Bye bye ICE

[begreen]

The Bolt EUV is a small vehicle, which is great for urban and local driving, but not a great trip car. The Equinox is much bigger than the EV6 and has a slower charging architecture. My wife tried the Equinox and in less than 5 minutes said no way. It feels like a big SUV. That was a deciding factor when we got the EV6. The Equinox is only 2" shorter than the Blazer EV IIRC and 7.3" longer than the EV6. Chevy needs something in between. The salesperson at the Chevy dealership confirmed that this is a popular and currently unfulfilled request.

Bolt EUV = 169.5" long
VW ID 4 = 180.5" "
KIA EV6 = 184.3" "
Ford Mach e = 186"
Chevy Equinox = 191.6"

 

[EbS-P]

The Bolt EUV is a small vehicle, which is great for urban and local driving, but not a great trip car. The Equinox is much bigger than the EV6 and has a slower charging architecture. My wife tried the Equinox for less than 5 minutes and said no way. It feels like a big SUV. That was a deciding factor when we got the EV6. The Equinox is only 2" shorter than the Blazer EV IIRC and 7.3" longer than the EV6. Chevy needs something in between. The salesperson at the Chevy dealership confirmed that this is a popular and currently unfulfilled request.

Bolt EUV = 169.5" long
VW ID 4 = 180.5" "
KIA EV6 = 184.3" "
Ford Mach e = 186"
Chevy Equinox = 191.6"

And for comparison
Model 3 and Model Y = 186”
ID Buzz. 196”
Model X = 198”
Odyssey = 205”

 

[gthomas785]

Ok I get that there's demand for an inbetween size in the US but the Bolt just doesn't feel that cramped to me. I think it's perfect for other markets that don't have the same American fixation on road tripping. Speaking of which, I think most people would be happier with their cars if they let go of that. Yes, I occasionally need to go on a long trip. Would a larger car be more comfortable? Sure. But the rest of the time, you're burning more kWh to lug around a more expensive, more dangerous, oversized hunk of metal.

 

[DBoon]

And for comparison
Model 3 and Model Y = 186”
ID Buzz. 196”
Model X = 198”
Odyssey = 205”

And Bolt at 163" - remarkably little choice in this segment in the US, much to my consternation.

 

[DBoon]

but the Bolt just doesn't feel that cramped to me.

The backseat legroom of the Bolt is ridiculous for its size. Most people who have ridden in my car can't believe it has that much room on the inside compared to the size on the outside. And the Bolt doesn't feel choppy to me, and it is a nice quiet ride. I just traveled >1000 miles to Virginia and back and averaged 3.7 miles/kWh (average speed probably about 60 mph overall) with snow tires on the car and it was -4 degrees F when I left that day. Not too bad for efficiency.

 

[woodgeek]

The backseat legroom of the Bolt is ridiculous for its size. Most people who have ridden in my car can't believe it has that much room on the inside compared to the size on the outside. And the Bolt doesn't feel choppy to me, and it is a nice quiet ride. I just traveled >1000 miles to Virginia and back and averaged 3.7 miles/kWh (average speed probably about 60 mph overall) with snow tires on the car and it was -4 degrees F when I left that day. Not too bad for efficiency.

Agree 100%. I've owned two now.

Folks pick the EUV to get 2" more legroom in the back, and give up 2" in the cargo area. And then it is longer, more kWh/mi and harder to parallel park.

Whenever I go to a city with difficult parking, I can usually find a spot that no one else can get into.

 

[EbS-P]

Agree 100%. I've owned two now.

Folks pick the EUV to get 2" more legroom in the back, and give up 2" in the cargo area. And then it is longer, more kWh/mi and harder to parallel park.

Whenever I go to a city with difficult parking, I can usually find a spot that no one else can get into.

I never got the appeal of the EUV. Was is AWD? Or at least on option.

 

[gthomas785]

I never got the appeal of the EUV. Was is AWD? Or at least on option.

The drivetrain is 100% identical to the EV. From what I can tell the appeal of the EUV is either the 3" extra legroom in the back seat, or the fact that it 'looks' more like an SUV because the hood is longer. Neither of which sold me on it, which is why I got the EV.

The backseat of the Bolt EV has enough room to fit the ridiculously bulky rear-facing child seats of today even with the front seat all the way back, which IMO is the most space you could possibly need in the back seat of a car.

 

[EbS-P]

The drivetrain is 100% identical to the EV. From what I can tell the appeal of the EUV is either the 3" extra legroom in the back seat, or the fact that it 'looks' more like an SUV because the hood is longer. Neither of which sold me on it, which is why I got the EV.

The backseat of the Bolt EV has enough room to fit the ridiculously bulky rear-facing child seats of today even with the front seat all the way back, which IMO is the most space you could possibly need in the back seat of a car.

Until you have 230# 6’1”, 13 year old He barely fits between car seats in a 3 seat sprinter bench but prefers the front row vs the 3rd row 4 person seat all to his self!

But yeah for normal sized passengers it seems great.

 

[begreen]

Until you have 230# 6’1”, 13 year old He barely fits between car seats in a 3 seat sprinter bench but prefers the front row vs the 3rd row 4 person seat all to his self!

But yeah for normal sized passengers it seems great.

LOL, I was thinking the same thing. We aren't big people, but have some relatives that are. I also like the extra capacity. We've loaded up the car for camping trips with a tent, cooler, pads, food, etc. and still had people room.

 

[DBoon]

Yeah, realistically I'm not statistically short, but I'm also not 6'1" and 230 lbs. I play ice hockey with a a guy who is literally twice my weight (and taller) and I get that not everyone is going to fit comfortably into a Bolt. Having said that, I also didn't "get" the reason Chevy made the EUV, and most likely they made that because their uninspired and uncreative marketing/accounting team (that seems to drive all of their business decisions) put a bunch of survey b.s. into a blender and it came back with "we need to make something bigger but we don't want to spend any money".

 

[sloeffle]

I said the KIA is sure priced great, and the warranty is very tempting. His answer was, well that's good because you'll need it. He went down the list of major defects they discover as mechanics that will never be resolved with part swaps, and then proceeded to name about a dozen other issues that scared me away from the brand for life.

HK ( Hyundai / Kia ) cheapening out years ago. and not putting immobilizers on their vehicles definitely put them on my do no buy list. Some insurance companies won't even let you insure a HK vehicle.

Hyundai and Kia car thefts surged by more than 1000% since 2020 after viral TikToks exposed key security flaw, report says

The rise in thefts began after viral social media videos showed how some Kia and Hyundai models could be hijacked using only a USB cord.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[begreen]

HK ( Hyundai / Kia ) cheapening out years ago. and not putting immobilizers on their vehicles definitely put them on my do no buy list. Some insurance companies won't even let you insure a HK vehicle.

Hyundai and Kia car thefts surged by more than 1000% since 2020 after viral TikToks exposed key security flaw, report says

The rise in thefts began after viral social media videos showed how some Kia and Hyundai models could be hijacked using only a USB cord.

www.businessinsider.com

That is for a specific date range of their cars. It was corrected by 2022. Not an issue with their newer cars or any of their EVs.

 

[sloeffle]

That is for a specific date range of their cars. It was corrected by 2022. Not an issue with their newer cars or any of their EVs.

Correct, but they should have never built a car without an immobilizer in the first place. This isn't the 70's or the 80's.

My uncle has a Genesis and he says it's the best car he's ever had. Hopefully they learned their lesson, but time will tell.

 

[biopete]

I've been driving electric since 2004, starting with a 2004 Honda Insight hybrid, then a 2014 Nissan Leaf EV, and now a 2020 Chevy Bolt. Charging with the sun as well. I'll never go back.

View attachment 329064 View attachment 329065

I love your place so much. It is a really good feeling driving with Sun power.

 

[sloeffle]

Saw this on the news last night. 10k for a used Bolt with 15k miles, that's my kind of deal.

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