Chevy Bolt EV Ranks Second In J.D. Power’s New Electric Vehicle Experience Study
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The Chevy Bolt EV ranked second in the J.D. Power New Electric Vehicle Experience Study, which aims to measure owners’ satisfaction with their electric vehicle in both premium and mass market segments.
J.D. Power asked participants of this study to rank their EV ownership experience across seven different categories: accuracy of stated battery range, availability of public charging stations, battery range, cost of ownership, driving enjoyment, ease of charging at home and overall vehicle quality and reliability. This information was then used to give each new electric vehicle a score based on a 1,000 point scale, with a higher score reflecting a better overall ownership experience.
The Chevy Bolt EV was ranked second among mass-market electric vehicles in the study, achieving an owner satisfaction score of 745, while the Kia Niro EV was the top ranked mass-market EV with a score of 782. The Hyundai Kona EV was right behind the Chevy Bolt EV with a score of 743.
The segment average for mass market EVs was 730. Both the Nissan Leaf and VW e-Golf were ranked below the segment average with owner satisfaction scores of 712 and 696, respectively.
Premium battery electric vehicle offerings, like the Tesla Model S, Tesla Model 3 and Audi E-Tron, for example, were ranked separately in this study. The Tesla Model S and Model 3 were the top ranked premium EVs with scores of 798 and 790, respectively.
J.D. Power’s study found that driving range was the most important influencer in a consumer’s purchasing decision when buying an EV. Additionally, in both premium and mass market segments, the accuracy of the stated battery range and actual battery range experienced by the owner accounted for about 20% of their overall ownership satisfaction.
“Even though most owners drive less than the stated range of their vehicle’s battery, they still want to know that the actual battery range is close to the stated battery range,” senior director of global automotive at J.D. Power, Brent Gruber, said in a statement. “It’s still about peace of mind.”
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I’m not buying it! 😝
I am skeptical of J. D. Power surveys. The often contorted wording of the survey titles gives me pause – I presume the way it works is that a manufacturer approaches J. D. Power and asks to have a survey constructed in which the manufacturer can rank high.
For this survey, it seems the Tesla Model 3 or at least some trim levels of the Model 3 should have been included as part of the survey. There is overlap in the price range of the Bolt and Model 3.
I’ve had a Bolt for a little over three years and the Bolt has consistently performed better than my expectations, especially in the actual driving range delivered. Prior to the Bolt, I had a Nissan LEAF. I’ve found the Bolt more enjoyable than the LEAF.
I don’t know, I got my fully loaded 2019 Bolt brand new from dealer that MSRPd for 43000 for 24000. If you paid more than 30K for a bolt, your dealer ripped you off. The cheapest model 3 at that point is still much more expensive
The number of respondents can skew the statistics.
Please add those numbers.
Thanks, Eric
We drive from Ohio to Florida nonstop. How long would that take driving a Bolt?
barry,, use the ABRP app. it’ll tell you. Bolt is still the best value EV. The actual purchase price at the dealership is always way lower than the MSRP
Truly nonstop driving is not a option with a Chevy Bolt. An initial full charge will yield about 200 to 230 miles driving. Assuming that range reaches a DC rapid charger, about 180 miles more range can be added in one hour. So charging stations permitting, a trip would be three hours at a time on the road punctuated with one hour rest stops. A gasoline powered car has a clear advantage over any current electric vehicle because enforced stops are only a few minutes. For the last few years batteries that can recharge in minutes have been, “just around the corner,” but super fast charging batteries and infrastructure to support them aren’t here yet.
I have 2018 bolt. It’s a great EV for work commute. The chair isn’t comfortable, feels like sitting on plastic. The OEM tires sounds horribly when taking sharp turns. The cabin noise is loud compare to Tesla Model Y which I recently test driven. The depreciation is horrible as well. My bolt only worth about 12k now. I wouldn’t recommend bolt to anyone. GM never upgrades the software, not like Tesla does. It’s funny really. When they want to limit your charge to 90% due to possible battery fire. They release the software update to temporary fix overnight that which only benefits them.
The least expensive Tesla Model Y has a starting price of $42,000, and that is more expensive than the most expensive version of Bolt Premier.
As far as interior noise level goes, Tesla has a reputation of being noisy. As a matter of fact, owners can purchase 3rd party door seal upgrade kits for Model 3. Inside EVs rates the model Y at between 67 and 69 dB noise level at highway speed. I couldn’t find a carefully conducted rating for the Bolt EV, but I did find an unscientific test that indicated 66 dB at highway speed. A difference of 1 dB is at the threshold of being able to tell a change in level between sounds.
I agree the Michelin OEM tires on the Bolt could be better if one wants performance. Car & Driver did a tire swap and showed performance could be improved, but it came at loss of range. Gas powered cars lose economy too with performance tires.
The Bolt seats are subjective. I have read a lot of complaints, but the seats seem OK to me. Conversely, I found the seats in a Honda Civic uncomfortable. Definitely test drive any car long enough to know before buying.
I’ll agree that the infotainment software could be better. The user interface looks very plain and should use more dimensional looking buttons. It should be easier to organize favorite stations and it seems odd that only Sirius/XM channel numbers, but not the names, appear in the favorites list. There are also occasional glitches that cause black screens at vehicle power-up. Glitchy infotainment software seems to be a problem across a lot of GM cars. There is a class action suit open regarding GM infotainment issues (not including the Bolt for now).
I’m not sure about the new bolt, but the one I have doesn’t have a heat pump that’s sufficient enough to keep the battery warm. Every winter, I lose 20-30 miles of range due to cold weather and I live in socal.
The Tesla model Y is very quiet compare to my bolt. The suspension on the bolt feels cheap. It looks like a toothpick with two wheels.
The glitch of the infotainment screen happens so often. I already paid off the bolt, I might as well put 200k miles on it.
In terms of economics, you are probably better off driving the Bolt until the wheels fall off. The primary expenses you’ll have are just for consumables: tires, brakes and coolant, license and insurance. If you sell the Bolt you’ll turn your on-paper loss into actual realized loss.
A heat pump has nothing to do with keeping the battery warm, but may help the driving range in moderate temperatures. A heat pump setup refers to reversing a refrigeration loop opposite its normal flow, thus moving heat into instead of out of the cabin. Heat pump mode is only effective in above freezing outside temperature where it can move almost 4:1 heat calories into the cabin versus electric energy consumed. The Bolt operates with a single refrigerant loop with the cabin evaporator in series with the battery coolant heat exchanger. A heat pump requires a 4-way reversing valve for the cabin refrigerant loop and a second refrigerant loop to handle battery cooling. A heat pump setup is thus more complex. The Tesla Model Y is their first model to use heat pump. You might want to give it a year to see how well it does for reliability. The Kia Kona EV has been available for a while and the Kona EV is available with an optional heat pump mode.
Car & Driver rated the Bolt’s handling as good despite the fact the of the Bolt’s fairly simple rear axle configuration. It is not likely that any difference is going to be noticed under normal driving conditions. The tires are likely more limiting in handling than the suspension. That is probably true of any EV except for maybe the Tesla Performance versions and Porsche Taycan models.
If the Bolt is a constant source of irritation, you may be better off to take the financial lumps and get a Tesla model Y and be more content with the purchase.
I believe that is enough sea lioning on this topic for now.
Since you know so much in detail, you can answer another question, why bolts battery is very effected by cold weather. Well to be fair, all EV battery don’t like cold. Tesla warms the battery when the car is heading to a super charging station. The bolt doesn’t have this capability. In cold temperature, the bolt battery can only charge at 37 kW at CCS starting around 10%. That’s what I was referring to that bolt need something to warm up the battery like a heat pump.
The irritation isn’t going to make me sell the bolt and get model Y instead. Without all these issues, it still beats a lot of ICE. I’m gonna drive it till the battery degradation kills it. Kona is a wonderful car and very efficient. But Hyundai doesn’t have nationwide super charges.
I have a 2020 Chevy Bolt on a three year lease, two of which are left. The first year has been trouble free. The only visit to the dealer was for the free tire rotation. I am enjoying my vehicle. I have not taken any long trips and don’t intend to. So I have zero range anxiety. I installed a Level 2 charger in my garage and that will save me $555 on this year’s taxes. So easy to use. I laugh when I see people at the gas station.
My 2019 Bolt is junk. Or it felt like junk during numerous repairs. After having an awesome Spark EV lease with NO problems over 30,000 miles I thought the Bolt would be at least as good. But it wasn’t. Numerous squeaks from cheap interior plastic and suspension. Numerous parts replaced.
First thing replaced was charging port after a short was detected.
Second was rear axle because of low speed creak also common on Volt.
Third were front struts for squeaking over low speed depressions.
Fourth was front sway bar bushings for squeaks over speed bumps.
Fifth was radio replacement for touch screen & IP screen glitching.
Sixth was upward pointing USB port in console b/c food fell into it and “possibly” shorted screen/radio.
(thank you GM, the USB port replacement was appreciated, I taped it over so it won’t happen again)
Interior squeak identified but not fixed because decibels fell under threshold for repair. I will have to seal front corner window sill piece edges with rubber cement so they stop flapping and slapping – this is common in ALL bolts IF you listen and care.
3 out of 4 distinct undercarriage noises were successfully repaired after numerous visits but there is still 1 which is not as noticeable as the other 3 but still concerning that they couldn’t find it after numerous visits and didn’t hook up listening devices to undercarriage to hear it. I had to drive with them a couple times to identify the sources.
The dealer service was actually quite good and friendly, although I had to escalate through several people and ranks to get anywhere. I can see the good and the bad.
One of the main reasons I want electric is for SILENCE. I will NOT turn up music to drown out noises. The Spark EV made no noises, the Nissan Leaf made no noises. The loaner Bolt and my Bolt DID make noises.
The loaner bolt had the exact same noises as mine. It also had a loose steering column.
The 2 different Chevy dealer service experiences were better than some import dealers who took their customers for granted, like Nissan.
I still like the Bolt’s silence and no-gas driving despite the remaining minor squeak but the fact that I had to go through all this has hurt the image of the car. The Nissan Leaf (several) that I rented for long periods were better cars overall, but no active cooling and sticker games from the rude dealer made buying one a deal breaker.
This is my first new car purchase. My second GM product after Spark EV lease, my first American car in 20 years. My second electric car (not counting long term Leaf rentals). I used to work for GM and Nissan in various capacities in Michigan and California.
I’m NOT a corporatist or brand loyalist. I will NOT buy a car made in China until they get their intellectual property/tariff and human/animal/enviro rights game together. Tesla is NOT my enemy, it’s not my friend either. I wanted a Leaf back in 2013, the dealer played games and wouldn’t honor my employee discount, GM put the Spark on sale, I had a good experience with that and wanted to see what the non-Tesla long range ev experience would be like in a Bolt.
The Bolt had SOME advantages over Tesla before the Model Y came out – hatch space, seating height and price. That advantage is pretty much gone now, the Model 3 & Y is coming down in price.
Would I recommend a Bolt? Yes, if you are forgiving of minor noises and will keep battery as close to 50% full when parked to extend battery life. If you’re going to park at absolutely empty or absolutely full all the time, I won’t recommend Bolt, I will recommend Tesla because their battery management system and cooling is superior.
But Bolt’s battery management and cooling is superior to Nissan which HAS no active cooling which is terrible if you fast charge or live in Arizona. But if you’re slow charging a Nissan and keeping it parked close to 50% full all the time, you don’t need cooling like Bolt has. So it’s all about your usage.
I would assume the surveys were done before GM took away 30 miles of range from us. This only makes the fact that GM has done NOTHING to expand charging stations much worse. When will GM give us back the range we paid for? I’m pretty sure they won’t give me back 20% or my money! I REALLY wish I had waiting a little longer and bought a model 3. As an early buyer, I paid way too much for a car that now can be bought for 24K! That will probably be my last GM.
Liberal is what liberal does.