Living with a car from the present - 2019 Bolt EV

Agent98 said:

There's a method to bleed brakes by yourself, check out you tube A1 Auto or JRGo..they have videos.

Why would I do that when Tunakid 4 is so happy to help?

Efficiency is still high, around 4.1 or 4.2 mi/kwh, so that's fantastic with the way-better-than-OEM tires. The brake issue is gone with my brand new AC Delco $30 caliper, and all is well other than a slow leak in the drivers rear from an unknown nail I have yet to find.

I am impressed that five years after it was introduced, there still isn't a better choice from a range/$ perspective. I still charge at 90%, but saw over 240 miles (I don't even typically look anymore) when I left for the gym this morning. The offerings from Hyundai and Kia look promising, but not objectively better than the Bolt. With gas prices like they are, Tunawife wants an EV minivan NOW. There are no economical ways to handle six of us in an EV today. I told her I could EV swap the Pacifica, and she stopped hitting me a few minutes ago. I want the VW van or the upcoming Kia EV9, or even better a half-price Rivian SUV with zero of the off-road capability but the same range.

Accept the reduced efficiency-o-meter as a result of judicious use of the heat (it's cold here in the mornings) but this is the first charge-to-100% for a camping trip this weekend. Impressive range given 259 rated in 2019.

I can drive the 40 miles to work, 40 back to the house, 50 to the campsite, then 50 back home the next day, and not even think about range. I didn't even need to charge it to 100%, I just did it in case there were cold kids who wanted a heater.

That range is probably based on your lifetime or recent efficiency if it's so far beyond the original spec. Interesting. It's a logical way to do it - my diesel truck is the same - but it's not universal. I wonder how many people complain about battery degradation due to decreasing range estimates when it's just because they're using more energy?

Completely with you on the EV van.  Unfortunately it's not the late 90's anymore.  If it was with the same EV pressure, someone would make one.

That being said, Chrysler does make a hybrid version of your Pacifica. FYI.  Wife's Focus is in the shop because she rear ended someone, and the entire time it has been out while we were thinking it was totalled, she kept asking if there were any EV vans. (or should we just buy my dad's NC Miata as her commuter vehicle...)

I really need to do a thread of everything that's gone on in teh 2 years since we moved from Greenville.  covering renovation etc.  Glad to see you still up and about. (I saw Duster last weekend at an autocross and it made me miss GRM something awful). 

The hybrid van scares me. I haven't been entirely pleased with Chrysler, but admittedly my bar is set very high. I would trust them to do a pure EV before a hybrid.

The good news is that you can totally replace that Focus with a 3, Leaf, Bolt or a few others and be pretty happy saving money. Glad she's OK!

They are rare, but I had the fortune of running into an excellent parking spot with some free electrons during a lunchtime errand Friday. 

I did some math. In 31 months of ownership, the Bolt has saved $3575 in gas alone (after subtracting the impact on my power bill) and some $250 in oil changes.

This includes 2020, where gas was under $2/gallon for the entire year.

Have you been tracking equivalent gas prices all along, or did you find a source for that? How many miles have you done?

Keith Tanner said:

Have you been tracking equivalent gas prices all along, or did you find a source for that? How many miles have you done?

I just used gasbuddy for an average monthly price in my area.

I've put a little over 50K on the car. It has some 54K now.

That's pretty impressive mileage, especially since it's all fairly local. I don't think you've road tripped at all, have you?

We're at just over 24k on our EV in the same period. Mileage accumulation really slowed down with both of us working from home.

Keith Tanner said:

That's pretty impressive mileage, especially since it's all fairly local. I don't think you've road tripped at all, have you?

We're at just over 24k on our EV in the same period. Mileage accumulation really slowed down with both of us working from home.

I commute nearly 80 miles per day. I've taken it to Charlotte and also to Hendersonville, and to a few camping spots, but otherwise it has indeed been local.

Efficiency in the spring has held steady (with as much HVAC use as I desire) at 4.0 Mi/Khw, which is pretty spectacular given the new tires.

Very cool.  Thank you for actually including the cost of your power.  Its very annoying when 'preachy' people tend to ignore that portion of the cost.  Sounds about right for the amount you drive. 

I've spent $2972 total in fuel in the past 31 months

$577.11 on Oil and Filter

$406.71 on other ICE-only stuff (Clutch slave, motor mount, etc.)

I still kick myself for not buying one of these 1.5 years ago when I test drove one.

ProDarwin said:

Very cool.  Thank you for actually including the cost of your power.  Its very annoying when 'preachy' people tend to ignore that portion of the cost.  Sounds about right for the amount you drive. 

I've spent $2972 total in fuel in the past 31 months

$577.11 on Oil and Filter

$406.71 on other ICE-only stuff (Clutch slave, motor mount, etc.)

 

 

I still kick myself for not buying one of these 1.5 years ago when I test drove one.

Oil and filter cost is just materials? I under-guessed at $50 per 10K miles or so.

The cost of charging is real, but minimal as you can see. If gas stayed under $2/gal it would be a long payback, but if it stays where it is now, this will become a free car over an ICE while it's still perfectly within it's usable life.

tuna55 said:

ProDarwin said:

Very cool.  Thank you for actually including the cost of your power.  Its very annoying when 'preachy' people tend to ignore that portion of the cost.  Sounds about right for the amount you drive. 

I've spent $2972 total in fuel in the past 31 months

$577.11 on Oil and Filter

$406.71 on other ICE-only stuff (Clutch slave, motor mount, etc.)

 

 

I still kick myself for not buying one of these 1.5 years ago when I test drove one.

Oil and filter cost is just materials? I under-guessed at $50 per 10K miles or so.

The cost of charging is real, but minimal as you can see. If gas stayed under $2/gal it would be a long payback, but if it stays where it is now, this will become a free car over an ICE while it's still perfectly within it's usable life.

Ooops, I accidentally included some ICE-only stuff in the Oil change number.  The oil change number should actually be 222.07.  The total between the two numbers is the same though.

Yeah I'm including oil + filter only, except for one dealer change.  I was doing 5k intervals on my Veloster.  3-5k on the Soul.

Anyway, that's a solid payback.  The car is probably free-er than you think as its probably appreciated quite a bit recently.  The cheapest one I see for sale right now is ~$19k when I was looking at some for $11k a year and a half ago.

Well I am on a business trip in Chicago, and of course I need a car...

So I rented a Tesla model Y. Why not I guess? So far it's been an interesting change from the Bolt. I would really rather a way to positively turn it off but I sort of get it. The interior is very nice, I enjoy the minimalist dashboard and every touch surface is really pretty nice. I enjoy the panoramic glass roof as well.

I will say that some things are really confusing, moving the steering wheel, although obviously not something you do very often, requires going into the menu which then changes the steering wheel buttons. I guess it makes sense, but it's a bit strange. Other than a few moments, really didn't make a difference. I'll add that the steering wheel has a wide range of adjustment and was easily made comfortable. I've only driven maybe 30 miles so far, and honestly won't get very much time with it, but I figured it would be an interesting comparison.

Obviously it's a bit faster than the Bolt, but it still has that very pleasant electric feel that every electric car I've driven has, even the Leaf. I believe it's a bit noisier than the Bolt on the inside. I'm not sure if it's all tires or insulation or suspension or some combination, but it's generally a louder crashier place to sit. The speakers also sound pretty terrible.

The hatch is pretty cavernous and that's pretty lovely, the frunk is teeny tiny and it feels like a piece of tin foil. 

Even though I would rather some buttons and less interface, the interface itself is pretty good. It's fast and fairly easy to figure out. I didn't have any troubles. I wasn't initially sure about the gear shifter on a stalk, but it's equally usable to the one in the bolt in the console so that's fine if a bit strange. They have a little elevated part where you park your phone under the screen which is pretty decent also.

I'll have it for about 20 more hours, any other questions?

What rental car company offers Tesla's?

In reply to lnlogauge :

Likely Turo, the airbnb of rental cars where people rent out privately owned vehicles or Hertz 

lnlogauge said:

What rental car company offers Tesla's?

Hertz but only in larger locations. This one had plenty, and they were a bit more than a standard rental, but nothing the company card would notice, and it was mostly a breeze. The little key card they give you to start the car is strange in that it has to be in a weird spot in the console to work properly, I thought I could just be in your pocket at first so I was quite confused.

John Welsh said:

In reply to lnlogauge :

Likely Turo, the airbnb of rental cars where people rent out privately owned vehicles or Hertz 

I think Turo would be a really bad idea for a business trip. 

The little gimmick that sightly rolls the window down when you open the door is a little strange. I can't imagine that's necessary. 

The autopilot preview is weird. It's both impressive and frightening. Cars disappear and appear. Garbage cans dance around. It's obvious that it's closer to working than I expected, but still buggy. Perhaps some heavy confirmation bias on my part is at play. I got a warning while driving out of an industrial park with an especially wide lane, something like "steering input countered, road departure detected" but I was still in the middle of the lane, and I felt no steering input. Weird. Enough to make me glad that I was driving. 

Auto lock is really neat, I think it may have some weird ramifications if you were carjacked, but I've never known that to be a realistic scenario. The car just assumed it should be locked if you talk away. 

Reduce the power to make it a mid 14 second quarter mile while leaving the range alone (which means one motor, smaller wheels, less rubber, etc), give it a third row (which I think it can be configured with) and set the price at 37.5, convince me the company has some adults in the room, and I'm a buyer today. 

I leased a first generation Nissan Leaf for two years and 20k miles. I now have owned a Bolt for over two and around 50k miles. Renting this Tesla has me even more convinced that electric vehicles will be mainstream in an overwhelming majority soon. If more people tried this on a daily grind commute, they would be begging to give up their ICEs. We can still keep them around for special uses, sports cars, whatever, but golly for commuting there's just no point. All that idling, shifting, fluids to maintain, noisy rattling and shaking, waiting for throttle response. People must not even realize how much is going on. Driving an ev is just so easy and intuitive. There's no such thing as throttle response. There's no deciding how much throttle to give to avoid or encourage a downshift. 

There was a delay leaving Hertz. We all waited for ten minutes in line. All of the ICE cars were idling (some had start stop, sure, but as soon as they creep needlessly four feet, the feature is disabled). All of them with pumps whirring, exhaust pumping, creeping against their torque converters, everyone holding the brake pedal. I'm just sitting there in comfort. The car is doing basically nothing. It's relaxing instead of stressful. Most people spend a larger proportion of their commute standing still in traffic. Not only is driving an ev much easier, sitting still is even more dramatic a comparison. 

In reply to tuna55 :

Now that entry level Bolt is only $25,xxx  there should be a real high demand.