The Bolt reached its highest charge rate of 53 kW at 20% state of charge and bounced between 53 kW and 52 kW until about 50% state of charge when it began slowly ramping down the rate. The Tesla Model 3 already has user selectable current. Ask most people and they'll probably tell you There is no difference in range either 259 miles comes standard. Unlike the Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia Niro EV, which both straddle the tier 1/tier 2 line and can cost twice as much to charge as a result. If the Bolt EV can maintain a higher charge rate even after 80%, the time could be cut further still, although this isnt indicated by any of the initial tests and seems unlikely given GMs generally cautious approach to battery management. Any chance that they can update software to increase the capacity the battery requests from the DCFC station? On long range models you can set the charge current from 8 to 48 amps in 2 amp increments. It's also good if you're someone who likes to drive a In the end, the best thing to do with the Bolt battery is to keep it within the safest known parameters, which is still the 80-30 range. Zippy as hell, rock solid handling with low center of gravity, I've had the car up at 90MPH and it feels like my old BMW 3 series. It takes just a few seconds to plug in, then you can go about your day (or night) while the Bolt EV charges. GM also issued the following guidelines to those who were awaiting their appointment to get their battery replaced: CarandDriver.com did a feature on the recall, noting the somewhat alarming fact that about a third of Bolt owners were apparently not following these charging guidelines. My first electric car. Essentially, you can limit the amount you charge at more expensive chargers by only charging up to the amount you need to get to a more economical charger. Chevy did so much right with the Bolt, it's unfortunate they didn't bump up the DC fast charge rate to 75 kW to 100 kW with the larger battery in 2020. This post covers everything you need to know about charging the Chevy Bolt EV, plus exclusive insights into how people are actually charging their Bolt EVs out in the real world. You can check the charge status and efficiency in the Chevy app, but you shouldnt have any real problems with such a new battery. The new software will automatically limit the vehicle's maximum charge rate to 80%, which should significantly reduce the risk of fire. Owners of 2017-2018 and 2020-22 models will have to have wait a little longer, with GM saying in a statement it will be available within the next 30 days. For some, this could be a hardship if they have long commutes and require more range than the new guidelines allow, especially during the summer when hot temperatures and extra A/C usage affect battery performance.. For the Hilltop Reserve mode, one just has to push the green Energy button on the infotainment screen, followed by Energy Settings, and then Hilltop Reserve, which you can then toggle to on. A message should appear on the screen when charging that the limiting mode is active. (Note that most of these videos reflect old pricing and Electrify America's new tiers make it significantly less expensive.). According to Chevrolet's " Getting to Know Your 2019 Bolt EV " publication, the purpose of the Target Charge Level is primarily economic. Both models are equipped with the same 66-kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the floor, sending power to a single electric motor (200 hp, 266 lb-ft) and a single-speed transmission. How Long Does it Take to Charge a Chevy Bolt? room. Smart chargers like ChargePoint Home even let youschedule charging at off-peak hours to save money. The Tesla Model 3, for instance, provides a sportier and more premium driving experience, and the new Hyundai Kona EV and Kia Niro EV offer similar range at a lower price. Yeah, it lacks premium interior feel and self-driving tech, but it's somehow a bit more fun to drive. After a year or two of proving itself, you can perhaps push your Bolt battery harder, regularly charging to 90 percent. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. It adds about 90 miles in 30 minutes. Interior is not luxurious but roomy. You did not mention 1.5 times faster DCFC rates in cold weather come with the 2020 Bolt. What about charging your Chevy Bolt now? It also includes the first maintenance visit, but overall coverage doesn't come close to that of. This all aligns with GMs recently updated press line that the Bolt EV adds "100 miles in 30 minutes" on a sufficiently equipped DC fast-charge station. Also, most people won't stay plugged into a DC fast charger past 80% unless they really need the extra miles to get home or to the next charging station. Full Details Chevy Bolt EV Gets More Range for 2020 Range, Charging, and Battery Life While it takes about 10 hours to fully charge the Bolt's battery using a 240-volt outlet, the fast-charging. GM should add a current selector to the charge menu. you're interested in, check the AutoCheck vehicle history reports, read dealer reviews, and find Current EV Range represents the estimated range of the car based on how much energy is currently in the battery. All EV Info. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety uses extensive crash tests to determine car safety. 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However, if that power level can be maintained for longer than previous model years, the 2020 Chevy Bolt EV will still charge slightly faster than them. Pepsico Paves The Way of New Trucking with 21 New Tesla Semis, Tesla's Latest Move to Fulfill Over 1.5M Cybertruck Reservations, 2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD Gets Ultra-Powerful ZR2 Off-Road Package, First 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray Raises $1.1 Million to Help Public School Children, Cannonball Run Advice for Car Enthusiasts, GM Invests in More Lithium as Important EVs Like the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado E are Coming to Market, General Motors Is Ditching Apple Music And Android Auto, Risking EV Market Share, Three Great Electrified Vehicles Buyers Cant Find In 2023, 2024 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 Gets the Duramax Turbo-Diesel Engine. Soon, you might find yourself going to a specific store more often because it has EV charging. Insideevs.com featured a video from big-time YouTube Tesla fan/expert Bjorn Nyland in which the commentator advocated for charging your EV to as low as 60 percent: This is based on the increasingly dated model of thinking, however, that says the more your charge the EV the faster its going to degrade. While the Chevy Bolt does have the ability to receive over the air updates like a Tesla, in reality GM sends them very infrequently. The Used 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV comes with front wheel drive. Actual Uses See you next time as I describe the top software features that GM must add to all of its electric vehicles. In early December 2021, GM announced software updates that would at least make it safe for Bolts to be charged indoors again while they were awaiting their battery check. The Bolt EV took 69 minutes to reach 80% and accepted 51 kWh. Its biggest problem is the swath of affordable competitors that have followed hot on its heels from Hyundai, Kia and of course Tesla. Lets take a look at some of these early tests and what they mean for the 2020 Bolt EVs overall fast charge time. Available styles include LT 4dr Hatchback (electric DD), and Premier 4dr Hatchback (electric DD). For Target Charge Level mode, operation is very simple. The back seats lay down flat, and because the hatchback door opens up really high, you dont hit your head when loading items. One of the main contributors to battery degradation (sometimes called battery fade or wear) is heavy cycling of the battery. One possible bug I will be exploring further is it appears that 2019 Bolt EV owners can accidentally shut off their regenerative braking and one pedal driving when using the Target Charge Level feature. Yes, with the changed battery, your Bolt EV 2017 will have the same charging curve. I am testing the charge rate for a planned trip of 500 miles from the west coast to the Rockies in the summer. Chevrolet provides standard coverage limits for the Bolt's electric-powertrain components. Copyright 2023 ChargePoint, Inc. All rights reserved. This was first reported to me by a friend after I showed her how to set her Bolt EVs Target Charge Level, but since, another 2019 Bolt EV owner has shared a similar experience. Regenerative Braking Vs. Coasting: Which is Better? This can be tough to pin down, but we assume for simplicity that the 240V power source will enable the vehicle's onboard charger to operate at full capacity, and that the battery is fully depleted and will be recharged to 100%. Get interesting investment ideas by Fred Lambert, ChargePoint Home WiFi Enabled Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger, Stay up to date with the latest content by, Electric Vehicle Price Guide best prices for dealers in the US, GM finally caved and announced that it will replace battery modules in all 2017 to 2022 Bolt EVs, Mercedes-Maybach unveils first all-electric model in the EQS 680 SUV, complete with its own fridge, Why you should check out the new 435-mile range Volkswagen ID.7 electric sedan, This new budget-priced electric gravel bike has a torque sensor and its own smart watch, Elon Musk is rumored to be starting new AI startup after saying Tesla would play a role in AGI, Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos. 2023 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 - What Makes It So Special? In the next section, well deal with Bolt charging in the post-recall era. 2023 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 - What Makes It So Special? Continue with Recommended Cookies. Future Improvements to Target Charge Level Software Thanks to the data collected by Eric Way, we now have a real picture of what the 2020 Bolt charging curve looks like. Regardless of how much more durable they are, its still good practice to take it easy and relieve the battery of undue wear and tear if you can. I am very interested in eco-friendly lifestyles: from recycling to solar panels, and from heat pumps to you guessed it green cars! A Level 2 station adds about 25 miles of Range Per Hour, so you can easily fill up your Bolt EV overnight. Eric is also an instructional designer and technical writer with more than 15 years of writing experience. Edmunds lets you track your vehicle's value over time so you can decide when to sell or trade in. We just wish it went one extra mile. On the right side of the screen is a sliding tab where you can set the limit of the battery charge. First, at a minimum, I would limit the battery to no more than 90% to 95% for day-to-day use. There were ideas on charging that were prevalent before the recall that have since been changed as new non-defective batteries replace the original ones. 2020 Chevrolet Bolt Driving Range and Charging . So, that's the good news. Chevy Bolts Sometimes Cant Detect Obvious Battery Problems. On top of recalling the vehicles and replacing the battery modules, GM started to push new software updates to the fleet to limit the state-of-charge in order for it not to go over 90% or below 70 miles. I just bought a 2020 Bolt Premier and am loving it! 2020 Chevy Bolt EV 16-80% on Electrify America 150+ kW unit: Energy Added (projected): 43kWh | Charge Time (projected): 62 minutes Under the current pricing, this means that the 2020 model. In that scenario, the Bolt's range feels huge and the charging issue never really comes up. Doing so could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars. In comparison, the new update restricts the total range by an additional 10% at the top, although it enables owners to discharge the battery fully if necessary, therefore unlocking more total range. Question: Does Chevy rollout software updates the same way Tesla does? The future's here, and it's shaping up to be a wild ride! In other words: The average Bolt EV driver spends less than the cost of agallon of gas to go more than twice as far as the average car can go on one gallon. I don't know why Chevy didn't include adaptive cruise control, and that is the one feature I miss most. I recently used DCFC (CCS capable of pushing out 350kW) to check out the rate of charge between 29% and 59% to 80% and the max I got was about 40 kW, not even 55 kW. The 2020 Chevy Bolt's -60-mph time is a zippy 6.5 seconds, but it feels even faster. General Motors has announced a software update for Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV owners to address the electric vehicles battery-fire problem. You can also set it while using location-based charging settings by setting limits for home and away charging in the Charging Options screen its the same slider mechanism. The 2020 Bolt EV has an EPA-estimated driving range of 259 miles on a full charge. GM Chevy Bolt EV Fire Recall N212343880. . According to GM, a Bolt driver will still be able to travel a greater range even with the 80% charge limit because the battery can be drained below 70 miles of range. First, I would like to see them improve the interface for this functionality. If youre considering the Bolt EV, you might be wondering how to charge it. A few rival EVs are a more complete package. Is There a Case for Charging to Just 60 Percent? Energy Added (projected): 43kWh | Charge Time (projected): 62 minutes. This month, the recall was expanded to include 2019 model Bolt EV and all 2020-2022 Bolt EV and Bolt EUV models. One thing he did point out for Tesla models is that when the car is at 100 percent charge, its actually less energy efficient because the regenerative braking isnt working at that point. The specs say "7.2 kW onboard charging module", but the instrument panel sometimes climbs to "8 kW" while charging. The upshot here is that the 2020 Chevy Bolt EV is no faster to charge in the first half of its battery pack than earlier models, but should shave some a few minutes off the overall charge time to 80%. Theyre based on 30-plus scores that cover every aspect of the automotive experience. Now they dont do that second part; they just left the battery naturally decrease the current drawn once the charging reaches full voltage. Have a Tesla tip? Heres what GM said in a statement sent to Electrek: "As battery module replacements continue under the previously announced recall, Chevrolet has informedowners of 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EVswho have not yet received their replacement battery modules that it will begin installation of a software update which will remove the parking and charging limitations on their vehicles while we work on building replacement battery modules. How Long Does it Take to Charge a Chevy Bolt? Edmunds begins with a full battery charge and drives the vehicle on a mix of city and highway roads (approximately 60% city, 40% highway) until the battery is almost entirely empty. This and other threads of conversation from early test drives around the state confirm that the car tops out at 55kW. Required fields are marked *. Some people charge their EVs at home using a regular wall outlet, which adds about 4 miles of Range Per Hour, but it would take more than two days to fully recharge your Bolt EV this way. BIG IMPROVEMENT. The previous recommendation limited the state of charge to a maximum of 90% and a minimum of 70 miles of range. It solves many of the qualms that EV shoppers have traditionally held. Whats really nice about this is it exactly matches what I expected: the artificial taper was designed to trigger at the point where the natural taper would have started to drop the current below that level. prices as low as $22,998 and mileage as low as 4989 miles. The Chevy Bolt EV accepts the universal connector on every standard Level 2 charging station, which adds about 25 miles of Range Per Hour. Posted by p1mrx Level 2 charging on the 2020 Bolt: is 7.2 kW the maximum? In 2020 Chevrolet increased the battery size of Bolt EV from 60 kWh to 66 kWh of usable energy. It will limit the state-of-charge to 80%, but it will. Will the Chevrolet Camaro Return as an SUV to Challenge the Mustang Mach-E? Below is a quick guide to charging times: Comparing the two sessions based on what the 2020 Bolt EV reports in the test session, wed get the following results: 2017 Chevy Bolt EV 16-80% on Electrify America 150+ kW: The battery packs will need to be replaced due to two issues during production that could result in a fire. The Bolt can now accept full power for a longer period of time, especially under challenging, temperatures when the battery pack is cold. These charge limits should also be something that can be adjusted while on trips, based on driving conditions, routes, topography, and weather. The added niceties on the Premier are small but impactful. You get the Comfort and Convenience package as standard, plus a surround-view parking camera system and a rearview mirror that can turn into a full camera display. Once you have identified a used vehicle This is a deficiency that will grow all the more glaring as other manufacturers up their game and new models emerge. If youre looking for a silver lining, however, this news keeps the Bolt EV comfortably in Electrify Americas lowest pricing tier. It will target vehicles that havent had their batteries replaced under the current battery recall. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The Bolt's internal charger must already be capable of variable currents as it responds appropriately to lower-current EVSEs. In this first section, well cover the recall, what happened, and the guidelines issued by GM regarding charging of those Chevy Bolts that were awaiting new battery replacements. I look forward to future releases where I'm sure they will upgrade options for interior and high-end technology. I just purchased a Chevy Bolt EVU, 2022. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. But the benefits, great range, fun, and solid build of the Bolt have put it at the top of my list for preferred commuter car. Is there a way to get Chevy to fix my 2017 so that it doesnt throttle back the charge? YES YOU CAN! Will GM Give 2017-2019 Bolts The 2020 DCFC Updates? For the 2017 and 2018 model year Bolt EVs, I recommend Bolt EV simply turning on Hill Top Reserve and leaving it on. That makes upgrading from a wall outlet to aLevel 2 home charger like ChargePoint Home an essential step for Bolt EV owners. Im a software developer who has loved the idea of electric cars ever since I first read about the 2008 Tesla Roadser. Don't tell that to an EV, Clean road tripping with ChargePoint: Canada edition, EVolution: Electric vehicles get a second chance. What do the Bolt owners out there think? The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. 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