Chevy Bolt EV Owners On Rural Texas Ranch: This Car Has Got Guts

“I want to be a cowboy baby! Where my Chevy Bolt’s charged by the sunshine shinin’.”

Harry and Elizabeth Akers are proud new owners of the Chevy Bolt EV. The couple lives in rural Merkel, Texas about 20 miles from Abilene and 200 miles west of Dallas. They own 200 acres of land and 40 cattle on their property.

And now the Bolt is their primary mode of transportation for errands and hauling cargo. So far, Elizabeth Akers loves the range of the Bolt and its 56.6 cu ft of cargo space:

It’s about a 55-mile round trip to pick up feed for the cattle. We got the Bolt EV mainly for that reason—to go into town, run errands, and pick up what we need. We can go into town three times on a single charge, and it’s got more than enough room.

Hauling feed for the cattle or other items they need from town is a daily trip. So the cost of driving to and from town on gas was becoming a burden. Now with their new electric, their fuel comes from geothermal power and a solar panel installation. Hopefully they took advantage of the $2,500 Texas Plug-In rebate as well. The switch to a greener lifestyle is going to pay for itself in no time. According to Harry Akers:

The numbers just made sense when I looked at what we’d save with the Bolt EV. Bottom line is that we invest in things that reinvest in us, and we can put the money we’re saving back into things we want to do—like going on vacation and taking cruises.

The long range of the Bolt means a trip to Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin/San Antonio and Midland/Odessa are all more than do-able thanks to their centralized location. As charging infrastructure fills in, travel will become even easier. In fact, the Akers purchased their Bolt from Classic Chevrolet in Grapevine, TX near Dallas. The dealership is well known for Electric Avenue, a section dedicated solely to sale of hybrid and plug-in vehicles.

But it’s not just the energy savings, range and cargo capacity the couple appreciates. The electric Chevy is also fun to drive. Of the vehicle’s performance, Harry says “This car’s got all kind of guts to it.”

Thanks to electrics like the Tesla Model 3 and Chevy Bolt, people all over are starting to see the value of electric cars.

Source: New Roads Magazine

Chevy Volt and Bolt Start the Year With So-So Sales

Chevrolet’s two plug-in cars with the similar names – the Volt and Bolt – got off to tepid sales starts this year, with the Bolt doing comparatively better.

General Motors reported 1,177 Bolt EVs sold in January, a mild 1.3-percent increase over last year’s 1,162, whereas the Volt EREV saw 713 deliveries, a 55.7-percent decline over January 2017’s 1,611.

The Bolt’s number, while up, also comes against the fact that it is now nationally available, and a year ago at this time it was not, but still early in its schedule of rolling out to the nation. Sales of the 238-mile range electric car had started in Oregon and California in December 2016, and so, its availability was less. A 1.3-percent year-over-year increase therefore is not a super-sized uptick.

By contrast, the Volt, which was nationally available a year ago is purely down. It also finished 2017 a bit behind the Bolt with 20,349 sales to the Bolt’s 23,297. The Bolt was the second-best selling plug-in car in the U.S. behind an estimated 26,500 deliveries of the Tesla Model S. The Volt placed fifth behind the Tesla Model S, Bolt, Tesla Model X, and Prius Prime.

What lies ahead this year for the two cars saleswise is an open question.

Their slow starts in a historically slow sales month are not necessarily any real indicator, but a lower-priced all-new Nissan Leaf, potentially Tesla’s Model 3 which is still supposed to increase production to fill a big backlog, and other cars will also vie for mindshare.

Green car analyst Alan Baum is not projecting more than 25,000 for either one, but as is always true, no one actually knows the future.

HybridCars.com

AUTONOMOUS CHEVY BOLT AV SHOWN WITHOUT STEERING WHEEL

GM revealed a fully autonomous version of its electric Chevy Bolt at CES last week, and it was- I mean, can you call an advanced concept car lazy? Take a look at that official, GM-produced photo of the Bolt AV, above. Do you see the problem, yet?

That’s right. The people behind the car that is meant to show off GM’s future and place Chevrolet up on a pedestal among other autonomous heavy-hitters like Tesla, Google, and Volvo, didn’t even bother to make their interior symmetrical- and I’m not the only one who noticed, either. You can clearly see the bias towards the traditional “driver’s seat” location by placing the screen off to the right. Which- maybe makes sense? But, since there is no human driver- and no human driving even possible, without controls- doesn’t that seem a little odd?

Maybe it’s not, and GM rightly assumes that the majority of trips will be of the single-passenger variety in the future, too. That’s probably right- isn’t it?

Check out Steve Hanley’s well-thought out piece, originally published by our sister site, EV Obsession, below. Then, let us know what you think of the autonomous Bolt AV (for “autonomous vehicle”, natch) in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Autonomous Chevy Bolt Shown at CES | Video



Are you sitting down? General Motors said this past week it plans to begin producing a fully autonomous car with no steering wheel and no pedals — not in some far off time, but next year. It says Chevy Bolts fitted with 4th generation autonomous technology will start rolling off the assembly line in 2019. The announcement makes for a nice segue between the end of CES 2018 and the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
GM’s crosstown rival, Ford, says it will be offering driverless cars, but not until 2021. Google is planning to begin a driverless ride-hailing service in Phoenix, Arizona, soon using modified Chrysler Pacifica minivans, but those cars will still be fitted with traditional pedals and a steering wheel. The autonomous Chevy Bolts are intended for use in ride-hailing duty in several US cities, and will not be made for sale to individuals. At least, not yet.



GM Announces Autonomous Chevy Bolt AV at Detroit


GM President Dan Ammann told The Verge. “It’s a pretty exciting moment in the history of the path to wide scale deployment and having the first production car with no driver controls. We believe this technology will change the world, and we’re doing everything we can to get it out there at scale as fast as we can.” If GM can stick to its self-imposed timeline, the self-driving Bolt will be the first mass-produced fully autonomous car in the world. It will be assembled at the Orion Township factory alongside its conventional cousins.
GM has petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a number of waivers from existing vehicle safety regulations. For instance, the autonomous Bolts will have no steering-wheel-mounted airbag because they have no steering wheel. D’uh. “A car without a steering wheel can’t have a steering wheel airbag,” Ammann said. “What we can do is put the equivalent of the passenger side airbag on that side as well. So it’s to meet the standards but meet them in a way that’s different than what’s exactly prescribed, and that’s what the petition seeks to get approval for.”
GM is currently testing its autonomous cars in Phoenix and in San Francisco. The company says the City by the Bay presents many more challenges for self-driving vehicles. “While we also test vehicles in Phoenix, our San Francisco vehicles predict an average of 32 times as many possible interactions as those in Phoenix. Thus, San Francisco challenges our self-driving system more because, as the number of objects increase, there are exponentially more possible interactions with objects that the self- driving system must consider. For example, GM’s self-driving Chevy Bolt AVs (would) encounter 270 emergency vehicles for every 1,000 miles driven in San Francisco, compared to just six in Phoenix.”
Each autonomous Chevy Bolt has not one but two data recorders to store data pertinent to every driving situation. Together, they keep a digital record of all input data from the car’s sensors, information about acceleration, braking and steering actions, and any malfunctions that may occur. Both are designed to survive in the event of a catastrophic accident.
GM is anxious to establish a lead in the autonomous car field. It has acquired Cruise Automation, a San Francisco based self-driving startup, as well as Strobe, another startup that specializes in Lidar technology. Adding both to its portfolio is part of the General’s plan to become a “full stack” autonomous car company.” It also plans to introduce up to 20 new EVs by 2023.
As Tesla muddles through “production hell” with its Model 3, some are suggesting the legacy automakers may not be as threatened by Tesla as once thought. Designing cutting-edge electric cars with advanced autonomous features may be where Tesla shines, but building millions of high-quality units is something the car companies have been doing very well for generations.
One area where Tesla still has a wide lead is integrating the sensors that are needed to make autonomous cars a reality in a way that does not detract from the appearance of the cars. Compared to the crude Lost In Space type arrays that sprout from the autonomous cars being tested by Waymo, Uber, General Motors, and others, Tesla’s sensor suite is virtually invisible to the untrained eye. It’s a good thing those cars from other companies are intended for commercial service because it is unlikely any self-respecting car owner would want one of those antlered beasts parked in the driveway.

Images by GM, and edit. originally published by EVOBsession.

Chevy Bolt EV user interface: reviewer calls it best of any electric car

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

Chevrolet Bolt EV drives 300 miles [Screenshot from video by owner Glenn Williams]

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Aug 2016

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

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First Drive: Chevy Bolt EV 200-Mile Electric Car Development Vehicle

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The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is an amazing, long-range electric vehicle that won multiple awards for good reason.

Driving the EV for an extended test for the first time, it’s obvious this is the future of driving. (Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently predicted that 50 percent of new cars will be electric in 10 years.)

Beyond the surprising acceleration, the spirited feel around corners (possibly because the car feels so light), and the ability to drive 238 miles on one charge, the features that amazed me were all related to the touchscreen interface

I drove the Bolt EV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a few months ago, and I wasn’t quite as impressed. Back then, Chevy had not fine-tuned the electric motor, and it wasn’t as sporty.

I remember thinking the interface was unique, but I kept wondering if the sluggish speed (compared to a few other electrics) would be an issue.

Driving on the curvy roads north of San Francisco, however, it became obvious the car was ready for production.

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV

You have to hold on tight when you punch it, which seems counterintuitive in a small hatchback like this.

Then you start using the display and it feels more like an iPad. What’s going on?

The touchscreen feels responsive and doesn’t distract you from the road like a few other touchscreens in cars that have a lag.

Along the top, there’s an obvious home button, one for apps, and one for music. You can customize the layout, colors, and look and feel to one that matches your tastes and driving style.

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

For example, the “eco” layout, shown below, includes information about the energy used.

You can further edit the screen by locating the boxes — similar to the tile interface in Windows 10 — in a different pattern or making a “tile” full-screen.

The color scheme Chevy uses made it easy to spot different sections of the UI. I never had to hunt around for the bright blue track control icons.

When I wanted to change how the EV was drawing power, I found that section easily without having to click on smaller icons (as is the case with many other cars).

Chevrolet Bolt EV drives 300 miles [Screenshot from video by owner Glenn Williams]

Someone at Chevy deserves credit because they obviously tested the interface with actual drivers—who have actual fingers.

Instead of having to fine-press on an icon, you can click anywhere in the tile.

That meant, even on rocky terrain as the car was moving around a bit on the road, I was still able to make selections.

Having a clear interface helps with distracted driving problems. You can easily make selections without having to tap-tap-tap on the buttons as you look at the screen for too long.

The UI is one of the best I’ve seen in any recent car, and I’m including a test drive in a Tesla in that comment.

Chevy Bolt Outguns Volkswagen GTI In Drag Race

The Volkswagen Golf GTI was one of the first “hot hatchback” cars way back in the 80’s, when it was known in America as the Rabbit. Now in its 8th generation, the Golf GTI has been massaged and polished into a gem of a car that now features a turbocharged 2.0 liter engine that enthusiasts would have killed for back when the GTI was first created. But how does it fare against the Chevy Bolt, General Motors’ first mass produced all electric car (not counting the ill fated EV1, of course)?

The Fast Lane Car pitted the two against each other on a straight section of road to find out. No fancy drag strip with electronic timing and Christmas tree starting lights. No one foot roll out. Nothing except some straight asphalt with a few potholes, two cars, two drivers, and a few cameras.

The Golf GTI is able to scoot to 60 mph in about 6 seconds. The Chevy Bolt is maybe an eyelash slower. But the variable in all acceleration contests is the driver. It’s the age old conundrum that has made 4,657 Tesla versus the world drag race videos possible. In an electric car, maximum torque is available at zero rpm. Press the right pedal and go. No revving the engine. No finding just the right clutch release point. No waiting for the power to arrive as the turbo spools up.

So how did the Bolt do against one of the perennial favorites in the performance small car field? Very nicely, thank you very much. It took two out of three races against the GTI and the race it lost was only by a whisker.

The message is that electric cars are just as quick as their gasoline powered cousins, so there is no reason to think driving electric means being consigned to life in the slow lane.

Chevy Bolt Is IIHS Top Safety Pick

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has awarded the Chevrolet Bolt a 2017 Top Safety Pick rating. It is the first all electric car to claim that distinction. Bear in mind that the IIHS is a private organization and should not be confused with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), a government agency that awarded its highest rating to the Tesla Model X last week. The NHTSA website says the Chevy Bolt has not yet been rated.

The Bolt received good ratings in all five IIHS crashworthiness tests — small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints. The Chevy Bolt also has an optional front crash prevention system otherwise known as automatic emergency braking. That system is tested at speeds of 12 miles per hour and 25 miles per hour. IIHS gave it a superior rating. To qualify for a Top Safety Pick award, the system must receive either an advanced or superior rating.

The only quibble the IIHS had with the Bolt was its headlights, which it rated poor. It says they do a fine job of lighting the road ahead but produce too much glare for oncoming drivers. Sounds more like an adjustment problem rather than a structural issue.

Chevrolet is making the Bolt available nationwide about a month sooner than originally planned. Dealers across America are now accepting orders, which Chevrolet says will lead to cars being delivered to dealers in all 50 states by late August. Chevrolet has also begun a national advertising campaign for the Bolt. Full page ads in the Washington Post and the New York Times appeared for the first time last Sunday.

Chevrolet says its advertising campaign will be carefully targeted to reach people who are likely Bolt owners. Darin Gesse, marketing director for the Chevy Volt and Chevy Bolt told the press last year that customers for both cars “are not typical Chevy customers” because they arrive at showrooms well informed about the cars because of the research they have done online beforehand. Digital and social media campaigns are more likely than television ads. “our customers don’t really watch television,” Gesse said.

Chevrolet says it has video taped sales people who are successful at selling electric cars and using those videos to train others. Selling cars that run on electrons instead of molecules requires a more consultative process than many sales people are used to. Complaints about clueless dealers and sales personnel have been common among electric car shoppers for years. Chevrolet has little direct control over how its franchise dealers operate, but is trying to address those complaints through education.

Source: Electric Cars Report         Photo credit: Green Car Report