Many owners of electric vehicles like the Chevy Bolt EV rarely need to visit a gas station, and while this is seen as a positive for many environmentally-friendly motorists, some are left yearning for the days when they had an excuse to stop into the mini-mart and grab a sugary soda, a bag of chips or a candy bar.
That was the predicament that Denver resident and first-generation Chevy Bolt EV owner Pamela Talley found herself in. The automaker says that after years of owning an EV, Talley “realized she was missing out on her favorite gas station impulse buys,” since she charges her car at home and skips going to the gas station altogether. To remedy this issue, Chevy collaborated with celebrity designer and builder Wendell Holland to transform Talley’s garage into an at-home convenience store replete with favorites like a frozen drink machine, hot dog warmer, beef jerky buffet, chips, candy, a drink fridge and more.
“I’ve seen firsthand how homeowners are evolving their space to fit the EV lifestyle, so collaborating with Chevy on this garage transformation was a seamless fit,” Holland said of the project. “To create the ultimate garage space for Pamela, we incorporated inspiration from beloved gas station snacks and transformed the space into a modern oasis for EV living.”
Buyers of a 2022 or 2023 model year Chevy Bolt EV or Bolt EUV are entitled to complimentary installation of a Level 2 charging outlet at their home thanks to a collaboration between GM and charging infrastructure company Qmerit. A charger installed in a garage or on the side of a house will enable most Chevy Bolt EV or Bolt EUV owners to complete the majority of their charging at home, keeping them away from gas stations and convenience stores throughout their day-to-day.
Steve Majoros, vice president of Chevrolet Marketing, says one of the “best features of living with an EV is charging, or ‘refueling,’ at home.”
“We want to provide Chevy customers the seamless ability to enjoy charging at home as we bring more electric vehicles to market,” Majoros said. “This garage makeover is one example of the creative ways EV drivers can enjoy what they miss by skipping the gas station.”
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Comments
Seems like just mounting a charger on the wall would make more sense.
in the case of the bolt, the charger would have to be 50 feet from the house to avoid the house burning down when the bolt has a thermal event.
A hotdog warmer and beef jerky buffet? This is one of those stories that will be filed in the quirky history sections – “Did you know Chevy once remodeled a homeowner’s garage to resemble a convenience store?”
does it catch on fire too like the bolt?
The normal stuff is probably located in a nice, large shed. They probably wanted to convince people that the electric car is no longer a source of “dirty” things like gasoline or oil anymore, but once you drive your clean EV in normal everyday conditions, including rain, snow, on salty roads, or in mud, that convenience store will need a deep clean very soon.
Now show a pic of the dream garage after the fire.
too bad the owner of the dream garage ordered a dream GM EV…..will be waiting for it’s missing chips….delivery in 2 years
As a firefighter I would want at least two layers of 3/4″ drywall on the walls and ceiling. A high flow sprinkler system along with one hell of a homeowners insurance policy with one of these fire starters in my garage.
Ok, whatever. I never buy anything but gas at the gas station and never even go inside, that’s the beauty of pay at the pump!
This gives a new meaning to the word pathetic. I cannot believe gm is encouraging ownership of ev “Barbie” garages. I would have to assume that all of the garage “stuff” that was there must be being stored in the kitchen. The giddiness of the homeowner & garage renovator is also rather amusing & childish. So, let me understand completely, she is going to go down & plug in her vehicle & then sit down & pig out on junk food. That is probably not a healthy choice & her by products won’t help her carbon footprint either. The pandemic has affected people in different ways.
I’m sure there are plenty of all-natural granola bars in bio-degradable packaging and a juicer on the counter as well!
Awwww. Boohoo you pathetic losers in the comments. It’s Marketing. Most marketing is Cringe-worthy. Why does everyone here feel so intimidated by electric vehicles? Is it because a Chevy Silverado EV can get a full charge for $26-35?! A Chevy Bolt can get it for $12?!
These fire starter comments have to stop. The problem has been addressed, Resolved, and improved upon. I don’t hear as many people complaining about the DFM/AFM in their Pickup trucks anymore 👀👀
well besides the bolt having a propensity for burning the house down, your pricing does not include the lost hours waiting for said charges or even the cost of a mere level 2 charger in said garage. I for one believe one hour of my time is worth so much more than the delta of a tank of gas currently.
JFC, nobody loses hours charging at home, they do it overnight when they don’t need a car. Did you even read the article where they said GM is paying for the level 2 charger?
C’mon, people, it’s a publicity stunt! A bit of fun! Not supposed to be aspirational, duh….
Exactly. It’s the kind of thing that would appeal to the older crowd that has a little bit of money to spend.
Obviously to anyone else it’s ridiculous.
Well, again, I don’t think it’s meant to be aspirational to anybody, just a possibly interesting (to some) slice of one Bolt owner’s life. Albeit a confusing one–craving junk food while saving the planet kind of mixes the message….
They forgot the Rainbow Flag?
Homophobe much?
As regards the ‘fire starter’ issue the biggest concern with any plug-in 220 ev (like the 32 amp one here) is the possibly CRAPPY (think Leviton) melting receptacles..
Fortunately, this 110/220 charging cord supplied with the Lyriqs and BOLT EUVs has thermometers in at least 3 places – including the attachment plug – which will lower the current drawn or shut the unit down when it overheats.
This is SO STUPID, GM has asked customers to park and charge outside, because Bolts can spontaneously catch fire,- and burn your house down (while you are sleeping). Oh and she had the first generation in that amazing garage – which is the first gen that GM knows is a huge liability and lost billions buying it back. How could you sleep at night. I guess dont plug it in , and sit at WaWa for an hour paying for juice.
But keep pushing that crap Mara, with the “huge profits made on chevy V8 trucks” quote ……..LOL
Does it come with spare chips???
We have our second Tesla. Our detached garage where the Tesla is parked, now has fire sprinklers as well as 3 large fire extinguishers. Looking forward to next generation of EVs with less risk for fires. We will be shopping in 2023-24.
Our Honda Pilot and RAM 1500 are in our attached garage.
I still don’t want one.
It’s a convenience store.
Bill Howland:
As we discussed previously, the Hubbell charging hardware is the item of choice for home garage EV charging. The masses need to know that the Hubbell product is the most durable, safest product for charging currently on the market. You pay a premium like on Allen-Bradley electrical products but it is the best. I have no affliation with Hubbell. My electrical background is with P&H Harnischfeger and we were heavy with ABB high voltage 4160 volts and above.
Glad to see that garage remodel. Much needed. Those stairs without a guardrail and handrail are a killer. An OSHA nightmare.
Wonder when the OSHA electrical regs are going to come out for commercial and industrial sites for EV charging?
First things first…. I expect Fire Depts (at least the more intelligent ones) to figure out which brands of receptacles cause the most fires – and then see how the Big Expert Gas Bags react to that….
An example of that kind of ‘Grass Roots’ complaint, is the Instruction Manual that came with my 25 cubic foot upright basement Frigidaire Freezer… Yes Frigidaire makes mostly Junk but I lucked out with this particular unit.
IN any event, they take a FULL PAGE and a half to say that “THEY DON’T CARE WHAT” the silly electrical codes or inspectors say…. They WILL *NOT* replace food due to a power outage from a ground fault or arc fault protected outlet.. THEY INSIST that such a device not be on the circuit of whatever is powering the freezer..
I ran this by the local electrical inspector – who says that when the inspection is done the ground faults must be there…. But they obviously are not there the day AFTER the inspection. His words, not mine.
The NEC handbook states that ‘modern equipment’ does not normally produce currents that will trip a protector…. But that just shows how little they actually know in fact.
People who used to drive horse and carriages did did have a big problem with gas vehicles vehicles so that’s what it sounds like now guys
I wish Chevy put this much effort into building Bolt EVs and EUVs.