The next generation of electric cars

... is upon us. Chevy introduced the production Bolt today at CES and I have to say I'm impressed.

200+ real world miles of range? Good start. Under $30k after incentives? Nice. Lots of interior room for a compact car? 0-60 under 7 seconds? Now we're talking.

My lease on the Leaf is up in September. I am still likely to go back to driving a beater daily but I'm happy to know EV 2.0 looks so much better.

I bet this just clobbers already terrible Leaf resale values.

In reply to bastomatic:

Or it will have similar sales. Being similar.

what are they talking as far as weight/dimensions? What's it comparable to in terms of size?

It's only a matter of time before they can make them smaller, lighter, and cheaper. Looking forward to that.

For the EV "on the fence'ers"- how quickly should a battery recharge to allow you to drive 200miles?

BTW, I'm asking for opinions, not what the cars actually do. How fast do you want it to charge up?

alfadriver wrote: For the EV "on the fence'ers"- how quickly should a battery recharge to allow you to drive 200miles? BTW, I'm asking for opinions, not what the cars actually do. How fast do you want it to charge up?

12 hours would be fine with me. 200 miles of range would take me from covering 95% of my driving with a leaf's range to 100% of my driving.

I still won't get one, because I'm cheap. I'm excited about the bolt though.

considering I do about 300 miles every two weeks.. a 200 mile EV would easily last me a week

It looks to be close to the Focus in size to my eyes. Maybe the Buick Encore is a more apt comparison.

Alfa - similar? I don't follow. The Leaf is the same price but less than half the range, smaller, and slower. But I meant that the new EVs will force down resale of the old ones. Not sell better.

I think a level 2 charge that gets me about 200 miles in 8 hrs would be ideal. And DC charge in 30-45 minutes.

In reply to bastomatic:

The reason I ask is human nature. Owners of EV's are asked to do something to the car well in advance of travel- and I think it's not a stretch to expect people to just forget.

The nice thing about gas cars is that with a low "charge" you can get to a station and in 2 min, be able to go the full distance.

You wake up, and realize that you forgot to plug it in after taking the groceries in. Now what?

For EV's to be universally accepted- I think automated charging systems will have to be implemented. That will quickly take human nature out of the picture as an error state.

I want to see one in a stage rally. Then the want will grow in me.

In reply to alfadriver:

That's a valid point. I have personally forgotten to charge overnight a very small number of times. The longer range would alleviate that.

In reply to bastomatic:

I also see it as a solvable problem.

The local high end mechanic has a couple Volts for their fleet. They installed one of those wireless charge stations. I should ask how they like it.

The Bolt is yet another fantastic development.

The naysayers are getting more and more quiet with each passing year and I think it's a riot. In another 5 years, they'll be an even more reasonable option.

In reply to gamby: Are you going to get one?

If it matches the Leaf in depreciation, a used one in 3 years will cost $14k.

In reply to alfadriver:

Sadly, I can't afford one at the moment. I drive a 2008 Yaris S. I won't trust secondhand, high-mileage batteries for awhile. My Yaris was bought with 102k on it.

My brother's girlfriend has an i3 and loves it. My brother is looking at Leafs, but I'll mention the bolt to him tonight because he might be interested.

When a realistic 200 mile range is attainable (in both extreme cold and extreme heat) it will be a major game changer for people looking for a $30k car. Soon they'll just be "cars" instead of "electric cars", just like a Prius and other hybrids are just "cars" now.

Wat? They have electric cars now? Oy!

I want my baker back.

I believe the bolt is roughly the size of the current Honda fit. Charge time, realistically I want 200 miles in 15 minutes. Within 3-4 years 200v charging stations will provide this capability, when this occurs it will be the nail in the coffin of the internal combustion engine in light duty vehicles.

Now, if they make a trim level that covers the first 200 meters faster than Tesla can they call it the Usain?

alfadriver wrote: For the EV "on the fence'ers"- how quickly should a battery recharge to allow you to drive 200miles? BTW, I'm asking for opinions, not what the cars actually do. How fast do you want it to charge up?

I had a Volt. I'd actually be fine-ish with level 1 charging at home. Based on experience, that's about 40 miles of charge per night for a car with a similar MPG-e to the Volt. I don't burn off that many kWh on a normal day. What I would appreciate is the smarts to let me tell the car when I'm going to have a longer trip, so it can be ready when I need it. That way, I can tell my phone "Ok Google, have the silver Bolt at a hundred percent by next Saturday morning". That way, it can maintain an 80% SoC most of the time, and pull up to a 100% SoC when needed. As a buyer, to future-proof, I would want the onboard charging equipment to support a quick charge standard that I'm likely to actually encounter in the real world, as well as level 2 charging at at least 6kW. I just would be unlikely to install any of that at my house.

Road trips are a special case, where the above usage doesn't apply.

What I do like is the possibility of roadside charging stations. Supercharging on road trips really appeals to me, but I still haven't seen a Tesla Supercharger in person.

In a road trip, I try not to drive more than six hours in a day, and I hate waiting around idle. Ideally, I'd want a charger/EVSE capable of running climate control off the grid while simultaneously adding about 180 miles range in thirty minutes of charging.

bastomatic wrote: Under $30k after incentives? Nice.

Does that still include a government subsidy? I'm not a fan of helping pay for someone else's new car.

In reply to Will:

Better not buy any GM, Chrysler, or Ford products then.

Seriously though it does include the current federal tax rebate.

Something I'm excited about is the eventual use of the EV as a home backup power source. If enough households can feed power back into the grid, I bet grid stability would be improved dramatically, let alone individual benefits during a blackout.

I have a friend who built his own. He commutes in it about 60 miles a day plus there is enough juice to run errands if néed be.

The concept of a 100% EV that you can't drive cross-country, or on other long road-trips, pretty much rules it out as a singular vehicle to own, given the frequency of > 200mi trips I take. Even having a 2nd vehicle I'm hesitant to consider an EV, for the likely inevitability that a trip will come up short notice while the ICE vehicle is down for repairs.

However, if I ever end up in a situation where I don't need to travel much, and am in a more populated area(which I'm hoping to be the case in another 5-years), then having a 100% EV as a primary vehicle, with an ICE vehicle as the backup, would make perfect sense.