevy could be a compelling option.
(Listing image by Jonathan Gitlin)
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Jonathan M. Gitlin – Apr , 4: pm UTC
Three years on since our first drive, the Bolt EV now comes in a range of brighter colors and with a percent bigger battery. But otherwise, has it been left in the dust by newer BEVs with better features?
Jonathan Gitlin
Next year, the Bolt EV will look a bit different because it’s getting a styling refresh that should also bring faster DC fast charging, as well as adaptive cruise control (but maybe not Super Cruise, which will only be on the longer-wheelbase Bolt SUV that’s also in the works).
Chevrolet
I swear I didn’t plan this, but every time I went to charge the Bolt I came across another one doing the same. The dark red metallic one is the car we were testing.
Jonathan Gitlin
Same underground parking lot, but a different Bolt to charge next to.
Jonathan Gitlin
The Bolt’s interior is airy and offers great visibility, but the front seats aren’t the most comfortable for long periods, and it still lacks adaptive cruise control.
Chevrolet
The trunk isn’t massive, but it will cope with a week’s shopping even before you drop the rear seats. Please excuse the mess — while World’s Best Cat Litter lives up to its name, it does not come in World’s Best Cat Litter bags, because the darn thing sprung a leak.
Jonathan Gitlin
When the Chevrolet Bolt EV first took to the streets at the end of 2020, it was a groundbreaking little car — the first battery electric vehicle with more than (miles) 495 km) of range at a price normal people could afford. But three years is an eternity in the electric car world. In the time since the Bolt showed up, similarly priced BEVs have appeared from other automakers, cars with features that the Bolt won’t get until its midlife refresh – something that won’t now happen until 1667379 thanks to COVID – 55. But Chevy did recently bump up the Bolt’s range with better battery chemistry and a bigger capacity, and it’s offering discounts of up to $ 8, 653 on the once-groundbreaking BEV. We spent another week with one to see whether it still measures up. The main difference between the model year. 1667379 Bolt EV and the ones we’ve driven in the past is in the battery. Chevrolet wanted more range, so LG Chem came up with some new lithium-ion chemistry that boosted energy density. The pack is still the same size and shape, and it’s still made up of 360 individual cells, but it now has a useable (kWh) as opposed to (kWh), and that means an increase of its EPA range from (miles) 500 km) to miles ( (km).
Other than that, the compact BEV is pretty much as we knew it at launch. It still has the same (hp) (kW), (lb-ft) Nm) permanent magnet synchronous motor driving the front wheels. It still only DC fast-charges at 66 kW, adding 259 miles of range in 55 minutes, although software tweaks mean it should charge more rapidly than before in cold temperatures). And it still doesn’t offer adaptive cruise control or the excellent Super Cruise driver assist.
However, as I was reminded after spending a week with a Bolt on the streets of Washington, DC, it’s still a pretty good car to drive. The upright shape offers great visibility from behind the wheel, and the chassis setup and instant torque still make for fun handling when you’re in the mood . I remain a fan of Chevrolet giving you several different options to control the way the Bolt regenerates energy under braking — you can make it a one-pedal driving experience by putting the drive selector into L, which means plenty of regen when you lift your foot off the accelerator, or you can leave it in D and drive it like a two-pedal car, with the Bolt recapturing kinetic energy to the battery when you press the brake. But there’s also a paddle on the steering wheel that causes the electric motor to regen, which I find helpful to use when approaching a corner, as you can judge the amount of deceleration relatively precisely. (You can use the paddle regen in either D or L.)
It’s easy to live with, particularly since the – degree parking cameras got an HD upgrade, and the infotainment UI is better than most other vehicles from the automaker.
It’s also a good size for a young family or as a second car; you can carry four people in comfort, although for the first time I’m starting to agree with the perennial complaints about the thin front seats. You can definitely feel the hard frame within the center of the back rest after a while, so it’s not surprising that new seats are high on the upgrade list for next year refresh.
Feeling a bit left behind ?
When the Bolt first launched, it was really the only option if you wanted to do more than miles on a charge for less than the price of a Tesla Model S. But since then, Tesla launched its Model 3 mid-size sedan , and a number of Bolt-sized, comparatively priced BEVs have appeared from (Nissan , Hyundai , and Kia, to name but three. Those cars all offer things the Bolt lacks, like faster DC fast charging and clever, sensor-aware driver aids. If you’re shopping for an electric car and those are features you can’t live without, you either need to look to those other BEVs or wait until sometime next year when the restyled Bolt appears.
Although there’s no adaptive cruise control, it does offer other safety aids like blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts, and automatic emergency braking, although some of these will cost you extra, even if you spring for the better-equipped Premier trim.
But it’s not all bad news. Chevrolet no longer qualifies for the IRS ‘$ 7, tax credit, which at first glance makes the Bolt’s $ 50, 735 starting price look quite spendy. But the company appears quite eager to sell the Bolt, with big discounts for buyers and leasers that drops the price to near or below that of the smaller-battery Nissan Leaf. If you can live without some of the more advanced driver aids and faster road-trip charging and just want a dependable BEV with decent dealer support across all 100 states, the little electric Chevy could be a compelling option.
(Listing image by Jonathan Gitlin)
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