Chevrolet Bolt & Bolt EUV

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Finally saw my first EUV in the wild today, a gray one (meh). Took a lot longer than expected.

Meanwhile, the number of Bolts I've been seeing is down a lot, either because they're in for service, or people just aren't driving them due to worries.
 
GM extends EV Bolt production halt to mid-October
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gm-extends-ev-bolt-production-halt-mid-october-2021-09-16/
 
https://www.barrons.com/articles/gm-has-a-chevy-bolt-fixnew-batteries-51632170544?siteid=yhoof2

Barron's says that LG Chem has restarted the Bolt battery production and that replacement batteries will be shipped to dealers as soon as mid October.
 
Above is behind a paywall. https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2021/sep/0920-bolt.html has been making the rounds today. I've been too busy w/work to look into it in more detail.
 
https://www.sae.org/news/2021/09/chevrolet-bolt-battery-fire-fix-found has some interesting news that wasn't in GM's press release:
Within the next 60 days, GM engineers will deploy into the Bolt customer base a new diagnostic software that will continue to monitor battery performance and alert the customer of any battery anomalies. The software will initially limit Bolt customers to charge their cars to 80% SOC. As the software increases GM’s confidence of battery performance, GM will raise the SOC limit, Grewe explained. When the new software is installed, customers also will be able to resume charging their vehicles overnight unattended and parking their vehicles in their garage, the company said
 
https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/bolt-replacement.40706/page-7#post-654897 is my current thinking and list of candidates if GM gave me a decent buyback offer on my Bolt that got recalled (along w/all of them) on 8/20/21.

I began the buyback request process almost 2 weeks ago. I've set my expectations low as to how long it'll take.

Update: Fixed link.
 
200+ mile range is one of those remaining limiting factors that restrict the selection quite a bit. It's a real shame that GM and/or their battery supplier screwed the Bolt up so badly...
 
LeftieBiker said:
200+ mile range is one of those remaining limiting factors that restrict the selection quite a bit. It's a real shame that GM and/or their battery supplier screwed the Bolt up so badly...
Well, it's not like I have a lot of other great choices in a similar price range from a skim of https://insideevs.com/news/534024/bev-epa-range-comparison-september2021/.

Mazda MX-30? Hard no! Also n/a right now. Mini Cooper EV? No. BMW i3? No. Hyundai Ioniq EV? Range is kinda short and they were hit by https://insideevs.com/news/490950/lg-energy-solution-suspected-cause-kona-fires/. See https://www.hyundai.com/content/hyundai/ww/data/ir/calendar/2021/0000000310/files/21-02-24-kona-ev-recall-presentation.pdf. Did they switch to another supplier? Dunno but range is short and gen 2 Ioniq EV is a step backwards in DC FCing speed from gen 1: https://insideevs.com/news/381451/hyundai-ioniq-electric-disappoints-dc-charging-power/. Seems the current 170 mile EPA range version per https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/ioniq-electric/compare-specs are 38.3 kWh w/the crap DC FC speeds. It's even worse than my Bolt.

Taycan? e-tron? WAY too much $! e-tron reliability is bad, IIRC. Volvo C40? TIL about it. Seems n/a right now but judging by XC40 reports, it's almost certainly a pass. Mustang Mach-E? Nope. i-Pace? Hell no. Niro EV? Bad CR reliability. ID.4? Too much $, too big, likely bad VW reliability, https://www.vwidtalk.com/forums/volkswagen-id-4.30/ didn't give me warm and fuzzy feelings. Polestar 2? Likely a hard no (Volvo doesn't have good reliability rep and if their other PHEVs or EV s are any indication...) Volvo XC40? No.
 
cwerdna, I wasn't able to read the full Niro BEV issues in CR, and the full report is behind a paywall. But the print version only mentioned a motor reliability problem, which would seem to be a much simpler fix, and covered for 10 years even if it does crap out on you. Was there more to the Niro's low r liability rating than the motor?

I presume they're buying the motor from someone else, and if that one doesn't serve they can switch suppliers easily enough and swap the new one in. There shouldn't be any shortage or safety issues there, unlike a battery, so I'd be far more inclined to risk the Niro than say the Kona. Plus you get somewhat faster DCFC than the Bolt.
 
GRA said:
cwerdna, I wasn't able to read the full Niro BEV issues in CR, and the full report is behind a paywall. But the print version only mentioned a motor reliability problem, which would seem to be a much simpler fix, and covered for 10 years. Was there more to the Niro's low rating than the motor?

I presume they're buying the motor from someone else, and if that one doesn't serve they can switch suppliers easily enough and swap the new one in. There shouldn't be any shortage or safety issues there.
The paywalled story at https://www.consumerreports.org/hybrids-evs/reliability-problems-plague-newer-electric-cars-a2176942694/ said "Kia Niro EV owners reported problems such as having to replace a bearing in the electric motor."

I do subscribe to CR online access and now they only have reliability ratings for '19 and '20 is n/a. '19 gets the worst possible icon (it's out of 5) with the red 2 down chevrons. The trouble spots I see include engine major, engine minor, engine cooling, electric system, brakes, and body integrity. Engine major and body integrity both get the lowest mark (red 2 down chevrons) while the others I cited get an orange 1 down chevron. That overall is not good for a '19.

Kona EV DC FCing is faster than Bolt.
 
cwerdna said:
GRA said:
cwerdna, I wasn't able to read the full Niro BEV issues in CR, and the full report is behind a paywall. But the print version only mentioned a motor reliability problem, which would seem to be a much simpler fix, and covered for 10 years. Was there more to the Niro's low rating than the motor?

I presume they're buying the motor from someone else, and if that one doesn't serve they can switch suppliers easily enough and swap the new one in. There shouldn't be any shortage or safety issues there.
The paywalled story at https://www.consumerreports.org/hybrids-evs/reliability-problems-plague-newer-electric-cars-a2176942694/ said "Kia Niro EV owners reported problems such as having to replace a bearing in the electric motor."

I do subscribe to CR online access and now they only have reliability ratings for '19 and '20 is n/a. '19 gets the worst possible icon (it's out of 5) with the red 2 down chevrons. The trouble spots I see include engine major, engine minor, engine cooling, electric system, brakes, and body integrity. Engine major and body integrity both get the lowest mark (red 2 down chevrons) while the others I cited get an orange 1 down chevron. That overall is not good for a '19.

Kona EV DC FCing is faster than Bolt.


Is that for all Niro, or just the BEV? Is CR considering the electric motor "engine major", rather than say "electrical"? IDK just how they're categorizing BEV components vs. ICEs. If not, I'd tend to ignore "engine major "minor" and "cooling" as n/a to the BEV. Body integrity could be an issue, as could brakes, although given regen I'd think that would be less critical.

Re the Kona's FC rate, yes, I know it's the same as the Niro, I was just talking about the latter. Personally I'd probably be more concerned about the Kona for the LG Chem pack, which we know had similar issues to the Bolt, but earlier. Hyundai just wasn't quite as public about replacing them all. Just a matter of where you want to take the risk.
 
GRA said:
Is that for all Niro, or just the BEV? Is CR considering the electric motor "engine major", rather than say "electrical"? IDK just how they're categorizing BEV components vs. ICEs. If not, I'd tend to ignore "engine major "minor" and "cooling" as n/a to the BEV. Body integrity could be an issue, as could brakes, although given regen I'd think that would be less critical.
I've checked again and those are definitely the results for the Niro Electric.

Unfortunately, it's how people chose to answer. Categories are at https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/consumer-reports-car-reliability-faq-a1099917197/. I've seen cars dinged for "electrical problems" almost certainly due to 12 volt batteries dying due to their age and how that issue basically worked it way thru the model years (e.g. a problem one year on say 06 and then a year later, it became a prob on the 07's).

Re: my situation and buyback, for now, since GM's giving precautions (mine has a US-made battery so I'm less worried), I'm parking it outside at night for now to limit how long the car bakes in the sun. Having it out all day == hard on the paint, interior and exterior + big temperature swings.

Unfortunately, leaving it out at night also leaves it vulnerable to break-ins. It's been happening in my neighborhood for years. I noticed post on Nextdoor about thieves checking doors on cars and rummaging thru some of them a few days ago. Some were caught on camera. Sure enough, I confirmed on my footage they came by at 3:55 am that day to check the doors on my Bolt + other cars parked outside. Fortunately, they didn't break any windows on my car or anyone else's that night...
 
LOL on FCEVs! In the past, they needed a minimum of 100 per model year of a model to have sufficient data for that model year. I don't think they specify now.

Good luck getting 100 responses for a model year of given model of FCEV in CR. The sales volumes are way too low.
 
cwerdna said:
LOL on FCEVs! In the past, they needed a minimum of 100 per model year of a model to have sufficient data for that model year. I don't think they specify now.

Good luck getting 100 responses for a model year of given model of FCEV in CR. The sales volumes are way too low.


Possibly, although odds are the owners are more likely to be CR members than the general public. As it is, the most recent California report estimated there were just under 8,000 on the road here this year. Of course many are from previous years (I average about one Mirai 1 sighting a day and still see the occasional Clarity FCEV (I've only seen two Mirai 2s and just one Nexo so far), but given the small number of types currently available it's possible there might be enough to meet the threshold. Now that station build-out is finally picking up again, they need more models available, in particular an AWD CUV.

In any case, deciding which parts of an FCEV goes in which category requires a minor amount of work, so they might as well do that along with BEVs.
 
Niro is the only current consideration for me outside Nissan although as it stands, I will likely just hold onto my plus a year or two. Able to prequalify for 1.99% financing on a 3 year. Payments will rise about $100 a month but its more than doable.

Although reviews are bad, I know two who have one and they both claim the range is better than advertised. I somehow missed my chance to take a ride in one during the local NDEW event a few weeks ago. Got sidetracked and they left a bit earlier than expected. Both came from LEAFs and like the interior build. One did have an issue with something minor like a steering wheel control or something and it took a few months to get the parts but it was fixed and works fine now.
 
I was originally hoping the Niro was going to come sooner to the midwest. We have owned a few Kias and they have been fantastic values. Our Optima cost just over 12K new in 2004 and was problem free for 10 years before getting the 2013 Leaf. We had a 2007 Sedona until last summer. It also was nearly problem free (warranty covered bushing issue in year one).

But gave up and went to the Plus. The eNiro finally arrived last fall to the midwest.

I don't know how much to believe about the mechanical issues, but believe the range is better. It's battery is larger and for the average driver is modestly more efficienct. A Niro youtuber in Canada also moved from stock to ev01s, but said he saw nearly no difference in efficiency. (Also confirming that Nissan partially hosed the efficiency of the Leaf SV/SL with heavy rims) Niro also has good cargo like the Leaf, which continues to be a big factor in our car purchases.
 
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