Hope you get something out if it, and let me know what you think in the comments!
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Out of the Blue Video #2
Just a quick post to let you know that my second Bolt EV video is available now. I tried to cover some of the questions I've fielded over the past few days, including the bird's eye camera, sideview mirrors, ground clearance, and brake light functions.
Hope you get something out if it, and let me know what you think in the comments!
Hope you get something out if it, and let me know what you think in the comments!
Friday, January 6, 2017
Out of the Blue Video #1
Here it is Bolt fans, my first video You asked for (or at least some of you did), so you got it! I tried to pick up on some of the questions I've seen in the comments over the over the last few days.
You're probably going to want to view the video directly on YouTube, by following the link. But if you can make your comment here, they will be easier for me to track. Thanks!
So please let me know what you think of the video, and any other features of the car that you'd like to me cover in future editions.
My Bolt special event for the day was spotting my first fellow Bolter on the freeway this afternoon. It might have been a test drive. Either way, I gave him a thumb's up as I passed. It's a small club now, but not for much longer, I have a feeling.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
One of 579
Chevrolet reported the first month of Bolt EV sales earlier today. The total: 579 cars reached eager buyers in December.
That isn't too shabby a number, considering full production only began in the middle of November, and the first deliveries were made on December 13th. Those token three cars turned out to be part of a Bay Area press event and not the opening of the Bolt pipeline.
As anyone who was driven slightly mad waiting for their Bolt to arrive already knows, Chevy held back the cars in the first few weeks of production. When the company would tell us anything, the best we were offered was the dreaded "bayed" status code.
Was that a fancy name for gathering snow in a parking lot in Michigan, or were they in quality control? We never really knew, and neither did the dealerships, apparently.
Based on the tea leaves of available cars at dealerships into the first week of the new year, virtually every Bolt shipped in December was either a preorder, or was sold within moments of touching the pavement. Not bad for a brand new model. I imagine a couple thousand more are on their way, so Bolts probably won't be nearly as scarce (at least in California and Oregon) in January.
The crazy part is, I actually own one of the first few hundred of what I predict will be at least a minor landmark in automotive history. Unfortunately it rained all day, so I had little opportunity to drive my future museum piece.
But one thought did occur to me rather suddenly today as I was gliding to a stop without using any braking: I was gliding to a stop without using any braking. Meaning, I was stopping without any brake lights flashing my intentions to the drivers behind me.
Should I be worried about this? Perhaps some veteran EV drivers can advise me on whether I am risking a rear-end collision by being energy thrifty. Should I be tapping my brake pedal just to warn?
Thanks for all your comments and questions. Keep them coming. I hope for a little sunshine over the weekend, and a better opportunity to dig in and answer more of them. I might even get ambitious and make a video!
That isn't too shabby a number, considering full production only began in the middle of November, and the first deliveries were made on December 13th. Those token three cars turned out to be part of a Bay Area press event and not the opening of the Bolt pipeline.
As anyone who was driven slightly mad waiting for their Bolt to arrive already knows, Chevy held back the cars in the first few weeks of production. When the company would tell us anything, the best we were offered was the dreaded "bayed" status code.
Was that a fancy name for gathering snow in a parking lot in Michigan, or were they in quality control? We never really knew, and neither did the dealerships, apparently.
Based on the tea leaves of available cars at dealerships into the first week of the new year, virtually every Bolt shipped in December was either a preorder, or was sold within moments of touching the pavement. Not bad for a brand new model. I imagine a couple thousand more are on their way, so Bolts probably won't be nearly as scarce (at least in California and Oregon) in January.
The crazy part is, I actually own one of the first few hundred of what I predict will be at least a minor landmark in automotive history. Unfortunately it rained all day, so I had little opportunity to drive my future museum piece.
But one thought did occur to me rather suddenly today as I was gliding to a stop without using any braking: I was gliding to a stop without using any braking. Meaning, I was stopping without any brake lights flashing my intentions to the drivers behind me.
Should I be worried about this? Perhaps some veteran EV drivers can advise me on whether I am risking a rear-end collision by being energy thrifty. Should I be tapping my brake pedal just to warn?
Thanks for all your comments and questions. Keep them coming. I hope for a little sunshine over the weekend, and a better opportunity to dig in and answer more of them. I might even get ambitious and make a video!
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Boltage: Day Four
Yesterday's main event was hitting the century mark on the odometer. It flipped to three digits while I was putting the Bolt through some paces on a nearby back road.
The mileage was of course not as significant as this driving test. And it produced better results than I frankly expected.
I didn't push the car very hard (I will save that level of testing for driving it alone), but if I anticipated the car leaning and plowing into turns, at least a little, I guess wrongly. The Bolt may be heavy for its size (toting around nearly a half a ton of batteries, it should be), but the car feels practically airy maneuvering through turns.
Partly this may be the affect of somewhat light steering. If that's the case, then I can take back some of my initial criticism of this feature of the car. If Chevy wanted the car to "feel" small in driving, the trick works, mostly.
Where the car feels less diminutive is from the driving position. Coming from the skateboard Mini Cooper, the Bolt is practically SUV-like. The acres of glass from the front seats forward only adds to the sensation.
It isn't unpleasant by any means, and many will love that feature right from the start, but this is another adjustment for me. The result of the high perch also means, as a glance to the speedometer confirms, that you are probably driving faster than you think.
Having lived with the car for few days, I am now prepared to make a few aesthetic judgments. Take all them with a suitable dose of sodium.
The exterior design, as many have already noted already, is pure Chevy. Allowing themselves the freedom to eliminate the vestigial grille would have made so much design sense.
They didn't go there, so I assume it's a corporate commandment that any car produced by the company must incorporate the trademark mustache and goatee on the front elevation. So there it is, expressed in plastic. It isn't deeply offensive, just needlessly faux.
The aluminum wheels are another needlessly busy element. Chevy calls all those wrinkles and the arbitrary chrome details "expressive." Expressive of what, exactly, other than excess?
For the exterior I give Chevy an overall grade of "C" (for reference, I award the Mini Cooper an "A-" and the BMW a "B.") Yes, I know the car isn't European. I will get over it. The statement the car makes isn't in how it looks, but what it is. That's my story, and I am sticking to it.
The interior treatment is more pleasing. Some have called it too plastic. I see the point, but I don't entirely agree. The interior decorating on the Bolt may verge on the Spartan, but that's just fine with me. Personally I don't expect a tooled leather or burled walnut dashboard on my cars, and those materials would be laughably out of place on the Bolt anyway.
Most of the visual focus on the interior is on the displays in any case. They are sharp, bright, and properly located. The displays are a big part of the Bolt driving experience and I expect to say a lot more about them in a future report.
Chevy includes lots of deep pockets on the doors and between the seats where you can lose stuff you that you probably should not even be leaving in your car. I can look forward to many happy days of cleaning them out.
Bolting through the New Year's holiday gave me an opportunity to post daily. The start of the work week means less time for such pursuits, but I will keep it going as time permits. If you have any specific questions or areas you'd like me to cover, let me know in the comments.
Speaking of which, this blog seem to have been discovered by an EV board in Norway. So a special hello and "takk for lesing" to all my readers in Norway!
The mileage was of course not as significant as this driving test. And it produced better results than I frankly expected.
I didn't push the car very hard (I will save that level of testing for driving it alone), but if I anticipated the car leaning and plowing into turns, at least a little, I guess wrongly. The Bolt may be heavy for its size (toting around nearly a half a ton of batteries, it should be), but the car feels practically airy maneuvering through turns.
Partly this may be the affect of somewhat light steering. If that's the case, then I can take back some of my initial criticism of this feature of the car. If Chevy wanted the car to "feel" small in driving, the trick works, mostly.
Where the car feels less diminutive is from the driving position. Coming from the skateboard Mini Cooper, the Bolt is practically SUV-like. The acres of glass from the front seats forward only adds to the sensation.
It isn't unpleasant by any means, and many will love that feature right from the start, but this is another adjustment for me. The result of the high perch also means, as a glance to the speedometer confirms, that you are probably driving faster than you think.
Having lived with the car for few days, I am now prepared to make a few aesthetic judgments. Take all them with a suitable dose of sodium.
The exterior design, as many have already noted already, is pure Chevy. Allowing themselves the freedom to eliminate the vestigial grille would have made so much design sense.
They didn't go there, so I assume it's a corporate commandment that any car produced by the company must incorporate the trademark mustache and goatee on the front elevation. So there it is, expressed in plastic. It isn't deeply offensive, just needlessly faux.
The aluminum wheels are another needlessly busy element. Chevy calls all those wrinkles and the arbitrary chrome details "expressive." Expressive of what, exactly, other than excess?
For the exterior I give Chevy an overall grade of "C" (for reference, I award the Mini Cooper an "A-" and the BMW a "B.") Yes, I know the car isn't European. I will get over it. The statement the car makes isn't in how it looks, but what it is. That's my story, and I am sticking to it.
The interior treatment is more pleasing. Some have called it too plastic. I see the point, but I don't entirely agree. The interior decorating on the Bolt may verge on the Spartan, but that's just fine with me. Personally I don't expect a tooled leather or burled walnut dashboard on my cars, and those materials would be laughably out of place on the Bolt anyway.
Most of the visual focus on the interior is on the displays in any case. They are sharp, bright, and properly located. The displays are a big part of the Bolt driving experience and I expect to say a lot more about them in a future report.
Chevy includes lots of deep pockets on the doors and between the seats where you can lose stuff you that you probably should not even be leaving in your car. I can look forward to many happy days of cleaning them out.
Speaking of which, this blog seem to have been discovered by an EV board in Norway. So a special hello and "takk for lesing" to all my readers in Norway!
Monday, January 2, 2017
Boltage: Day Three
After a few days living with the Bolt, I've gathered enough of an impression to comment on general driving performance. Overall, it's been a pleasure.
If you've been keeping up with this blog, you'll already know that my touchstone is a 2003 Mini Cooper, which I have owned since new and driven almost exclusively for nearly fourteen years and close to 60,000 miles. We also own a 2011 BMW 3-series turbodiesel; it's my wife's car, but I am often behind the wheel. Worthy or not, these are my bases for comparison.
I will also confess to being a total noob when comes to EVs. I have little means to compare the drivability of the Bolt to any other EV. With that out of the way:
I'd read about the low-speed torque characteristic of EVs, and even experienced it once, in a friend's Tesla. Still, I was not entirely prepared for having that kind of snap at my own foot on a daily basis. On straightaway accelerations, the Bolt's performance is instantaneous and impressive.
The Bolt doesn't quite outperform the BMW on acceleration (at least, not by the numbers), but it feels very much like a close call, when turbo-lag is figured into the mix. The BMW's hesitation may be small, but it now feels like an eternity compared to the Bolt's antic jump off the line.
And then, there's the sound. As in, what sound? A little hum, and off you go. It's like a magic carpet. Some EV veterans are no doubt having a good laugh right now. "That's the way it's suppose to be, dummy!"
Go ahead, that's okay. It's unexpected, but I really should have expected it. So regard these observations as coming from a member of the new audience for EVs that Chevy is targeting with the car. It was a head-shot. They got me.
Handling is somewhat of another matter. I am not prepared to be overly critical of what is after all a fairly heavy and tall car, and of course nothing will ever compare to the pure motoring experience of the Mini, or the refined balance of a rear wheel drive BMW.
That said, so far I find the steering to be tuned a bit on the light side for my tastes. I learned to be a two-handed steerer, a technique enforced by years of Mini driving (when not shifting of course), but I can see getting into the bad habit of flicking the wheel of the Bolt one-handed. It's an American car, for sure.
I haven't had the Bolt out on the twisties yet (that's planned for later today) but the expectation is for a bit of a tendency to oversteer. I will be most interested to discover whether, due to the car's mass, it wants to plow. Report to follow.
Unrelated item: I set up CarPlay on the Bolt yesterday. It was essentially a non-event. Once the iPhone was plugged into one of the USB ports between the front seats it was activated. From there, it just worked.
The limited array of iPhone apps appeared on the big touchscreen, and that was it. I pressed the voice command button on the steering wheel, told Siri where I wanted to go, and voila, up came my route. This is the way it's supposed to work! Kind of thrilling, honestly.
The only thing that seems to be missing from this experience is audible turn-by-turn instructions. If anyone knows whether this feature is supported on the Bolt and perhaps I missed something, please let me know. My research hasn't turned up a clear answer yet.
In the meantime, I wonder if JC Whitney sell a vroom-vroom tailpipe sound for EVs. Nah. Why would anyone want to spoil a perfectly good magic carpet ride?
If you've been keeping up with this blog, you'll already know that my touchstone is a 2003 Mini Cooper, which I have owned since new and driven almost exclusively for nearly fourteen years and close to 60,000 miles. We also own a 2011 BMW 3-series turbodiesel; it's my wife's car, but I am often behind the wheel. Worthy or not, these are my bases for comparison.
I will also confess to being a total noob when comes to EVs. I have little means to compare the drivability of the Bolt to any other EV. With that out of the way:
I'd read about the low-speed torque characteristic of EVs, and even experienced it once, in a friend's Tesla. Still, I was not entirely prepared for having that kind of snap at my own foot on a daily basis. On straightaway accelerations, the Bolt's performance is instantaneous and impressive.
The Bolt doesn't quite outperform the BMW on acceleration (at least, not by the numbers), but it feels very much like a close call, when turbo-lag is figured into the mix. The BMW's hesitation may be small, but it now feels like an eternity compared to the Bolt's antic jump off the line.
And then, there's the sound. As in, what sound? A little hum, and off you go. It's like a magic carpet. Some EV veterans are no doubt having a good laugh right now. "That's the way it's suppose to be, dummy!"
Go ahead, that's okay. It's unexpected, but I really should have expected it. So regard these observations as coming from a member of the new audience for EVs that Chevy is targeting with the car. It was a head-shot. They got me.
Handling is somewhat of another matter. I am not prepared to be overly critical of what is after all a fairly heavy and tall car, and of course nothing will ever compare to the pure motoring experience of the Mini, or the refined balance of a rear wheel drive BMW.
That said, so far I find the steering to be tuned a bit on the light side for my tastes. I learned to be a two-handed steerer, a technique enforced by years of Mini driving (when not shifting of course), but I can see getting into the bad habit of flicking the wheel of the Bolt one-handed. It's an American car, for sure.
I haven't had the Bolt out on the twisties yet (that's planned for later today) but the expectation is for a bit of a tendency to oversteer. I will be most interested to discover whether, due to the car's mass, it wants to plow. Report to follow.
Unrelated item: I set up CarPlay on the Bolt yesterday. It was essentially a non-event. Once the iPhone was plugged into one of the USB ports between the front seats it was activated. From there, it just worked.
The limited array of iPhone apps appeared on the big touchscreen, and that was it. I pressed the voice command button on the steering wheel, told Siri where I wanted to go, and voila, up came my route. This is the way it's supposed to work! Kind of thrilling, honestly.
The only thing that seems to be missing from this experience is audible turn-by-turn instructions. If anyone knows whether this feature is supported on the Bolt and perhaps I missed something, please let me know. My research hasn't turned up a clear answer yet.
In the meantime, I wonder if JC Whitney sell a vroom-vroom tailpipe sound for EVs. Nah. Why would anyone want to spoil a perfectly good magic carpet ride?
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Boltage: Day Two
Happy New Year, Bolt fans!
Last night we checked into what was the happening thing long ago, in a galaxy far away. Fun movie. With my current state of mind, walking back to my Bolt waiting in the parking lot, my first thought was: this car really is from the future.
Not just a movie future, but the real one, where we are actually going to live. No kidding. I am hooked.
What really got me was driving around to the other side of the shopping center to the Whole Foods Market for some dinner and a few grocery items. I'd been dimly aware of the EV charging station right outside the door. It never meant much to me—until now.
I prowled by. The EV parking space was unoccupied! I am with the Force, and the Force is with me! The charge was hardly necessary (still about 200 miles of range left), but come on, this was my first opportunity to mooch some juice, in public, with everybody watching.
Well, nobody was actually watching, but it was just as cool for all that. The evidence is below. Sorry for the lousy photo, I really did feel a little silly taking it.
Waiting for our dinner inside, I set up the MyChevrolet app on my iPhone. Within seconds it reported my charging status. I could also now eat dinner secure in the knowledge that my tire pressure was adequate. (I don't know about you, but this question often occurs to me while eating.)
When we returned to the car I realized I might have used the app to remotely fire up the climate control while we were still tooling around the aisles of Whole Foods. Darn. We could have opened the door to a toasty car with warm seats. I am going to remember that next time.
This leads me to another quirk, possibly. Since returning the Bolt to my garage last night, MyChevrolet doesn't report any updates to my car status. I suppose this because it depends on the OnStar system, which is unable penetrate the roof of the garage.
I don't know enough about OnStar to be sure if this is the case. If it is, that will be a little disappointing. I have a lot more use for the car's current status at home than at Whole Foods. If anyone understands how this system works in the real world, please let me know in the comments.
My assignment for today in crawling up this learning curve is to set up CarPlay. This, I really want to see.
Also, later today, in a home not far away, we will be attending a New Year's Day party. This will be my first chance to show off my car from the future to our friends. That's one thing about the future: ready or not, here it comes!
Last night we checked into what was the happening thing long ago, in a galaxy far away. Fun movie. With my current state of mind, walking back to my Bolt waiting in the parking lot, my first thought was: this car really is from the future.
Not just a movie future, but the real one, where we are actually going to live. No kidding. I am hooked.
What really got me was driving around to the other side of the shopping center to the Whole Foods Market for some dinner and a few grocery items. I'd been dimly aware of the EV charging station right outside the door. It never meant much to me—until now.
I prowled by. The EV parking space was unoccupied! I am with the Force, and the Force is with me! The charge was hardly necessary (still about 200 miles of range left), but come on, this was my first opportunity to mooch some juice, in public, with everybody watching.
Well, nobody was actually watching, but it was just as cool for all that. The evidence is below. Sorry for the lousy photo, I really did feel a little silly taking it.
Waiting for our dinner inside, I set up the MyChevrolet app on my iPhone. Within seconds it reported my charging status. I could also now eat dinner secure in the knowledge that my tire pressure was adequate. (I don't know about you, but this question often occurs to me while eating.)
When we returned to the car I realized I might have used the app to remotely fire up the climate control while we were still tooling around the aisles of Whole Foods. Darn. We could have opened the door to a toasty car with warm seats. I am going to remember that next time.
This leads me to another quirk, possibly. Since returning the Bolt to my garage last night, MyChevrolet doesn't report any updates to my car status. I suppose this because it depends on the OnStar system, which is unable penetrate the roof of the garage.
I don't know enough about OnStar to be sure if this is the case. If it is, that will be a little disappointing. I have a lot more use for the car's current status at home than at Whole Foods. If anyone understands how this system works in the real world, please let me know in the comments.
My assignment for today in crawling up this learning curve is to set up CarPlay. This, I really want to see.
Also, later today, in a home not far away, we will be attending a New Year's Day party. This will be my first chance to show off my car from the future to our friends. That's one thing about the future: ready or not, here it comes!
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Boltage: Day One
First, the bad news: we are taking a rain check on that first, full day of ownership road trip. We'd hoped for a jaunt up the coast to Santa Barbara, about 100 mile roundtrip from here. Seemed like a perfect first go in the Bolt. But the weather today is once again kind of piss-awful. Not just wet but cold.
By California standards, mind you. The rest of the country can call us weather wimps if you like. We don't mind, because it's true. The other truth is, we need the rain way more than I needed a Bolt shakedown cruise, or so the fates decided.
Not that this means the Bolt will stay in the garage for the day. Oh, no. It was out for brunch this morning, and we're headed for a movie later this afternoon. That will be about 30 miles, roundtrip. It'll do.
Second, let's get this out of the way. It's the mandatory driveway cheesecake shot. I mean the car, not me, wise guy. I'm just in it.
Though today is my birthday. Really, it is. (I know, this was awful family planning on my parents' part but I have decided I can live with it.) I tried to talk someone into buying me a Bolt as a birthday present, but you can guess how that worked out. I look pretty happy anyway.
My biggest niggle with the Bolt so far is the shifter. I realize some of my frustration is a function of a lack of familiarity, but how much familiarity should be required to use such an essential piece of driving equipment? The little instructional sign they hang from it tells me maybe it was the Ergonomics Cop's day off at Chevy when they came up with this goofy solution.
Maybe you've read about this one already. To hit reverse, the handle has to be bumped up, then left. This I get, sort of—accidentally shifting into reverse could produce many needless thrills. Yet, to shift back into the forward propulsion position, the lever only gets bumped down, not right, and down as you might expect, especially if you are accustomed to manual shifting.
It's been only a day, and I'll get used to it. But good grief, what a face palm moment.
Here's another Bolt puzzle. I've never owned a car with a backup camera before, and after once backing and smacking my Mini into a brick planter, I was determined to never own another car without one. The Bolt has a dandy backup camera system, and that big display to view it, not to mention the bird's-eye view camera (on the Premier).
This is where old school meets new tech, and the reunion is not entirely a joyful one. A hugely ingrained habit of anyone who learned to drive before 2005 is throwing your right arm behind the passenger seat, and pivoting around to look behind as you back up (and the one time you get lazy, smackeroo!).
Of course, if you keep on doing what you learned, a backup camera seems kind of pointless. What do I do now? Can I trust this piece of technology with my rear bumper and anybody or thing behind me?
I dunno. Suggestions are welcomed.
Speaking of which, I know folks are reading this blog. So why not leave me a comment or two? You know, some words of discouragement. We can all use some of those.
Either way, see you tomorrow—Bolt willing!
By California standards, mind you. The rest of the country can call us weather wimps if you like. We don't mind, because it's true. The other truth is, we need the rain way more than I needed a Bolt shakedown cruise, or so the fates decided.
Not that this means the Bolt will stay in the garage for the day. Oh, no. It was out for brunch this morning, and we're headed for a movie later this afternoon. That will be about 30 miles, roundtrip. It'll do.
Second, let's get this out of the way. It's the mandatory driveway cheesecake shot. I mean the car, not me, wise guy. I'm just in it.
Though today is my birthday. Really, it is. (I know, this was awful family planning on my parents' part but I have decided I can live with it.) I tried to talk someone into buying me a Bolt as a birthday present, but you can guess how that worked out. I look pretty happy anyway.
My biggest niggle with the Bolt so far is the shifter. I realize some of my frustration is a function of a lack of familiarity, but how much familiarity should be required to use such an essential piece of driving equipment? The little instructional sign they hang from it tells me maybe it was the Ergonomics Cop's day off at Chevy when they came up with this goofy solution.
Maybe you've read about this one already. To hit reverse, the handle has to be bumped up, then left. This I get, sort of—accidentally shifting into reverse could produce many needless thrills. Yet, to shift back into the forward propulsion position, the lever only gets bumped down, not right, and down as you might expect, especially if you are accustomed to manual shifting.
It's been only a day, and I'll get used to it. But good grief, what a face palm moment.
Here's another Bolt puzzle. I've never owned a car with a backup camera before, and after once backing and smacking my Mini into a brick planter, I was determined to never own another car without one. The Bolt has a dandy backup camera system, and that big display to view it, not to mention the bird's-eye view camera (on the Premier).
This is where old school meets new tech, and the reunion is not entirely a joyful one. A hugely ingrained habit of anyone who learned to drive before 2005 is throwing your right arm behind the passenger seat, and pivoting around to look behind as you back up (and the one time you get lazy, smackeroo!).
Of course, if you keep on doing what you learned, a backup camera seems kind of pointless. What do I do now? Can I trust this piece of technology with my rear bumper and anybody or thing behind me?
I dunno. Suggestions are welcomed.
Speaking of which, I know folks are reading this blog. So why not leave me a comment or two? You know, some words of discouragement. We can all use some of those.
Either way, see you tomorrow—Bolt willing!
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