Metric conversions because I was lazy! 238 miles = 383 km 35 miles = 56 km (total commute distance is 112 km) 114 miles = 183 km 173 miles (initial predicted range) = 278 km 65 miles per hour = 104 km/h 55 miles per hour = 88 km/h 30 miles per hour = 48 km/h Other things: 55 degrees F = 12.7 degrees C 62 degrees F = 16.6 degrees C 2-4 inches of snow = 5-10 cm Let me know if there's something I missed!
Hey T.C. I don't know if you ever mentioned how long you've had this vehicle (not time but miles travelled or charge cycles)? Have you an idea of battery wear affecting range? Good work with the video, I think it's the first source of meaningful information about EV's actual range that I've seen.
Okay, thank you for the range clarification. 100% agreement, though MAN would I love more. Fingers crossed on solid-state-batteries getting us to 400-600 miles in a consumer-grade vehicle O3O
Regarding my closing statements: I don't have any animosity towards Tesla. I want them to succeed! But in the EV enthusiast community, there are a surprising number of people who think Tesla can do no wrong and GM can't do anything right. I'm the least loyal person to GM you'll meet, having never even _considered_ one of their products for years and growing up thinking they were all garbage, but I took a plunge with my 2013 Volt and was convinced they actually know what they're doing. GM's history is complicated, that's for sure, but they are the only automaker aside from Tesla who is making a 200+ mile EV for an affordable price. And the Bolt is actually easy to get your hands on--that was the main point of my little tangent there. I was following the Bolt from its announcement, and from the very beginning the Tesla fans were insisting that GM doesn't _really_ want to be making this. They said GM had no plans of selling it nationwide. Well clearly they changed their mind on that, as there are 112 Bolts for sale right now within 100 miles of Chicago. So to sum up, I hope Tesla sells many thousands of Model 3. And I also hope GM continues to develop their EV products. But I am so tired of this very common belief that GM's successful efforts are all meaningless and/or nefarious, but Tesla's continued production delays just get a pass. This Tesla-Is-Holier-Than-Everyone attitude is really tiresome, and as a person who wants to drive an EV _because it is an EV_ and not simply because it's a Tesla, it is very frustrating to see supposed EV fans trash the efforts of another company. It's all just personal grievances. Rant over.
The best thing about Tesla is their Supercharger network. CCS and Chademo chargers are less common (especially where you need them, middle of nowhere) and a lot of them are at dealers where they can be blocked or unavailable after hours and/or they cost more per mile to use than gassing up a truck. GM's EVs are definitely up there with the best of them. I own a 2013 Volt and have test driven a Bolt and Spark EV (RIP). They're all fine vehicles and I would take any of them over a Leaf, at least until they decide to give their batteries better temperature management.
Technology Connections Couldn’t agree more. It’s also worth noting that the only Tesla Model 3s available right now cost $10,000 more than a top of the line Bolt. I know they’ll have cheaper ones EVentually, but for those not already on the list, it may be a very long wait.
Looking at the dashboard readout at the end of your commute, the worst number on the range-meter was 82 miles. Add that to the 70 miles you drove, and you’ll get 152 - and that’s the *worst* it will do. Which is still more than double your commute. That’s excellent.
I'm not even from Illinois and I hate the Tri-State... I live in Ohio but I have grandparents in Milwaukee, plus I'm a coaster enthusiast and Six Flags Great America is my favorite theme park. So basically, I have become intimately familiar with that toll road... Thankfully, my I-Pass is compatible with the Ohio Turnpike, and unlike Ohio's EZ-Pass, I don't have to pay an annual fee just to continue using the thing.
I was detecting a wee bit of sarcasm there. It's been a while since I lived up there in the southwest suburbs (355 had *just* opened, if that's any indication) - is that stretch of 290 with all the on-ramps still making life miserable for folks?
Yes, the Harlem and Austin Av ramps are still on the wrong side of the Expressway, requiring you to join traffic in the fast lane. Every so often, some transit authority asks Oak Park to rebuild that stretch, but the residents on both side of the Ike revolt against it, every time. Also, I'm sure Alec (Mr. Tech Connector) was more than a 'wee bit' sarcastic haha. My favorite I've heard recently was on a radio traffic report: "The light is out at Chicago Ave on the Drive, so traffic is just, bad."
You are spot on about about the California people. I moved to SoCal five years ago from the Midwest. The locals here have absolutely no concept of what bad weather is like. Tell them about an ice storm, you get a look like you're describing something from science fiction.
LOL i am so that typical person!! I think 60 degrees is cold. It got to 38 once and i was like omg its the end of the world. The highest the water has ever gotten is to the curb and i was freaking out. Now unlike other states, i can handle 113 degrees like no problem. I dont use ac!
@@Anniefawesome I'm the opposite. I live in Canada and I struggle with the heat. When the weather reaches 28°C (82.4°F), I get a scary realization that I can't take off any more clothes; the agony is real.
I moved to the high desert in LA County from North Idaho/Eastern Washinton for my wife's Air Force assignment. I tell people I miss snow and cold days and they look at me like, "but it is cold outside." It'll be like 50.
Some people have reported half the range in -10C conditions. Although heat may play a part in that. For Ontario with a lot of nuclear and hydro electric power, hydrogen production can be a good way to use that excess power during the night.
20C? Hah....in the summer, sure, but not unheard of to get to 0F (-17C) here in the winter and basically every day from December to February is below 32F (0C). It's frozen hell. Not as bad as where I used to live, where there is practically snow every day 9 months of the year...but yeah. Greetings from the north eastern US....woo.
I wonder what EV's perform like in the summer, today we had a high of 39°C it literally feels hotter the faster you go on a motorbike, as you're getting the effect of a convection oven
Hi, just thought I'd let you know that after watching your video, I went out and bought a Bolt. I live in Minneapolis and winter range, heat and defrost capability matter. Thanks for a very informative video. It made up my mind. I was a Volt owner for five years. Love your videos, they always inform and give me things to think about.
As a "gearhead" I totally can't wait to get an EV... I really want one. This has been on my "used cars to watch for" list and I think it has moved to the top! In love the size, and as someone who would really never own a gm product besides a truck, this is quite a car for me to say that... Just like you.
As a gearhead, BEV have cheaper and easier Torque & Power. Even a econobox like Bolt EV kicks out 266 lb/ft & 200hp. That hatchback gets to 60mph around 6.6 seconds in real world tests. It's just easy for modern BEV to have large power output.
This is so crazy! I must live within 10 miles from you, I live in Bolingbrook. I am on I-88 all the time going to jobs, very meta watching your video and recognizing the drive. This is very good info being I have been debating an electric car, and what a better demo than on the very streets I will be driving!
If you have battery power to spare and don't have to worry about the electricity you use to run the heater for the trip, EVs are absolutely great in the midwestern winters. The thermal m ass of an EVs heating system is insignificant compared to that of an ICE where you have to wait for the engine to heat up before you get warm air. EV heaters heat up fast and start heating the cabin of the car almost immediatly. I just love that. (5 year long Nissan LEAF EV driver in Nebraska speaking) Snow handling is great too, I'd say even better since EV traction control is theoraticaly superior to ICE because electronics can stop and start torque much more quickly.
Fun fact: 4wd is less important that just having good winter tires rated for snow if you need snow traction. Tires are a fascinating and extremely complicated technology that few people truly understand. From tread design to rubber compounds they're an imperfect thing and always have to make a set of compromises in order to fulfill their role. Examples... Autocross slicks are sticky at regular temperatures (50F-100F) and overheat quickly, they have no tread. They freeze solid and have no grip below freezing. Track slicks are sticky when hot (200F), still no tread. Same problem with cold weather performance. Summer tires are grippy when hot, but again freeze solid. Regular all season tires are designed to provide good grip in many situations across many temperatures. Winter tires are designed to provide excellent traction in the cold and snow, but overheat quickly in warmer weather. Mud tires are noisy and stupid and highly specialized and most people don't need them. They do have big tread though so hey 😎 Tires with short sidewalls have more rigidity and are better for things like high G-load cornering, but provide a rougher ride and less terrain compliance. Tires with a medium sidewall provide a good balance of comfort, performance, and fuel efficiency, as the rotating mass of the wheel is balanced against the rigidity of the tire and ability of the tread to conform to the road surface. Tires with tall sidewalls have less rigidity and are better for things like off road travel as you can air them up and down to make the contact patch longer or shorter, and to prevent damage from things like larger rocks.
Bro, I'm a baller. My spark EV, when it's 10f outside or lower.... It's HALF my consumption.... The heat. And I'm proud of that toasty interior that takes a couple mins instead of being like those at work who say " my car didn't warn up on the entire drive in" oh man. Dial in your limits, stay well within them and it's a very comfortable way to travel.
Thank you for this informative video. It’s the best one I found showing real world impact the winter has on EV range. I live in northern Michigan and considering a Bolt for a 30 mile commute. This video has helped get rid of some range Anxiety.
You have a wonderful comments section on your channel. I had trouble following this video. The way it was filmed didn’t mesh with your usual rapid fire fact delivery format. Luckily there are lots of well thought out questions, opinions and responses fro,m you and your viewers to clear things up for me! Thank you for the great videos Technology Connections.
That was great. Very informative. I'm hoping to pick up a Chevy Bolt tomorrow after being a 2011 Nissan Leaf owner for 4 years. I'm looking forward to having a battery with thermal management.
As a Chicagoan who just bought a Bolt (used 2020) you video was made for me! Thanks very much and also thanks for staying with the EV topic in videos made several years after this one.
I used to live in Chicago. I was born in Chicago but grew up in the far western suburbs. I would frequently drive at 70 MPH on 88. Sometimes around 75.
I’m from middle of Russia and really interested in EV. I had lots of questions about winter, but this video helped a lot. There are not much EV or even hybrid in our area, but I hope they will be more affordable soon. By the way fuel price here is about 2,45$ per gallon of unleaded.
I know it’s 10 months late. The car cools the interior when it’s in a warm garage because the interior is cooler than the HVAC setpoint, not because it’s confused. Second, battery conditioning happens when the battery reaches Freezing if it’s plugged in or if ignition is turned on. I think it has to each -10C to condition of unplugged when ignition is off. Thanks for the vid. Attempting a Detroit to Madison, WI, Drive in my Bolt in December 2019. I’ll wave to you as we go by.
I've been watching your videos for quite a while now and I finally subscribed. Showed up in my recommendations so I kinda sorta forgot to do that. They're always well made, interesting and most of all, you keep 'em neutral and thus informative. No fanboying or any of that junk. And you always provide the metric values as well, THANK YOU! Just one thing, and I must say in advance that I really don't mean to offend anyone but american highway etiquette or rather the lack thereof is somewhat cringy from a german perspective :D
I live in Australia, in an area that rarely reaches 0C very rarely indeed but it has reached it before in winter, so -11C sounds bloody freezing to me. Mind you it's currently 41C approx 106F where I live
Congratulations. I live in Michigan and grew up in Illinois. Virtually every video I have tried to watch on EV cars has been published by some guy in Southern California who is enthusiastic about his electric car, but doesn't know jack about living in a winter climate. I have gotten very few straight answers about battery usage vs cabin heat, etc in the mid west. Thank you for addressing this problem so honestly, and thank you for putting my mind at east about purchasing the Bolt (which I'm about to do). I have a 60 mile round trip commute every day here in southwest Michigan. I'm ready to go.
Apart from great videos overall, I love that you ALWAYS mention metric/centigrade units when you speak of some measurements. Thanks, RUclips algorithm, for recommending me your channel some time ago! And thank you, Alec, for your great videos ❤️
I love how people say "You have to remember this" (Reference plugging the car in). But it is really like fueling up your vehicle! You remember to put fuel in your liquid based engine right? He has to remember to put electrons :) in his car. Rant over.
I have literally never run out of gas. Really simple, every time I get in a gas powered car, I check the fuel gauge, if it is low, refuel. With an electric it seems that it would be even easier, just every time you park at home, plug it in just in case... no different than what we do with cell phones.
Isn't the "reserve" just the red-coloured portion of the fuel gauge? Flash a warning light when the fill level goes below a certain value. Why wouldn't an EV do that? (edit) Besides, using (and forgetting to charge) a phone seems more like a casual thing to me. Plugging the car in after a trip seems like something that would just become second nature, like locking the car when you leave it. Although, I guess if you DO forget to plug it in while the battery is low you couldn't just quickly "top it off" on your next commute.
I honestly haven't... and it's not anything to do with memory... it's just a matter of making it a habit. Do it enough times, and you no longer even need to think about doing it.
Well, so the gauge shows less than the actual capacity of the tank to be on the safe side. Still kind of my point :P Why shouldn't that be the case for the battery on an EV?
Hey! I grew up in the western suburbs and now live in that same sort of rural area as your parents (bout 90 miles out). I've also been driving a Volt for a few years. Considering the Bolt brought me here. I've binge watched your newer videos, so I was pleasantly surprised to see I had missed this one. I am now sold. I tracked my Volt drives for over two years and setting aside road trips, none of them were outside the range you got on this winter drive. I'm totally going to do it.
Does leaving your car plugged in and turning your car on also heat up the battery in a Volt? The one thing I hate about winter driving is cold temperature mode. I really hate being forced to use gas if it isn't necessary. If that can be avoided by turning on my car while it's still plugged in 15 minutes prior to heading to work that could be a game changer for me. I don't turn on the head unless it's below 25° F outside if at all as I also have the winter package in my Volt. Side note, when I saw 25 kWh used for 70 miles of driving I was floored as that seemed absolutely awful. Then I realized your are showing a Bolt in this scenario and that what the Volt does with gas the Bolt has to do with the battery (keeping the battery cage warm on cold days). So it made a lot more sense once I realized that. Great video as always!
Greetings from California. I enjoy everything you do. You keep things interesting no matter the subject. I currently drive a 2016 Jeep Renegade (6 speed manual 1.4L Turbo). I think after say 5 years, with this car (assuming gas isn't $8 a gallon) I'll be looking at fully electric. I would do it now but they are still a bit out of my price range. Then I think I might finally be ready to give up my precious manual transmission. D: Please keep up the great videos. You rock.
The range trending arrows are one of the things I like about our 500e. And you're right about having a heated steering wheel... it makes the cold much more bearable and you can be comfortable with a lower cabin air temp. It's interesting how you'll notice elevation changes more in an EV... I found out my work is uphill from home. In Virginia we were able to go on time of use metering. Overnight, the off peak rate is only $0.02/kwh... that makes for some very cheap EV driving! Thanks for posting this. Winter time range is a real concern.
Both my previous car (Chevy Volt) and my current one (Honda Clarity) kick on the gas engine to supplement heat when the temp falls below freezing. This video was helpful to see how strict electric would work, particularly for me, as you seem to live very near where I work [at least the office I'm based out of], and work very near where I live. The only odd thing about watching your drive was that it went in reverse direction to what I'm used to. Side note: if you work in IT and still in the same place, may be we could switch jobs and save ourselves a lot of commute time? Then again my company has multiple branch locations, so never mind, I guess... Great job documenting this.
Great video. Your series on electric cars inspired me on my recent purchase of a 2017 Bolt. There's not much of a secondary market for them here in Texas so I got it for an amazing price. I just wish this one had the heated seats/steering wheel. I usually have to keep mine around 70 for it to be comfortable. Luckily I live in Dallas so the cold weather is only a bother for a few months, and even then it's quite sporadic.
I have watched a few of your audio vids and decided to sub when saw you have a Volt. I do as well (15). We are in the Rochester NY area (similar weather as Chi town), and are looking at possibly a Bolt for when our gas car lease ends this fall.
Nice job of characterizing the range. As an early Bolt owner and California resident who has various hills to cross, I use 14 to 18 kw-hr for a commute similar to yours in distance but depending on the season.
Thanks so much for a very good analysis. I commute 150 miles twice a week and was very disappointed with my Chevy Bolt’s kw usage. Now I understand what to expect in winter time.
Both the Volt and Bolt are nicely engineered cars. All EVs suffer from range loss in subzero weather (including Tesla). I have owned a Model S and 1st gen Volt.
As a former resident of Rapid City South Dakota, it is good to know that it is possible to drive a Chevrolet Bolt EV in below zero conditions. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the nice video, that fills a gap in the space. I am in NJ and also enjoy mild winter so I would tend to underestimate the impact of really cold Chicago Winter. EV enthusiasts might give misleading advice in their passion but that is not unique for EV world. Everyone has to do their homework before any major purchase.
hi just wanted to say that I loved watching this video, I don't know why but it was fun to see you driving and informing the watcher about the electricity usage. Thank you for the conversion to metric units, thank you for the video! greetings!
I wish the vehicle knew the temp out side. So it could adjust it's range accordingly. Even if there were just a built in tool on the radio or something where you could enter the outside temp and it would tell you your new estimated range. On the plus side traffic is somewhat of an advantage now.
The ambient temperature is used to calculate range. However, history will have a greater initial importance precisely because of the possibility of a heated garage, etc. If it went on temperature alone, the Bolt would probably report a 240-250 mile range in my garage, and then crash down to 180 or less once it realized how cold it was. But, if we do have a warm day, you will see the range estimate actually climb as you drive.
Technology Connections It is true about the heated seat, I don't have a heated steering wheel but I find the only reason I turn on the heater is to keep my hands warm. Hopefully with enough people on the road with ev's traffic won't be as much as a bad thing due to increased range.
As I live in a colder area than Chicago (Quebec city), it's really interesting to get your experience. I really do believe in electric cars, and I'd like having one, but I'm still too afraid to get some major issues as there's not enough chargers in public areas yet, and as my car would be always outside, I worries about the batteries capacities at -30C (-22F) and how it will be over the next years (ex: does the capacity get lowers over the years, how many years those batteries are usable, how much it cost to replace them, ...). Thanks again for sharing your thoughs !
Recommend you take a trip to the Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre in North York, ON. They can confidently answer nearly ever question and concern you may have about EVs in Canada. They also currently have 9 different makes & models of electric cars that you can sign-up for free test drives in. The people working there really know EVs and want to get the correct information out there for everyone to make an informed decision on which EV is best for them.
Excellent video. Good to see some EV videos. I myself cycle to work (12km) and have a Peugeot 407 2.2 coupe for fun. But for my wife I am considering an EV, so this really does help, she has your equivalent to a Saturn Astra 5door. An EV will be excellent for her daily 90km commute.
This is a great video - you helped me a lot. I live in Iowa and I would LOVE to drive an all-electric car. Somehow I didn't hear about he Bolt till recently. Your video was exactly what I needed to evaluate the Midwesterner's question: how about the winter? Thanks very much, buddy - you helped me out!
Thanks for your video; I have a '23 Bolt ev on order, and I live in Canada. I recommend snowflake-on-mountain winter tires. 2009+ Cruze, all Sonic and Buick Encore wheels fit the Bolt. 205/60x16" tires are only 0.2" taller than the Bolt's stock 215/50x17s, and 205/65x15 tires are the same diameter as the stock 17s. Bridgestone ws90s are the best winter tires I've used, and Michelin xi3s and x-ice are good LRR winter tires. My '19 awd-e Prius with winters were excellent in the winter, and with the Bolt i'll miss the awd.
Thank you for this video. I live in the north east and find it very helpful to see what the range was in very cold weather. Some people have complained the front seats in the Bolt are too narrow, do you find them comfortable?
I am not bothered by them, but I completely understand the "narrow" comments. They are weirdly narrow. But it doesn't affect my comfort much, and as I'm sure you can tell I'm pretty big. Alex on Autos gave them a 5/10, which I think is fair. Its very subjective, after all. I've also heard that there is a significant comfort difference between the leather seats in the Premier trim (the car in this video) and the cloth seats in the LT trim. I'd say the best thing to do is to go to a dealer and sit in it!
I realize that this video is 2 years old, but it raises a significant question for me. I'd be very curious as to how the range would be in a mountainous area in winter. A very useful number might be January in Colorado with 4 adults in the carpool. A lot of up and down, very cold temperature, significant wind, fairly heavy passenger load, and the need to heat the cabin for passenger comfort. That would be a real stress-test for any EV.
Here in Finland, a lot of people opt to buy plug in hybrids as there are still some infrastructure issues and 6 month long winters to deal with considering battery charging and battery range. Since in Finland people tend to only need vehicles for long distance trips or commuting only if they don't have good public transportation access, plug in hybrids are favored more since the battery range is enough for commuting, with petroleum being used on long distance trips when charging isn't readily available in many areas. Interesting video!
I would love to see a video where you drive like a normal gas driving person. Park the car outside like we do don't have time to preheat the car because with kids you don't have that kind of time. Run the heat to a nice toasty warm car like we do and do at least 70 maybe 75. That's the test that would be useful.
Of course, obviously, depending on the size of the engine block, you can get heat out of the engine block in no time, and if your smart, you won't turn on the interior climate control until you see the engine temperature needle start to move. I think My grandfather's friend mentioned in a conversation that he doesn't usually turn the vehicle's cabin heat on until the engine block gets up to a said temperature. That was brought up when I mentioned that my current vehicle doesn't turn the heat on until the engine block is up to a set temperature assuming you use the steering wheel control's to turn on the heating.
While I think your driving habits aren't the same as a non-enthusiast's would be (that is to say, someone who wants a car and not care about how it is fueled) and therefore your numbers may be a bit more generous than most, I do appreciate that you addressed this issue that you correctly state is ignored by Californians. You have done more to convince me to consider EV than anybody else on RUclips.
I drive a 2013 Volt and so does my wife. It's in Utah, which also has cold winters. It does affect the range, but we are retired so have no fixed commute. It's a good car for Utah, as the state has a concentrated urban strip (the Wasatch Front) where electric propulsion is very practical. But once in a while, one wants to drive a long ways, as things in the West are really far apart. Gasoline mode works great for that. It gets quite good mileage on gas. 38-40 mpg. We're cosidering trading one of our Volts for a used Bolt, now that they're coming off lease.
Thank you for your interesting video, I just bought a 2019 Bolt last week, I live near Seattle and normally don’t see winter weather anywhere near as cold as your area. However it is nice to know it’s range if I had to drive in very cold weather. I’m having fun discovering the vehicle.
Air conditioning is also used in the wintertime to dehumidify the cabin so it can be handy thing to have especially where I live in England where it rains every other day does the Chevy bolt have a humidistat some cars do
great review, nice job, thank you! I lived for over a year in Chicago and remember winter well! I like the acceleration most from this Bolt but I hate the cheap cabin material used by GM... Heating steering wheel is a must not only in Illinois... :)
Sorry for the zombie reply, but how does the bolt handle on the snow? You said it has good traction, but if you start skidding, how hard is it to recover? It's a heavy vehicle, so I'm imagining that it is easy to skid right off the road. Am I right? I'm looking at getting a Bolt in southern Michigan. BTW, great video. Thank you!
I’ll be relocating in a few months; I’m thinking about parking my SUV beater (100k problem free miles). Expecting my commute to be 40 miles / 80 miles round trip. LI’m considering an EV this or a Tesla. But my interest is how much does the charging affect the utility bill.
A friend has one new this year. We live just north on the state line. When it was cold there were days his car would not even operate. At all. Gave some code that said inoperable. He parks in heatex garage and charges every night. His range is also less than half of normal when it is cold. He is trying to return the car to GM.
Electric vehicles always interested me, especially now that they seem to have more range and driving comfort than, like 15 years ago, and since i live in a smaller provincial town, seen EVs is kinda hard. But some months back i started seeing, every day since then, a Nissan e-NV200, a work van that can get quite the range, and considering is from a small electric company, it probably drives mostly around town, all day, with a single charge! The prices tho, they seem to be a bit on the steep side, especially on Electric-only vehicles, so in the future i'm more looking at hybrids
I live in West Michigan so very similar climate and my commute is about an hour (80 miles) each way. Think I can make it there and back on a single charge or should I plan on charging at work? Great content!
Completely off topic but I see you have an adjustable desk. Can you tell me what make/model it is? Do you like it? Is it rock solid stable or sometimes wobbly? I recently moved and need a new desk. Oh, and thanks for the Bolt video!
Well said ending there and full presentation. I'm in Minnesota. While I'm in the flat area too. I drive AWD and love it. Even minor hills can be disasterous for many people here with FWD on those snow days. I've been to Chicago and maybe it is extremely flat complared to the minor hills I experience. Granted in Duluth the hills are quite intense. Looking forward to all electric vehicles in the future with AWD.
Came across your video from years back, love the closing comment about how us Tesla Fanboys all live in California, I do, but there have got to be a ton more Models 3/Ys in Chicago than there were 5 years ago. How'd that comment age?
Thank you for this. I’m on the fence over this or the Prius prime. My commute is 70 each way for total of 140 round trip. Prius I would have no range anxiety and a few more creature comforts (heat) but I’m still subject to all the other ICE maintenance items. Also the 2020 Bolt range is bumped up 20 miles. Thank you
Here in sweden we can get temperatures as low as -35c (-31f) and it could last a week or more, and i myself have a unheated garage so during the winter time it usually is -7.6f (-22c) there when it is at it's lowest point, i'd love to have an EV but i'm unsure of how it would last in those temps
Great video, very interesting! Question about your remark at 5:13 "So I try to keep it to 65 or less, which can be difficult": Doesn't the Bolt come with cruise control? Any reason why you don't want to use it on the highway?
I'm a month into a lease on a new Bolt, same lovely blue as that one. In fact, they went down to Illinois to pick mine up (I'm in Michigan, ironically they drove it from the assembly plant past my place to the dealer then had to ferry it back). I just really wish there was more DC fast charging out there. A bank of them by the GM Fort Wayne truck plant would give me a comfortable and confident drive to Indianapolis to see my aunt and uncle, as it stands it's too much of a gamble. If you're interested in snow tires, there's one brand from Finland that makes soft-compound high-grip tires with low rolling resistance, look up Nokian Hakkapeliitta's R2.
Alexander Roderick - Alex - 300 miles from mid Michigan to Indy, depending on where you are starting from. That should almost be do-able in the warmer months on a single charge in a Bolt, if speed is limited a bit. I have seen on PlugShare that there are level 2 chargers along the way, so an appropriately chosen lunch stop would give you the 30 or so lvl 2 miles to ensure a trip down without issue, assuming a full charge for the return trip is also possible. Knowing this - are you up for the adventure?
I know this may not be the best place to ask, but is that video on installing an EV charger in a condo still available? I can’t seem to find it anywhere.
My cars automatic climate controls gets confused also. Not sure where the sensor is, but I think that may be part of the problem. When ever the sun is out heating up part of the car the AC can come on even when its 50F and I have the temp set to 65F.
Good video, I almost got a Bolt but the wait was too long so I have a Volt instead (which I love) good to know even in the winter a Bolt could get me to and from work.
My home state is Minnesota and I could not agree with you more about the EV range where 100 miles could work but in the cold weather you are going to want more. Also funny I purchased my Bolt in the Chicago area and drive it home with no problem.
As a software dev I entirely understand this comment 😂😂 after being the role of a chrono wizard trying to deal with timezone madness, UTC is such a breath of fresh air
What kind of tires are you using in the winter? Here in sweden it is law to use special winter tires. Winter tires has more friction and will make car use more energy.
You should look into ComEd's hourly pricing. It drops quite low at night. As I type this it's 1.6 cents per kilowatt hour. Big savings if you manage when you use the electricity.
I would except I'm not directly paying ComEd, I'm reimbursing my condo association for my usage. The association is on a flat rate, and I don't think they would see any benefit to going with time-of-use billing. The largest part of our usage is lighting which is on 24/7 (halls and parking garage), and in the summer we use the A/C heavily during the day to cool the lobby and hallways, so if we went to TOU rates we'd probably be worse off. Plus if they did that, accounting for my use would get real complicated!
I enjoyed you video and real life experiences with you Bolt. I've always wondered what kind of hit the battery pack takes using creature comforts like heat or AC. You need to do a mid summer drive this year to compare everything. Does the Bolt have AC? What about stop and go traffic, say in a traffic jam. I would think your Bolt would shine then, since there is no engine just idling using fuel when sitting. Good Luck!
Northern Cities Vowel Shift! The Midwest accent of today is not the Midwest accent of half a century ago, and, the shift is speeding up. Neat stuff. I managed to ID his accent when I saw the first video he uploaded, but, accent nerd, so....
You can easily get from Katy to downtown Houston quicker than you can get from Downers Grove to downtown Chicago. The fact that Houston's so much more spread out does mean longer distances, but it also means the traffic isn't nearly as dense. As a relatively inexperienced driver, in my late teens, I'd drive from Chicago to Houston and it was just night and day. Houston's densest traffic was close to Chicago's lightest daytime traffic. It was the same when I was there last summer. So, yeah, laugh in Texan, but even your largest metropolis doesn't even compare to Chicago.
I live in (Northern) Canada and the winters are colder by at least -10 degrees Celsius on average than Chicago. I was encouraged by your video to see that the cold didn't obliterate your range altogether but other EV drivers out here claim a full 50% range reduction (or more) in the coldest days of winter. EV car sales in Canada a low compared to our US neighbors mainly because of this IMO and the growth of EV charging stations is slow as well. Add to this the longer distances Canadians have to travel in our huge but sparsely populated country (relatively speaking).
You did not indicate exactly where in Canada you lived, but I strongly recommend you take a trip to the Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre in North York, ON. They can confidently answer nearly ever question and concern you may have about EVs in Canada. They also currently have 9 different makes & models of electric cars that you can sign-up for free test drives in. The people working there really know EVs and want to get the correct information out there for everyone to make an informed decision on which EV is best for them.
This video has been fairly enlightening for me. Thank you. Oh and while Tesla's do exist near me. They don't usually have local tags. I've seen at least 3 Bolt's with local tags.
-11c isn’t cold! That’s like the average temperature in November for me. I wanna know how these ev vehicles deal with the -40C days we get for the majority of January and February sitting in a parking lot for 8 hours then driving home. Wonder if I’d make it. Lol.
Metric conversions because I was lazy!
238 miles = 383 km
35 miles = 56 km (total commute distance is 112 km)
114 miles = 183 km
173 miles (initial predicted range) = 278 km
65 miles per hour = 104 km/h
55 miles per hour = 88 km/h
30 miles per hour = 48 km/h
Other things:
55 degrees F = 12.7 degrees C
62 degrees F = 16.6 degrees C
2-4 inches of snow = 5-10 cm
Let me know if there's something I missed!
Not sure why, but I thought for a long time that you lived in the Provo, Utah area. Weird..
Hah nice, actually stopped the video several times to calculate into sane numbers.
Hey T.C. I don't know if you ever mentioned how long you've had this vehicle (not time but miles travelled or charge cycles)? Have you an idea of battery wear affecting range?
Good work with the video, I think it's the first source of meaningful information about EV's actual range that I've seen.
Thank you providing conversion to international measurement. Greetings from France :)
Okay, thank you for the range clarification. 100% agreement, though MAN would I love more. Fingers crossed on solid-state-batteries getting us to 400-600 miles in a consumer-grade vehicle O3O
Regarding my closing statements:
I don't have any animosity towards Tesla. I want them to succeed! But in the EV enthusiast community, there are a surprising number of people who think Tesla can do no wrong and GM can't do anything right. I'm the least loyal person to GM you'll meet, having never even _considered_ one of their products for years and growing up thinking they were all garbage, but I took a plunge with my 2013 Volt and was convinced they actually know what they're doing. GM's history is complicated, that's for sure, but they are the only automaker aside from Tesla who is making a 200+ mile EV for an affordable price. And the Bolt is actually easy to get your hands on--that was the main point of my little tangent there. I was following the Bolt from its announcement, and from the very beginning the Tesla fans were insisting that GM doesn't _really_ want to be making this. They said GM had no plans of selling it nationwide. Well clearly they changed their mind on that, as there are 112 Bolts for sale right now within 100 miles of Chicago.
So to sum up, I hope Tesla sells many thousands of Model 3. And I also hope GM continues to develop their EV products. But I am so tired of this very common belief that GM's successful efforts are all meaningless and/or nefarious, but Tesla's continued production delays just get a pass. This Tesla-Is-Holier-Than-Everyone attitude is really tiresome, and as a person who wants to drive an EV _because it is an EV_ and not simply because it's a Tesla, it is very frustrating to see supposed EV fans trash the efforts of another company. It's all just personal grievances.
Rant over.
The best thing about Tesla is their Supercharger network. CCS and Chademo chargers are less common (especially where you need them, middle of nowhere) and a lot of them are at dealers where they can be blocked or unavailable after hours and/or they cost more per mile to use than gassing up a truck.
GM's EVs are definitely up there with the best of them. I own a 2013 Volt and have test driven a Bolt and Spark EV (RIP). They're all fine vehicles and I would take any of them over a Leaf, at least until they decide to give their batteries better temperature management.
GM didn't kill public transit, zoning did.
B.L. Alley - excellent points well stated...
I'm a huge Tesla fanboy. In my garage is a 2012 Chevy Volt. Great car. Not perfect, but for 2012 - wow. GM did a lot of things right early on.
Technology Connections Couldn’t agree more. It’s also worth noting that the only Tesla Model 3s available right now cost $10,000 more than a top of the line Bolt. I know they’ll have cheaper ones EVentually, but for those not already on the list, it may be a very long wait.
Looking at the dashboard readout at the end of your commute, the worst number on the range-meter was 82 miles. Add that to the 70 miles you drove, and you’ll get 152 - and that’s the *worst* it will do. Which is still more than double your commute. That’s excellent.
"Welcome to the Tri-State Tollway, Everybody's Favorite! Gotta LOVE the TRI-State". Spoken like a true Chicagoan.
"There's a slowdown on the Tri-State from Dempster to the Bensenville Bridge..."
I'm not even from Illinois and I hate the Tri-State... I live in Ohio but I have grandparents in Milwaukee, plus I'm a coaster enthusiast and Six Flags Great America is my favorite theme park. So basically, I have become intimately familiar with that toll road...
Thankfully, my I-Pass is compatible with the Ohio Turnpike, and unlike Ohio's EZ-Pass, I don't have to pay an annual fee just to continue using the thing.
I was detecting a wee bit of sarcasm there. It's been a while since I lived up there in the southwest suburbs (355 had *just* opened, if that's any indication) - is that stretch of 290 with all the on-ramps still making life miserable for folks?
Yes, the Harlem and Austin Av ramps are still on the wrong side of the Expressway, requiring you to join traffic in the fast lane. Every so often, some transit authority asks Oak Park to rebuild that stretch, but the residents on both side of the Ike revolt against it, every time. Also, I'm sure Alec (Mr. Tech Connector) was more than a 'wee bit' sarcastic haha. My favorite I've heard recently was on a radio traffic report: "The light is out at Chicago Ave on the Drive, so traffic is just, bad."
homestar92 same thing here, family in Chicago and Milwaukee and I live in Ohio
You are spot on about about the California people. I moved to SoCal five years ago from the Midwest. The locals here have absolutely no concept of what bad weather is like. Tell them about an ice storm, you get a look like you're describing something from science fiction.
Or that when you get snow on Christmas...it doesn't go away after Christmas.
Sometimes I worry that California may disappear up its own collective asshole.
LOL i am so that typical person!! I think 60 degrees is cold. It got to 38 once and i was like omg its the end of the world. The highest the water has ever gotten is to the curb and i was freaking out. Now unlike other states, i can handle 113 degrees like no problem. I dont use ac!
@@Anniefawesome I'm the opposite. I live in Canada and I struggle with the heat. When the weather reaches 28°C (82.4°F), I get a scary realization that I can't take off any more clothes; the agony is real.
I moved to the high desert in LA County from North Idaho/Eastern Washinton for my wife's Air Force assignment. I tell people I miss snow and cold days and they look at me like, "but it is cold outside." It'll be like 50.
Your videos are so...pleasant
It’s hard to describe but I just love your format
I agree :)
Fabulous?
I watch them to fall asleep! "pleasant" is the right word .)
@@pallzoltan
Same here! Alec is never loud and abrasive and think that's part of the charm. Much like Bigclive or Techmoan 😊
extremely useful information, in Canada I was definitely worried about the range cost for winter, gives me some realistic expectations.
Some people have reported half the range in -10C conditions. Although heat may play a part in that. For Ontario with a lot of nuclear and hydro electric power, hydrogen production can be a good way to use that excess power during the night.
Young man you make very good videos. Factual, to the point and informative. Good video as I am considering electric for my next vehicle. Thanks.
"Why would winter be a problem?" I thought ... then he mentioned snow and I remembered that in some places winter is cooler than 20C.
20C is basically average hotter summer in finland, hi from nordics!
20C? Hah....in the summer, sure, but not unheard of to get to 0F (-17C) here in the winter and basically every day from December to February is below 32F (0C). It's frozen hell. Not as bad as where I used to live, where there is practically snow every day 9 months of the year...but yeah. Greetings from the north eastern US....woo.
I wonder what EV's perform like in the summer, today we had a high of 39°C it literally feels hotter the faster you go on a motorbike, as you're getting the effect of a convection oven
Hi, just thought I'd let you know that after watching your video, I went out and bought a Bolt. I live in Minneapolis and winter range, heat and defrost capability matter.
Thanks for a very informative video. It made up my mind. I was a Volt owner for five years.
Love your videos, they always inform and give me things to think about.
As a "gearhead" I totally can't wait to get an EV... I really want one. This has been on my "used cars to watch for" list and I think it has moved to the top! In love the size, and as someone who would really never own a gm product besides a truck, this is quite a car for me to say that... Just like you.
As a gearhead, BEV have cheaper and easier Torque & Power. Even a econobox like Bolt EV kicks out 266 lb/ft & 200hp. That hatchback gets to 60mph around 6.6 seconds in real world tests. It's just easy for modern BEV to have large power output.
My daily commute is only 25 miles, this thing would serve me wonderfully. Drive all week, charge on Sunday.
OnTheRocks,
Blsphm!
This is my favorite channel because of that raw data
This is so crazy! I must live within 10 miles from you, I live in Bolingbrook. I am on I-88 all the time going to jobs, very meta watching your video and recognizing the drive. This is very good info being I have been debating an electric car, and what a better demo than on the very streets I will be driving!
Adam Patton I was pretty stoked when I saw the city in the title. I was all like, “yeah, Fashion Outlets!”
If you have battery power to spare and don't have to worry about the electricity you use to run the heater for the trip, EVs are absolutely great in the midwestern winters. The thermal m ass of an EVs heating system is insignificant compared to that of an ICE where you have to wait for the engine to heat up before you get warm air. EV heaters heat up fast and start heating the cabin of the car almost immediatly. I just love that. (5 year long Nissan LEAF EV driver in Nebraska speaking) Snow handling is great too, I'd say even better since EV traction control is theoraticaly superior to ICE because electronics can stop and start torque much more quickly.
once I saw an intersection 5 minutes away from me in one of his videos!
I live even closer and recognize local spots all the time. Weird stuff!
Fun fact: 4wd is less important that just having good winter tires rated for snow if you need snow traction.
Tires are a fascinating and extremely complicated technology that few people truly understand. From tread design to rubber compounds they're an imperfect thing and always have to make a set of compromises in order to fulfill their role.
Examples...
Autocross slicks are sticky at regular temperatures (50F-100F) and overheat quickly, they have no tread. They freeze solid and have no grip below freezing.
Track slicks are sticky when hot (200F), still no tread. Same problem with cold weather performance.
Summer tires are grippy when hot, but again freeze solid.
Regular all season tires are designed to provide good grip in many situations across many temperatures.
Winter tires are designed to provide excellent traction in the cold and snow, but overheat quickly in warmer weather.
Mud tires are noisy and stupid and highly specialized and most people don't need them. They do have big tread though so hey 😎
Tires with short sidewalls have more rigidity and are better for things like high G-load cornering, but provide a rougher ride and less terrain compliance.
Tires with a medium sidewall provide a good balance of comfort, performance, and fuel efficiency, as the rotating mass of the wheel is balanced against the rigidity of the tire and ability of the tread to conform to the road surface.
Tires with tall sidewalls have less rigidity and are better for things like off road travel as you can air them up and down to make the contact patch longer or shorter, and to prevent damage from things like larger rocks.
Bro, I'm a baller. My spark EV, when it's 10f outside or lower.... It's HALF my consumption.... The heat. And I'm proud of that toasty interior that takes a couple mins instead of being like those at work who say " my car didn't warn up on the entire drive in" oh man. Dial in your limits, stay well within them and it's a very comfortable way to travel.
Thank you for this informative video. It’s the best one I found showing real world impact the winter has on EV range. I live in northern Michigan and considering a Bolt for a 30 mile commute. This video has helped get rid of some range Anxiety.
You have a wonderful comments section on your channel.
I had trouble following this video. The way it was filmed didn’t mesh with your usual rapid fire fact delivery format.
Luckily there are lots of well thought out questions, opinions and responses fro,m you and your viewers to clear things up for me!
Thank you for the great videos Technology Connections.
That was great. Very informative. I'm hoping to pick up a Chevy Bolt tomorrow after being a 2011 Nissan Leaf owner for 4 years. I'm looking forward to having a battery with thermal management.
As a Chicagoan who just bought a Bolt (used 2020) you video was made for me! Thanks very much and also thanks for staying with the EV topic in videos made several years after this one.
I used to live in Chicago. I was born in Chicago but grew up in the far western suburbs. I would frequently drive at 70 MPH on 88. Sometimes around 75.
I’m from middle of Russia and really interested in EV. I had lots of questions about winter, but this video helped a lot. There are not much EV or even hybrid in our area, but I hope they will be more affordable soon. By the way fuel price here is about 2,45$ per gallon of unleaded.
I know it’s 10 months late.
The car cools the interior when it’s in a warm garage because the interior is cooler than the HVAC setpoint, not because it’s confused.
Second, battery conditioning happens when the battery reaches Freezing if it’s plugged in or if ignition is turned on. I think it has to each -10C to condition of unplugged when ignition is off.
Thanks for the vid. Attempting a Detroit to Madison, WI, Drive in my Bolt in December 2019. I’ll wave to you as we go by.
I've been watching your videos for quite a while now and I finally subscribed. Showed up in my recommendations so I kinda sorta forgot to do that. They're always well made, interesting and most of all, you keep 'em neutral and thus informative. No fanboying or any of that junk. And you always provide the metric values as well, THANK YOU! Just one thing, and I must say in advance that I really don't mean to offend anyone but american highway etiquette or rather the lack thereof is somewhat cringy from a german perspective :D
-11C is, indeed, "pretty cold".
oh you sweet summer child
Laughs in Canadian
I live in Australia, in an area that rarely reaches 0C very rarely indeed but it has reached it before in winter, so -11C sounds bloody freezing to me. Mind you it's currently 41C approx 106F where I live
Congratulations. I live in Michigan and grew up in Illinois. Virtually every video I have tried to watch on EV cars has been published by some guy in Southern California who is enthusiastic about his electric car, but doesn't know jack about living in a winter climate. I have gotten very few straight answers about battery usage vs cabin heat, etc in the mid west. Thank you for addressing this problem so honestly, and thank you for putting my mind at east about purchasing the Bolt (which I'm about to do). I have a 60 mile round trip commute every day here in southwest Michigan. I'm ready to go.
By far the best channel in my subscriptions list. Greetings from Romania and thanks for the transformation to the international system!
Apart from great videos overall, I love that you ALWAYS mention metric/centigrade units when you speak of some measurements. Thanks, RUclips algorithm, for recommending me your channel some time ago! And thank you, Alec, for your great videos ❤️
I love how people say "You have to remember this" (Reference plugging the car in). But it is really like fueling up your vehicle! You remember to put fuel in your liquid based engine right? He has to remember to put electrons :) in his car. Rant over.
Run dry on the road? No.
I have literally never run out of gas. Really simple, every time I get in a gas powered car, I check the fuel gauge, if it is low, refuel. With an electric it seems that it would be even easier, just every time you park at home, plug it in just in case... no different than what we do with cell phones.
Isn't the "reserve" just the red-coloured portion of the fuel gauge? Flash a warning light when the fill level goes below a certain value. Why wouldn't an EV do that?
(edit) Besides, using (and forgetting to charge) a phone seems more like a casual thing to me. Plugging the car in after a trip seems like something that would just become second nature, like locking the car when you leave it. Although, I guess if you DO forget to plug it in while the battery is low you couldn't just quickly "top it off" on your next commute.
I honestly haven't... and it's not anything to do with memory... it's just a matter of making it a habit. Do it enough times, and you no longer even need to think about doing it.
Well, so the gauge shows less than the actual capacity of the tank to be on the safe side. Still kind of my point :P Why shouldn't that be the case for the battery on an EV?
Hey! I grew up in the western suburbs and now live in that same sort of rural area as your parents (bout 90 miles out). I've also been driving a Volt for a few years. Considering the Bolt brought me here. I've binge watched your newer videos, so I was pleasantly surprised to see I had missed this one.
I am now sold. I tracked my Volt drives for over two years and setting aside road trips, none of them were outside the range you got on this winter drive. I'm totally going to do it.
Does leaving your car plugged in and turning your car on also heat up the battery in a Volt? The one thing I hate about winter driving is cold temperature mode. I really hate being forced to use gas if it isn't necessary. If that can be avoided by turning on my car while it's still plugged in 15 minutes prior to heading to work that could be a game changer for me. I don't turn on the head unless it's below 25° F outside if at all as I also have the winter package in my Volt.
Side note, when I saw 25 kWh used for 70 miles of driving I was floored as that seemed absolutely awful. Then I realized your are showing a Bolt in this scenario and that what the Volt does with gas the Bolt has to do with the battery (keeping the battery cage warm on cold days). So it made a lot more sense once I realized that.
Great video as always!
Just to clarify, I have a second generation Volt if that affects your answer to my above query.
Well, it's 120 miles to chicago, we've got 47% charge on the Bolt, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Greetings from California. I enjoy everything you do. You keep things interesting no matter the subject. I currently drive a 2016 Jeep Renegade (6 speed manual 1.4L Turbo). I think after say 5 years, with this car (assuming gas isn't $8 a gallon) I'll be looking at fully electric. I would do it now but they are still a bit out of my price range. Then I think I might finally be ready to give up my precious manual transmission. D: Please keep up the great videos. You rock.
The range trending arrows are one of the things I like about our 500e. And you're right about having a heated steering wheel... it makes the cold much more bearable and you can be comfortable with a lower cabin air temp.
It's interesting how you'll notice elevation changes more in an EV... I found out my work is uphill from home.
In Virginia we were able to go on time of use metering. Overnight, the off peak rate is only $0.02/kwh... that makes for some very cheap EV driving!
Thanks for posting this. Winter time range is a real concern.
Both my previous car (Chevy Volt) and my current one (Honda Clarity) kick on the gas engine to supplement heat when the temp falls below freezing. This video was helpful to see how strict electric would work, particularly for me, as you seem to live very near where I work [at least the office I'm based out of], and work very near where I live. The only odd thing about watching your drive was that it went in reverse direction to what I'm used to.
Side note: if you work in IT and still in the same place, may be we could switch jobs and save ourselves a lot of commute time? Then again my company has multiple branch locations, so never mind, I guess...
Great job documenting this.
Great video. Your series on electric cars inspired me on my recent purchase of a 2017 Bolt. There's not much of a secondary market for them here in Texas so I got it for an amazing price. I just wish this one had the heated seats/steering wheel. I usually have to keep mine around 70 for it to be comfortable. Luckily I live in Dallas so the cold weather is only a bother for a few months, and even then it's quite sporadic.
I have watched a few of your audio vids and decided to sub when saw you have a Volt. I do as well (15). We are in the Rochester NY area (similar weather as Chi town), and are looking at possibly a Bolt for when our gas car lease ends this fall.
Nice job of characterizing the range. As an early Bolt owner and California resident who has various hills to cross, I use 14 to 18 kw-hr for a commute similar to yours in distance but depending on the season.
Thanks so much for a very good analysis. I commute 150 miles twice a week and was very disappointed with my Chevy Bolt’s kw usage. Now I understand what to expect in winter time.
I enjoyed the video it's good to hear someone being honest about electric vehicles I made my first lithium powered vehicle back in 2008 10 years ago
Both the Volt and Bolt are nicely engineered cars. All EVs suffer from range loss in subzero weather (including Tesla). I have owned a Model S and 1st gen Volt.
As a former resident of Rapid City South Dakota, it is good to know that it is possible to drive a Chevrolet Bolt EV in below zero conditions. Keep up the great work.
I'd love a 2021 update on the Bolt/Volt (or whatever you're driving nowadays)!
Thanks for the nice video, that fills a gap in the space. I am in NJ and also enjoy mild winter so I would tend to underestimate the impact of really cold Chicago Winter. EV enthusiasts might give misleading advice in their passion but that is not unique for EV world. Everyone has to do their homework before any major purchase.
Good video. As a Chevrolet Bolt driver here in the Pacific Northwest, it doesn't get that cold so range isn't to much of an issue.
Good 'ole 294. I enjoy your videos. Didn't realize you live in the Chicago area. I work in Itasca.
hi just wanted to say that I loved watching this video, I don't know why but it was fun to see you driving and informing the watcher about the electricity usage. Thank you for the conversion to metric units, thank you for the video! greetings!
Great to see how far you got with that channel! Greetings from Germany.
In the Netherlands the speed limit on highways is:
75 Mph = 120 Km/h
or on some highways even
82 Mph = 130 Km/h
I wish the vehicle knew the temp out side. So it could adjust it's range accordingly. Even if there were just a built in tool on the radio or something where you could enter the outside temp and it would tell you your new estimated range. On the plus side traffic is somewhat of an advantage now.
The ambient temperature is used to calculate range. However, history will have a greater initial importance precisely because of the possibility of a heated garage, etc. If it went on temperature alone, the Bolt would probably report a 240-250 mile range in my garage, and then crash down to 180 or less once it realized how cold it was. But, if we do have a warm day, you will see the range estimate actually climb as you drive.
Technology Connections It is true about the heated seat, I don't have a heated steering wheel but I find the only reason I turn on the heater is to keep my hands warm. Hopefully with enough people on the road with ev's traffic won't be as much as a bad thing due to increased range.
I love how detailed and thorough you are in your videos--much better than other tech channels.
As I live in a colder area than Chicago (Quebec city), it's really interesting to get your experience. I really do believe in electric cars, and I'd like having one, but I'm still too afraid to get some major issues as there's not enough chargers in public areas yet, and as my car would be always outside, I worries about the batteries capacities at -30C (-22F) and how it will be over the next years (ex: does the capacity get lowers over the years, how many years those batteries are usable, how much it cost to replace them, ...). Thanks again for sharing your thoughs !
Recommend you take a trip to the Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre in North York, ON. They can confidently answer nearly ever question and concern you may have about EVs in Canada. They also currently have 9 different makes & models of electric cars that you can sign-up for free test drives in. The people working there really know EVs and want to get the correct information out there for everyone to make an informed decision on which EV is best for them.
Excellent video. Good to see some EV videos. I myself cycle to work (12km) and have a Peugeot 407 2.2 coupe for fun. But for my wife I am considering an EV, so this really does help, she has your equivalent to a Saturn Astra 5door. An EV will be excellent for her daily 90km commute.
This is a great video - you helped me a lot. I live in Iowa and I would LOVE to drive an all-electric car. Somehow I didn't hear about he Bolt till recently. Your video was exactly what I needed to evaluate the Midwesterner's question: how about the winter? Thanks very much, buddy - you helped me out!
Thank you. Was looking for real world winter driving data for sometimes. This matched closely to Canadian winter driving environment.
Thanks for your video; I have a '23 Bolt ev on order, and I live in Canada.
I recommend snowflake-on-mountain winter tires. 2009+ Cruze, all Sonic and Buick Encore wheels fit the Bolt. 205/60x16" tires are only 0.2" taller than the Bolt's stock 215/50x17s, and 205/65x15 tires are the same diameter as the stock 17s.
Bridgestone ws90s are the best winter tires I've used, and Michelin xi3s and x-ice are good LRR winter tires.
My '19 awd-e Prius with winters were excellent in the winter, and with the Bolt i'll miss the awd.
One of the things that has me nervous about a Bolt in the Midwest is the lack of a heat pump.
Thank you for this video. I live in the north east and find it very helpful to see what the range was in very cold weather. Some people have complained the front seats in the Bolt are too narrow, do you find them comfortable?
I am not bothered by them, but I completely understand the "narrow" comments. They are weirdly narrow. But it doesn't affect my comfort much, and as I'm sure you can tell I'm pretty big. Alex on Autos gave them a 5/10, which I think is fair. Its very subjective, after all. I've also heard that there is a significant comfort difference between the leather seats in the Premier trim (the car in this video) and the cloth seats in the LT trim. I'd say the best thing to do is to go to a dealer and sit in it!
I realize that this video is 2 years old, but it raises a significant question for me. I'd be very curious as to how the range would be in a mountainous area in winter. A very useful number might be January in Colorado with 4 adults in the carpool. A lot of up and down, very cold temperature, significant wind, fairly heavy passenger load, and the need to heat the cabin for passenger comfort. That would be a real stress-test for any EV.
I have had mine for 4 years. Been watching your channel all this time and somehow I missed that you have a bolt
As a Minnesotan this is a relatively useful video... though a fair warmer than what I have to worry about in the dead of winter.
Here in Finland, a lot of people opt to buy plug in hybrids as there are still some infrastructure issues and 6 month long winters to deal with considering battery charging and battery range. Since in Finland people tend to only need vehicles for long distance trips or commuting only if they don't have good public transportation access, plug in hybrids are favored more since the battery range is enough for commuting, with petroleum being used on long distance trips when charging isn't readily available in many areas.
Interesting video!
That was very good. The general literature and videos seems to be in "ideal" places. I.e. flat warm dry.
I would love to see a video where you drive like a normal gas driving person. Park the car outside like we do don't have time to preheat the car because with kids you don't have that kind of time. Run the heat to a nice toasty warm car like we do and do at least 70 maybe 75. That's the test that would be useful.
Of course, obviously, depending on the size of the engine block, you can get heat out of the engine block in no time, and if your smart, you won't turn on the interior climate control until you see the engine temperature needle start to move. I think My grandfather's friend mentioned in a conversation that he doesn't usually turn the vehicle's cabin heat on until the engine block gets up to a said temperature. That was brought up when I mentioned that my current vehicle doesn't turn the heat on until the engine block is up to a set temperature assuming you use the steering wheel control's to turn on the heating.
While I think your driving habits aren't the same as a non-enthusiast's would be (that is to say, someone who wants a car and not care about how it is fueled) and therefore your numbers may be a bit more generous than most, I do appreciate that you addressed this issue that you correctly state is ignored by Californians. You have done more to convince me to consider EV than anybody else on RUclips.
Good job. I own a 19 Bolt and love it. And work the regeneration all I can
I can do 320 miles but Arkansas winters are warm compared to Chicago area
I drive a 2013 Volt and so does my wife. It's in Utah, which also has cold winters. It does affect the range, but we are retired so have no fixed commute. It's a good car for Utah, as the state has a concentrated urban strip (the Wasatch Front) where electric propulsion is very practical. But once in a while, one wants to drive a long ways, as things in the West are really far apart. Gasoline mode works great for that. It gets quite good mileage on gas. 38-40 mpg. We're cosidering trading one of our Volts for a used Bolt, now that they're coming off lease.
Thank you for your interesting video, I just bought a 2019 Bolt last week, I live near Seattle and normally don’t see winter weather anywhere near as cold as your area. However it is nice to know it’s range if I had to drive in very cold weather. I’m having fun discovering the vehicle.
Oof that's cool!! I have an egolf and my winter adaptive range is 50 😬 thinking about trading in, thank you for the info!!
Air conditioning is also used in the wintertime to dehumidify the cabin so it can be handy thing to have especially where I live in England where it rains every other day does the Chevy bolt have a humidistat some cars do
great review, nice job, thank you! I lived for over a year in Chicago and remember winter well! I like the acceleration most from this Bolt but I hate the cheap cabin material used by GM... Heating steering wheel is a must not only in Illinois... :)
Sorry for the zombie reply, but how does the bolt handle on the snow? You said it has good traction, but if you start skidding, how hard is it to recover? It's a heavy vehicle, so I'm imagining that it is easy to skid right off the road. Am I right? I'm looking at getting a Bolt in southern Michigan. BTW, great video. Thank you!
I’ll be relocating in a few months; I’m thinking about parking my SUV beater (100k problem free miles). Expecting my commute to be 40 miles / 80 miles round trip. LI’m considering an EV this or a Tesla. But my interest is how much does the charging affect the utility bill.
Excellent review for us in the upper midwest worried about winter range, thanks.
The best Chevy Bolt winter driving video I have seen! Thank you for the work on this!
I’m contemplating getting an EV in the next few weeks and live in the Chicago area. How did yours hold up in the recent -20 weather we had?
A friend has one new this year. We live just north on the state line. When it was cold there were days his car would not even operate. At all. Gave some code that said inoperable. He parks in heatex garage and charges every night. His range is also less than half of normal when it is cold. He is trying to return the car to GM.
Electric vehicles always interested me, especially now that they seem to have more range and driving comfort than, like 15 years ago, and since i live in a smaller provincial town, seen EVs is kinda hard. But some months back i started seeing, every day since then, a Nissan e-NV200, a work van that can get quite the range, and considering is from a small electric company, it probably drives mostly around town, all day, with a single charge!
The prices tho, they seem to be a bit on the steep side, especially on Electric-only vehicles, so in the future i'm more looking at hybrids
I live in West Michigan so very similar climate and my commute is about an hour (80 miles) each way. Think I can make it there and back on a single charge or should I plan on charging at work? Great content!
Completely off topic but I see you have an adjustable desk. Can you tell me what make/model it is? Do you like it? Is it rock solid stable or sometimes wobbly? I recently moved and need a new desk. Oh, and thanks for the Bolt video!
Well said ending there and full presentation. I'm in Minnesota. While I'm in the flat area too. I drive AWD and love it. Even minor hills can be disasterous for many people here with FWD on those snow days. I've been to Chicago and maybe it is extremely flat complared to the minor hills I experience. Granted in Duluth the hills are quite intense. Looking forward to all electric vehicles in the future with AWD.
As a fellow Chicagoland resident I'll definitely attest to the benefit of having heated seats. I've forgotten to turn on the heat during the winter.
Came across your video from years back, love the closing comment about how us Tesla Fanboys all live in California, I do, but there have got to be a ton more Models 3/Ys in Chicago than there were 5 years ago. How'd that comment age?
Thank you for this. I’m on the fence over this or the Prius prime. My commute is 70 each way for total of 140 round trip. Prius I would have no range anxiety and a few more creature comforts (heat) but I’m still subject to all the other ICE maintenance items. Also the 2020 Bolt range is bumped up 20 miles. Thank you
Thanks for posting this video. It was very helpful in seeing how the cold affected the car’s performance.
Here in sweden we can get temperatures as low as -35c (-31f) and it could last a week or more, and i myself have a unheated garage so during the winter time it usually is -7.6f (-22c) there when it is at it's lowest point, i'd love to have an EV but i'm unsure of how it would last in those temps
Great video, very interesting!
Question about your remark at 5:13 "So I try to keep it to 65 or less, which can be difficult": Doesn't the Bolt come with cruise control? Any reason why you don't want to use it on the highway?
I'm a month into a lease on a new Bolt, same lovely blue as that one. In fact, they went down to Illinois to pick mine up (I'm in Michigan, ironically they drove it from the assembly plant past my place to the dealer then had to ferry it back). I just really wish there was more DC fast charging out there. A bank of them by the GM Fort Wayne truck plant would give me a comfortable and confident drive to Indianapolis to see my aunt and uncle, as it stands it's too much of a gamble.
If you're interested in snow tires, there's one brand from Finland that makes soft-compound high-grip tires with low rolling resistance, look up Nokian Hakkapeliitta's R2.
Alexander Roderick - Alex - 300 miles from mid Michigan to Indy, depending on where you are starting from. That should almost be do-able in the warmer months on a single charge in a Bolt, if speed is limited a bit. I have seen on PlugShare that there are level 2 chargers along the way, so an appropriately chosen lunch stop would give you the 30 or so lvl 2 miles to ensure a trip down without issue, assuming a full charge for the return trip is also possible. Knowing this - are you up for the adventure?
I know this may not be the best place to ask, but is that video on installing an EV charger in a condo still available? I can’t seem to find it anywhere.
My cars automatic climate controls gets confused also. Not sure where the sensor is, but I think that may be part of the problem. When ever the sun is out heating up part of the car the AC can come on even when its 50F and I have the temp set to 65F.
Good video, I almost got a Bolt but the wait was too long so I have a Volt instead (which I love) good to know even in the winter a Bolt could get me to and from work.
My home state is Minnesota and I could not agree with you more about the EV range where 100 miles could work but in the cold weather you are going to want more. Also funny I purchased my Bolt in the Chicago area and drive it home with no problem.
You must be a software engineer because your dashcam is in UTC
Maybe the battery or capacitor is dead and the GPS link is defaulting to UTC?
But it's not...
As a software dev I entirely understand this comment 😂😂 after being the role of a chrono wizard trying to deal with timezone madness, UTC is such a breath of fresh air
What kind of tires are you using in the winter? Here in sweden it is law to use special winter tires. Winter tires has more friction and will make car use more energy.
You should look into ComEd's hourly pricing. It drops quite low at night. As I type this it's 1.6 cents per kilowatt hour. Big savings if you manage when you use the electricity.
I would except I'm not directly paying ComEd, I'm reimbursing my condo association for my usage. The association is on a flat rate, and I don't think they would see any benefit to going with time-of-use billing. The largest part of our usage is lighting which is on 24/7 (halls and parking garage), and in the summer we use the A/C heavily during the day to cool the lobby and hallways, so if we went to TOU rates we'd probably be worse off. Plus if they did that, accounting for my use would get real complicated!
Technology Connections That makes a lot of sense. I wasn't thinking about the condo situation.
I enjoyed you video and real life experiences with you Bolt. I've always wondered what kind of hit the battery pack takes using creature comforts like heat or AC. You need to do a mid summer drive this year to compare everything. Does the Bolt have AC? What about stop and go traffic, say in a traffic jam. I would think your Bolt would shine then, since there is no engine just idling using fuel when sitting. Good Luck!
You live in Illinois? I thought you were Canadian.
Northern Cities Vowel Shift! The Midwest accent of today is not the Midwest accent of half a century ago, and, the shift is speeding up. Neat stuff. I managed to ID his accent when I saw the first video he uploaded, but, accent nerd, so....
Canucks use metric measurement.
Quix most Canadians do live in the great lakes region, especially lake Ontario
Canadian are nice people, but Troudeau is a sucker :-(
At least he knows what quantum computing is.
"very long commute"
*laughs in Texan*
"Long" commutes are actually measured in hours, not miles.
-Laughs in Long Island accent.
@@RobertLeBlancPhoto Good point. I wonder how much power the horn would use in a Bolt...
@@aguyandhiscomputer
Probably need an auxiliary battery for the horn, but would save a bit by not using any turn signals.
You can easily get from Katy to downtown Houston quicker than you can get from Downers Grove to downtown Chicago.
The fact that Houston's so much more spread out does mean longer distances, but it also means the traffic isn't nearly as dense.
As a relatively inexperienced driver, in my late teens, I'd drive from Chicago to Houston and it was just night and day. Houston's densest traffic was close to Chicago's lightest daytime traffic. It was the same when I was there last summer.
So, yeah, laugh in Texan, but even your largest metropolis doesn't even compare to Chicago.
I used to have a 4 hour daily commute in the UK.
I live in (Northern) Canada and the winters are colder by at least -10 degrees Celsius on average than Chicago. I was encouraged by your video to see that the cold didn't obliterate your range altogether but other EV drivers out here claim a full 50% range reduction (or more) in the coldest days of winter. EV car sales in Canada a low compared to our US neighbors mainly because of this IMO and the growth of EV charging stations is slow as well. Add to this the longer distances Canadians have to travel in our huge but sparsely populated country (relatively speaking).
You did not indicate exactly where in Canada you lived, but I strongly recommend you take a trip to the Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre in North York, ON. They can confidently answer nearly ever question and concern you may have about EVs in Canada. They also currently have 9 different makes & models of electric cars that you can sign-up for free test drives in. The people working there really know EVs and want to get the correct information out there for everyone to make an informed decision on which EV is best for them.
This video has been fairly enlightening for me. Thank you. Oh and while Tesla's do exist near me. They don't usually have local tags. I've seen at least 3 Bolt's with local tags.
-11c isn’t cold! That’s like the average temperature in November for me. I wanna know how these ev vehicles deal with the -40C days we get for the majority of January and February sitting in a parking lot for 8 hours then driving home. Wonder if I’d make it. Lol.