Chevy Bolt EV Final Thoughts
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- Sandy gives his final thoughts on the 2022 Chevy Bolt EV.
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Outro:
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#Bolt #Chevy #EV - Розваги
Well, it really seems she forgot to set the one-pedal driving mode!
When active, the Bolt EV does not glide at all. It is especially strong, let alone if you pull the steering "regen" button to make it even more aggressive. It's to the point where you won't even touch the brake pedal. The car comes to a full stop in pretty short distances.
And in 2022, the one-pedal driving also works in reverse - where it did not in previous model-year.
Sandy, Sue, you missed the best part of the Bolt: the brake paddle on the left of the steering wheel which gives you instant access to full regenerative braking. I love it. I've owned and have driven a lot of EVs, but this is by far the best regenerative system out there.
Totally agree. GM did an exceptional job with the paddle, the regen, and especially the blended braking. Love my Bolt.
I think Sue missed the Lo mode also, aka one pedal
@@rossr6616 : I agree there was a point it sounded like she hadn’t used L mode. “Glide path” doesn’t sound like what my Bolt EV does.
Her whole disposition was like she was apologizing for liking the Bolt. Is this to avoid the wrath of Tesla fanboys? I love my Bolt, and GM made it years before Model Y or 3 and it costs half of those cars.
@@CleanPowerAuto The bolt only came out 8 months before the model 3 and the price used to be much closer than it is now. When I got mine there was only 7k difference between the base models and the model 3 was a lot more capable.
I appreciate that Sandy is able to say when, he is wrong.
Please keep the buttons! Definitely better to have multiple options then be only dependent on the screen.
I'd have to agree with this. I had a 2021 Bolt for about 9 months and ended up trading it in for more than I financed it for so that I could lower my debt-to-income to acquire a Duplex. One of my biggest gripes w/ the 2021 was that the A/C controls, heated seats, etc were on the screen and sometimes the screen took awhile to respond. The physical buttons on the 2022, alongside the one-pedal mode button are game changers.
Agree ... as a large manufacturer, GM has to try pleasing everybody (young and old) so they focus more on familiarity than boutique-ness.
GM should thank you for this review. It’s the best advertising for the Bolt I’ve seen. In fact I might just get one next year.
GM’s ownership experience is not the best, please read my response regarding my ownership experience of my 2019 Bolt.
It was a paid advertisement by Chevy. FYI. Doesn’t detract from Sandy’s analysis.
@@danjw1 I hear you on the Bolt. it’s a toy car if I do buy it. I’m waiting for my Cybertruck. Also, getting my wife a model Y - waiting for the the new battery to mature. We don’t need a car right now.
O, I am sure they thanked Him properly 🤣🤣🤣
@@danjw1 I spent 20 minutes looking for your review ?? can you cut and paste it into a response here ? Thx.
Great point from Sue about the gap in the market for smaller, less complicated, sufficient range, lower price EV cars. Here in Europe that space was only really filled by MG and Renault for a while but that is changing with new Asian imports.
Yep
BYD Dolphin looming on the horizon
And the VW EUp!
@@davidwellington4186 yes the eUp! Especially with the bigger battery now. Unfortunately not available where I live.
In the UK anything new and capable of a real life 200+ miles is still in excess of £30,000. There are some offers on Zoe's that bring them under £30k but even if they were free I'm not getting in to a new car that scores 0 stars in Euro NCAP because Renault decided to save a few quid by removing side airbags!
Sandy and Sue are such a dynamic pair on screen. Great work.
Great to have you on again, Sue. I always enjoy hearing from you! What you choose to address and how you phrase your thoughts is unique and brings significant value to the show. Thank ye kindly, ma'am.
I'll gladly pay another $50 for a car with redundant buttons and knobs! You don't need them for everything but you can't beat a knob for volume,temperature control, and fan speed
My wife just switched to a car without a physical knob for volume control. Physical buttons and dials are highly underrated, at least for things that you use frequently.
@@RyanWilliams222 I think tesla has the best solution for this, 2 knobs on the steering wheel that change function based on where the screen is. Volume and Speed control are default and then you can switch to other stuff as needed.
@@DrThunder2004 That definitely sounds better than not having any physical dials or knobs at all, but is it better than having a dedicated volume knob? What if I’m in some part of the menu where the dial has a different function, but I want to adjust the volume immediately and without looking?
I get the appeal of minimizing dials and knobs from an engineering perspective, but from a user-experience perspective, I don’t really see the downside of having them. I suppose it would reduce the potential to feel overwhelmed at first, but that feeling goes away once you become familiar with the controls, and then you can adjust a bunch of stuff quickly and without having to take your eyes off the road.
I prefer buttons for not taking my eyes off the road to make a minor change. I’ve always relied, and trained new drivers to learn muscle memory for controls. However, all these vehicles have voice controls that work as well, so I see Sandy’s point. To backstab my previous point about voice controls, without the family in the car, I am in my zone. I don’t even like phone calls interrupting my happy place by stopping the music, so I appreciate the available controls to make adjustments without stopping my music to use voice. FREEDOM!!! 🤘❤️☠️🔥SGBCFTW!!!
My biggest complaint with my new model y is I can't adjust fan speed for defrost.
I own a Model 3 -- but I still want GM to sell tons of these - so that they are motivated to iterate and improve, and prove to people that moving to an EV isn't a big deal.
And we don’t need another taxpayer funded GM bailout.
I would love to agree, and do in principle.. but I drove a Volt for 125Kmi and a Model3 for the last 4. GM is still in the past with discrete model year feature sets. Tesla has it right with firmware updates for all the people. I just wish Teslas were cheaper. Folks deserve better than GMs self-serving halfway-there offerings. 😥
@not today GM already received a bailout not long ago in the form of a loan that they will probably never pay back. 2.1 Billion .
exactly
For GM to sell more ….something has to be done about Unfair Trade…
When a Volt sells in the US for $39k and the same car costs $80,000 in China .. Japan .. Korea etc
GM will never complete fairly!.. you can build the best EV … but unfair trade will negate any design advantage .
I think the buttons make sense. The interior layout is familiar to GM drivers. Going from ICE to EV was a big adjustment and having a layout that I was familiar with helped. I think the Bolt is the best car out there, ICE or EV, for the money.
GM has to expend it’s customer base to have a future.
@@videopyc True, but they shouldn't ignore their old customers. I used to buy Oldsmobiles, at the time the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was the best selling car in America. GM decided to take Oldsmobile upscale and stopped making the Olds models that people liked. The upscale customers never showed up and Oldsmobile died. From the comments I see a lot of people like buttons.
The thing you have to remember with Monroe videos is he’s a “DFMA” guy-their mantra is to eliminate any moving or separate parts. So, from that point of view, you’d put every control on the screen. From the user’s point of view, that sucks, but it satisfies the DFMA method.
By the way, these (DFMA) are the people who’ve made things so they’re completely unserviceable, or with integrated plastic clips that break when you try to take it apart. DFMA is great for initial cost, but bites you with high repair costs down the road, and in this case, eliminates manual buttons that most users prefer to a screen interface.
She should do more commentary. Smart & entertaining.
Except she clearly didn't use 1 pedal breaking properly and didn't mention the regen paddle
@@Thedoctorjosh maybe that's a problem with the UX. Instead of blaming her, consider that she knows from 1 pedal and after a weekend, she didn't find how to enable.
She's a likely target persona and we just heard of a UX fail
@@ericobut how's about you don't professionally review cars if you can't even be brothered to learn what the 5 buttons on the center console do?
Finally, an EV that people can afford! With a federal tax credit, this car will be well within the reach of the average American buyer. If GM can continue to improve this car, it will be able to compete with the Chinese when their cars arrive in the US. GM is going to sell a lot of these cars, and I would venture to guess that this car becomes a mainstay in the American market. Nice job GM!
Being able to apply the tax credit as a discount @ point of sale will help. Hopefully dealer fees and add-ons won't kill this car in the market.
Not sure how much new tax credit will apply to this, the old one had run out for GM. At least the new tax credit won't punish early adopters like GM
The Bolt is a great commuter car. I've expensed many miles for work in it, and it during the school year it saves at least a gallon of gas a day. It's surprisingly fast from a roll, and it makes our ICE car feel sluggish, despite it's 300+hp.
I love having a power button, it means the vehicle can go in a deeper power state. Look at Alex on Autos video on the vampire drain on Rivian vs the Lightning, that Rivian lost a quarter of a full charge being off for less than 2 weeks, whereas the Lightning lost virtually nothing.
I wouldn’t buy EV without, power button. Just think about buying a computer or phone without power button. It always good to clear all those junks in the ram, or you could get a screen freeze which is not safe for car.
AMEN! Exactly, the car shouldn't be sitting there listening and waiting for you to walk up to it. It is just a giant power suck. I prefer the power on and off button as well. The minimalist design forcing everything on the screen, no easy access controls and no displays in front of the driver so the driver can focus on the road and not be messing around looking over at the screen and messing with it. Tesla is missing the boat and sadly the other manufacturers are trying to mimic that insanity. I like the layout of the Bolt. I can't say I am a fan of that button layout for that transmission, but they did a pretty good job overall. GM should keep the Bolt around and just keep refining it, give it a little more speed with the DCFC. I am not a GM fan at all, but well done GM.
I like physical buttons. They give you feedback when you press them. When you feel the _click_ you know it engaged. Pressing an icon on a screen and wondering if it engaged is not as good. Especially when you're driving and don't want to be distracted by having to look directly at it.
I used to own a 2014 Chevy Volt. Loved the car but I didn't like the non-buttons on the center console.
Same here.
Thanks Sue and Sandy for your honest review. There are so many people that will automatically say a car is a "pos" by the price point. Sue thanks for your prospective, Sandy can get a little caught up by a car not being the best in design. Sometimes simple is good and cheaper to repair.
Agree. Hate be repair anything new Tesla Model Y
Simple is great. GM is terrible. That's why it's a POS.
@@heinousanus9352 hi, do you own this generation of car ? Why do you feel how you do, curious ?
The price of this car is also affected by the old Bolt battery catastrophe - GM needs to overcome the bad impression by offering a very attractive price. The profit margin must be very small for this car.
Sandy gets a little caught up on a few things. He didn't fully pick up on the theme of the car that Sue noticed - everything about this car screams it was created to provide a seamless transition from an ICE to a BEV. Or even an up to date ICE car. The redundant buttons are for folks who hate the idea of navigating thru a touch screen. The buttons allow you to do all the traditional functions, minimizing the use of the screen. The Start button is also there for familiarity, for folks who don't like the idea that the car can go just by selecting the gear, when the car isn't "running."
As Lauren Fix called the BOLT suspension. A trailer with a suspension. Basic and inexpensive.
Just a note. Keep the volume rotary know irrespective of the vehicle. You can intuitively lower it without taking your eyes off the road. Modern cars are all about touch screens that cannot be operated in a hurry. I love your insights and appreciate your passion on cost reduction
I agree! AC Fan Speed/Temp and Volume rotary dial should be separate from the screen. Some GUI are slow to respond to touch inputs or "animation" needs to completely load before interacting...quite annoying.
I'm fine with the volume control on the steering wheel. The other one can be anything, as it's mostly for the passenger who doesn't need to keep their focus on the road.
The 2023 Bolt (probably the same in older models) have up/down volume buttons behind the steering wheel on the right side while the left rear side have audio saved channels selector besides the regen paddle.
I like how the remote start, via key fob or mychevrolet app, works on this car where it preconditions the batteries for driving while also turning on the ac or heat including the heated seats and steering wheel though you still have to press the power on button once you’re inside the car, I suppose to keep the battery usage low. Preference setup on mychevrolet app is also smooth and identifies and logs me in as I enter the car. I like driving this car and is my second EV car and a move up in terms of mileage capacity and acceleration from a 2016 Leaf SV which I also like in terms of drivability where it has better handling and lower center of gravity.
bought my 2017 bolt used 1.5 years ago before the used car market went crazy... ZERO REGRETS! best city commuter 🔋⚡
Sue is amazing. I always say this. She should be more often in these videos.
Also, I love the brutally honest style of Sandy, at the end of the video minute 15:28 when he asks you to subscribe. No common UA-cam creator asks like that. But Sandy is not common.
I agree! More content with Sue’s perspective and participation!!! Love how y’all work together 🙏🏼😁😎
Not only is she amazing she is beautiful!
And smart too, of course!
I'm not certain what Sandy means when he says that the Bolt isn't "bespoke": Both generations of Bolt have been built as EVs from the ground up - they are not "electrified" versions of ICE vehicles.
I was confused by that remark also I thought bespoke meant custom-made, which of course it isn't. Also not sure that was 100% ground up, the end result is what counts anyway. So many people use the factory conversion or compliance car as an attack and it's really missing the point.
I noticed that mistake too. I also noticed that apparently, Sue never found the the aggresive regen mode. And I also noticed that Sandy thinks this car is drastically different from the 2017-2021 Bolt. It’s identical except for the IP and seats.
I agree. As far as I know the definition of, “bespoke,” is custom-made. Perhaps, “luxurious,” is what Sandy meant. The Bolt has a pretty basic interior, but it gets the job done. I can say from the pictures of the newer Bolt, it looks like Chevy has noticeably improved the interior look and feel over my 2017 model. I’ll say the Bolt is an extremely well assembled car. The assembly quality on the Bolt matches any Asian car I’ve owned. The updated front fascia on the Bolt actually looks pretty good too.
@@kipamore Yes, the Bolt should offer a setting to default to “L” mode instead of “D.” I had a Nissan LEAF before my Bolt and it was the same - two flicks of the shifter required to get aggressive regeneration. I suppose Nissan and Chevy did it to make gas car drivers feel more at home.
Bespoke in the sense that you keep it in the family - an heirloom. Not a commodity.
Physical buttons are very helpful when you on any curvy road and can save people life. Thanks to GM that not only spends extra money for physical switches; but also had to go through ISO 10605 that requires 25KV air discharge to those switches.
My first experience with the Bolt was when I rented one without knowing it was an EV (to be fair it was a horrible day of travel). I have driven hybrids, but this was my first EV. I have to say it was VERY intuitive. It took me about 50 miles or so before I even realized it WAS an EV! Even though the experience turned out to be a total headache for that trip, I fell in love with the Bolt. I ordered one in April and it’s being built right now. I hope to be driving it soon!
I own a 21 model and it is the best commuter car I've ever had. if the DC fast charging happened at 100kw instead of 50kw it would be the perfect car for me. Yes I've been driving it long enough now that I don't even think about range any more.
Thankfully the Equinox will fit the bill there
I just bought the Bolt EUV Premier Launch Edition. @ $40 out the door, with super cruise and every bell and whistle available, but I wish it had a power rear hatch. So far it's been great car with a dependable 250+ miles of range. It's not amazing, It's not a game changer, it is not neck snapping quick, but it is a solid vehicle. I wish they would have called the Bolt EUV by another name, I think it still carries some of the original Bolt stigma. But I think with the new group of Chevy EVs that will be launched and the Cadillac Lyric, I think GM is really going to bring EVs to "regular" people. If it wasn't for the regen braking or one pedal driving mode, this car is like a regular car, not some kind of Ikea experience or some type of spaceship or experimental aircraft. When I had a BMW i3, people asked me all the time, "what is that?" My Bolt EUV, doesn't get a second glance. One of the first days I had it, I was walking up to my car in the parking lot, and actually walked up to a same colored Chevy Traverse , thinking it was my Bolt EUV. If you are driving less that 250 miles a day, and have a Level 2 charger at home (my Bolt EUV came with an 8amp110/32amp 220) so you can recharge every night, I think that Chevy is making an ICE driving experience, with the ease of home charging, so you never have to waste time going to or in line at a gas station.
I really enjoy all of your videos, and even bought the i3 report when you made it available, it was amazing. Thanks again for all you do and making amazing content! And the videos with Sue are a big bonus!
If you get rid of the actual direction buttons/switches and put them on your screen only, if your main screen goes out, your car is undriveable.
Also, if they only have on the screen and screen goes out and car is undrivable... Can you imagine the criticism they would receive along with risk of lawsuits? Imagine your screen goes out while you are driving in forward. How do you put the car in park or shut it off? Maybe there is an amswer but to me it is smart common sense to spend the extra $10.00 to have redundancy with switches/buttons.
Glad Sue added her comments. Really helps! Thanks.
Love it when Sandy and Sue do a Review. I knew, Sue would like it and especially the color, the two of you bouncing thoughts off each other, dinner time must be a hoot !
There are lots of times that I get into my car and don’t want it to “start”. I very much prefer a start button, and a physical key for that matter. I don’t want my car to unlock because I come near it, I’ll unlock it when I want it unlocked. All of these new ideas are cool in there own way, but they all take resources, use energy and sometimes are inconvenient. I think of the simplicity of my Lotus Elise and wish manufacturers would push electric vehicles in that direction, less the gasoline engine. That is, much like the original Tesla Roadster.
The start button on a Tesla is the brake pedal. You can configure a Tesla not to unlock when you approach it.
I'm with you on the simplicity aspect of manual operation. I don't want my car guessing when I want it locked or unlocked or when I want it running or not running.
Tesla seems to have done it right, car "starts" when you hit brake pedal, some things wake up when you open doors (and sleep when you close and all out, eg HVAC etc)...
and, doesn't unlock until you open the door handle (it knows/preps when you approach w/ phone key, but doesn't actually unlock til door.) The car doesn't use much power just sitting sleeping, maybe 1% every 2-5days... if you leave computer fully running w/ Sentry cam on etc, that is around 300W, or 1mile/hour...
This seems better than the Rivian approach which UNLOCKS just as you approach the car (!!), and also starts up the HVAC it seems, from other reviews? eek.
@@cgamiga Teslas use a lot of energy in its "Off mode". Here is a video demonstrating this: ua-cam.com/video/ivvKqguWhJs/v-deo.html
@@conchobar I watched the video you recommended and there was extremely low battery loss after 3 cold days of not using. I'd say the vid you recommended does NOT support your thesis.
I've absolutely loved both my Bolts and before that my Volt... I talked to a gentleman from Chevy who told me that say for perhaps the Corvette... they have no other car that has more customer loyalty than their Bolt!! I believe that!
I have waited in the car, with windows open or closed as desired, and greatly appreciate the quiet and simplicity - not wasting power. When I want the car on I press the brake pedal and start button and everything is on: shifter, lights, audio, navigation and phone charging. Depending on weather it can be 5 kWh with the car on and it'd be a half dozen control usages to turn all that off and on again. So no, the start button is a good idea and these reviewers are completely wrong to ask for no start button.
Secondly I don't know how she drives but in one pedal with a normally loaded car lifted the pedal is maximum safe braking. Using the regeneration paddle, with one pedal lifted, is nearly emergency braking and the regular brakes are always there if you are needing to fully emergency brake - hopefully very rarely.
Thanks, Munro & crew, for this wrap-up of the newest Chevy Bolt EV. I'm, pleased to see attention focused on the entry level EV market whenever possible. We address the climate crisis more effectively with 10 plain vanilla EVs on the road doing ordinary things than with a single cost-no-object headline grabber clocking impressive 0-to-60 times. As a medium income urban driver who has gotten along just fine with a 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV (purchased used, cheaply) for the past 7 years, I can now see a clear and affordable upgrade path for my 1st generation no-frills EV hatchback. Or, for the current ICE driver on a real world budget, their first electric car.
I hope Chevy makes (technical term here) shit tons of these things over the next few years and that the newly revised government purchase incentives get them out the door for consumers in the $20K+ price range. After a few years of these being leased, used examples will show up on the car lots en masse for around $12K per copy. Then the other part of the new EV rebate program kicks in: the $4K available for used purchases. So, these $12K lightly used EVs turn into an $8K ones virtually overnight. That's about what I paid for my used i-MiEV in 2015 . . . and that one only had a 63 mile range battery. In the mid 2020s, that same money buys you a used EV with 250+ range. And, oh yeah, charging stations all up and down the interstates by then.
You wrote, "I hope Chevy makes (technical term here) shit tons of these things over the next few years". I hope so too, because it is nice to see "cheaper than Tesla but still good enough" EVs become available. However, I fear this car may not sell well. I say that for a few reasons. First, the original Chevy Bolt sold about 27K--30K units annually for several years (before the pandemic and battery recall). Put simply, its sales plateaued rather than increasing significantly from year to year. And this is despite the facts that it won several "car of the year" awards, was released several months before the Tesla Model 3, and was priced significantly cheaper than the Tesla Model 3.
Second, near the start of this year, I saw an interview with a high-level manager at GM. He said problems with the battery recall were over and he was confident of being able to sell more than 20K Chevy Bolts in 2022. I was disappointed; I thought he should have been aiming to sell hundreds of thousands of units, but instead he seemed to be happy to settle for the mediocre level of sales that the car had previously had.
Third, in June 2022, GM announced a $6000 price drop for the Chevy Bolt, which suggested to me the car was selling poorly enough that GM felt the only way to increase sales was to cut the price. I fear the car might have suffered long-term reputational damage from the battery recall. Hopefully the new government $7500 rebate will be enough to overcome reluctance amount potential buyers, and hence increase demand for this car. $20K for a "good enough" EV sounds like a great bargain.
@@CiaranMcHale Well, yes. But I think you've said it yourself: a Bolt EV for just a few thousand dollars below a Model 3 wasn't quite going to cut it in 2016. But for $27K today ? It's a genuine bargain.
True, the Bolt battery fires and subsequent recalls couldn't have come at a worse time. But recalls for all sorts of other things on cars happen all the time and we don't get nearly as excited as we did about the Bolt's batteries. Sadly, a lot of the EV press conflated it instead of just reporting on it. How many ICE cars went up in flames during the same period compared to that handful of Bolts?
My thoughts are that Chevy (or their main battery supplier, LG Energy Solutions) would do well to develop LFP cells for the Bolt. We wouldn't even be talking about battery fires any longer, or supply chain and/or ethical sourcing issues of things like nickel and cobalt if this was the case. And who - outside of a vocal contingent of online commentators who are always going to be obsessed with such things - really cares if the car's range drops down to, say, around 220 miles as a result? As an EV driver on a budget, I've done just fine with an electric car with a fraction of that range for the past 7 years. I'd rather have the ability to cycle a more durable battery down to near zero and bring it back up to 100% regularly without fear of damage, as you're not going to experience that when doing this with higher energy density - but more fragile - ternary cell chemistry.
I'll admit that many of my observations are out of step with the conventional cost-no-object decade-long vision of mainstream EV adoption. But I do think it's time that we have to remove all this peer pressure decision making from the 4PM cocktail crowd and bring it down to Earth for everyone else. Or, to put it in another way, I'm excited to see EVs become . . . boring. :-)
The Climate crises is manufactured BS. Pollution is very real but this climate crises you talk about isn't being made better by electric cars until the whole supply chain is electrified and the electricity is made from no carbon based fuels. The greenest thing you could have done is to buy one car and drive it till you die.
@@majorchungus ua-cam.com/video/qw5zzrOpo2s/v-deo.html
Great video guys. Glad to see GM finally raising back up off the carpet. Well done.
Mr and Mrs Monro, I do like to see how you two form a really good team! I hope that my wife and I will grow together like you do!
Great channel, nice that Munro Live came to life and brings such awesome content. Btw great comments from Sandy in various other interviews recently regarding the efforts and situation of many OEM´s. Sandy on fire, not holding back, i love it! 🔥😁👍
I had an Amepera-e 2017 as a taxi for 20 months and I was very happy with it. I was down to 1,1 kWh/10 km in the summertime. Lack of heatpump and slow fast charging was the minus.
Always appreciate Sue weighing in with her own perspective
I had a Volt, loved it. Its what opened my eyes to EVs and made me realize that electric is the way to go. Sold it when the warranty ran out as I have very little confidence in GM service or support. Their stealerships are in business to rip you off. These are not vehicles you are going to repair yourself. Be interesting to see long term battery reliability. GM is giving this away to try to gain market share. I doubt they are making much if any profit. Good thing they are in bed with the government on this. Enjoyed the review, keep up the good work!
Hate to say it, but you got hosed. Chevy put a brand new battery in every 2017-19 Bolt. Not only that, but the replacement has 10% more capacity. Before buying I did quite a bit of research. Basically, nothing breaks on the Bolt.
@@kipamore I had a VOLT, not a Bolt. Totally different animal. Had no issues with it, just lack of faith in GM. Glad you are happy with your Bolt. Hope it won't need another battery anytime soon. Seems like it would make a great commuter car and at a good price. Enjoy!
The cover underneath my volt was falling off. Good thing my volt was a lease
@@jeffbaldwin9842 Sorry, you did sat Volt. A neighbor has a Volt with 220k on it. But I get it, and would probably do the same. A little too complex for my tastes.
. VOLT is one of the best vehicles GM built. Very few issues. Minor things here and there. Still have my 2015. No problems. Erick Belmer who works at GM has a 2012 with over 500K miles and still runs good. STEALERS are all the same. Theyre not owned by the maker. You should've kept it.
Had the car for over a year now, love pretty much everything about it. perfect amount of range for me, charge at home so i dont need the best peak performance when it comes to charging speeds. only real gripe is the center armrest and the piano black everywhere
AWESOME VIDEO!!!....Thanks for being so honest!....
Jumping through hoops to be nice to GM, it's nice of you.
If I could get it with LFP batteries I would order one for my wife today. The insights Sue gives are valuable to me, since my wife is the same age. I just don't want a car that makes me worry when it is parked in the garage driveway. LFP is a much safer chemistry. That said, they seem to have a winner.
There will always be something better a year or two wait away. I wouldn’t make too big a deal about waiting for LFP cells for EV batteries. The highest figure I could find for total Bolt fires was 16 out of ~141,000 vehicles reported by Autoweek November 15, 2021. Presumably it is close to or zero fire rate for the re-engineered replacement batteries, but there is less than a year of statistics available for the new batteries.
the fault experienced in the Bolt Cells is not related to the chemistry, it is a physical flaw in processing of separator materials; could happen with LeFePo as well
@@wtmayhew You wouldn't wait, but I would. LFP is much safer.
@@rossr6616 You are so very wrong. The fire starts as a fault with the separator, but the chemistry is what makes it impossible to put out.
But would you buy it when you notice the LFP cells give you a noticeable drop in range , maybe a lower cost would sway the decision maybe not. I would like to see comparative statistics for ICE and EV battery fires before becoming insistent on one kind of battery tech. Not sure if they are in the public domain
Two problems with this review:
1) He's saying this is a much improved car and far different when he's driving a largely de-contented version of the original with only minor differences that no end user will ever notice as improvements because who cares about the production line and vestiges in castings in the end?
2) She criticizes the one-pedal while the Bolt actually has very aggressive one-pedal in its class. Comparing it to the R1T or Plaid is silly, they have much bigger (or more) motors to work with for resistance and larger battery packs to send larger currents to without damaging. The Bolt should be noted as being spectacular at one-pedal force, not one that plays at it.
She made a honest mistake, the coasting mode is one of two modes. That’s the problem with a sort of review. She didn’t RTM and her review was based on just winging it. The 2017-21 shifter is lame and the 2022-23 is also lame but different.
Bolts are great EVs with a few odd design limits
The regen setting may have been changed. Hard to tell with an anecdotal comment, and Munro really doesnt seem to have any rigorous requirements for test drives. I personally feel like they should either adopt some test drive standards or drop the pretense.
Feels like tesla fans reviewing the bolt
This is great car. My brother has one, did over 1k in car. The best range was 280 miles. Great value car. One 1 issue. DC rapid charging.
DC slow charging * lol
@@Fred-mv8fx I never needed the use of the DC charger Network for the driving I did.
Only wish could buy this car in N.Ireland. great range for the price compared to others. Nice spec too.
@@AdrianMcDaid same here, but part of that is I avoid driving the car in situations where I'll be stuck at a DC charger for very long.
I also have the recalled battery + charge limit software, so one trip I want to make would require two dcfc sessions to complete, but the extra 80 miles of range after the fix would allow a single dcfc session. That means double the detour time to get to the off-route charger before factoring in the actual charge time.
Interesting review and thank you for it. But, I would like to comment on some things that maybe have been overlooked :
- the one pedal driving in Bolt EV 2022 is a push button right behind the new "gear selector"
- there is also a Regen-On-Demand paddle on the left of the steering wheel
I doubt she even knew about these two. Combine the two together and you have a serious regenerative braking that would surprise you.
- the new "gear selector" is easy to remember : you pull when you want to move (forward or backwards), you push when you want to stop
- the buttons are the best thing to have, especially during winter time, when winter means temperatures below 20F for 2-3 months
All in all, thank you for the review and yes, I drive a Bolt EV since 2018 (2019 model) and I am still having a smile on my face when I am doing it. I still am looking for excuses to go out and drive it. I don't see any reason why any family that has a garage wouldn't have a Bolt EV at least as a second car (commuter). Mine is the only car on the household and it's great for my kind of driving I do.
Looks like Sue never found "L" mode or the regen paddle if she doesn't think the Bolt has enough regen. As a first-gen Bolt owner, I pretty much never use the brakes or drive in "D".
Yes, I use L exclusively
Me too. Weeks go by and I never touch the brake pedal. Love that.
The newest Bolts have a dedicated one pedal driving button versus L mode. Still has the paddle which works the same.
The thing with buttons is that they provide a tactile response--you can use them without having to see what your hand is doing nearly as much as a flat touch screen. I like the buttons. And the start button allows you to sit in the car with less power being used until you're ready to actually move.
Well I like the color, yes it does look too busy, as they KISS. Keep it simple Stewart. May just check one out and see what it looks like in person and drives.
Thank you both for your honest review.
I love my Tesla S - as a car. I HATE the interface. I'd much prefer manual controls for HVAC. I don't like having to call up a screen to adjust the fan speed, or even switch to defrost or lower the heat a bit. Most times I don't and just live with the setting it's already on.
They did that because it’s cheaper and then sold it as better.
I think the controls for the 2022 HVAC, including the heated and cooled seats on the EUV, are perfect. On my Chrysler, I have to go to the screen for the seat controls - takes too much time and away from driving attention.
Slow charge time is one complaint I’ve heard if you travel away from home.
A slow charge rate is a deal breaker for a lot of people. I actually hope they don't sell that many because they will clog up the super charging stations. People will be waiting an hour in there ioniq 5 so they can plug in for 18 minutes.
I’ve been enjoying my 2022 Bolt EV 2LT for about 5 months and 10,000 miles. It’s a great economy EV for the average blue color worker as a commuter and light road tripper.
ARE YOU SERIOUS ? Their is no way your going to get a Bolt for under 20 or 30 grand . Just go to the dealer and try . Try 40 or higher at least . Dealer markups ? You bet .
Sadly I think the dealers and unions will bankrupt GM yet again.
After Sue and Sandy's comments, I am sure Bolt sales will increase, and rightly so
I like the Start button because you know when the car is really on or not (and sometimes, you just want to be in the car without starting it). The D driving mode has a Creep style (like ICE) but the L driving mode does not. The transmission buttons could be simplified with just a knob (like Hyundai/Kia). It’s sad that they made the EUV better equipped (magic mirror, roof rails) as I still think the original EV version is great.
Thanks for the review of a practical EV many folks can afford. Thumbs up.
Also thank you for stressing the need for top notch engineering. Good engineering isn't good enough when quickly evolving technologies need to be researched and planned/designed for, and incorporated into products to keep them 'ahead of the curve'.
Thank you!
Just think where GM would be if they hadn’t killed the 1996-1999 EV1 and deep-sixed the battery patents😱😢
Imagine IF, gm did not kill the EV in 1890.
What makes you think GM stopped working on batteries? They have the largest battery lab in North America.
The Bolt is pretty legit, I enjoyed mine, but I'm not buying anything with pouch cells when BYD and Tesla have are offering LFP and cylindrical cells. Throw a BYD blade LFP in the Bolt and you'd really have something.
What about the battery fire danger ??? you did not talk about that, I value my life.
Great thoughts! Ty!
Sue’s commentary was a welcome viewpoint from a non-engineering perspective, she was outstanding!
I believe Sue IS an Engineer, with a Masters
And a Doctorate!
As a former Model 3 owner and a current Bolt owner, I have zero issues with the push button start and the parking ball vs the car just engaging the parking brake. I prefer having control over when the car is on, and I like having two systems of redundancy for when the car is parked.
Also, physical buttons for commonly used things like climate control is superior in my mind. I like not having to open up menus to adjust simple things.
Absolutely agree.
Why open menus? Just talk to it.
@@davidbeppler3032 talking is for humans. I don't want to verbally order machines, it's going to affect how we talk to humans.
100% agree. Those tried and true buttons last for decades. Show me any electronic product from any home appliance to the most expensive cellphone, laptops that don't have failures inside a few years. I don't want a EV that I have to pay a monthly subscription to make sure my ac,heater or windshield wipers keep working when needed the most.
The Verge's recent video on the F150 Lighting really drilled on the lack of buttons and the taps needed to reach different controls. I'm for having physical buttons for things that you need to change while driving. That's less time looking away from the road.
Thank you guys! Nice Review!!! Unlike the Ford Mach-E it’s made in USA!!!
Hands down best value in America EV market right now. These will be hard to find this year.
While I wanted a Tesla, they just aren't really affordable (at least anymore). I got the new Bolt EUV and its a nice around town car and I'm quite happy with it.
Sue adds a different perspective on the Bolt. The Bolt is a great buy for an entry level EV, but it's charging speed is glacial. But the BEV2 platform is dated, we need the Ultium platform version. Nice comprehensive review 👍
Thank Kyle Conner for going to Detroit and Yelling at Mary's office not to cancel this car. :)
I bought a 2020 bolt ev and love this car, I live in south Dakota and 45 miles from Mitchel, and we can go back and forth twice without range anxiety we charge at home and have solar panels so really don,t cost much and no oil changes!
I upgraded from bolt to volvo xc40 recharge. I miss my start/stop button. I get out the car and want to leave things on for the kids sitting inside. Now I have to get out the car and then lean back in to press the power on the head unit to start things back up again. The smooth experience of power on/off of the car when i hop in is great most of the time. But its pretty often i'm letting the kids stay and listen to music, especially at charging stops.
I wonder how much the dealerships add to that 20k "final price"
Wow ! Sandy has overcome his dislike of GM to see the advantages of the Bolt. We have two Bolts, for over 4 years, and love them. I've always wondered where his bias came from...
To think this car basically started design almost 10 years ago. Can't wait to see him review a new Ultium EV.
Because by and large they have been terrible, not to mention the battery fire problems. He doesn’t have a “bias”, you watch any of his car tear downs and reviews, he’s very honest, often brutally honest. That isn’t bias, that’s called honesty. He has also been very critical of Tesla’s and their manufacturing and fitting etc. he’s less and less critical of them because they are taking his advice (probably) and improving on all of the things he has suggested them to fix and then some.
If GM were smart, they’d hire Munro and associates to review all their upcoming evs and help them improve so they eventually get bigger market share, because at this stage, they won’t be around in 5-10 years…
Will Mary Barra do it though, I mean, she changed the game, electrified the US car market right? 🤣🤣🤣
His issue with them is their lack of urgency in fully transitioning. The opposing view is why he loves Tesla. He used to work in Detroit and was canned for going against the grain. So I'd say it's a mixture of disappointment and schadenfreude.
He’s a Ford alum. His reflex hatred of GM in his videos oozes. You can see the physical pain he goes through admitting GM did something good.
I think Sue needs to be in every review. I am a guy and she points on stuff I would not have thought of. Great video with a mixed experience between both of you. 👍
Need a playlist for her "Sue Review" or "Sue Experience"
Never driven one but this lady is crazy. The seats are rock hard and the ride is harsh. My GM dealer uses one as a courtesy car and they hate it when they have to drive me home or pick me up after I have my Impala serviced as I always call it the buckboard.
I own a 2017 Premier, now with over 50,000 miles. Still a solid car, no issues except for battery replacement. Would not say it's a given that GM has a positive cash flow on the Bolt as it's OK to lose money on it because the ZEV credit enables multiple Silverado etc. sales. I own a Model Y too so I agree that most if not all the buttons could go.
I really don’t like having to peck at screens while driving, especially for stuff where you’ve got to try to position a virtual slider - a real knob would be easier - the temperature knob on the Bolt, for example. Yes, there are some things which can be done with surface acoustics on screens to give haptic feedback for a more button-like feel. Why not just provide buttons?, but just don’t over-do it with too many buttons.
There are some subtle things Chevy’s designers got right on the screen. Taps register when you lift your finger, rather than when your finger lands. I had a Nissan LEAF that functioned as the latter and I wanted to smack the screen every time I got a false click on the screen due to a bump in the road causing my finger to hit the screen before I wanted. Living in the Mid West, there are plenty of bumps in the roads around here.
@@wtmayhew Voice command obsoletes buttonology. "Set temperature to 72"
@@steamtorch Good comment. I have a Garmin GPS in my old Toyota. The wake phrase is “voice command…” Occasionally the GPS will interpret people talking in the car saying nothing resembling the wake phrase as the wake phrase and then do something random. It is pretty rare, but has happened several times. As long as voice controls are used for non critical functions such as HVAC, I’d say it is a very useful solution.
Thanks Sue, nice review of the cost effective Bolt but next time, lose the old guy.
Great AC, awesome thank you Mary for leading the EV revolution
I'm a bit baffled by the reluctance to be complimentary about this car. The complaints seemed so minor to me, and in fact I like the options for controlling the operation of the car because it allows me to decide how to interact with the car. I hate using the screen for that because I have to look down at it to see where the buttons are. Give me tactile controls every time. I have the 2017 version and still don't quite know why Mr Monroe was so negative about it. With the replacement battery I am easily getting over 300 miles in range during the summer and close to the stated range of 258 during the winter in Maine. It's my second all-electric and my fourth electrified vehicle and it is without question my favorite vehicle I've ever owned. And I am 6 ft 2 in tall and find it to be plenty roomy enough for me in both the front and the back seat, which is very unusual for a small car. For the price, I think this is a tremendous vehicle.
As a person in my 20s who grew up with screens and touchscreen technology, I have to say that we tend to prefer less buttons because we enjoy knowing that nothing was wasted for the sake of those people who don’t like it. I understand having buttons in certain aspects are always going to be important, but if I’m going to be paying top dollar in today’s market for an EV, I don’t want it to feel like a 1990s console…. Also younger people have faster reaction times and we don’t necessarily have an issue taking half a second to look at something to do a task. Obviously when I’m older I’m probably going to have an issue with that by then cars will probably be driving themselves
From a user point of view, I've had Chevy Bolts from the first model year and, unlike this gentleman, absolutely love them. They are fast, highly maneuverable especially in the city, have great visibility, and are super easy to drive. About that. I don't like the change to buttons for shifting. The center lever they have had since the first model year is, from a human factors point of view, fantastic. It is extremely easy to shift in and out of one pedal driving without looking anywhere but at the road. In some types of city driving this is absolutely essential unless you want to be on your brakes or unless you want to constantly be on your accelerator all the time. I would not buy this car with the push button shifting because it removes from the user great utility in shifting in and out of one pedal driving. This system as it was, was much superior to Tesla, Hyundai, Ford Mach E, and many of the others. Shifting in and out of one pedal driving easily is very important unless you want to be constantly either on the excelerator or hitting your brakes. All in all I have found the Bolt over the last five years a complete pleasure to drive, especially in stop and go city environments. And in summer temperatures, it is not uncommon to get over 300 miles of range in my 2020 Bolt.
I agree with your comment about the stick/1 pedal. I love that it persists but wish it was more intuitive to take in and out of 1 peddle like my 20 was. That being said I've adapted and can find the button without looking after a few months of ownership. Still not as nice as the stick but I'm getting better
I agree with Sandy on the Start button for this car. Many times I get in my Bolt and just want to put it in R and go but the car won't do it. If you turn it on right after that, it will admonish you on the driver display that something to the effect of "conditions are not right for shifting" which means the car is fully awake and just wants you to push the button before it'll do anything.
“ICE AGE” Perfectly put!
Sandy: I first had a 2014 Nissan Leaf (used) with 84 mile range. Drove that for 2 years. Bought a 2018 Chev Bolt, now with new batteries & warranty with a 259 mile range. For a 2nd car or a car that you rarely drive OUTSIDE it's range....it is a good car.
Ordered a Cyber Truck in Nov 2019. Reservation #12,042.
When that arrives, my gas car & the Bolt will be sold.
Had I not been getting the Tesla......I could have driven the Bolt forever as long as I had a gas car too.
I have spent significant time in Teslas and have driven the Mach-E. I still like mechanical buttons for basic functions like climate control and the radio volume. Putting these controls on a touch screen forces you to take your eyes off the road for a fractionally longer period of time than you need to if using a physical button or knob.
There is a reason it is considered unsafe for people to use their smart phones while driving…takes your eyes off the road.
I’ll gladly pay $10 more for a vehicle that has some basic mechanical buttons in addition to the touch screen.
The start/stop button is a different matter. Get rid of it.
Many are reducing their button/knob count with each model year to follow Tesla’s lead. Those functions are being consolidated on steering wheels, via voice commands, and hand gestures. Tesla’s goal is for their vehicles to eventually become self driving, so the danger in not looking at the road at all times eventually will not be an issue or concern.
Love it when Mrs. Munro comes on. Great wrap up on a great little car that anyone and everyone should be able to drive.
That's Dr. Okray.
Hear hear for Sue
Excellent impressions! Love your content, keep up the good work. Any chance you can include metric conversions as subtitles in your videos for the rest of the worlds viewers?
Sue is a natural and the camera really likes her. So we’ll spoken and very interesting perspective on what she likes and what she doesn’t.
p.s. SHE makes the car look good.
I bought the cheapest Bolt EUV you can buy. I love it. Great vehicle so far. As for Sandy's consistent rant against buttons, I'm sure he's correct that there's money to be saved, but I can't help but assume EVERY car company knows this and is simply responding to focus group input and surveys. Didn't honda remove the volume knob on the CRV a few years ago and end up bringing it back to appease angry customers?
Isn't the advantage of a button that you can quickly learn to used it by feel without taking your eyes off the road, so it is both safer and easier?
I thought the surprise would be that they'd buy one, instead of riding a tank like the R1T :)
It even has many features that Tesla don't have: front bumper camera, androidauto/carplay etc.
Great Video!!!
“..Cory in his office weeping…”. Ya see? This is why we like you so much, Sandy.
I owned a 2017 Bolt. They’ve made some significant improvements. Even though the range is very good the max charging rate is only 55kw. Sorry, still a city car.
What does "city car" even mean...? 250 miles of range gets me between most major cities in my area without having to recharge, and if I have even an hour at my destination I can DC fast charge while I take care of whatever it is I'm required to do. The only thing you can't do unless you plan for extra time is cross-country travel.
I travel in my Bolt, but DC fast charging does take a bit more time.
Good to see you come to your senses! Hate to break it to ya, but a couple new features and some cosmetic differences are all that differentiate this car from the one your drove in 2016. The drive is all the same. Which is to say, excellent. It's easy to understand though. Looking at this car with $40k goggles in 2016, it's easy to have one opinion, and then looking at it again at $25k (or even less with possible tax credit) in 2022, and arrive at a different opinion is quite feasible.
According to GM they're losing $15,000 on each Bolt
The push button is a safety feature. Especially for programing and service. For any type of programming it is using just the 12v battery. Once it's in acc mode you have to hold your foot on the brake. So incase anything happens you can't just take off as well as incase a child gets in and is messing with stuff from my understanding. Per GM training I've taken on our electric vehicles.
I really enjoyed her prospective .
There is going to be a stockpile of these before January 1st given the new EV tax credit system. They'll probably all be reserved. It's a good second car as long as you don't plan to use it for really long trips and if you can charge at home.
I wonder when they'll get recalled?
Just drove 2017 Bolt EV from California to Massachusetts. Kept running into the same Ionic 5, and VW IDs on the trip, so as long as you maximize the charging rate (keep under 65% SOC) you are good. Car had 86,000 miles and the replacement drive battery. Only wish it had adaptive cruise control. Also, being such a small vehicle it gets bullied on the road, usually pickups. I miss it already.
It may not qualify for the tax credit. Must have North American battery materials. Hope they change the bill.
@@hoffinger That DOES not apply to 2023, the domestic (North American) battery content starts in 2024,.
Here is an idea: A range limited, geofenced EV as first car for teenagers, or senior citizens.
Thanks for the great Final Thoughts!
I get the impression the Bolt is kind of an incremental change vehicle based on an IC platform to start.
It will be interesting when say the new Equinox EV is reviewed it's possible a lot of the buttons have been removed since this is an EV platform designed from the start and the price point is not too far off the Bolt.
The bean counters will screw this car up cutting padding in the seats to save a nickel.Using low bid after market components. Hiring I'll e gals to use torque wrenches that they can not read!
It was never an ice car, built from the ground up as an EV. that said, it does retain don't ice features that are absent in a lot of EV's, namely physical buttons that I prefer. It's a great little car.
Lightning Lariat and Bolt EUV owner
The Chevrolet Bolt is an extremely underrated car. Even before the tax-credit goes into play, you can get one of these for less than 30K after tax title and fee if you can find a dealership that will honor the Uber Discount (-$2000) and the $5900 rebate. It's practically the only brand new EV that you can purchase in the US for less than $30,000 that actually has usable range. It's got 4 miles less range and goes 0-60 about 0.8 seconds slower than a Tesla Model 3 that starts at a whopping $48K. It's actually a really zippy car too - 0-60 is officially rated at 6.5 seconds but there's several review sites that have clocked it closer to 6.3 seconds. I currently own a '22 and would highly recommend.
I checked out a 2022 EUV Bolt and it has the video rear view mirror. Quite impressive vehicle.
No thanks to LG Chem, the Bolt got stigma-ed as a failure. Otherwise it is a good first effort EV and its forte is an affordable compact city commuter. It's weakness is the slow charging rate hampering long road trips. The body style is a combination of Chinese front fascia, and Korean/European hatch rear. Too bad it lacks a Frunk.
How does Tesla not win an Altair Enlighten Award for eco-conscious and weight savings initiatives?
Because Tesla doesn’t pay for advertising 😂
Politics
I was looking for an ev to get next year but didnt have the budget for the other options. I was blown away when i saw the price of the EUV even I’m not a GM fan but I’m definitely getting one as my first car next year plus the tax rebate kills it. GM did really good plus the infotainment system at that price is killer.
Nice insights. The car too. Let's all work on our posture.