The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has swept the automotive media and critics off of their feet. The brand’s first full-fledged electric vehicle will arrive with a range of 238 miles and be priced at $29,995 after federal tax credits.
However, charging the Bolt EV isn’t going to be as easy as plugging a Tesla into a supercharging station. The 2017 Bolt EV will arrive with a standard 7.2 kW recharging pack, much smaller than a Tesla’s 20 kW pack. With the Bolt EV’s smaller pack, it will take 9 1/2 hours to charge the vehicle on a 240-volt station, according to The Detroit News. That’s not a very easy amount of time to pass despite the Bolt EV banking on its range to find new homes.
It gets worse, though. Chevrolet says a full charge, utilizing a regular 120-volt wall socket, will take 51 hours. Fifty. One.
Thankfully, Chevrolet thinks nearly all Bolt EV customers will pony up for the DC fast charging unit, which will be a $750 option. This unit can provide 90 miles of juice in just 30 minutes.
EVs are merely in their infancy and the U.S. arguably doesn’t have a robust network of charging stations. But, with vehicles like the 2017 Bolt EV, that will likely change. And it must if rural owners want any comfort in knowing they can head out of town without their at-home charging unit.
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The subtitle reads: “GM is betting most customers will invest in a level three charging unit.”
Such a solution does not exist today. You need streetlamp-grade power, which is why it can cost over $100,000 to deploy a L3 charging station. Level 2 chargers are the most a consumer, or even a mid-size business, can purchase today.
Most people that do Level 3 charging will be battling for open charging bays with other people… such as Lyft drivers on their lunch breaks. The real ugly problems are going to emerge on the interstate, where people cannot proceed on their road trip until an open L3 charging bay opens.
The terminology is misleading:
Thankfully, Chevrolet thinks nearly all Bolt EV customers will pony up for a level three charging >>unit / port<>unit/port<< can provide 90 miles of juice in just 30 minutes.
Price is correct, and I add that the phrase “Thankfully, Chevrolet thinks nearly all Bolt EV customers will pony up for a level three charging unit, which will be a $750 option.”‘ is in error because the “charger unit” for DC power input is external at the station. The correct option is the DC charge “port”. Only the AC-DC charger is internal for Level 1 and 2 EVSE charging.
Anyway, many Bolt EV owners will not travel all 238+ miles a day. Most will travel less, and recharge overnight while sleeping, as all do for their “mobile devices”.
The charging at 32 amps Level 2 for the Bolt is very adequate. This is NOT a Tesla or EV for frequent/constant long haul driving. Spend twice as much to get a base Tesla for that. The overwhelmingly popular choice for charging EVs that aren’t long haulers is at home. THAT’S the service station of choice. 9+ hrs is a good amount of time to charge a depleted Bolt. But most charging situations for most people won’t/shouldn’t involve a fully depleted battery. But even so, if there’s time to only get 150 miles range that will be plenty for most people for most days. It can be topped off the next day and every day after that. When you pull in you hookup – at home. No going to the service station like an ICE car. Most times you are going to leave the house every day with a completely charged battery.
If your driving requirements are such that up to 240 miles need to be traveled fairly frequently then either use a second ICE car for the long trips or get another kind of vehicle. For most of us the Bolt will be more than adequate!
It is worth adding that Tesla encourages their owners to opt for the 80 amp (20 kW) home wall connector, not just to have a shorter charge time, per se, but to make sure that all charging can take place during super-off-peak periods for lowest cost. Here is SoCal, my summer peak rate is $.46/kWh vs. $.11 at night. It is what the utility wants EV owners to do to better load their equipment as the number of EVs grows.
Good point! I’m at $.08 at all times, with graduated higher rates but I’m likely to never go beyond $.10
I have a feeling Starbucks has been anticipating this for some time.
Few Starbuck have adequate parking to add charging
I think his point was that a lot of Starbucks are co-located near Chargepoint or other EV charging stations within walking distance. Starbucks has tried to evolve to a place where you stay more than five minutes.
I’d certainly hang out at one if a Chargepoint DC Fast station was nearby, waiting the 90 minutes to get a full charge on a Bolt. I don’t know how the Bolt’s seats are, I do hope that they are more comfortable than the Gamma II cars that came before, because that would be a huge dealbreaker if there wasn’t a major comfort improvement.
I guess it depends on where you live. There are many places in Oregon that the Bolt can charge up now here is a great example https://www.facebook.com/Electric-Avenue-235716349798088/ , California, Washington all down I-5
The problem is the traffic jams that are going to erupt at those chargers. Yes, you can Level 3 charge across the west coast with minimal trip interruption, and using DC Fast – not just Tesla. But the problem becomes when you have a holiday, and you have a dozen Bolts trying to use the 3-5 charging stations at some of those locations.
Now you’re not just waiting 60-90 minutes during a pit stop to recharge, you’re waiting 60-90 minutes just to start the 60-90 minutes to recharge.
And with California EV incentives set to continue, a bulk of the Bolts will get sold here. I’ve thought about it. The Bolt is the first EV I could buy on incentive – certainly with some of these fire-sale leases we’ve seen already on EVs here. But charging station jams are likely.
Regarding the Tesla comment, I may have misunderstood your Tesla comment, but for sure you can drive a Tesla from San Diego to Banff, Canada along two parallel routes with fast Supercharging. And most other chargers can be used with adapters.
My point was that the SAE DC Fast charging network (the one that L3-equipped Bolts and Sparks use), is also sufficient to handle a trip from San Diego to Canada. There is a strong misconception out there that only Tesla can handle that today, and it isn’t true. You can take a Bolt EV from San Diego to Canada in around the same amount of time – factoring in pit stops for recharging.
The big problem is scale. Tesla built out their Superchargers in the interstates with several charging bays. A lot of the Chargepoint and other DC Fast charging stations on the west coast are not nearly as numerous. The result is you can make the trek, and even at times skip a Level 3 charging station (and continue on to the next one), but the odds of a traffic jam at a DC Fast charging route, are much higher than with Tesla Superchargers today.
When there are more Bolts on the road, this will become an issue I’m afraid – people bitter and stuck waiting for a charging port to open up, to get back on the road… stuck facing 6-8 hours on a L2 charger if the L3’s are all full.
I think there is a philosophical difference in how Tesla approached the challenge. Tesla build a long range car that would rarely need charging away from home for daily commuters. But for long range driving, charging in remote locations would be needed. Thus, a look at the Supercharger map shows exactly that: remote chargers along interstates, and just a few in cities.
With that in mind then, a look at any of the many non-Tesla changing maps quickly shows that these chargers have been located in metro areas to support shorter range vehicles. It is the unintended consequences of rules that invite compliance EVs to be built.
I sincerely hope that the Bolt does not turn into a compliance car.
No, the difference is that Tesla invested in their charging network. Meanwhile, GM/Ford/Fiat and BMW/Mercedes/VW were afraid of the free rider problem – that their SAE charging network would get invaded by Korean/Chinese/Japanese cars that embraced the standard, after they did all the investment.
The result is a Level 3 charging network that is a mishmash of upgraded L2 chargers and entrepreneurs. That may be a good thing in the long run, but it helps nail Bolt down as a compliance car today. Unless your commute aligns, or you have a L2 charger at the office (few outside Silicon Valley do), then your options are limited without having a second car. You either have to get a L2 charger at home, or a low-mileage lease on a second vehicle (unless you already own a second car and are just buying a Bolt to be green). Otherwise, even with an average 40 mile commute, you’ll constantly be babysitting your Bolt to AC chargers to get the charge back up.
I think that’s bad for GM, but great for me as I hope to snag one of these on a $99 lease deal for two or three years – not unfathomable considering the Fiat 500e leased for as low as $69 this year.. If GM doesn’t sell enough to meet the CA emissions waiver caps, it’ll happen.
Here is the dilemma. First we have a shortage of charging station and that is not going to fix itself fast.
The fact is there really is no enterprise investing in building charging stations like the oil companies did back in the early days. Electric companies do not want to do it as most are strapped for money as it is with fighting emission regs and losing coal plants along with outdated infrastructure.
Most other places have been reluctant to invest.
The next problem is most cars take too damn long to charge. Even Tesla at most regular charging is too long for the average driver. I read the BS oh go shopping or take a walk or get something to eat. Well that does not cut it. Till batteries are made to charge faster this disuse will also not go away.
The key to this car for now is to use it as a daily commuter where you can plug it in every night to 240 till better technology comes. Drive it daily around town and either have a second car or rent on a trip unless you have a lot of time to kill.
By the way this car was designed and the utility put into it I would say GM from the start envisioned this as a commuter for daily local use and not much more. It is not the kind of car I would set out to California in even if it had a gas engine kind of car. That does not make it a bad car but more a car made for one mission only.
Things will change and EV cars are not where they need to be and there is still plenty of work to be done.
I have said before that for an EV to take the place of a Gas car it needs to be able to make the range of a gas car and it needs to charge fully in the time it takes to fill a tank of gas. We are not there yet and I expect at some point we will be but you can not put a clock or calendar on research and development.
For now the plug in cars like the Volt and CT6 will hold a solid place for growth. Of late I have seen so many Volts they appear to finally be making headway in the market. These are the cars people from every walk of life can adapt to and not just some people willing to rearrange their lives to suit a car or live in some green city that is near a large body of water in California.
The key to a successful EV car will be one someone does not have to alter their life style to fit into their life. This is what the majority of consumers want at a good price. As of yet no one has met this goal and I mean no one.
With that said we will get there at some point
Almost 240 miles range for the Bolt does NOT relegate it to just a commuter car! The idea that a EV has to do long intercity driving to be a REAL EV for the masses is an overrated measure as MOST drivers of conventional cars do not drive more than 240 miles in a day! If an EV is an only car then a limit of 240 miles COULD be an occasional problem. There are solutions to most of them. A) Don’t get an EV, B) Get a hybrid like the Volt which can cover MOST trips on only electric but become a hybrid with no practical range issues, or C) rent a car for the occasional long distant drives, D) have an older but dependable ICE car, E) take public transport or fly. In every case the outcome is likely not to be any more expensive than owning an ICE car.
Public charging infrastructure is limited at the moment but is likely to be substantially expanded in the next couple of years for ANY EV choice with the range of the Bolt. The CCS (?) standard for nonTeslas is a standard being adopted for all other makes. In the long term the Tesla standard may be less ubiquitous than the CCS standard at similar charge rates. We happen to be in the ‘first wave’ of this technology. There will be growing pains.
Meanwhile, having owned a Volt to get real world experience in a non metropolitan area I will not be inconvenienced by the range or public charging infrastructure as it is right now driving a Bolt. And I don’t think many buyers elsewhere will be either. The worst case scenario of charging umpteen hours for a Bolt as described by the author would take a real screw up to make necessary. But such is the rhetoric of most writers who have never owned an EV. It is true there are a few situations where an EV would not be wise – whether a Bolt OR a Tesla!
Sean, this article needs a rewrite in order to make sense.
I’ve never seen the phrase “charging pack” before, but the Bolt can recharge on AC power up to 7.2 kW, which is better than the 6.6 kW capacity that most EVs have, and considerably better than the 3.3 kW capacity that older or entry-level EVs have. A $100,000 Tesla is in another class, so not particularly relevant.
With an EV, the “gas station” you’re using 90% of the time is in your garage. You come home, plug in, and the car charges while you sleep, so a 9-hour time to get 200 miles of range from a level 2 EVSE (“charger”) is both totally normal and totally sufficient. You probably don’t drive 200 miles every day anyhow; the average person drives 30-40 miles per day. You can also use the Level 2 chargers sprinkled around every mall, campus etc. to let your car top itself off while you shop, eat, study etc.
Chevy does NOT think its customers will pony up for a Level 3 charging unit, since that would cost as much as the car. They think their customers will pony up $750 for the socket that lets them use such a unit. Level 3, more accurately called DC fast chargers, are the high-speed public chargers you’d use on a longer trip. They provide either 24 or 50 kW charging (or 125 kW if you bought that $100,000 Tesla with Supercharger access), so you can pile on 90 miles of charge while to make a pit stop to pee, eat a burger, and check Facebook.
Few people are inclined to use a small commuter car, electric or otherwise, for long-distance high-speed road trips. Most folks either have another car more suited for such duty or can rent one for a pittance. What the 200+ mile range does is make the Bolt practical for middle-distance trips, not just in-city driving like earlier EVs, so that for example you can drive to the nearest big-city airport and back without having to recharge, or drive out to see Aunt Myrna in the country or Uncle Fred up the coast without worrying whether there’s a charger near their house.
I’m seriously considering one, and I don’t even have a garage (I can charge for free at work or the mall, or cheaply in city lots).
I think the Bolt could be a winner….and I hope that the planned electric corridors will be the answer for long distant driving. Yes, the Bolt is a commenter car, but of a rare long range trip, people can suck it up!
Problem with the ignore-Tesla logic is that the Model 3 will bow next year, competing head-on with the Bolt EV, in the same market segment.
So that Supercharger network will be class-competitive with the Bolt EV, and with RWD, is unlikely to need to hit the same compliance-incentive goals – especially with Tesla being a net-exporter of compliance credits (FCA being the largest buyer of them thus far).
In other words, Tesla Model 3 sales will stick to (or above) MSRP simply on the fact that it’s the first ~$30k EV Pocket Rocket. Bolt EV on the other hand has to compete on cost, and being a FWD people mover. Expect incentives in carbon credit states like California.
Thing is: the Bolt exists. For now, the Tesla doesn’t. And when it eventually does come, Supercharger access will not be free. I am pretty sure I can run through an entire Bolt lease before there will be a Model 3 available for me to buy at the promised base price, let alone with Supercharging included.
Dennis, that’s not fair to Tesla – or to the thousands more people that have paid cash for their Model 3’s already. Tesla has committed to making the Model 3 available in significant numbers next year. Those that pre-ordered will not be shaken down. Sorry you didn’t pre-order, but that’s not fair to say that the Model 3 is somehow vaporware or “doesn’t exist” versus the Bolt EV.
The Model 3 has been test driven more than the Bolt by the press. It is clearly tapped out in terms of production. And the odds by all observers strongly favor that Model 3 will outsell Bolt in their first full year of sales.
Tesla deserves significant praise, despite the uphill battle that they face in light of low gas prices – prices that are now expected to trend even lower thanks to recent oil discoveries… and election results.
Here is the deal with charging. The automakers
#1 do not want to get into building and running charging systems. Behind the scenes they are wanting or encouraging others to step up. They have enough on their plates to spend money building and development on the car they would rather the free market supply the charging business opportunity.
#2 This is an investment still fraught with risk. The case is when will there be enough EV to provide a return on investment? How much is electricity will be in the future and will there be profits. Will the automakers all agree on one charging system or will they be like they are now where many systems will be different and make the stations only good for some cars not all? Will there be another breakthrough in other energy that may render these stations useless before the EV market becomes dominate?
#3 Where do you locate these and just what the hell do you do with people who use them. Do you let them just sit around do you provide entertainment? Do you only build them next to movie theaters?
Then how do you regulate the charging. Ok someone comes in plugs in and charges. Once full how long do you let them leave it plugged in while others wait. Will some people use charging as parking in some areas?
#4 Superchargers are for sure not even close in numbers and Tesla has stopped trying to keep up. Also the free is going away and will vanish at some point. Some areas have a number of them but others like here in the mid west I have yet to see one close by. I have three in northern Ohio and only one about an hour away. Not exactly on my way to anything. There is a a large number of people here but thank goodness few Tesla cars or even those owners would never get in.
#5 Chevy is going to require dealers to have public chargers. Not a bad move since they have too many dealers anyways. This would rival the number of Supercharger by a lot. But then again they will not like the investment if they are a small dealer in the middle of no where. Also not all dealers are near where many of us work and shop.
The bottom line is we need a third party to step up and either put in a network of stations or franchise a network of stations that would have a plan on where to place them and how to provide service to the customers. It will take people willing to take a risk and make the investment just as if the were buying a McDonalds franchise.
The risk here is we have so few EV cars that building a station here is a non profit venture. But till there are some here people will be reluctant to buy a EV car. I it is the Chicken and the Egg deal.
This will be worked out in time as more models are bought naturally but till then do not expect to drive easily cross country and stop where ever you like to recharge for a while.
The Volt may be a much more historic car than we ever saw. It will introduce people to the EV and help grow the trust in these models than any EV will. It is something anyone can live with while for now the others not just everyone can survive with a EV.
Note too cities where parking is a premium like NYC. Someone needs to figure this out too. Most parking is not going to invest in charging for a good while. Who and how will they address the city folks who are the prime target of these small commuters?
Like the election the wants and needs of the cities near the salt water are different than the fly over states. People see things different and have different needs. Neither are wrong but both need addressed differently.
Just an example in Kansas or WV it is nothing to drive 1-2 hours just to go shopping. An EV just won;t work there very well yet.
While Tesla is hell bent on going faster 0-60 they for head are forgetting the race is 60-0 min full charging is what clarifies who is going to win this race. Faster charge times that do not charge batteries are what will win this race.
The writer doesn’t seem to get the mindset of EVs. If you are going to get a long range EV, or even a shorter range one like my Focus EV, you will most likely invest in a level 2 charge setup or have a place at work you can charge. Actually, most people driving something like the Bolt could probably use nearby level 3 charge station and only charge every couple days. I got a little off my point. Talking about long charge times is silly and makes the writer sound like an oil exec. It’s unlikely a battery will be depleted every night and it is more unlikely they would regularly use a level 1 device. The level 1 device is more like a spare tire is for cars that have them. For a short range EV like my Focus, you could use the level 1, and I did for several months, but the level 2 is so sweet. If and when I do upgrade to the Bolt, I will get the DC fast charging option so I can go anywhere without worry. The charge station networks are expanding and new level 3 stations are going up, just like gas stations once did. The big difference is that most people will leave home every day with a full”tank”
Some very good comments, Ed. Adding to that:
1. Yes, gasoline was once sold only in drug stores in the early days of automobiles. A range of 20-30 miles was typical. the chicken-or-the-egg problem got resolved in fits and starts. The difference today is that we already have ICE vehicles to provide personal transportation, so expectations for what we should be able to do in a car (EV or otherwise) are set in the minds of most people.
2. Long distance travel takes some planning, even in a Tesla. Last year, we diverted of our main route to visit friends, calling ahead to say we would need to charge in their garage for about 36 hours! It worked, but it hardly the classic stop for gas.
3. While disappointed to read that GM will likely treat the Bolt as a compliance car, we can hope that they will shift strategy after success in California and Oregon. I am sure consumers will like the car.
In Ontario GM has priced the Bolt $5,800 (US) cheaper and included the Level 3 port. The Ontario government is offering a $14,0000 (Can) rebate (not a tax credit) and sponsored hundreds of Level 3 charging stations. I think the Bolt should be a big hit here.
Another problem not addressed here is that significant energy loss goes to keeping the batteries cool. Starting at the 5% of the battery usage, the point at which regeneration can normally take place, deceleration and going downhill can restore SOME of the electrical energy. If the ambient temperature is greater than 85 degrees, you may have to drive 5 miles until regeneration occurs, even though the regen icon is green and indicating regeneration — it’s obviously not regenerating if you view the energy usage screen. Effeciency can be less than 2 miles/KWH, which means that you’ve lost over half your range until the battery cools off, but even after that regeneration performance will be underwhelming when it is hot outside. Likewise, under about 40 degrees, battery performance also deteriorates. Your range of 238 miles is under ideal conditions, meaning not needing heat, A/C, windshield wipers and not driving over 50 MPH. Good luck with all of that!
Jay, sorry, but you don’t know what you’re talking about. First, under ‘ideal conditions’ (remember that I live in VERY hilly terrain) I get up to 260 miles range in a Bolt. Going a minimum of 60 mph. Normally, any tempering of the battery shows the kw for that usage on the graphics – and I almost NEVER see it registering, even under very warm conditions – and seldom under very cold conditions. Battery conditioning takes minimal effort in any case as it only involves a light pump and a heat exchanger. Temperature isn’t much of a factor for regeneration. Only when the battery is at 100% will regen NOT take place. And that can be dealt with using charge settings so there are no issues.
God knows where you get your info.