13 Lessons From Our 2000 Mile Road Trip in Our Chevy Bolt EV
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
- bit.ly/osetj-27
We'll Share How Much Time and Money We Spent Charging
We recently drove nearly 2,000 miles in our Chevy Bolt EV, traveling from Jacksonville, Florida to Houston, Texas-and back. Along the way, we learned a few things.
We logged every charge along the way and tallied the cost. (See lesson 13 below.)
The price per kWh varied dramatically. We charged almost exclusively with Electrify America. In every case on this trip, the company billed us per minute. Because the rate of charging varies, the cost per kWh varies.
The lowest price per kWh was $0.14-that’s less than what we pay at home!
It is easy to find chargers for road trips. That’s a significant change from three years ago.
We discovered a new-to-us app, A Better Route Planner. It is super helpful. People often call the app ABRP.
New Orleans is lacking in charging infrastructure. We couldn’t find a public, high-speed charger anywhere in the city.
Per-minute charging fees encourage you to quit charging when charging slows.
As a result of number 6, it’s best to charge only enough to get to the next charger plus a cushion. This makes your trip both faster and cheaper.
Electrify America is the key to driving an EV on a road trip. In the United States, it is the biggest network by location-even more places than Tesla.
Electrify America features some glitches. When it works, it is a joy to use. The reliability is improving-we’ve been road tripping with Electrify America for years. Still, glitches can lead to frustrating delays. As a result, we spent two hours on the trip on a single charge.
After driving 1958 miles, we were shocked at averaging 4 miles per kWh. We expected to be well below that level with almost entirely freeway miles with the a/c running.
It was fun to meet EV drivers and see impressive new cars. At a charging station in Houston, we spotted a pair of identical white Porche Taycans charging. At another, we spotted a Rivian, and the owner invited Gail to sit in it. She loved it! We can’t wait to get ours.
Speaking of glitches, our Chevy Bolt EV logs the kWh used and miles since the last full charge. The car stopped counting miles after 1,272.6, which made calculating our mileage a bit tricky.
Note the “Distance Traveled” didn’t change for the last 700 miles of the trip.
We spent just $116 to drive almost 2,000 miles. The average cost per kWh was just $0.25. We found a free level 2 (6 kW) charger in New Orleans at Whole Foods and picked up about 6 kWh in an hour of free charging. If we’d had to pay for that, it would have added about a buck to the cost of the trip. Driving an EV is joyfully cheap.
Thanks again for the video great info
No! Thank YOU! 🙏 We're having fun!
That was a nice video thank you very much very informative
Thank you so much! 🙏 We appreciate your feedback!
Great video guys
Thanks for watching! We appreciate your kind feedback.
Very cool. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
That is a wonderful price. Great job.
It is so nice to travel such a long distance without having to worry about the cost of fuel. Thank you so much!
Thank you for the APP. ABRP
Let us know what you think after you use it a few times!
What a trip! Hopefully we'll get to see some pictures soon.
We didn't get any good pics. 😕
@@oursolartrailer oh sad day! Maybe on your 3,000 mile road trip then ;)
@@christianthorpe935 There will be more trips and LOTS of photos.
Great VLOG! We bought a Kia Nero EV and are starting to branch out our driving experience as we become more confident with trip planning. Here in CA more chargers are coming online. Electrify American - YES; pay the subscription fee for reduced rates. Don’t charge over 80% for speed and battery life. Juice is 31c/kWh out here with subscription. We will be doing our first long road trip down to Arizona and New Mexico in a couple of months.
I saw an article today that says there are large charging deserts in the country still. I think it's hogwash. We've driven our EV through nearly a dozen states and are planning another trip--towing our RV with our Bolt in October across four states. Planning is required but it gets easier almost every day!
Thanks for sharing your experiences! We picked up our 2022 EUV in July and averaged 4.5 mpkw. Presently, we are down to 3.0 mpkw. There is a good reason for our drop in range...we live in far north Idaho, it is winter, we have snow tires mounted, and we like to avoid freezing while driving in our 20 degree Temps. Still plenty of range for us. We routinely charge to only 80%. When we drive to Spokane, we just grab a charge at Walmart and the colocated Electrify America DC fast charger. Most of the time we charge at home a $0.08 per kwh.
Congratulations! 🎊🎉👍👏 Great car! That cold weather is a range crusher. I'm glad you enjoy it. You live in beautiful country. I went to high school in Spokane and love visiting your part of the world!
Saw you folks at the JEA EV meetup at the stadium last Saturday. Wanted to say hello but I was talking to people about my ID.4. Good channel , I'm enjoying the content.
We are so sorry we didn't get a chance to say "hi". We plan on being at the next JEA EV event. How about you?
Good information and Thank-you for doing the video.
My wife and I ordered our Chevy Bolt EUV in April and we are likely still 3 or 4 months away from taking delivery...really looking forward to it.
Thank-you again and have a great day!
Mike 🇨🇦 🍁 👍
That new Bolt is beautiful! You will love it! I promise!
@@oursolartrailer we are sure hoping so. Have a great day.
Mike 🇨🇦 🍁 👍
@@michaellippmann4474 welp. Did you get it
@@asmokingp3005 Nope....GM in August still could not give us a build date. So I called a local Hyundai dealer and they had 1 unsold Kona EV as part of their quarterly allotment and we bought that. Took delivery August 24th and we now have 14,500 KM (about 8800 miles) and we love it. Just finished up a 4800 KM road trip to Florida and back and the car was awesome.
We are lucky enough to be able to charge at home (I installed a 32A 240V EVSE) so charging costs are pretty low - we pay 7.3 cents per KWH off peak for electricity.
Love the Kona, charges slightly faster than the Bolt (77 kw vs 50 kw) has a Heads up Display and a Heat Pump, but is a bit smaller than the Bolt EUV.
The model we ended up with was a Ultimate in Black. Fully loaded with all options. 64kwh battery 150 kw motor and 291 pound feet of torque,so pretty comparable with the Bolt for range and performance.
We just canceled the order for the Bolt and as of last week we still had nothing from GM confirming anything. The shipments to Canada are super slow. US seems to be getting product though and of course they are a super buy there....we did not get the price cut so the Kona and Bolt were very close in price here.
Anyway, we love the car - have a great day!
Mike 🇨🇦
I did a 1500 km trip last week in an IONIQ 5 for about $65.00 Canadian so your numbers seem very believable. I did about 1/2 the distance in miles for about 1/2 the cost in USA dollars. Thanks' for the video I enjoyed your comments.
That's great feedback. Thank you for sharing!
As a fellow bolt driver, I very much appreciate this video.
Thanks! How long have you had yours?
@@oursolartrailer since 6-10-22. Not very long. But I really am enjoying the bolt.
@@davidschneider515 Congratulations! I hope you love yours as much as we love ours. We've had ours for 2.5 years and still I spontaneously blurt out "I love this car" at least once a week!
@@oursolartrailer Completely agree, Well put together list. I've had my 2020 Bolt LT since July 2020 and have about 50000 miles on it. My favorite car I've owned but do look forward to a car that can DCfast charge faster than 54kwh.
@@markshellard I feel you there. I spent 50 minutes charging yesterday (only to 70%) and watched a Porche Taycan and a Mercedes EQS pop in and charge go.
This is great information. Thank you for this enjoyable video. I am also a proud owner of a Chevy EV, but have not yet the opportunity to do a road trip
I hope you will enjoy Road trips as much as we do!
wow 15 cents per kwh here in montreal we pay 4 cents per kwh we have 2 bolts one EV 2020 and a EUV 2022 and LOVE em
Wow! I'm jealous! That is fantastic.
Thanks for sharing this information. My son works for GM so I'm excited to see electrification taking hold in America. I personally have a Tesla and am taking it on my third cross country trip. The Tesla supercharging network is incredibly good and it will be opening up later this year for all EVs.
I can't wait for access to the Tesla network! That will make life so much better! It will, among other things, put huge pressure on Electrify America to get its act together. Using EA is ten times more work than Teslas.
all really good info. thank you so much. 4 miles per kWh seems really good. we're u toling ur trailer on this trip?
You're right. Four miles per kWh is great for highway miles. We did our best to drive efficiently. On this trip, we did not tow the trailer. (As I write this, I'm in the trailer at Cape Canaveral).
Great job and yes there are so many different charging stations. They all have either different apps or payment systems. Just wondering at what speed were you going. I drive from Jacksonville FL to new Jersey a few times a year in Bolt. And yes it's not a big deal. Oh the 2021 and our 2020 didn't have that issue with the 1272. They have updated the infortaiment.
We drive about 2 mph below the speed limit on the freeway to extend our range and improve the mileage. Cool you spotted the correction on that 1272 issue! I'm glad they fixed that little glitch.
I appreciate this video and your thorough chronology.
So I have made 4 cross country trips in our Gen II Volt. Each round trip was 2400 miles.
I considered buying a Bolt this summer, replacing my Gen II Volt due to the large discounts offered by GM.
I did the hypothetical trip that you just did in my consideration of whether to replace the Volt.
Your cost for 2000 miles as reported was $116, so for 1200 mile one way trip using your costs that is $70.
The Volt also gets 4 miles per kWh for the 50 or so miles of battery range.
We always save the battery for any urban or traffic congestion areas where that 50 miles sometimes becomes 55 or more miles of range. If those conditions are not encountered, we burn though the Battery to our hotel stop. The Volt recharges there overnight.
Assuming 600 miles that first day and then retiring for the evening at hotel, the Volt's fuel expense (and I am assuming a slightly inflated $5 per gallon of gas) would be $65 plus meals.
Day Two of our trip is also 600 miles and we reach our destination at a "reasonable hour" and stay at our other home. So that's $65 for fuel, (42 mpg on the Volt's ICE) plus meals for Day Two.
But now we are at our destination with one hotel stop. To do that same trip in the Bolt or any full time EV, a second hotel stop is required and additional meals need to be purchased.
The trip in the Bolt also shortens our vacation at our destination by two days. These costs and hassles have to be figured in these trips.
The Volt is cheaper at cross country travel than any EV assuming 10 hours on the road per day, because of the shortened fuel stops resulting in faster progress towards your destination.
The Volt gets to our destination with no drama, no worries, and basic math makes it a better choice, for us. And we drive it as an EV for all our daily commutes and local trips.
Great analysis. As a purely practical matter, you can't beat a Volt with a Bolt!!
@@oursolartrailer
We drive the Volts nearly as cheap as any Bolt on a daily basis.
I am retired so let's stage a competition, Volt versus Bolt.
We start out with $400 in each of our pockets, your Bolt side by side with my Volt.
My Volt Fully charged with a full tank of gas. Your Bolt fully charged as well.
We go 1200 miles from Northern Illinois to Sarasota Florida.
We start out (side by side) traveling all the legal posted speed limits and take the identical interstate route.
Since it will be January and very cold both car heaters will be set to 72 degrees in Eco mode.
We stay within sight of each other until your first charging stop.
We don't exceed the approved DOT 10 hour driving rule per day that truckers must obey.
After 10 hours of driving an 8 hour rest period must be done.
You can deduct your down time for charging and drive those hours day one until 10 hours on the road. Then break for 8 hours.
FYI, our single overnight stop will be Mount Eagle Tennessee. We will stay overnight in that locale fully recharging my Volt overnight and leaving by 8 AM local time with a full tank of gas.
I considered replacing one of our Volts with a Bolt EUV this past summer, even having one for a weekend.
I ran this hypothetical trip several different ways in the Bolt versus the Volt. I know the outcome.
I will arrive at our Florida home sooner, more rested, and have more money left over in my pocket to than you will in the Volt unless...
You sleep in your Bolt, use multiple drivers, and drive into the wee hours of the night for two nights.
January, 2023 is the next date I am available for this competition.
Here is your opportunity to prove the Bolt is as cheap and convenient to travel in as the Volt.
@@byrnc927 yes, I agreed that as a practical matter the Volt is better than the Bolt.
@@oursolartrailer
I misread your comment. I apologize for not reading more carefully. I would be and interesting test though.
@@byrnc927 yep
4.0 miles per kwH is fantastic for freeway driving. I've taken a few road trips on the highway and it is hard to go at the speed limit or below without nearly getting run over by other vehicles especially big rig trucks. Depending on the trip, especially if I'm not in rush, I sometimes prefer to go off the freeway. There's a lot more interesting local things to see that you'd miss from the freeway.
You are so right! Getting off the freeway is more scenic and you get better mileage! Great reminder.
Thanks for the update. Was any of this done hauling your A-Liner?
Great question. We should have been more clear that we didn't take the trailer on this road trip. We've got one planned with the trailer and we'll report on that in July!
@@oursolartrailer
Thanks can’t wait for that update.
@@denniscarver7681 Next time with the trailer!
OMG! $116 is amazing!
Truly!
We have taken several long trips in our 2014 Tesla. We have free supercharging so electricity for trips is zero. However, charging requires more time so overall trip cost required more days in hotels/motels. One other factor is because an EV is heavier than an ICE vehicle it wears out tires faster. An EV is also more impacted by weather especially cold weather. Our car started out with 254 miles of range and it's now about 220 miles. Some of the newer EVs have more range and charging speed which can greatly reduce charging time to the point trips don't take much extra time. Still if the trip in an EV takes extra days the cost of hotels/motels should be included in the cost. Finally what is your time worth? Overall the savings in fuel costs of our Tesla will never payout the extra purchase price of the car. By the way our charging cost at home in the 8 years we have owned the Tesla have gone from about 13 cents per kwh to just over 24 cents per kwh on PG&Es EV rate schedule charging from 12 midnight to 3 pm. Daytime cost is as high as 55 cents per kwh from 4 pm to 9 pm. I really like the Tesla but my wife not so much. It takes a lot more planning for trips than in an ICE vehicle. I actually enjoy doing it. I also don't mind the extra stops to charge because usually my bladder lasts less than the battery. Finally if I didn't have free supercharging I would probably take one of our ICE cars on long trips rather than the Tesla although I would miss the autonomous cruise control.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience with us!
I went to that app. ABRP. Not too many people like it. Did you have any problems with? Good video. Thank you.
We found that it is a fantastic planning tool but it isn't perfect. It is tricky telling it how much juice you have in the battery and when that isn't accurate neither is its guidance. As a result, it isn't a great tool while driving. We went back to Google Maps. There is an option to add a ODB device to keep the app updated. I may give that a try.
clearly breezy there, but the audio is wind noise free. Impressive
Thank you so much for noticing. It took us a while to figure it out.
My guess is $150. I planned a trip we are taking w our 17’Bolt (without new battery) from Winnipeg MB to St Paul, MN next week
It was only $116! We had a ball. Good luck on your adventure!
I’m really excited to get an EV, so this was really great to hear about. I’m curious if you recorded how much time you spent charging versus driving. For every two hours of driving, did you spend two hours charging? More or less?
Yes, we did log the time we spent charging. I included a detailed spreadsheet in our newsletter post you can read here: bit.ly/osetj-27. I hope you find it interesting and helpful.
@@peteparadis1619 You'll be glad to hear no one is going to make you buy an electric car. Your math is correct. We averaged about 90 minutes per day charging, typically while we ate lunch or dinner.
@@oursolartrailer Good answer. I'm retired and am going to buy a EUV when one is available. My reason is really I'm tired of all the maintenance a ICE car brings with it.
@@peteparadis1619 Hey Pete I hear you but I am retired and my wife is a school teacher who drives tops maybe 15 miles a day. It's perfect for us.
@@randyschiffer3265 Thanks! I think you'll love that EUV!
When in a city and you are not able to find a charge hunt up your Bands dealer. The Car Lot will let you charge to 💯 usually. For free. Also free chargers can often be found at public courthouse or city offices.
Great suggestions, Kathy! We can confirm these all help, especially for finding Level 2 chargers that can get you to the next fast charger.
So true! Been a Bolt driver since 2017, we recently upgraded to a 2023 EUV under the Swap of Collateral with GM. We have solar at our California home so paying $.45/KWh at a charge point really bugs me so I've gotten good at finding free charging stations ( mostly level 3) in SoCal.
Wow 4.0mi/kWh is spectacular for mostly freeway driving. May I ask what would you say was average speed while driving?
I am planning a 4000mi road trip with my Taycan later this month.
Let us start by saying we're a bit jealous of the Taycan. A 4,000-mile trip in that beauty sounds like heaven! We drove the speed limit up to 60 miles per hour and drove 2 miles per hour below the speed limit in 65 and 70-mph areas. We drove 70 in the 75 areas and didn't encounter any speed limits above 75. We do try to drive to maximize mileage and range.
What was the average time required for each charge during your trip?
43 minutes and 28 seconds. Exactly.
hmm, weird glitch with the bolt trip log. i noticed my gen1 volt has a similar glitch on the trip log at 99,999.99 miles. I have been using the trip log to keep track of my mpg since i got the car used and extrapolate the amount of miles I am putting on the motor vs the battery. weird that the older phev doesnt have this 1.2k mile memory issue.
👍
Thanks!
How long did it take you, one way? What are you expecting as far as increased cost as more EVs come on line? What about lodging? Do popular hotels have charging stations?
The trip to Houston from Jacksonville took two days. We expect that pricing will remain pretty constant as the cost of producing electricity is falling. Our trip would have been MUCH easier if we had been able to find lodging with chargers. We couldn't find an affordable place along the route. Out west, we routinely find cheap hotels have chargers (not all, of course, but many).
Current average price of gas in US is about $3.5 per gallon. The average gas state and federal tax is around 52 cents per gallon. So the comparable price as around $3 per gallon. In California the price is around $4.5 per gallon but it includes over $1 in taxes and fees so a comparable price is $3.5 per gallon. A Toyota Prius gets about 50 mpg so a 2000 mile trip would use 40 gallons of gas. At $3.5 per gallon the cost would be $140 and at $3 it would be $120 for this 2,000 mile trip. When we took long trips in our Tesla we would end up taking extra days because of the time charging. So if you added one extra day on this 2000 mile trip the cost of a motel would make the Bolt cost more than the Prius.
But a Prius uses gas. Our choice is not to do so.
I took a 2000+ mile trip from Dallas to Denver and back in a Tesla and charging was $219 total.
What fun! Still a bargain.
@@oursolartrailer Cheaper than gas but still much more expensive than charging at home.
@@frankcoffey True. For sure!
Thank you, but no. In my hybrid I get well over 50mpg (56mpg actually). For 2000 miles @ 50 mpg its 40 gls. Last year it cost 120$, I didn't need an app to find a gas station, filled up quick and had a 575 mile range. Most of my driving is from the Mississippi River west. There just aren't as many charging stations around. This year at 4.50 gl it would be 180$. Still doable. I am glad you enjoyed your trip! I hope you have many more. Ev just don't cut it for me though.
The good news is no one is ever going to make you buy an EV.
@@oursolartrailer no lol. I'm not against them at all and as they fit my life style, I'll probably end up with one, but as for now they don't quite fit. As a kid who graduated HS in 1970, I grew up with the Mustangs, Firebirds, GTOs and Camaros etc. The fact that I drive a Prius now and enjoy it, boggles the mind! Safe travels and gentle journey's you two!
@@travelswithbenny3328 I hear you!
@@oursolartrailer You know I've read most of the comments here of people condemning the EV's but people forget when the model T's came about they faced the same obstacles. In the near future they will be the norm.
@@randyschiffer3265 You are exactly right! Good point!
how much would you have spent in gas?
At 30 miles per gallon at $5 per gallon it would have been about $330.
So many Electrify America stations failed to work or will shut off mid-charging. -- I have found EV-GO to be a better stop every time.
I hear you. EA drives me nuts but often it is the only option! I'm glad they are everywhere but I wish it were another network!
How do you pay the highway tax that is in the cost of gasoline? Do you add that to our trip cost? How much time did you spend charging? Thanks for the video and the info
States handle tax collection for roads differently. Some are beginning to assess special registration fees for EVs. In Florida, there is no such surcharge so we we didn't add that to our journey cost as there was none to add. We tallied the time for each charge in a chart we posted here: bit.ly/osetj-27.
Trying to convince my wife to get an EV for our next car. Just spent $80 to fill up the car last night. 😢
That's a pretty good reason!
Wow..$116 for a 2,000 mile trip for "fill ups" of electricity? I figure that if I took the same trip in my minivan, which goes around 300 miles a tank, that my gas cost alone would be over $400! (at $4 a gallon. obviously $5 a gallon would be much more...). That's certainly something to consider!
We love that we can almost ignore the cost of electricity.
@@saltyconstitutionalist 2kwh. 1/30th of a charge,
You should rent a Tesla and do a similar trip. One of the main competitive advantages for Tesla is the supercharging network, which is leaps and bounds better than EA or anything else available. Granted, even lowest end Tesla is about twice as expensive to purchase than a Bolt. While you can still use ABRP, most simply use the built-in navigation. Also, Tesla is testing out opening up their network to other cars - which they are doing in several countries in Europe. They do plan to start rolling that out here soon, but not sure about exact timing and how that will work since Tesla uses their own charging connector. I'd be curious how the road trip experience goes for non-Tesla cars using the Tesla supercharging network in the future.
I'm excited for the Tesla network to open up. Elon had promised that would happen before the end of 2021. Still hoping!
@@oursolartrailer Yeap. I think charging infrastructure is the biggest gap to full mainstream adoption. Tesla had to use the CCS2 standard in Europe, which made opening up the network much easier.
@@JasonTaylor-po5xc We have traveled a lot. Seriously a lot in our Chevy Bolt. We've only found one spot on the map we couldn't reach. Exactly one (Navajo Mountain, Utah.) Our experience is that the infrastructure is leading adoption and the big funding from the infrastructure bill for this sort of thing should accelerate it further, keeping charging capacity ahead of demand. About 5 percent of new cars are now electric. Things are getting real now. :)
@@oursolartrailer Yeah, I get some of this is the "chicken vs egg" issue. I'm not sure 5% is going to be enough in the US, we tend to be more independent minded and we drive a lot more than Europe. They also have a vast and robust high-speed rail network to offset things. I've found several spots that are not practical for EVs - including Teslas like Big Bend National Park - and most of Alaska. We need at least a few DC fast chargers in our National Parks and remote areas.
@@JasonTaylor-po5xc Good points. Rivian has promised to tackle those remote charging stations. Here's hoping they move quickly.
We did 1500 miles in our 2022 bolt ev
Where did you go?
@@oursolartrailer Phoenix to San Diego and then up the coast to gaviota
Charging nightmares even with super fast EV that accepts 250+ kw . Rather use a ice get there faster less headaches.
I understand how you feel. The good news for you is that no one will ever make you buy an EV.
Depends on your perspective. We look at it as an adventure🙂 Kind of like looking ahead for water holes was back in the covered wagon days.
@@580guru Great point!
Why not stay with gasoline
Climate change.
Evs are not that efficient 116 dollars i went from austin texas to michigan on 60 dollars in gas
That's great but not 2000 miles. What were you driving?
@@oursolartrailerit is more than 2000 miles and i was driving a 2014 kia rio
@@allenpickett5307 A Kia Rio has an mpg rating of 41. The trip from Austin to Detroit is 1,385 miles. That trip would require 33 gallons of gas. At $4 per gallon, that would be $135. Driving 2,000 miles in your Rio would require $195.
@@oursolartrailer sorry im not bashing you by anymeans i love electric vehicles i one has a bolt but sold it due to battery issues at the time i was just stating what i have gotten in my rio before
@@allenpickett5307 Great! Thanks!
I don't believe the 4.0 miles per kwh
Why? That is what we carefully measured and reported. It is consistent with the mileage rating of the vehicle. Why don't you believe it?
@@oursolartrailer at 69mph on flat land for my trip I had to stop every 150 miles to recharge. I did 1500 miles, 2 months ago in a 2022 Bolt. I was stopping at about 30 percent and I wasn't checking the miles per kwh. 4.0 is theoretically 270 miles per charge, I don't think it's possible on the open highway going 6 under the speed limit. I do it all the time in the city
@@macbook802 I'm sorry your experience is different than ours. We typically drive the speed limit up to 60 mph, 2 mph below the limit up to 70 mph and never drive over 70 mph when the limit is above 70. Occasionally, we drove a bit slower. If our range wasn't tracking for an adequate cushion for the next destination, we slowed down. We logged our distance and mileage painstakingly. We got exactly 4.0 miles per kWh over the length of the trip.
@@oursolartrailer did you do your trip with the trailer?
@@macbook802 No.