# Bought a 2019 Bolt



## DBoon (Jan 13, 2019)

Just took delivery a week and a half ago. So far, I've put about 500 miles on it. I love the efficiency and the the ride - Chevy did a nice job. Some observations:

Not sure why everyone complains about the seats. I have read that 2019 seats are improved but when I drove the 2018 model, I didn't find those seats uncomfortable either. My only guess is that heavier/wider people will just naturally not like the smaller seats found in the Bolt, regardless. Not a criticism - just reality. 
I'm getting 4 miles/kWh so far in 20-30 degree temperatures. It's not hard to get this efficiency using the heated steering wheel and heated seats (which use minimal energy) if you are doing 50-60 mph highway (my commute). At times, I turn on the windshield defroster or feet heater, using fan speed of 1 and keep heat set to 61 (minimum). We'll see what happens closer to 0 degrees. I can't imagine having an electric car without heated seats and steering wheel.
Bolt has a pre-conditioning capability - either by timer or by remote start. You can warm up the steering wheel and seats and cabin before getting in, drawing from plugged-in power. Have tried it once since I am still working from 120V charger (arranging for L2 charger install right now). 
I saw a suggestion to get a 50W 12V electric blanket for the passenger (wife) so that the cabin heat can be kept low/off. A great idea I plan on doing. Cabin heat kills range. Cabin heat on high fan or high temperature destroys range. If you are not going far, no problem. For a road trip, bigger problem. 
Bose audio system is pretty sweet in a quiet cabin. 
I love the acceleration when I need it - very powerful and smooth. It's changed my strategies for certain merges on my commute to/from work. 
I do miss driving my stick-shift vehicle (still have it, just driving it less) - I really liked the engagement with the car using that, but I'm not replacing that with a squishy-feeling, noisy CVT transmission vehicle, and the Bolt gives me plenty of other ways to be engaged in the driving experience. 
The infotainment screen and controls below it are a nice match - I'm not a fan of the Tesla big screen with everything on it. I wish there were a few other touch-screen controls available with buttons, and I have to say that I still can't figure out why the touch screen will sometimes work with my gloves on but mostly won't. 
I don't get all the knocks on the interior - looks fine to me. Could it be more luxurious? Sure, for $5-10k more as well. That's not the decision GM made (and I think it was the right decision). In the future, I'm sure that there will be Cadillac or Buick EVs with those touches, but this is a great way to get started in the market at a really good price point.


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## SpaceBus (Jan 13, 2019)

Congratulations on your purchase!


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## jatoxico (Jan 13, 2019)

Did you qualify for a tax credit or rebate?


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## jayoldschool (Jan 13, 2019)

Congrats.  We've had a Volt for four years, and will get a Bolt in the future.  You'll like L2 charging, for sure.  Remember, on the Bolt, it helps to take care of the battery by not charging it completely.  See GM-volt forum for more info.


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## Dataman (Jan 13, 2019)

Nice Writeup.   I plan on new vehicle when this one is paid for, or 2 years.    I want Bigger PU Truck (Have 2014 RAM 3500) or Jeep that is loaded for Wife.    Need something to go thru snows.  I always get waved thru on 4 way stops.   All the Bolts, Volts and Little Cars, don't know why?   Oh it gets 22mpg on the Hwy (6.7L Turbo Diesel).   Little car don't haul 1 Ton of Pellets.   Wife has nice car (Honda S2000), but it's only for Spring-Early Fall.    It don't handle ice or snow.


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## begreen (Jan 13, 2019)

Congratulations dBoon. I think you will like the car more and more as time goes by. The Volt seats are a little stiffer too, but that turns out to be just perfect for my back. I can go all day driving and not get too uncomfortable. Can't say that about every car we've owned or my current truck.


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## jebatty (Jan 14, 2019)

My wife and I agree with everything you say DBoon, and our satisfaction continues as we close in on the first full year of ownership (model year 2017 and one year on Feb 5 '19) and now more than 13,000 miles. We get well over the 238 mile range in summer, and 150-160 mile range in winter with temps in the -10 to +10 range, and conservative driving. 150 mile range covers all of our local, round-trip driving. Neither my wife nor I have any complaint about the seats and, in fact, we find them very comfortable.

We have the Bosch Level 2 Power Max 2 plug-in charger, installed on a 50A circuit, and the Bolt is garaged in my heated shop, so precondition is not needed. I also set the charging on hilltop reserve, except on very cold winter days when I opt for the full charge when the extra range may be needed. I also installed winter tires, which we have used for many years on all of our cars -- appreciate the extra traction and control.

To catch winter snow and salt melt in my shop I bought a piece of EPDM roofing material, 10 feet wide -  16 feet length, and fastened it to a 2 x 4 bumper around the perimeter. Drive the Bolt onto the EPDM, no mess on the floor in the shop. And a small wet/dry vac sucks up the melt from the EPDM as needed.

Enjoy your Bolt!


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## woodgeek (Jan 14, 2019)

I miss my 2017 Bolt, totaled 2 months ago with 16k miles.  My new (to me) 2015 Volt suits my needs more, and has a little less oomph (150 EV hp versus 200 for the Bolt) when being an aggressive EV driver.

And it runs the engine just to keep it warm when temps are below 30°F. 

Enjoy!  4 mi/kWh is excellent in cold weather.  The Volt is running about 2.8 mi/kWh in similar temps.


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## bholler (Jan 14, 2019)

Dataman said:


> Nice Writeup.   I plan on new vehicle when this one is paid for, or 2 years.    I want Bigger PU Truck (Have 2014 RAM 3500) or Jeep that is loaded for Wife.    Need something to go thru snows.  I always get waved thru on 4 way stops.   All the Bolts, Volts and Little Cars, don't know why?   Oh it gets 22mpg on the Hwy (6.7L Turbo Diesel).   Little car don't haul 1 Ton of Pellets.   Wife has nice car (Honda S2000), but it's only for Spring-Early Fall.    It don't handle ice or snow.


Why is it so many guys are threatened by EVs?  Of course they won't haul a ton of pellets.  That is not what they are made for (at least not yet).  But they make great commuter cars.  And eventually they will make heavy trucks.  When they do their tourque will put your deisel to shame.  Have you ever driven a Tesla?  The power is amazing and I have driven lots of high power sports cars the Tesla is right up there with most of them.


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## Don.S (Jan 15, 2019)

Because they are idiots who want to give money away. They try to justify it by saying cars can't haul stuff or say they dont feel safe in little cars but I guess they never look at crash test ratings. Dont get me wrong I have a diesel truck for doing all my truck stuff but I also have a toyota echo for doing about 95% of my other stuff.  I would love to get a electric vehicle since our hydro is pretty cheap I think compared to other places but I'm to cheap to buy one Haha.


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## DBoon (Jan 19, 2019)

jatoxico said:


> Did you qualify for a tax credit or rebate?


Yes, I qualified for the $7500 Federal tax credit and a $2000 NY State incentive. I think the Fed tax credit will continue at this level in Q1, and then start to phase out.


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## DBoon (Jan 19, 2019)

woodgeek said:


> 4 mi/kWh is excellent in cold weather.


This is what I've heard. I will caution that this is not what I would get if the wife was in the car with me - 4 mi/kWh when it is 20 degrees outside requires great sacrifice of cabin air temperature, but I'm not freezing to death either - the heated steering wheel and seats do the bulk of the work to keep me warm with little electricity usage. Would have been nice if they included a heated left footrest too.


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## DBoon (Jan 19, 2019)

jebatty said:


> We get well over the 238 mile range in summer, and 150-160 mile range in winter with temps in the -10 to +10 range, and conservative driving.


I can easily see getting 270+ miles in the summer driving conservatively. Sure, if I were to mash on the accelerator a lot, drive 75 mph and stop hard (limiting re-gen potential), I would get less than 238 miles of range in the summer.


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## woodgeek (Jan 19, 2019)

DBoon said:


> This is what I've heard. I will caution that this is not what I would get if the wife was in the car with me - 4 mi/kWh when it is 20 degrees outside requires great sacrifice of cabin air temperature, but I'm not freezing to death either - the heated steering wheel and seats do the bulk of the work to keep me warm with little electricity usage. Would have been nice if they included a heated left footrest too.



DBoon....with all due respect....you're a nut.  

I drove a Gen 1 LEAF for three years in the winter, so I know the merits of limiting the cabin temps.

But dude....you've got a 60 kWh battery now....if you're not roadtripping....bump the cabin temp to 60°F and live a little.


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## jebatty (Jan 20, 2019)

woodgeek said:


> But dude....you've got a 60 kWh battery now....if you're not roadtripping....bump the cabin temp to 60°F and live a little.


It took me awhile to "live a little," but I too purchased my Bolt in winter (Feb) and drove it in below 0F temps on shorter trips. Now I use heat as needed ... but, yesterday I took the ICE Camry on a 130 mile round-trip because the outside temps were -15F starting and ended up -4F by the time I returned home. Still not 100% assured that there will be no battery problem if I'm driving with temps that stay well below 0F. Today the low is -26F and rising to -3F for the high. 

A welcome consolation with this really cold temps is clear skies. The PV system put out 46kWh yesterday, more clear skies forecast for today.


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## woodgeek (Jan 20, 2019)

jebatty said:


> Still not 100% assured that there will be no battery problem if I'm driving with temps that stay well below 0F. Today the low is -26F and rising to -3F for the high.



I never got that cold, but I don't get it.  The battery is self-heating, it never gets below the temp that would damage the battery, but also actively maintains temps that GM engineering thinks provide predictable performance/power/capacity (IIRC around 30°F).  So the only problem would be higher parasitic drain when parked in the cold not plugged in (I would think less than a kW even in very subzero, windy weather), and the high-speed charging throttling back about 50%.  Its not going to strand you with 100 miles on the GOM.

So, as an engineer, it seems you can safely estimate/test your parasitic drain during this extreme cold by parking the car outside unplugged overnight in your driveway, and checking the GOM before and after.


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## DBoon (Jan 20, 2019)

woodgeek said:


> DBoon....with all due respect....you're a nut.


Well, it really has more to do with finding what my realistic range will be in the cold IF I have to use it to go on a 200+ mile trip in the winter. Right now, I am learning that the climate control heat really kills the range (not surprisingly), and driving at >55mph when it is cold kills the range. By "kill the range" I mean if you use heat and drive 65 mph, you are probably getting 2.8 to 3 kWh/mile (170 to 180 mile range). Still good, but not 200 miles.

Until I get the L2 charger installed, I need to be pretty conservative with battery usage if I want to use the car for my daily 100 mile round-trip commute - with L1 120V charging, I can do that Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but not if I go crazy on the climate control. So yeah, I'll lighten up on this soon. When th L2 charger is installed, this issue goes away.

My driving also includes a 190 mile trip up and over the Catskill mountains and I believe that I can make this non-stop in the winter if I am conservative with climate settings, but I want to test that out with shorter trips first. I don't want to try to figure this out on the fly during my first trip through the Catskill Mountains on Rt. 17 - there are no L3 chargers on that route, but there are a couple of L2s that I could use if I had to.



woodgeek said:


> So the only problem would be higher parasitic drain when parked in the cold not plugged in (I would think less than a kW even in very subzero, windy weather), and the high-speed charging throttling back about 50%. Its not going to strand you with 100 miles on the GOM.


I believe that if the car is driven often and long, the charge/discharge of the battery mostly keeps it warm. So far, with a 50 mile commute to work and siting with temps in the teens for 10+ hours, it has used about 1 kWh worst case to keep the battery "conditioned". I've read this could be 2 or 3 times that if below 0. Unfortunately, this week I won't be testing that out with a drive to work (no snow tires on the Bolt, and I'm not going to get it slathered with road salt this season if I can avoid it). But I should have some data from it sitting in a garage for 2 or 3 days, and that would be the worst-case scenario (no self-heating of the battery from usage).


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## DBoon (Jan 20, 2019)

jebatty said:


> It took me awhile to "live a little," but I too purchased my Bolt in winter (Feb) and drove it in below 0F temps on shorter trips. Now I use heat as needed ...


I think jebatty is a slightly older version of me, and one of these days during a trip to visit my family in Minneapolis, I'm going to have to take a road trip up to meet him.


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## jatoxico (Jan 20, 2019)

Does the summer climate control on the Bolt limit range as much? I would think so but not sure which would use most battery.


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## woodgeek (Jan 20, 2019)

The effect of AC on range is much lower than heating....the COP of the AC is high, and the DeltaT is low.  The capacity and cycle losses on the battery are also better, air is less dense, tires are more elastic....in warm weather your range goes to moon.

Side effect, Fall is depressing in an EV, Spring is exhilarating.


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## begreen (Jan 20, 2019)

I've given up being miserly and myopic about our Volt. We just drive it like a regular car now and that proves to be quite enjoyable. The engine only comes on as a range extender and not for heat in our climate. 


woodgeek said:


> Side effect, Fall is depressing in an EV, Spring is exhilarating.


So true. Our electric miles drops a lot when temps drop below 50F. On the flip side our summer mileage increased last summer over previous year averages. Not sure why. It's rated at 38 miles but we were regularly getting 42 miles and that is in our hilly area.


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## woodgeek (Jan 20, 2019)

My guess....tire inflation.  A few pounds over the number on the door does wonders.


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## begreen (Jan 20, 2019)

woodgeek said:


> My guess....tire inflation.  A few pounds over the number on the door does wonders.


Actually we were running a bit under our normal last summer. Discount Tire had lowered the pressure to 32# at last rotation. I got chided by OnStar about this but was too lazy to adjust until August. I bumped it up to 36 psi but didn't notice any change in mileage. Previous summers we had been running 37# and getting about 38 miles electric. It's a mystery me. I'm thinking maybe we're just driving slower?


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## woodgeek (Jan 20, 2019)

begreen said:


> Actually we were running a bit under our normal last summer. Discount Tire had lowered the pressure at last rotation. I got chided by OnStar about this but was too lazy to adjust until August. I bumped it up to 36 psi but didn't notice any change in mileage. Previous summers we had been running 37#. It's a mystery me. I'm thinking maybe we're just driving slower?



That would be the only other likely factor.


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## semipro (Jan 20, 2019)

woodgeek said:


> DBoon....with all due respect....you're a nut.
> 
> I drove a Gen 1 LEAF for three years in the winter, so I know the merits of limiting the cabin temps.
> 
> But dude....you've got a 60 kWh battery now....if you're not roadtripping....bump the cabin temp to 60°F and live a little.



Can't you preheat these things while they are charging?


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## woodgeek (Jan 21, 2019)

Yup.  The LEAF I got was a cheapo trim, so it did not have that functionality.  The Bolt could do it, but I have an attached and warm garage, so I never did that either.

And the bigger issue is just cold weather road trips, not commutes or short errands.  Preheating doesn't avert the issue there.

RE roadtrips, IMO, the fast charging network (at least along my I-95 route) was getting really good.  I did several roadtrips in my Bolt that were 500-1000 miles round-trip, in all kinds of weather, and I never white-knuckled it.  And the stops to charge were never a hassle, like a few 20-30 min stops after driving 90 minutes to 150 minutes.  Wouldn't want to drive cross-country in a 2017 Bolt, but for visiting family 250 to 400 miles away, aok.

OT, I replaced the incandescent headlights in my Volt with nicer LED ones, that use 55W less power.  I figured that adds >1000' onto my ~30 mile electric range, at least at night or in the rain.


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## semipro (Jan 21, 2019)

woodgeek said:


> OT, I replaced the incandescent headlights in my Volt with nicer LED ones, that use 55W less power. I figured that adds >1000' onto my ~30 mile electric range, at least at night or in the rain


With the power budget so critical on EVs I'm surprised there's even an incandescent used in one.


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## jebatty (Jan 22, 2019)

DBoon said:


> I think jebatty is a slightly older version of me, and one of these days during a trip to visit my family in Minneapolis, I'm going to have to take a road trip up to meet him.



I would be pleased to share a visit with you. Varies a little by your start point in Minneapolis, but 165-185 miles to my home would be good for planning purposes. Currently their are 3-4 FC in route at about 40 miles north of Minneapolis; a L2 charger is available for public use free of charge (the last time I checked) at a Nissan dealer 70 miles north of Minneapolis. Next L2 charger is my home, from my Bosch charger and J1772 plug on a 50A circuit or your own charger and a NEMA 14-50 receptacle on a 50A circuit (I put that in so my son could charge his Tesla when he visits) or a NEMA 6-20 receptacle on a 20A circuit.


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## jebatty (Jan 22, 2019)

DBoon said:


> By "kill the range" I mean if you use heat and drive 65 mph, you are probably getting 2.8 to 3 kWh/mile (170 to 180 mile range).



Yesterday, with temps in the -3 to -6F range, wife and me in the Bolt, cabin temp at 68F, 85 mile round trip highway at 60 mph with blustery winds and snowing, and then me only for another 20 miles on gravel country roads, 68F cabin temp, continuing winds and snow, at 20-30 mph, got 2.5 miles/kWh average for the day, Car also was parked outside in the wind for 4 hours and battery was down 2 kWh during the park. Winter tires, pressure at 38 psi.


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## woodgeek (Jan 22, 2019)

For the record, in near freezing temps and 75-80 mph, I was still getting about 3 mi/kWh.


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 24, 2019)

How is the depreciation on bolts. Any early indications?  The volt depreciation was very high but that makes for a good deal on a slightly used model. The  leaf and Volt are both around 71% depreciation after 5 yrs. I dont see any 2017 bolts for sale for less than 25k .


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## jebatty (Jan 25, 2019)

With renewed confidence that the Bolt battery system could handle really cold weather, my wife and I took off for a 42 mile trip to a nearby city, and the temp, not windchill, was -27F. After doing our business, we returned home with the temp at -4F. There was a slight northerly wind. End of trip mi/kWh was 2.1. Now, just to wait until it gets really, really cold, like -40 or lower! Can and does happen. The early morning low today was -33F.


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## DBoon (Jan 26, 2019)

If the weather holds next weekend, I'll be road-tripping from my condo to Albany, NY area, then down to Princeton, NJ, then back to my condo in metro NYC. Temps will be 0 degrees F overnight, and not much warmer during the day. Looks like the hotel in the Albany area has a free Level 2 charger (I lucked out...didn't know when I booked it...I was going to use a Level 1 DCFC elsewhere in the area). A good top off in Albany overnight gets me to NJ (I may stop at a DCFC on the NYS Thruway) where there is a parking garage with a Level 2 charger, which gets me enough to get back to my condo. 

I have enough confidence already with optimizing the range in cold weather that I am confident to make this trip. Now, I just have to hope it doesn't snow - no snow tires on the Bolt, and I don't want to get it salted up on NY winter roads this first year, so it will stay in the garage if snow appears this coming weekend.


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## DBoon (Feb 2, 2019)

Successful trip so far. Logged 120 miles on Friday in what started as 17 degree F temperatures and gradually reduced to 4 degrees. Drove north into a pretty stiff wind. Averaged 3.2 miles/kWh. Had a stated 65 miles of range left. Charging overnight at the hotel with the Level 2 charger, and will preheat the car before leaving this morning. It is -1 degree F outside now. 

We kept the car heat at 68 degrees F and the fan setting at 1 or 2. I wouldn't call it toasty, but it was fine. This setting uses about 4 kW/h or so - you can see the usage on the display when stopped. At first, I thought there was a problem with the car, but then realized (of course) I had the heat on.


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## CaptSpiff (Feb 2, 2019)

DBoon said:


> Successful trip so far. Logged 120 miles on Friday in what started as 17 degree F temperatures and gradually reduced to 4 degrees. Drove north into a pretty stiff wind. Averaged 3.2 miles/kWh. Had a stated 65 miles of range left. Charging overnight at the hotel with the Level 2 charger, and will preheat the car before leaving this morning. It is -1 degree F outside now.
> 
> We kept the car heat at 68 degrees F and the fan setting at 1 or 2. I wouldn't call it toasty, but it was fine. This setting uses about 4 kW/h or so - you can see the usage on the display when stopped. At first, I thought there was a problem with the car, but then realized (of course) I had the heat on.


 Hi DBoon, would you be willing to post a trip log, keeping your start and end points vague but detailing the recharge locations used along the way. Maybe even listing the options you just passed by. I take a more than a half dozen LI-Albany-Scranton-LI trips a year and have been pulling into rest stops in my ICE just to see if chargers exist. I'd be especially interested in the Albany hotel. Neither the HIE or the Marriott affiliate I frequent have them yet.


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## Seasoned Oak (Feb 2, 2019)

I enjoy reading about these trips.I dont have an electric car but as soon as something i can use(like a truck or SUV) goes electric, ill be interested. Especially of its not a dog on HP.


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## begreen (Feb 2, 2019)

Most electrics are pretty peppy. Hoping the Volt chassis gets resurrected as an SUV.


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## woodgeek (Feb 3, 2019)

CaptSpiff said:


> Hi DBoon, would you be willing to post a trip log, keeping your start and end points vague but detailing the recharge locations used along the way. Maybe even listing the options you just passed by. I take a more than a half dozen LI-Albany-Scranton-LI trips a year and have been pulling into rest stops in my ICE just to see if chargers exist. I'd be especially interested in the Albany hotel. Neither the HIE or the Marriott affiliate I frequent have them yet.



Save yourself the effort Cap and check out:

https://www.plugshare.com/

If you had a Bolt EV, you need a CCS/SAE fast charger for road trips.  You might be seeing L2s. You can turn off all the other flags in that website, and zoom/scroll around on the map.  For a given fast charger station you can click on the pin and find out what amenities are nearby, and its recent service history....ie its reliability.  If it has a score of 9.5/10 it will be working (esp if there is more than one charger at the site), if Its less that 5/10, odds are you will want to avoid it.  You can also see the ones that are under construction.

This is how we EV owners plan our trips.  There is of course an app version for your phone for use on the road. 

The Hudson Valley is full of Fast Chargers...I used a few myself last summer before the Crash.


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## begreen (Feb 3, 2019)

Seasoned Oak said:


> I enjoy reading about these trips.I dont have an electric car but as soon as something i can use(like a truck or SUV) goes electric, ill be interested. Especially of its not a dog on HP.


Coming in a year or two?
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a25933730/ford-f-150-electric-pickup-truck-confirmed/


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## DBoon (Feb 3, 2019)

What Woodgeek said about charger locations. FYI, the hotel was the Century House in Latham/Cohoes NY. Level 2 charging was free to guests. 

On Saturday, we drove ~180 miles to NJ. Temperatures were 10 degrees F at the start of the trip and 36 degrees F at the end. There was a pretty bad headwind blowing from the south that I had to drive in the entire time (a reverse of the wind from Friday night). We used the 20 minute pre-condition while connected to the Level 2 charger to bring the car up to 70 degrees and this helped to keep the climate control usage lower - we averaged 3.5 miles/kWh for the 180 miles. 

I stopped at a NYS Thruway rest stop to use one of the DC fast chargers. The NYS Thruway info on these chargers is very ambiguous - it turns out they are GreenLots chargers, which doesn't take ChargePoint network, so we couldn't charge. I'll have to sign up for GreenLots account - in mid-2019 they will be compatible with ChargePoint (or so they say) but I'd rather not wait that long. But it was no big deal - we slowed up a bit on the Thruway and made it to our destination with 40 miles to spare. 

Close to our destination, we plugged into a Level 2 charger and juiced up with ~25 kWh in about 4 hours. This added about 100 miles to our range. The cost of this was not cheap ($11), but since I added more than 40 kWh for free the day before, it didn't feel so bad. Then, we 120V/8A trickle charged at our friend's house overnight to add another 15 kWh or so. 

Drive home was warmer - 50 degrees F when we left and 42 when we arrived about 2 hours later. Finally got to take advantage of warmer weather and a bit of a tail wind and achieved 4.3 miles/kWh. We left with 167 miles of estimated range, drove 90 miles, and arrived with 97 miles of estimated range remaining.


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## DBoon (Feb 9, 2019)

DBoon said:


> I have to say that I still can't figure out why the touch screen will sometimes work with my gloves on but mostly won't.


Well, it seems that if I had realized that there were not one, but two thin plastic protective sheets over the touch screen, I might have had better luck with at least thing gloves. I finally noticed these driving in sunny weather, and when removed, the touch screen seems to work with thin (but not thick) gloves on.


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## DBoon (Feb 9, 2019)

Tried my hand at EVgo DC fast charging twice this week. Can't say that I am super-pleased - it definitely isn't the way to go for casual charging, but I wanted to see what was possible if and when I needed to use it. 

Rates are 30 cents/minute - not too bad, you might think if it is charging at 50 kW/hour (the DCFC rating). 

The first time I used it was with a battery at about 40% SOC about two miles from work on my way home at night. I let it charge about 30 minutes and I think it added about 60 miles (didn't pay much attention). 

I had read that the fast charging isn't as fast if the battery is cold, so I thought I would try it again on my way to work after the battery (presumably) warmed up (~50 miles of driving in 32-40 degree F weather). Battery SOC was 25% (lower is better with DCFC). This time, I paid attention to the power delivery during charging. The EVgo charger said that it started charging at 18A and 350V (6.3kW) and ended charging at 28A (9.8 kW) when I disconnected - a pretty slow rate (though it was continuing to rise). This seems pretty consistent with what I saw posted on the ChevyBolt.org forum. In total I added about 60 miles of range for $7 or so - pretty steep. I've read that the battery will warm up after some DCFC and the charge rate will increase (as I saw happening).

Moral of the story - if you are going to use a DCFC, only 1) use it when you really need it (lower SOC is better), 2) keep it plugged until charge rate  drops from the max (i.e. don't use it for short durations), and 3) it will be faster in warmer months. 

I had thought that 50 miles of travel would have warmed the battery up from ambient, but this didn't seem to be the case, based on the DCFC charge rate. Maybe I need to drive more aggressively...


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## spirilis (Feb 11, 2019)

L2 charging at home is really important IMO and really changes your perspective on EV ownership - fully charged in hours and effective preheating of the car.  Keep the battery conditioned overnight too.  I jury rigged an adjustable juicebox w/ the right adapter to plug into my 240V dryer outlet (current limited to 24A) for a month or so before getting the 50A outlet installed.

Also with L2 at work (only 16A though) I rarely have to touch a L3 DCFC.  Granted with my Focus Electric (120ish mi summer, 80ish winter) I don't go on any ambitious trips though.


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## DBoon (Apr 14, 2019)

I have the Level 2 charger installed in my condo garage and the Bolt is now my daily driver. 

Just took a road trip to Buffalo, NY from metro NYC area with a stop halfway there at my house in Central NY. Was a good learning experience in managing expectations. I charged to 100% battery capacity (no "hilltop reserve" setting) before leaving - estimated 276 miles range. 

I arrived with about 80 miles remaining after day 1  - pretty much estimated range less actual miles driven. I charged from 115V/12A garage plug some and the rest via some Level 2 chargers in villages south and north of my home (went for a long training run south of my home, play morning ice hockey north of my home, went out to dinner north of my home).

From Central NY to Buffalo I had really, _really _bad headwinds - 40 mph or so more than half the distance. This just really killed my efficiency - averaged only about 3.3 miles/kWh the last 100 miles or so. Made a 195 mile trip with about 30 miles to spare and charged up at a Level 2 charger during the day and evening in Buffalo. 

From Buffalo back to Central NY, again headwinds - not as bad (10-15 mph) but also heavy rain and temperatures in the 40s the last 90 miles.We made a couple of stops for breakfast and sightseeing and took advantage of some Level 2 charging for about 2-1/2 hours total. We could have made it home without that, but it was good to know we had some extra kWh in the battery. Arrived home with 80 miles range left. The heavy rain really killed the efficiency and the headwinds didn't help - was only going about 50 mph on state roads too. 

Now I'm charging again from 115V/12A garage plug and will add some more Level 2 miles in the morning before heading back to Metro NYC. 

All-in-all, very manageable. I do look forward to NY state building out the DCFC network on the Thruway. Also, I completely experienced the "range anxiety" of my wife who just can't help but be obsessed with the "miles remaining" gauge and worrying about running out of juice no matter how often I did the math on current miles/kWh rate and remaining battery (correctly predicting arrival with 30 miles range remaining).I should have known that someone who can't drive her car with less than half a tank of gas would feel the same about half a battery of capacity. This is the real issue with mass adoption of electric vehicles, more than likely - take the estimated range and divide it by two and probably for almost half the car buying population, that is seen as the "real" range. And until 500 mile batteries and DCFCs are pervasive, this will be a big problem with adoption.


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## jebatty (Apr 15, 2019)

Nice description and good analysis of an EV and range. and the impact of temperature and wind. Based on the research and forums, my goal with the Bolt was 150 miles of range year-round, regardless of temperature or wind, and with no need to charge for that range. Obviously, getting more range is often possible, but the 150 miles covers 100% of our "local" driving. Only once was it a challenge this winter to meet that goal. That happened in early March when I was driving home from Minneapolis, a 155 mile trip.

Because of strong headwinds and temperature below freezing I stopped at a FC location to add 50 miles of range. Before this charge the Bolt showed 130 miles of range, and the distance home from the FC sight was 135 miles. I added charge to 180 miles. With 70 miles yet to go, range was shown as 85 miles, but kW were being used quite rapidly, especially due to the headwinds. I slowed down to 50 mph, and then the last 15 miles I slowed to 40 mph. I made it home with less than 10 miles of range remaining -- the Bolt urgently told me I was "on vapor."

With more than 16,000 miles on the Bolt, I remain fully satisfied. The Bolt is a great EV car. No more range anxiety, just simply understanding the importance of knowing temperature and wind and knowing where I get a charge if needed. Fortunately, there are three FC locations between our home and Minneapolis, and more in Minneapolis, and that's about as far one-way as we travel from our home.

DBoon, wishing you good travel with your Bolt.


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## SpaceBus (Apr 15, 2019)

DBoon said:


> I have the Level 2 charger installed in my condo garage and the Bolt is now my daily driver.
> 
> Just took a road trip to Buffalo, NY from metro NYC area with a stop halfway there at my house in Central NY. Was a good learning experience in managing expectations. I charged to 100% battery capacity (no "hilltop reserve" setting) before leaving - estimated 276 miles range.
> 
> ...




My wife is the same way with fuel, this is a great point. I'm not as nervous, but there are diesel stations everywhere here. With an EV you are also essentially forced into having a garage. Without a place to install a fast charger, an EV has zero practicality.


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## begreen (Apr 15, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> With an EV you are also essentially forced into having a garage. Without a place to install a fast charger, an EV has zero practicality.


Yes, home-charging is preferable and many people just use the 120v charger that comes with the car in lieu of an L2 charger.  When we rebuilt our garage I had a 100a/220v feed added. That was a good call. 6 yrs ago I added an L2 charger. 

Also, the Tesla super-charger network is impressive, extensive and growing steadily. This is also an alternative for Tesla owners.
https://www.tesla.com/supercharger


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## SpaceBus (Apr 15, 2019)

begreen said:


> Yes, home-charging is preferable and many people just use the 120v charger that comes with the car in lieu of an L2 charger.  When we rebuilt our garage I had a 100a/220v feed added. That was a good call. 6 yrs ago I added an L2 charger.
> 
> Also, the Tesla super-charger network is impressive, extensive and growing steadily. This is also an alternative for Tesla owners.
> https://www.tesla.com/supercharger



I should say the practicality for a person living rurally is severely reduced without a L2 charger. Living in an urban or even suburban area would be a different story with the increasing number of places to charge. I think we will also see more public fast chargers since you don't need pumps and giant tanks of volitile fluids to refuel an EV.


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## Seasoned Oak (Apr 15, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> My wife is the same way with fuel, this is a great point. I'm not as nervous, but there are diesel stations everywhere here. With an EV you are also essentially forced into having a garage. Without a place to install a fast charger, an EV has zero practicality.


AS much as im interested in these ,Iv resigned to the fact that i wont be getting anything EV like until they come out with an at least partly EV truck.  Would be a great way to add an easy 100-200HP to any truck. Compact cars are just not part of the fleet here.


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## SpaceBus (Apr 15, 2019)

Seasoned Oak said:


> AS much as im interested in these ,Iv resigned to the fact that i wont be getting anything EV like until they come out with an at least partly EV truck.  Would be a great way to add an easy 100-200HP to any truck. Compact cars are just not part of the fleet here.


I look forward to silent trucks and heavy equipment.


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## begreen (Apr 15, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> I should say the practicality for a person living rurally is severely reduced without a L2 charger. Living in an urban or even suburban area would be a different story with the increasing number of places to charge. I think we will also see more public fast chargers since you don't need pumps and giant tanks of volitile fluids to refuel an EV.


Yes, we are rural. There is only one charging station in our community at the high school.


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## DBoon (Apr 16, 2019)

I concur with jebatty that the Bolt does a really good job of letting you know what you can get for range - I have zero range anxiety with the car. There are a number of different displays to tell you what your current efficiency is and help you understand what you can expect. I've not been surprised once.

I also am impressed with the number of L2 charging stations springing up in all of the small towns in my immediate vicinity, and on the Route 20 corridor to Buffalo. You won't get a lot in an hour at an L2 station, but if you just want to stop for an hour for a lunch or breakfast, or do a little sightseeing in a small town, it's a great way to top off a bit and get a little extra range, sometimes for free.


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## begreen (Apr 26, 2019)

Tried out a new Bolt and a Gen II Volt today. The Bolt was easy and fun to drive. Seems like a good city car, but I still like the Volt better with more comfortable seating and more trunk capacity. But the Bolt has some advantages too. One minor disappointment was that there was no built-in garage opener circuit like in our Gen1 Volt. On the Bolt, what is with that saddle-shoe black and white dash theme? There weren't any black on black dashes at the dealer's lot. Can it be bought without that scheme? It cheapens the look of the car.


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## wilsoncm1 (Apr 26, 2019)

begreen said:


> . On the Bolt, what is with that saddle-shoe black and white dash theme? There weren't any black on black dashes at the dealer's lot. Can it be bought without that scheme? It cheapens the look of the car.



I was looking at the Chevy site and it doesn't look like you have an options on the cheaper trims.  On the premier, you can get a grey/white theme along with the darker/white one.  $42k for an econo box?  Yeesh!


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## begreen (Apr 26, 2019)

Yeah, the Premier version was that list price. Though some dealers are discounting a lot now. It's not really an econobox, the car pretty nicely equipped and a 240mi range, 60kWh battery pack is not cheap. Most people (including Tesla) count in the fuel and large maintenance savings in addition to the tax credit for bottom line cost.


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## DBoon (Feb 1, 2020)

I've owned the Bolt for 13 months now and it has been my primary commuter and long-distance travel car for the last 9 months. I've put 32,000 miles on that and 5,000 miles on my gas car in the last year. I remain very pleased with the Bolt. I will be selling my small gas subcompact this summer, for sure. My charging options now include:

I have an L2 charger in my condo garage close to where I work. 
Work has installed an L2 charger, which helps in topping up for my weekend commute to Central NY (could not do that in the winter without that). 
I bought a TurboCord for $200 to use on a 220V outlet in my barn in Central NY. That gives me 3.3 kWh/h charging - reasonable enough. 120V charging of 60 kWh battery packs consumes the entire weekend. I take this with me to my friends house in Boston area to charge at his house from a NEMA 14-50 plug (through an adapter). 
The Bolt has proven capable for my 190 mile trip through the Catskills to Central NY in the depths of winter. There is a lot of hill climbing on this route with no L3 charging and just a few L2 chargers on the route. Quite often, this is a very cold trip with 20-30 mph winter headwinds the entire distance. I've managed this trip twice in conditions that averaged 10 degrees F (not the coldest its ever been, but cold enough) with strong headwinds and arrived with 20-25 miles of range to spare (full 100% charge on battery prior to leaving). Average efficiency was ~3.3 (with some snow on the ground) to 3.5 miles/kWh for an effective range of 215 miles. How did I achieve this?

Driving 55 or 50 mph for the last 90 miles or so (63 or 60 mph for the first 100 miles or so).
Snow tires installed - Goodyear Ultra Grip Snow and Ice (one of the better rated winter tires as far as rolling resistance is concerned). I had these on my gas car, so I knew I would only take a small efficiency performance penalty on these once I had 1000 miles or so on them. (Efficiency takes a hit with winter tires for their first 500-1000 miles). 
Use of steering wheel heater and seat heater, but not cabin heat. Yeah, I wore a down jacket, wool socks, insulated boots, gloves and a hat. It wasn't too bad until the last 20 or 30 miles (ending temperature was 4 degrees F). I was happy to get the woodstove going when I arrived, for sure. 
2nd trip I made use of the electric blanket I bought for my wife. This plugs into the 12V socket and uses between 12 and 50 W/h depending on the setting. It sounds goofy for sure (ok, I admit it is goofy) but if you lay that blanket across your legs it definitely takes the chill off. It made for a much more comfortable trip, and I didn't need cabin heat. My wife likes using this blanket even if I have cabin heat set to 68 degrees F. 
Believe me, if there was a DC fast charger on the way, I would have used it and run the cabin heat and driven a little faster during daylight as well. Advantage to Tesla (they have a Tesla Supercharger station on my route halfway up). 
I could not make these trips with my wife in the car - she would revolt over the lack of cabin heat, as would most (all) wives (and kids and friends). 
So, the Bolt does what I need it to do in the worst of conditions. Having said that, a better fast charging network and a little more battery would make it more acceptable for more people in these conditions, for sure. 

I'm already seeing more DCFC charging stations going in along the NY State Thruway and along my inland route from NY to Virginia. Just in the last six months, enough options have gone in along I-81 to make a trip from Central NY to my parents home in Southern Virginia possible with the Bolt and DCFC. And the DCFC is plenty fast in the warmer months (plan on spending longer time in the winter as the DCFC first warms up the battery before ramping up the charging current). I think GM has taken a pretty conservative approach on DCFC to ensure longer battery life. Tesla may have opted for faster charging with a cold battery and taken some tradeoffs with battery lifetime - we'll see how GM adapts in the next-gen DCFC in their vehicles, and maybe in 5 years we'll have evidence of whether Tesla batteries don't last as long due to cold DCFC high-current charging.  

Since I bought my Bolt and the L2 charger was installed at work, we've had someone purchase a Tesla, a plug-in hybrid electric Subaru and a plug-in hybrid electric Honda Insight. I get questions weekly from co-workers about the car. Basically, they know my driving needs, and when they see this work for me, they know this is a viable option for them (provided they are not road-tripping in the winter - full-disclosure given to them).


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## begreen (Feb 1, 2020)

Wow, it would take me years to do that mileage these days. Sounds like it's working out ok. Heating and winter battery temps are definitely a big gotcha for long-distance EV driving, so are mountains. Not sure if that is going to change.

You are right about GM being super conservative with battery charging and discharge. It's why used Volt batteries are in demand vs Leaf batteries. Word is that GM will be more aggressive with charging in future models. 
PS: Update, we now have 4 chargers in our community!


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## begreen (Feb 1, 2020)

DBoon said:


> It wasn't too bad until the last 20 or 30 miles (ending temperature was 4 degrees F). I was happy to get the woodstove going when I arrived, for sure.


Could you post in the main forum about heating the cabin with the wood stove? We see a lot of people that are first time cabin and wood stove owners that could use some guidance about stove size, time to heat, supplemental heating, etc. Thx.


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## jebatty (Feb 1, 2020)

Nice review. In four days we will have had our Bolt for two years, 24,000+ miles. Your description is much like my experience. Two days ago I asked the owner and the main mechanic at a local auto repair shop if they want to drive the Bolt. They said "yes" with enthusiasm. And both were very impressed, particularly (in addition to the power and smoothness of the electric motor) with the interior room. Then we talked about the long term impact on the auto repair business as BEV's keep building their market share. Surprisingly, they were not too worried. Still lots of basic mechanics in an electric car.


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## spirilis (Feb 1, 2020)

I love my 12V blanket too.  Most mornings I rock the heated seat + blanket in my Focus Electric.  I really wish it had a heated steering wheel, that is one thing driving me nuts by the end of my commute.


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## DBoon (Feb 2, 2020)

begreen said:


> Could you post in the main forum about heating the cabin with the wood stove? We see a lot of people that are first time cabin and wood stove owners that could use some guidance about stove size, time to heat, supplemental heating, etc. Thx.


 Well, if I did want to use a small wood stove for cabin heat in the Chevy Bolt, it wouldn't need to be too big. I'm guessing I'd only need about 1.5k BTU/hour to be plenty comfortable. Of course, I'd have to maintain appropriate clearance to combustibles and use approved materials with air-space clearances below and above the stove. The aerodynamic drag of the stovepipe protruding 2' above the Bolt roofline would certainly reduce my efficiency at highway speeds, and there might be too much draft in the stove also. It would also be tough to maintain control over the fire while driving since I think I would have to locate the stove in the hatchback area.


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## DBoon (Feb 2, 2020)

jebatty said:


> Two days ago I asked the owner and the main mechanic at a local auto repair shop if they want to drive the Bolt. They said "yes" with enthusiasm. And both were very impressed, particularly (in addition to the power and smoothness of the electric motor) with the interior room.



I enjoy being an ambassador for BEVs. Nearly everyone I talk to about them is completely ignorant about range, cost, performance, etc. They think BEVs cost $100k, only go 50 miles, and have no interior room or acceleration. Then I take them for a ride and they say "wow, this has a lot of legroom and storage space inside for a small car", are astounded by the range, and they can't believe how inexpensive it is (though still too expensive for most). I love telling people that in 32,000 miles my total maintenance has been two tire rotations. Oh, I think my cabin air filter is due for replacement also. 

My mechanic did the inspection recently and looked at the brake pads - no wear. Yep, I'll never need new brakes for the life of the car, probably. 

The acceleration is mind-boggling great compared to what they expect. I tell everyone "don't buy another gas car that you will have for 10 or more years" and they are mostly in agreement at the end of the ride. Now, if the cost can get within $5k of a comparable gas car in the next few years with a 350 mile range or so, I think the shift to BEVs will happen quicker than most people anticipate.


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## DBoon (Feb 2, 2020)

spirilis said:


> I love my 12V blanket too.


Thanks for telling me this. It is good to know that I am not the only one!

I can't imagine an electric car without a heated steering wheel. Only a company based in Northern California would make an electric car without a heated steering wheel. I am sure Tesla will figure this out soon enough - perhaps they already have.


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## semipro (Feb 2, 2020)

DBoon said:


> Thanks for telling me this. It is good to know that I am not the only one!
> 
> I can't imagine an electric car without a heated steering wheel. Only a company based in Northern California would make an electric car without a heated steering wheel. I am sure Tesla will figure this out soon enough - perhaps they already have.


The heated steering wheel is one of my favorite features of my Leaf EV.  
With that , the heated seats, and electric forced air heating it actually becomes comfortable inside faster than our ICE vehicles.


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## Seasoned Oak (Feb 2, 2020)

DBoon said:


> Well, if I did want to use a small wood stove for cabin heat in the Chevy Bolt, it wouldn't need to be too big.


Well so much for_* "CABIN"  heat!*_


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## Where2 (Feb 6, 2020)

semipro said:


> Can't you preheat these things while they are charging?


Best feature in my climate on the e-Golf is the "Pre-Chill" feature.  A/C set to 72°F when I leave for lunch every day on a timer if my battery is above 70% state of charge. I believe the e-Golf can pre-heat similarly to the other BEV's, if you set it to do so, and have it plugged in. Cabin heating uses so much energy, VW put a heated windshield in my e-Golf to get the heat where you really need it, rather than blowing it all around the cabin. 

My sister picked up a 2015 Leaf SV last week, we're still comparing notes on features.


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## spirilis (Feb 7, 2020)

Ford's EVs and PHEVs have the "Go Times" as well to pre-cool/pre-heat.  For some odd reason my Focus Electric's go times have stopped working, even on L2... think I need to get that looked at..


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## begreen (Feb 7, 2020)

Where2 said:


> Best feature in my climate on the e-Golf is the "Pre-Chill" feature.  A/C set to 72°F when I leave for lunch every day on a timer if my battery is above 70% state of charge. I believe the e-Golf can pre-heat similarly to the other BEV's, if you set it to do so, and have it plugged in. Cabin heating uses so much energy, VW put a heated windshield in my e-Golf to get the heat where you really need it, rather than blowing it all around the cabin.
> 
> My sister picked up a 2015 Leaf SV last week, we're still comparing notes on features.


I love the pre-heat feature on the Volt. It is so nice to step off the bus on a cold day and get into a warm car.


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## Where2 (Feb 16, 2020)

I rarely break out the ClipperCreek L2 32A charger I have, because my L1 does the trick once or twice a week. However, the look on people's faces when they ask what I think about my EV ('19 e-Golf) and I respond "I haven't bought gas since Labor Day" is always priceless. I no longer pay attention to what fossil fuel costs. Contrary to others, my wife likes to run her fossil fuel vehicle under 1/2 tank consistently. I thought it was funny when she seemed concerned about "range anxiety" when I asked her to take my EV to the VW dealership to get a minor build issue resolved. When we first converted to cars with diesel engines, she initially exhibited anxiety over "finding a station with diesel", and used to always keep her diesel tank above 1/4 "just in case". Now, I get stories that include the phrase "the low fuel light came on yesterday, or the day before..." (Its gotta be rough on the electric fuel pump in the tank)

A few weeks ago, I simply signed up for RFID tags for all the major EV charging site players anywhere near me: EVGo, ChargePoint, & Greenlots. One of them was $5 for the card, the others were willing to mail me cards for free (similar to how fossil fuel stations would love for you to use "their" credit card)... Now, I can stop wherever, if I ever need to. The one that surprised me was Electrify America. They rely on an app on your phone,  RFID phone payments, or a credit card reader on the charging station. EA doesn't offer a credit card style RFID tag for their chargers. 

EV's will never take all the internal combustion engines off the roadways, but I can say I rarely ever drive my diesel VW anymore.


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